Ye Xuan's Troubles!

Great Bamboo Peak.

The dining hall.

As Wu Dayi spoke.

The air at the dinner table seemed to freeze for a moment.

All eyes turned to Wu Dayi's flushed face.

"Going down the mountain?"

"You mean for training?"

"I think you're just craving the roast chicken down the mountain!"

Tian Buyi's hand, holding his wine bowl, froze mid-air.

He snorted and slammed the wine bowl heavily onto the table, making a crisp "bang."

"Master, I didn't..."

Wu Dayi flinched, his face turning even redder, like an overripe persimmon.

He mumbled a rebuttal, his voice as small as a mosquito's hum.

The senior disciples around him wanted to laugh but dared not, their cheeks puffed out.

"Alright, Buyi."

"The second disciple isn't a child anymore, and besides, the sect rules state..."

"Once one reaches the fourth level of the Yuqing Realm, they must descend the mountain to travel and seek rare treasures to refine their Natal Magic Treasures."

"These are the rules set by the founding ancestor, are you going to stop them?"

Su Ru gently patted Tian Buyi's hand and said softly.

As soon as she spoke, half of Tian Buyi's bluster deflated.

"Stop them? Hell no!"

"I'm just afraid these brats will embarrass Great Bamboo Peak when they go down the mountain!"

Although he cursed.

Everyone could tell that Tian Buyi's tone had softened.

"What about you guys?"

"Are your hearts also restless, wanting to scram with them?"

The three disciples who were called upon exchanged glances, then stood up in unison.

"Disciple..."

"Disciple also wishes to descend the mountain to seek opportunities!"

This shout was perfectly synchronized, clearly pre-planned.

"Scram, scram, scram! All of you, get out!"

"So you don't waste my grain on the mountain!"

Tian Buyi rolled his eyes and waved his hand, as if shooing away flies.

But a hint of imperceptible relief flashed in his narrowed eyes.

The lineage of Great Bamboo Peak had always been sparsely populated and mediocre in talent.

In previous years, if even one disciple reached the Object Moving Realm and descended the mountain for training, he would have been overjoyed.

Now, four were leaving at once.

This display, even Dragon Head Peak would have to consider.

Ye Xuan sat to the side, slowly eating the rice in his bowl.

He understood this fat Master all too well.

Stubbornly proud.

He was clearly delighted but insisted on demeaning his disciples.

However.

With the senior disciples gone, Great Bamboo Peak would become a lot quieter again.

The next morning.

Just as dawn broke, the sea of clouds behind Great Bamboo Peak had yet to dissipate.

On the square in front of Shou Jing Hall, several figures, carrying their luggage, were ready to depart.

There were no fanfare or tearful goodbyes.

Cultivators valued freedom and ease.

"Master, Mistress, your disciples are leaving!"

Wu Dayi led the way.

The four of them knelt down in unison, respectfully kowtowing three times.

"Be alert on your journey!"

"Don't get sold and then help count the money!"

Tian Buyi stood on the steps with his hands behind his back, his expression as stern as a rotten stone.

He coldly threw out a sentence and turned to go inside, not even looking back.

Only Ye Xuan saw it clearly.

The moment his Master turned, his footsteps clearly paused.

This old man, he still couldn't bear to part with them.

"Go ahead."

"Come back soon."

Su Ru, on the other hand, had a gentle expression and gave a few detailed instructions.

Watching the four senior disciples fly their standard flying swords, wobbling towards the sky.

Ye Xuan stretched.

This was the price of growth.

Fledglings had to leave the nest; old birds could only watch from the nest.

However, he didn't have time to be sentimental now.

There were two more tender fledglings waiting for him to train.

Black Bamboo Forest.

The sun gradually rose higher.

Sunlight filtered through the dense bamboo leaves, casting dappled shadows.

A faint scent of bamboo permeated the air.

"Crack! Crack!"

Muffled chopping sounds echoed, breaking the tranquility of the bamboo forest.

Lin Jingyu gripped the woodcutting knife, his tiger's mouth already numb from the impact.

He gritted his teeth, staring intently at the pitch-black bamboo in front of him.

Was this thing really bamboo?

It was harder than iron!

He had been chopping for a full hour, and the blade had already chipped.

Yet, the Black Bamboo only bore a shallow white mark.

"Damn it!"

Lin Jingyu cursed fiercely, his youthful temper making him increasingly impatient.

He was a genius with extraordinary talent!

How could he not even deal with a single bamboo stalk?

Not far away.

Zhang Xiaofan was burying his head, swinging the woodcutting knife with each stroke.

His movements were clumsy, and he lacked Lin Jingyu's strength.

But he was like a tireless wooden man.

Every chop landed in the same vicinity.

Although his progress was equally disheartening, his tenacity was noteworthy.

Ye Xuan sat on a smooth, large bluestone, a blade of grass in his mouth, leisurely swinging his legs.

Watching the two future titans, who would stir up storms, struggle with bamboo here.

The feeling was indescribably satisfying.

"Junior disciple brother, that's not how you use your strength."

"Chopping bamboo is like cultivation."

"It requires a balance of hardness and softness."

"If you just brute force it like this, you'll only end up with useless hands."

Ye Xuan spat out the grass root and said lazily.

"Seventh Senior Brother, this bamboo is too hard!"

"Even if it were made of iron, it should have broken by now!"

Lin Jingyu paused his movements and turned around, his face full of defiance.

Ye Xuan chuckled and hopped off the rock.

He casually picked up a dead branch and walked to Lin Jingyu's Black Bamboo.

"Watch closely."

He channeled a trace of spiritual energy.

With a mere flick of his wrist.

The dead branch, like a nimble snake, lightly tapped the bamboo.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound.

The Black Bamboo, as hard as iron, split open in response, revealing a deep crack.

Lin Jingyu's eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.

Zhang Xiaofan also stopped his actions, his mouth agape, staring blankly at the scene.

"This..."

"How is this possible?"

The dead branch didn't break, but the bamboo did?

What kind of technique was that?

Ye Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, striking a profound pose.

"This is called technique."

"Go back and ponder it well."

After saying that.

Ye Xuan sat back down on the large bluestone, no longer paying attention to the two youths questioning their existence.

Inside, however, he was secretly thrilled.

This was the crushing power of strength!

Although he had secretly used a tiny bit of clever force just now, the impressiveness was definitely maxed out.

Even though these two had taken the Marrow Cleansing Pill and undergone a transformation.

They still wanted to chop down Black Bamboo?

They needed more practice!

While the two of them were once again engrossed in their work.

Ye Xuan's mind stirred, and he summoned the System interface.

A pale blue light screen unfolded before Ye Xuan's eyes.

[Host: Ye Xuan]
[Race: Human Race (Innate Dao Body)]
[Realm: Shangqing Realm First Layer]
[Cultivation Method: Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao]
[Magic Treasure: Myriad Ancient Cauldron (Low-grade Spirit Tool), Chang Qing Sword (Top-grade Magic Artifact)]
[Skills: Low-tier Alchemy Mastery, Low-tier Artifact Forging Technique, Compendium of Low-tier Arrays]
[Item: Various Pills...]
[Current Sign-in Location: Qingyun Sect Ancestral Hall (Not Signed In)]

Looking at the screen before him.

Ye Xuan couldn't help but frown.

Now that he had returned to the Qingyun Sect.

It was time to find an opportunity to complete the System's sign-in mission.

However.

The Ancestral Hall.

That was a forbidden area on Heaven-Piercing Peak.

Normally, apart from the Sect Master Dao Xuan Zhenren, no one would go to that place.

What kind of excuse could he find without arousing suspicion?