Tianyuan Mountain.
Three days.
For three whole days, Ye Xuan had barely closed his eyes.
The threshold of that unremarkable little courtyard had nearly been worn away from all the foot traffic.
Old Sun really knew how to get things done.
Or rather,
the "junk" Ye Xuan had brought out was incredibly tempting to these struggling independent cultivators.
At that moment,
Ye Xuan sat on a protruding rock, with the Sea of Clouds churning below him and the starry river hanging upside down overhead.
He casually weighed the Storage Bag in his hand.
It was heavy.
Not only was the bag heavy, but the satisfaction in his heart was even heavier.
Inside were precious medicinal ingredients and materials for refining artifacts.
"I should head back."
"If I don't, that fatty's going to explode with anger!"
Before his voice had even faded,
a streak of azure light suddenly blazed to life.
Ye Xuan leaped up and landed directly on the Chang Qing Sword.
In the next instant,
the Chang Qing Sword let out a clear, resonant dragon's cry and shot across the sky.
More than a year had passed.
When he first left the mountain, he had only been at the Jade Pure Fifth Layer.
Now, he was returning as an expert of the Shangqing Realm.
Qingyun Sect.
Great Bamboo Peak.
In the early morning, mist swirled around the mountain, making it look like a paradise.
The bamboo grove behind the mountain.
"Smack!"
A sharp crack broke the silence.
Song Daren clutched his head, baring his teeth in pain, but he didn't dare make a sound.
"Idiot!"
"Are you a pig?"
"It's just a simple Sword Control Technique. You've been practicing it for years! How did you still manage to crash into a tree?"
"You've disgraced all of Great Bamboo Peak!"
Tian Buyi stood with his hands behind his back, his big belly sticking out. His round face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
At that,
Song Daren looked utterly aggrieved.
It wasn't as if he'd wanted to crash into a tree.
He'd just seen his master's murderous glare and panicked, throwing off his breathing...
The junior disciples nearby hunched their shoulders and held their tongues.
No one dared to provoke their master right now.
Lately, their master had been getting more and more irritable.
He'd always been harsh when he scolded them, but at least there'd been a limit.
Now he was like a powder keg, ready to explode at the slightest spark.
"And you lot!"
"Look at how pathetic you all are!"
"You're never eager to cultivate, but you're always first to the dinner table!"
"All you do is eat and wait to die!"
"If you don't shape up, I'll kick you all off the mountain! Don't stand around here and get in my way!"
After finishing with Song Daren, Tian Buyi narrowed his small eyes and swept his gaze over the others.
Everyone shuddered.
They hurriedly lowered their heads, fixing their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts.
Tian Buyi stormed away, flinging his sleeve.
The disciples exchanged bewildered looks, each wearing a face as mournful as if someone had died.
"Senior Brother, what's wrong with Master?"
"Could Mistress have stopped Master from sharing her bed again?"
Sixth, Du Bishu, sidled up to Song Daren and whispered.
"Get out of here!"
"Stop spouting nonsense!"
"If Master hears you, he'll skin you alive!"
Song Daren rubbed the bump on his head and glared at him crossly.
"Then what do you think it is?"
Du Bishu pursed his lips.
"What else could it be?"
Second Senior Brother Wu Dayi sighed and pointed down the mountain.
"He misses Seventh."
At the mention of Seventh, everyone fell silent.
Ye Xuan.
That astonishingly gifted Junior disciple brother.
Ever since he'd left to gain experience more than a year ago, there hadn't been a single word from him.
It was as if he'd vanished from the face of the earth.
Though no one said it aloud, they all worried about him.
Especially their master.
He might have spent every day grumbling and yelling, but deep down, he was more anxious than anyone.
Every night, he went to Seventh's room and circled it. He never went inside; he just stood at the doorway for a while.
The sight of his back was enough to make anyone's heart ache.
"Haah..."
Song Daren sighed and stared blankly at the clouds on the horizon.
"Junior disciple brother, oh, Junior disciple brother, where in the world have you gone?"
"If you don't come back soon, life on Great Bamboo Peak is going to be unbearable."
Shou Jing Hall.
"I'm furious!"
"A bunch of useless fools! Worthless as rotten wood!"
"I've taught you all these years, and not one of you has amounted to anything!"
Tian Buyi plopped down in his chair, making the teacups jump.
"All right, don't be angry."
"Daren and the others are working hard."
"They may be a little lacking in talent, but at least they're diligent and honest."
Su Ru came over with a plate of sliced fruit and set it on the table.
"Diligent? Honest?"
Tian Buyi snorted. He grabbed a piece of fruit and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing loudly.
"Can diligence put food on the table?"
"Can honesty improve their cultivation?"
"The Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament is coming up!"
"With their sorry lot, they'll only embarrass themselves!"
"When that happens, that old scoundrel Cang Song from Dragon Head Peak will laugh his teeth out!"
Just thinking of Cang Song's smug old face
made Tian Buyi seethe.
For years, Great Bamboo Peak had come in last at the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament.
He could hardly show his face anymore.
At long last, he'd taken in a disciple with the Innate Dao Body, thinking he could finally turn things around.
But what happened?
He ran off!
He ran off without a word!
And it had been over a year!
Not even a single message!
"Just look at that brat!"
"He'd barely been cultivating for any time at all, and he already dared to run off?"
"Does he think the outside world is some fun place?"
"People are treacherous! Demons and monsters roam everywhere!"
"What if..."
Tian Buyi took out his anger on Ye Xuan.
"What if something happened..."
"How would I... how would I answer to the ancestors of Great Bamboo Peak?"
As he said this,
Tian Buyi's voice suddenly dropped. A hint of panic flickered in his small eyes, gone almost as soon as it appeared.
Seeing her husband like this, Su Ru's heart ached.
She went behind Tian Buyi and gently rubbed his shoulders.
"Buyi, don't dwell on it."
"Seventh is a clever boy."
"And he has the Innate Dao Body and fate on his side. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"Maybe he came across some opportunity and got held up."
"An opportunity?"
Tian Buyi grumbled.
"What kind of opportunity could keep him away for over a year?"
"I say he's gotten carried away having fun and doesn't want to come back!"
"When that brat returns, I'll break his legs!"
He said that,
but he couldn't hide the worry in his eyes.
Just then,
"Dong—"
A long, resonant bell suddenly rang out from the direction of the main peak.
Its sound pierced the clouds and echoed across the entire Qingyun Mountain Range.
Tian Buyi trembled and sprang to his feet.
The anger on his round face vanished in an instant, replaced by a grave expression.
"The bell at Heaven-Piercing Peak?"
"That means Sect Leader Senior Brother is summoning the heads of the peaks!"
Su Ru's expression changed as well.
The bell at Heaven-Piercing Peak had a clear set of rules.
One toll summoned the heads of the peaks.
Two tolls summoned all the sect's peak heads and elders.
Three tolls summoned all the sect's peak heads, elders, and disciples.
Nine tolls meant the Qingyun Sect faced the threat of annihilation, warning everyone.
Right now,
the bell had tolled once.
It meant that the Sect Leader, Dao Xuan Zhenren, was summoning the heads of the Seven Peaks.
"Could the Demon Cult be making a move?"
Tian Buyi knitted his brows.
He straightened his clothes and adjusted his appearance. The fat on his body jiggled, and an air of masterful authority rose naturally around him.
"I'll go take a look first."
"Keep an eye on those little monkeys at home. Don't let them cause trouble."
With that,
Tian Buyi wasted no time. He formed a hand seal.
The Crimson Flame Immortal Sword shot out with a whistle, carrying him away as a streak of red light toward Heaven-Piercing Peak.
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