"Changsheng!"
"Changsheng!"
From Red Peak came Qingyun Daoist's voice.
Inside the room, Lu Changsheng put away a pill formula. Hearing his master's voice, he could not help but look over.
Outside the door, Qingyun Daoist looked at Lu Changsheng.
A slanting ray of sunset shone down upon Lu Changsheng, lending him an indescribable handsomeness, along with an indescribable immortal aura.
It had to be said that Qingyun Daoist felt his life had been without regrets.
In the first half of his life, he had had a good master who had taught him with painstaking care and even passed the position of sect leader on to him. In the latter half, he had unexpectedly taken in such a disciple who brought him such glory.
At times, Qingyun Daoist deeply suspected that he might be the legendary Child of Destiny.
"Master, what is so urgent?"
Lu Changsheng spoke slowly, yet that very slowness displayed his immortal aura to the fullest.
"Changsheng, stop deceiving your master. What realm are you truly at?"
Qingyun Daoist came straight to the point and directly asked Lu Changsheng about his cultivation realm.
"Qi Refinement, of course. Master, don't tell me you can't see through my realm?"
Lu Changsheng was somewhat bewildered.
Liu Qingfeng's inability to see through his realm should have been because his cultivation was too low. His own master was said to have already transcended tribulation—how could he possibly fail to see Lu Changsheng's realm?
"Changsheng, your master understands that one should be modest, but haven't you taken modesty too far? Stop deceiving your master. What realm are you really at? Body Integration? Spirit Division? Could it be that you have truly transcended tribulation?"
Qingyun Daoist was full of doubt.
From the very first moment he had seen Lu Changsheng, he had felt that Lu Changsheng was no ordinary person. The facts had proven that Lu Changsheng truly was extraordinary.
He caused heavenly and earthly phenomena from time to time. Was someone like that an ordinary person? Was someone like that a mere common man?
When he had come yesterday, Lu Changsheng had said that he had spent three years in Qi Refinement. At first, Qingyun Daoist had merely thought it was an issue with his cultivation technique, but as the entire Great Luo Holy Land began spreading word that Lu Changsheng's realm was unfathomably profound—
Only then did Qingyun Daoist realize.
He might have been deceived by Lu Changsheng.
"Transcend tribulation?"
At this moment, Lu Changsheng was completely dumbfounded. He was genuinely in the Qi Refinement Realm—what did transcending tribulation have to do with him?
If he had to force a connection, then a tribulation-transcending powerhouse could probably kill him with a single breath.
"Who has been spreading this?"
Lu Changsheng could not help being curious, but he quickly thought of someone.
Liu Qingfeng!
In an instant, Lu Changsheng did not know what to say.
He had clearly said Nascent Soul. How had it turned into transcending tribulation by the time it spread around?
Sure enough, rumors were as fierce as tigers.
"Master, I really am only in Qi Refinement. Why would I deceive you? If you do not believe me, inspect my body."
Lu Changsheng truly did not know what else to say.
If it had been outsiders, he certainly would have bluffed his way through it. But there was no need to deceive his master. What if his master believed it and sent him out to gain experience? Wouldn't that be the end of him?
"I don't believe it!"
Qingyun Daoist shook his head, then sighed. "Oh, I understand. Changsheng, I understand now."
What?
What did you understand?
I don't even understand what it is that you understand.
Was he making things up in his head again?
Aaaaaah!
Lu Changsheng felt that things were taking a turn for the worse. Just as he hurriedly looked toward Qingyun Daoist to explain, the latter cut him off first.
"You are steady by nature, yet gifted beyond measure. After entering the Great Luo Holy Land, you reached a realm beyond ordinary people's imagination in merely three years. Though your master does not know what realm you have reached, your master understands."
"You do not wish to be overly high-profile, nor do you wish to crush the enthusiasm of disciples your own age. Especially since you are to assume the position of Eldest Senior Brother, you are even less willing to flaunt yourself. Very good, very admirable, Changsheng. You have already reached the state of supreme goodness being like water."
"What a shame, what a shame. Your master has cultivated for eighteen hundred years and has yet to reach the state of supreme goodness being like water, yet you reached such a state of mind in only three years. Remarkable, remarkable. Your master is ashamed."
Qingyun Daoist muttered to himself.
It made Lu Changsheng marvel at his master's ability to invent elaborate explanations in his own mind.
"Master, I—"
Lu Changsheng still wanted to explain.
But Qingyun Daoist interrupted him again.
"I understand. Changsheng, what you are doing is right, and your master supports you. The world of immortal cultivation is perilous beyond measure. Not telling others your realm and letting enemies underestimate you at all times is an excellent method. You are so outstanding that naturally many will envy and resent you. Your master will help you conceal it as well. How about this—later, I will tell your martial uncles that you are merely at the Nascent Soul Realm."
"However, there is one matter in which I may need your help."
That was what Qingyun Daoist said.
Merely Nascent Soul?
Lu Changsheng truly did not know what to say. If he were in the Nascent Soul Realm, would he still be cowering in the sect like this?
He would have gone out to show off long ago.
What kind of plot was this?
Why did no one believe him when he told the truth?
Lu Changsheng fell silent. He was utterly speechless, but in Qingyun Daoist's eyes, this was an admission.
With that in mind, Qingyun Daoist continued.
"Your martial uncles all wish to arrange for their descendants to remain at your side. Though your master stopped them, their enthusiasm burns like fire. And since Great Luo's creed is unity, your master gave it some thought and decided to let them stay with you. That way, you will have some people to use, and you will not need to personally handle every little matter. Otherwise, you would not seem much like an Eldest Senior Brother. What do you think?"
That was what Qingyun Daoist said.
Lu Changsheng immediately shook his head. "That won't do!"
Of course it would not do. With his meager cultivation, if they stayed at his side, he would be exposed sooner or later.
Yet the moment Lu Changsheng answered—
Qingyun Daoist could not help frowning. "Changsheng, your master is not trying to frighten you, but if you do not agree, they may come straight from the Great Luo Immortal Palace to your Red Peak. Your master has a good temper, but your martial uncles are fiercer than the last. There is no telling whether they might do something to you—"
As those words rang out—
Lu Changsheng vaguely saw a group of red-eyed martial uncles arriving at Red Peak.
In an instant, Lu Changsheng swallowed.
"But I do not know what to teach them."
Lu Changsheng genuinely did not know what he could teach them. Would the multiplication table work? Calculus was a little difficult; at most, he could teach them systems of two-variable linear equations.
"You need not deliberately teach them anything. They merely want to stay at your side and bask in a little of your immortal aura. When the time comes, just give them orders as you please."
"Oh, and make the descendants of those two martial uncles from the Array Hall and Moral Hall do a little more work. When your master was young, those two martial uncles of yours set me up miserably several times. Do not pity them. Let them suffer a little, understand, disciple?"
Qingyun Daoist said this with a serious expression.
He looked extremely scheming.
Lu Changsheng had truly not expected his master to hold such grudges. He had to remember this well—if he ever accidentally offended his master somewhere in the future, he would need to be more careful.
"Very well, your master will not linger here any longer. After tomorrow's grand ceremony ends, your master will arrange for those people to stay in your main peak. Prepare yourself well. For tomorrow's ceremony, your master has already prepared the Dao Text for you. Just read according to it when the time comes."
Qingyun Daoist said with a light smile.
Then, with a turn, he vanished outside the door.
After Qingyun Daoist left—
Lu Changsheng could not help revealing an expression of grief and indignation.
Sure enough, the old saying was right.
One had to be honest in life.
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