Great Bamboo Peak.
The dining hall.
As Wu Dayi spoke,
the air around the table seemed to freeze for a moment.
Everyone's gaze converged on Wu Dayi's flushed face.
"Going down the mountain?"
"You call that gaining experience?"
"I say you're just craving roast chicken from down below!"
Tian Buyi's hand, holding his wine bowl, froze in midair.
He snorted and slammed the bowl down on the table, making a sharp thunk.
"Master, I didn't..."
Wu Dayi hunched his shoulders, his face even redder, like a ripe persimmon.
He tried to protest in a mumble, his voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
The brothers around him wanted to laugh but didn't dare. Their cheeks puffed out as they struggled to hold it in.
"That's enough, Buyi."
"Second Brother isn't a child anymore, and besides, those are the sect's rules."
"Once you reach the fourth layer of the Yuqing Realm, you have to go down the mountain and travel, seeking heavenly treasures to forge your life-bound magic treasure."
"That was a rule set by our founding ancestor. Are you really going to stop him?"
Su Ru gently patted the back of Tian Buyi's hand and spoke softly.
The moment she spoke, half of Tian Buyi's bluster vanished.
"Stop him, my ass!"
"I'm worried these little brats will disgrace Great Bamboo Peak when they go down the mountain!"
Though he kept grumbling,
everyone could hear the change in Tian Buyi's tone.
"What about you three?"
"Have you got restless hearts too, and want to leave with him?"
The three who'd been called out looked at one another, then stood up in unison.
"Your disciple..."
"Your disciples also wish to go down the mountain and seek opportunities!"
They shouted in perfect unison, clearly having planned it in advance.
"Get out, get out, all of you!"
"Then I won't have to waste food on you up here!"
Tian Buyi rolled his eyes and waved them away as if shooing flies.
But in his narrowed eyes, a hint of relief flickered, almost too subtle to notice.
Great Bamboo Peak had always been sparsely populated, and its disciples were of average talent.
In years past, he would've been overjoyed if even one disciple had reached the Object Moving Realm and gone down the mountain to gain experience.
Now four were leaving at once.
Even Dragon Head Peak would have to take notice of that.
Ye Xuan sat to one side, taking his time as he scooped rice into his mouth.
He knew his chubby master all too well.
A stubborn old softie.
His heart was bursting with joy, yet he insisted on belittling his disciples.
Still,
with his senior brothers leaving, Great Bamboo Peak would grow quieter again.
The next morning.
Dawn had barely broken, and the Sea of Clouds behind Great Bamboo Peak had yet to disperse.
Several figures stood in the square before Shou Jing Hall, packs on their backs and ready to leave.
There were no gongs or drums, no tearful farewells.
Cultivators valued freedom and detachment.
"Master, Mistress, your disciples are leaving!"
Wu Dayi led the group.
All four knelt and kowtowed three times, respectfully.
"Stay sharp on the road!"
"Don't let someone sell you and then help them count the money!"
Tian Buyi stood on the steps with his hands behind his back, his face as hard as a stone.
He tossed out the words coldly, then turned and went inside without even looking back.
Only Ye Xuan saw it clearly.
The instant Master turned around, his steps faltered.
The old man really couldn't bear to see them go.
"Go on."
"Come back soon."
Su Ru was all smiles, gently reminding them of a few things.
She watched as the four senior brothers mounted their standard flying swords and wobbled off toward the horizon.
Ye Xuan stretched.
This was the price of growing up.
Fledgling eagles had to leave the nest, while the old birds could only watch over them from home.
Still, he didn't have time to feel sentimental.
There were two even younger fledglings waiting for him to train them.
Black Bamboo Forest.
The sun climbed higher.
Sunlight filtered through the thick bamboo leaves, casting dappled shadows.
A faint bamboo fragrance filled the air.
"Chop! Chop!"
The dull sounds of chopping rang out, breaking the forest's quiet.
Lin Jingyu gripped his hatchet, the web between his thumb and forefinger already numb from the jolts.
He gritted his teeth and glared at the black bamboo before him.
Was this thing really bamboo?
It was harder than iron!
He'd been chopping away for a whole hour, and the blade was already chipped.
Yet all he'd managed to leave on the Black Bamboo was a faint white mark.
"Damn it!"
Lin Jingyu cursed under his breath, growing more and more impatient.
He was a genius with extraordinary talent!
How could he fail to deal with a mere bamboo stalk?
Not far away,
Zhang Xiaofan was silently swinging his hatchet, again and again.
His movements were clumsy, and he wasn't as strong as Lin Jingyu.
But he was like a wooden puppet that never tired.
Every blow landed in nearly the same spot.
His progress was just as pitiful, but his persistence was impressive.
Ye Xuan sat on a smooth boulder, a blade of grass between his teeth, leisurely swinging his legs.
He watched two future powerhouses struggle against a bamboo stalk.
The feeling was hard to describe.
"Junior disciple brother, that's not how you use your strength."
"Chopping bamboo is like cultivating immortality."
"You need to balance hardness with softness."
"If you keep meeting force with force, you'll only ruin your hands. It's no use at all."
Ye Xuan spat out the blade of grass and spoke lazily.
"Seventh Senior Brother, this bamboo's too hard!"
"Even if it were made of iron, it should've broken by now!"
Lin Jingyu paused and turned around, looking unconvinced.
Ye Xuan chuckled and jumped down from the boulder.
He casually picked up a dead branch and walked over to the Black Bamboo Lin Jingyu had been chopping.
"Watch closely."
He channeled a trace of spiritual energy.
With only a light flick of his wrist,
the dead branch moved like a nimble snake, tapping the bamboo.
Crack!
A sharp snap rang out.
The Black Bamboo, hard as iron, split at the touch, revealing a deep crack.
Lin Jingyu's eyes widened as if he'd seen a ghost.
Zhang Xiaofan stopped chopping too, staring at the scene with his mouth agape.
"This..."
"How is that possible?"
The branch hadn't broken, but the bamboo had?
How had he done that?
Ye Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, putting on an air of inscrutable wisdom.
"That's technique."
"Go back and think it over."
With that,
Ye Xuan sat back down on the boulder and paid no more attention to the two bewildered boys.
Inside, he was secretly delighted.
That was what you called crushing them with sheer skill!
He'd secretly used a tiny bit of force just now, but his impressive aura was still off the charts.
The two of them had taken Marrow Cleansing Pills and undergone a complete transformation.
But chopping through Black Bamboo?
They still had a long way to go!
While the two bent their heads and got back to work,
Ye Xuan's thoughts stirred, and he summoned the system interface.
A pale blue screen appeared before Ye Xuan.
[Host: Ye Xuan] [Race: Human Race (Innate Dao Body)] [Realm: First layer of the Shangqing Realm] [Technique: Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao] [Magic Treasures: Myriad Ancient Cauldron (Low-grade Spirit Tool), Everlasting Sword (Top-grade Magic Artifact)] [Skills: Low-tier Alchemy Mastery, Low-tier Artifact Forging Technique, Compendium of Low-tier Arrays] [Items: Several pills...] [Current Sign-in Location: Qingyun Sect Ancestral Hall (Not signed in)]
Looking at the screen before him,
Ye Xuan couldn't help frowning.
Now that he'd returned to the Qingyun Sect,
he needed to find a chance to complete the system's sign-in task.
But
the Ancestral Hall.
That was a forbidden place on Heaven-Piercing Peak.
Aside from Sect Master Dao Xuan Zhenren, no one ever went there.
What excuse could he come up with so no one would suspect him?
Before you continue