Hearing his master speak of such past events, Zhong Bai furrowed his brows deeply.
It seemed that for the short term, Tengteng Town was not a place he could enter as a Qi Refining practitioner.
Yet Zhong Bai did not quite understand.
"Master, according to you, that Golden Armored Corpse King was already severely wounded. Why did no other sects send Foundation Establishment Peak or Golden Core True Monarch experts to eliminate it beforehand?"
Zhong Bai could not grasp this point.
"Heh, you brat, you are thinking too nicely. To tell you the truth, as for Golden Core True Monarchs, I am not sure about other sects, but Mount Mao definitely has them. Right, your Martial Great-Uncle Ming is thoroughly a Golden Core True Monarch!
However...
To slay a Half-Step Flying Zombie, even a Golden Core True Monarch has no absolute certainty. The heaven and earth spiritual energy is growing increasingly scarce, and the spiritual energy that a Golden Core True Monarch can mobilize has also decreased, making it difficult to display the true strength of a Golden Core True Monarch.
To forcibly slay a Half-Step Flying Zombie would very likely result in being severely wounded by it or even dragged down to die together.
Do you think... a cultivator who can cultivate to this realm would take such a risk?"
These words left Zhong Bai stumped. Indeed, people were selfish, and the purpose of a cultivator's practice was to become an immortal ancestor and achieve eternal life, whereas choosing to fight a Half-Step Flying Zombie to the bitter end was, to be frank, extremely foolish.
"Understood it?
Heh heh, so that Golden Core powerhouse of the Buddhist Sects merely launched a sneak attack to severely wound the other party, and then seized the opportunity to seal them away, finishing the matter.
As for the future, whether this Half-Step Flying Zombie will break the seal and appear in the world, or even achieve true status as a Flying Zombie, who has the leisure to care?
When the sky falls, there are tall ones to prop it up. Who the hell knows how many old fellows are hidden within the Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land of each Taoist and Buddhist sect..."
When speaking of this, True Immortal Qianyuan clearly felt a bit lacking in confidence. After all, Mount Mao's hidden depths were profound, and True Immortal Qianyuan vaguely knew some things, but regarding the Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land, only successive sect leaders could truly know the secrets.
"Master, the disciple understands what Master thinks. Rest assured, the disciple will not be foolish enough to think of storming into Tengteng Town relying on the disciple's current strength.
Master, after the disciple descends the mountain, I ask that Master take good care of yourself. The disciple will certainly value my own safety!
Take care, Master..."
Zhong Bai wished to descend the mountain. The longer it dragged on, the more unbearable he found it.
True Immortal Qianyuan treated him like his own child, using every possible method to keep him safer on Mount Mao.
And as for himself...
"Tsk tsk tsk, you are rather carefree. Rest assured, this master certainly will not detain you, a heartless brat, but...
What you truly need to pay attention to down the mountain has never been monsters or demons, but human hearts!
Remember, the Mount Mao precepts state that indiscriminate killing of the innocent is forbidden, and as for those who are not innocent, heh heh, disciple, you must never be soft-hearted!"
Uhm...
Zhong Bai listened with some inward shock. His master's experience still appeared rich; even this point had been reminded in place. Well, it was a pity Zhong Bai was never someone who could be called soft-hearted to begin with.
"Master, the disciple understands!"
"Sigh, to understand is good, to understand is good. Finally, let this master give you a good thing..."
With that, True Immortal Qianyuan groped inside his robe, and an exquisitely small ring appeared in his palm.
"Humph humph, this is a rare treasure—a Cosmic Ring. It has an inner space capable of storing magical tools and other items, and only Golden Core True Monarchs have the ability to forge it.
Now, it is handed over to you."
With that, the Cosmic Ring fell into Zhong Bai's palm, and True Immortal Qianyuan vanished from the spot like a gust of wind.
He did not want to watch the scene of Zhong Bai leaving. Sometimes, evasion was not a bad thing.
Meanwhile, Zhong Bai looked at the Cosmic Ring in his hand, his gaze filled with complexity.
"Master, this disciple bows in kowtow to thank Master for your great kindness. The disciple is descending the mountain! Within ten years, the disciple will make Master proud of me!"
Taking a deep breath, Zhong Bai strode forward with resolute paces, walking step by step down Mount Mao.
The Corpse Herding Hall.
Four-Eyes was currently tightly hugging his master's thigh, refusing to let go.
