Bai Jin turned and flew down, landing in front of Shi Ji.
Shi Ji struggled to sit up and called weakly, "Senior Brother~"
Bai Jin supported her and asked with concern, "Junior Sister Shi Ji, how are you feeling now?"
Shi Ji forced a smile. "I'm fine. They're only injuries to my flesh and bones; my primordial spirit wasn't harmed. I'll recover soon."
Bai Jin looked at the woman beside her and said, "Junior Sister Gu Liang, please take Shi Ji back so she can rest."
The little girl beside them, her hair tied into twin buns, nodded repeatedly. "Yes, Senior Disciple Brother." Raising both hands, she released a stream of immortal spiritual energy that carried Shi Ji away into the distance.
Shi Ji turned her head to look at Bai Jin and said with a forced smile, "Senior Brother, what you said just now was really good."
Bai Jin grinned smugly. Senior Brother must have been impressed, huh!
"...It's just that your fighting method afterward was a little too sneaky."
Bai Jin's smile froze on his face.
Shi Ji giggled and urged Junior Sister Gu Liang to leave quickly.
Bai Jin said speechlessly, "You've got some nerve! You even dare tease your senior brother."
Holy Mother Wudang drifted down beside Bai Jin and asked, "You seemed rather angry just now?"
Bai Jin said, "He injured my junior sister. Of course, as her senior brother, I was angry."
"Really? When Senior Disciple Brother was injured, you didn't seem very angry either. I even felt you were a little pleased."
Bai Jin immediately cried out in grievance, "Senior Sister, I've been wronged!
"When Senior Disciple Brother was injured, my heart ached as if it were being carved by a knife. That little knife felt as though it were cutting into me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lent my supreme treasure to Senior Disciple Brother."
At a distant corner, Daoist Duobao braced himself against the mountainside. His gaze toward Bai Jin gradually softened. Perhaps I should try to understand my junior brother more. It hasn't been easy for him either.
A massive rock on the mountainside trembled slightly before crashing down with a boom, burying Duobao beneath it.
Bai Jin and Holy Mother Wudang immediately turned back to look at the boulder blocking the path.
Holy Mother Wudang asked in confusion, "How could there be a rockslide on Mount Kunlun?"
"Isn't it normal for rocks to fall from a mountain?"
Holy Mother Wudang rolled her eyes. "This is Mount Kunlun."
Bai Jin suddenly cried out, "Right, where's Senior Disciple Brother? He still hasn't returned my Treasure Dropping Coin! Where is he now?"
Holy Mother Wudang immediately urged, "Come on, Senior Sister will help you look for him."
The two drifted up the mountain.
A moment later, the fallen boulder exploded upward with a rumble. Daoist Duobao emerged, his face dark as iron. Damn it. How could a mere falling rock possibly hit me? Someone must be plotting against me! But who?!
Duobao warily scrutinized his surroundings, cast an invisibility spell on himself, and cautiously headed up the mountain. The journey was fraught with disasters; natural calamities and man-made misfortunes came one after another, leaving Duobao in a miserable state.
After enduring it for half a day, Duobao could no longer hold on. Not only had his injuries failed to improve, they had worsened considerably. He hurried toward Shangqing Palace.
Thud! Duobao staggered directly into Shangqing Palace, collapsed to his knees before a prayer cushion, and kowtowed miserably, filthy and bedraggled. "This disciple greets Master. I beg Master to uphold justice for this disciple! I was secretly attacked!"
Tongtian said, "Bai Jin, come in!"
A streak of clear light flew in from afar and landed before Shangqing Palace, transforming into Bai Jin. He was spotless and handsome, a stark contrast to the wretched Duobao.
Bai Jin strode into the hall, knelt before a prayer cushion, and kowtowed. "This disciple greets Master."
He looked up with a cheeky grin. "Master, why have you summoned this disciple?"
Tongtian said irritably, "Do you really not know why I summoned you? Look at your senior brother."
