Duel, Young Man

"Senior Brother Lou, why do you say that disaster is imminent?"

Lou Zhizheng smiled slightly.

"Junior Brother Ling, do you know that your master, who is currently in seclusion, returned to the mountain heavily injured back then and entered a life-and-death seclusion?"

Ling Yunpo's pupils contracted slightly.

In fact, given how long True Lord Qisha, Su Jian, had been in seclusion, he had already guessed some possibilities, but he never expected it to be due to severe injuries forcing him into a life-and-death seclusion.

A life-and-death seclusion meant sealing oneself off with one's highest cultivation level before entering seclusion.

Since it was easier to seal oneself in than to break out with the same cultivation level, one had to break through to the next realm and significantly increase their cultivation before they could emerge.

The limitations of this method were too great, leading to it being chosen only by those whose lifespan was nearing its end and had no other choice, or those who were gravely injured and needed to use secret techniques to survive by conserving their vital energy.

To put it bluntly, it was a one-in-a-million chance. Forget about when they would emerge; whether they could emerge alive was unknown!

"Junior Brother Ling, you were too hasty when you became a disciple of Green Snail Peak. Didn't you inquire with other senior brothers and sisters beforehand?" Lou Zhizheng said with great distress. "Everyone in Shushan knows that Su Jian was severely injured back then and would have perished immediately if he hadn't gone into seclusion?"

"According to the concept of Nascent Soul Cultivators, such injuries would require at least several hundred years of seclusion to heal. Which Qi Refining cultivator can wait that long?"

"Without reaching the Golden Core stage, one's lifespan is no more than two hundred years. By the time your master emerges from seclusion, you'll already be a pile of bones!"

Ling Yunpo remained silent for a moment before saying, "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother, but..."

"Listen to me," Lou Zhizheng interrupted him, speaking earnestly. "Junior Brother Ling, you haven't been cultivating for long and don't understand the hardships involved."

"The path of a Sword Immortal is fraught with countless difficulties and dangers. Without guidance, one's cultivation will barely progress!"

"I'm not trying to alarm you. Think about it, when your mental cultivation reaches a point of obscurity and confusion, who can teach you? When your sword techniques become difficult to maneuver, who can guide you?"

"Even if you have an immense fortune and successfully undergo Marrow Cleansing and Dantian Formation, when you face the final Golden Core heavenly tribulation, who will protect you and ward off the dangers?"

Ling Yunpo was rendered speechless by his words.

He couldn't possibly tell Lou Zhizheng that he didn't need to worry about these things, as Qiu Changtian had become a disciple of the Ziwei Sect Master in Kunlun, and he had someone to look after him for his Dao techniques, mental cultivation, sword techniques, and even the Golden Core heavenly tribulation.

Seeing his silence, Lou Zhizheng mistook it for persuasion and continued to incite him with great fervor.

"Look at your Senior Sister An. She is a disciple that Su Jian secretly adopted outside the sect. When she returned to the mountain, she was already at the Abode Transformation Stage."

"Half a Jiazi cycle has passed, and has her cultivation progressed at all?"

"Ask any other senior brother or junior brother who knows the severity of the situation. Who would dare to join Green Snail Peak as a rogue cultivator?"

"It's only Senior Sister An, who regards Elder Su Jian as a father. She'd rather work hard for years and barely manage to keep Green Snail Peak running than switch to another master."

"We on Purple Cloud Peak cannot bear to see your future ruined. That's why our master requested the Sect Master to grant you another chance to choose."

"Once you join our peak and cultivate diligently under our master's guidance for a Jiazi cycle, you might surpass Senior Sister An and enter the Golden Core realm ahead of time!"

Ling Yunpo listened in silence, and he roughly understood what was happening.

Ah, they were trying to poach him.

What he said was indeed true. Green Snail Peak was good in all other aspects, but the fact that it "had no master" was a major drawback. Cultivating here was essentially no different from being a rogue cultivator.