"Master, the disciple is about to descend the mountain to open a Daoist arena, but as Master also knows, the disciple has no powerful divine arts to protect himself. How can Master bear to watch the disciple alone, helpless and without support, encountering monsters and demons in those deep mountains and ancient forests without any power to resist?"
While recounting this, Four-Eyes forcefully squeezed out a few tears.
Faced with such a pitiful appearance, True Immortal Changsheng remained entirely unmoved. Instead, his face darkened like ink, and he gnashed his teeth.
"Four-Eyes, let go!"
"I won't! Master, the disciple is truly afraid..."
Hearing these words, True Immortal Changsheng could no longer hold back.
"What the hell are you afraid of!
I told you to pick whatever you fancied from the Corpse Herding Hall, pack it up, and head down the mountain. You, damn it, did better: you simply swept away all my talisman papers and bronze swords, and even wanted to secretly take your grand-master's divine statue down the mountain.
What's this? When you run into trouble, do you want to directly invite your grand-master to possess your body?
Forget all that, but you actually turned your ideas toward me, asking me to split off a Bronze Armored Corpse to guard you. Do you, damn it, have the strength to manipulate a Bronze Armored Corpse?
Meeting a disciple like you, this old man must have truly run into eight lifetimes of bad luck!"
True Immortal Changsheng truly could not hold it in, cursing and swearing continuously for a time, while Four-Eyes acted as if he heard nothing.
"Master, a Bronze Armored Corpse won't do, but a Hopping Zombie should be barely manageable for the disciple to control. The worst the disciple can do is just take the Hopping Zombie...
As for the Bronze-Armored Zombie, once the disciple reaches the sixth layer of Qi Refining, Master can just send it down the mountain to me.
Look, the disciple is so considerate and doesn't even ask Master to demand that Silver Armored Corpse King, yet Master is still so stingy."
"Hey, my fiery temper! So it turns out you brat were also plotting against this master's Silver Armored Corpse King?
You are truly something else, Four-Eyes. Sigh, forget it, forget it. This master is truly afraid of you. You are only at the third layer of Qi Refining right now; controlling a Bronze-Armored Zombie is completely impossible, and a Hopping Zombie is also very easily prone to backlash.
With your grand-master's divine statue present, the Spirit Summoning Technique can easily summon your grand-master to possess you, so safety issues needn't worry this master at all.
How about this? When you reach the sixth layer of Qi Refining, this master will personally send the Hopping Zombie down the mountain to you.
Will you finally let go of this master then?"
Hearing this, Four-Eyes beamed with joy. Paying no mind to the resentful little glances his master was casting his way, he chuckled foolishly while swiftly tidying up his clothes and hurriedly packing his things.
Once Four-Eyes departed, True Immortal Changsheng finally looked toward the distant trees.
"I have let Senior Brother Qianyuan witness a joke."
Indeed, after True Immortal Qianyuan left the Law Enforcement Hall, he had come to the Corpse Herding Hall. He couldn't handle master-disciple partings, true, but watching others show reluctance to part was quite interesting.
"No matter, Junior Brother Changsheng is naturally carefree by nature, and Disciple-Nephew Four-Eyes, though somewhat erratic in temperament, is also sincere.
If there is one flaw to speak of, it is that his heart is too big—hahaha, actually plotting against your natal Silver Armored Corpse King, Junior Brother. Truly filial."
Upon hearing this, True Immortal Changsheng's face darkened instantly, though he quickly broke into a smile.
"Banter and bickering is also quite good. Daoist practice is inherently dry and tedious; these years with Four-Eyes around, Junior Brother truly hasn't felt bored."
"That is indeed so."
True Immortal Qianyuan's gaze was calm. Truly, though Four-Eyes was boisterous, he was also amusing.
"Has Disciple-Nephew Zhong Bai already descended the mountain?"
True Immortal Changsheng asked, otherwise why would his usually reclusive senior brother come strolling to his Corpse Herding Hall.
"Indeed. I gave him a Cosmic Ring and let him head down the mountain."
At this, True Immortal Changsheng immediately twitched the corners of his mouth.
"Tsk, Senior Brother truly dotes on Disciple-Nephew Zhong Bai. Cosmic Rings can only be forged by Golden Core True Monarchs, and they are immensely valuable. Even Junior Brother only possesses one, and it was left behind by Master..."
"Junior Brother is not far behind either; your main hall has almost been emptied out by Disciple-Nephew Four-Eyes, yet you don't feel any heartache."
The two exchanged glances, brimming with smiles.
To put it bluntly, they were both the same kind of people.
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