Bai Jin turned to look, then jumped in fright. "Senior Brother, what happened to you?"
Duobao raised his head and puffed out his chest, saying calmly, "It's nothing. I was merely ambushed by petty villains a few times. Your senior brother dealt with them easily."
Bai Jin's mouth twitched twice. Senior Brother sure knows how to put on an act.
Tongtian's voice came from above. "Duobao, take out the magical treasure Bai Jin gave you."
Duobao extended his hand. A round gold coin with a square hole appeared in his palm, twin wings growing from its sides. He said respectfully, "Master, this is the magical treasure Junior Brother gave me. This disciple used it to take seven flying daggers, but after the dagger case self-destructed, the seven flying daggers also returned to heaven and earth as their origin.
"Here, I must thank Junior Brother for giving this treasure to your senior brother."
Bai Jin immediately turned and glared at Duobao with wide eyes. "Senior Disciple Brother, I didn't give it to you. I merely lent it to you."
Duobao's expression did not change as he said calmly, "Your senior brother accepts it with thanks."
"I..." Bai Jin laughed in anger. "Senior Disciple Brother, can you have some shame? If you conduct yourself like this, who will dare help you in the future?!"
Duobao did not even look at Bai Jin. Once it's in my hands, it's mine. Otherwise, if Junior Brother uses this treasure against me in the future, no matter how many treasures I have, it won't be enough for it to take.
Bai Jin looked up at Tongtian and cried out in grievance, "Master, look at Senior Brother! I helped him defeat his opponent, yet in the end, Senior Disciple Brother wants to covet my treasure. Is that any way for a senior brother to behave?"
Tongtian beckoned with one hand, and the Treasure Dropping Coin in Duobao's hand immediately flew out and landed in Tongtian's palm.
Tongtian played with the Treasure Dropping Coin in his hand and said, "Use it a few more times, and you'll be close to perishing."
Duobao shuddered. Lightning seemed to flash through his mind. Anyone capable of becoming Tongtian's disciple was no fool. It was only because his damaged and chaotic fortune had temporarily clouded his Dao heart. Now, with Tongtian's single remark, scene after scene flashed through his mind: his healing going awry and worsening his injuries, a falling rock on the road smashing him into the dust, his cloud flight going awry and sending him crashing down from midair, the treasure case suddenly exploding and severely injuring him.
The first incident of bad luck had been the sudden explosion of the treasure case. What had he done before that? He had used this treasure to take seven flying daggers!
Duobao suddenly turned to Bai Jin. All the frustration he had endured over the past half day surged into his heart, and he shouted in shock and fury, "Bai Jin, you harmed me?"
He laughed in anger. "I thought you were a good brother, yet you secretly resorted to such methods to harm me."
Bai Jin said unhappily, "Senior Brother, I was helping you. If I hadn't offered up the Treasure Dropping Coin, you'd still be getting stabbed by flying daggers! And who covets a brother's magical treasure?!"
"You..."
Tongtian said sternly, "Duobao, has your chaotic fortune thrown your Dao heart into disorder as well?" His severe voice rang in Duobao's heart like heavenly thunder.
Duobao took a deep breath and lowered his head. "This disciple knows his mistake!"
In Tongtian's sight, the two below him had vastly different fortunes. Bai Jin's fortune resembled a three-colored lotus blossom, brilliant as a canopy—an indication of the blessings of the Three Pure Ones. Duobao's fortune had originally resembled a divine wheel, but now more than half of it was gone. What remained was tangled and chaotic, wandering everywhere. That was why his Dao heart had been clouded. Even being hated by heaven and abandoned by earth was no worse than this.
Tongtian moved his fingers through the air, and Duobao's chaotic fortune instantly gathered together, forming a divine wheel half a meter wide that hovered behind Duobao's head.
Duobao only felt his mind clear and his entire body relax. The sense of danger lurking everywhere was gone. He quickly bowed. "Thank you, Master."
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