If it were the normal Ling Yunpo of Shushan, even though Senior Sister An was as gentle as water and had been caring and attentive to him as a junior brother since he joined, it still involved the great Dao of longevity...

Sorry, I have to leave. I wish Senior Sister a happy life in the future. Goodbye.

However, the coincidence was that Ling Yunpo was not an ordinary person, but an undercover agent who was supposed to infiltrate the sect's higher-ups.

As an undercover agent, the key was not to arouse suspicion of being a traitor.

If he were to betray his sect and switch to another one shortly after joining, even if the peak master of Purple Cloud Peak was willing to take him in, how would the senior brothers and sisters of Purple Cloud Peak view him?

Look, that guy Ling Yunpo is the one who betrayed Green Snail Peak before. With such a past record, it shows he's not loyal at all, and it's not impossible for him to betray Purple Cloud Peak in the future...

How could he continue to get by?

For others, whether to exchange their reputation and integrity for a better cultivation environment might be a choice worth considering carefully.

But for Ling Yunpo, there was no need to think about it.

After Lou Zhizheng finished speaking, Ling Yunpo put on a determined expression and said in a deep voice, "Thank you for Purple Cloud Peak's kindness. However, I have already become a disciple of Green Snail Peak and taken True Lord Su Jian as my master."

"Once a master, always a master. How can I easily betray him?"

"I, Ling Yunpo, am not such a disloyal and unrighteous person! Even if there are a thousand obstacles and ten thousand difficulties in the future, I will bear them all!"

[Unbending persona, Synchronization Value +1.]

He finished speaking with impassioned and resonant words, and then he heard Senior Sister An exclaim excitedly from behind, "Junior Brother!"

Ling Yunpo turned around and saw An Zhisu rushing out from behind the gate of the Taoist temple, excitedly hugging his arm.

As soon as Lou Zhizheng mentioned that "your master is in a life-and-death seclusion," she had just returned to Green Snail Peak on her sword from the rear. Seeing her junior brother talking to a strange young man in front of the Taoist temple, she had quietly hidden behind the main entrance to listen.

Upon hearing Lou Zhizheng say, "Who would dare to join Green Snail Peak as a rogue cultivator," An Zhisu's expression first turned cold, then she fell silent, and finally, her expression became dejected.

Without a master's guidance, this was Green Snail Peak's greatest inherent weakness. As long as the opponent clung to this point, they would be in an invincible position.

Therefore, over the years, apart from Ling Yunpo, Green Snail Peak had not accepted any disciples, becoming even more dilapidated and declining.

She remembered her master instructing her before entering solitary confinement, "Su'er, Green Snail Peak is entrusted to you."

At the time, she didn't understand the implications and simply agreed with a naive and innocent heart.

Only afterward did she experience the cold realities of the world, facing disdain from others; her cultivation encountered a bottleneck and stagnated for many years, becoming an object of ridicule and contempt; even now, her monthly stipend was being withheld, and she didn't even have enough spirit stones for cultivation...

No matter how lonely and helpless she was, she still remembered her master's entrustment, his voice as if it were in her ear, and thus she always relied on herself, refusing to admit defeat.

When her monthly stipend was withheld, she went to the Hall of Political Affairs to argue; when someone trespassed onto Green Snail Peak to provoke them, she drew her sword and beat the opponent into a state where they couldn't even care for themselves.

In any case, Golden Core True Persons were not allowed to attack Foundation Establishment Realm disciples according to sect rules. She practiced the art of sword control day and night, and now she had become the foremost person below the Golden Core Realm.

This lineage of Green Snail Peak had, through her efforts, managed to survive by the skin of its teeth.

Only the matter of recruiting disciples. After all, Green Snail Peak's current situation was evident. It was impossible to ask others to sacrifice their own paths and forcibly keep them at Green Snail Peak—therefore, they had never managed to recruit any junior brothers or sisters.

Precisely because of this, when Ling Yunpo joined Green Snail Peak, she showered him with care and affection, treating him as if he were her own younger brother.

Now, Junior Brother Ling had actually refused Purple Cloud Peak's recruitment for her sake, and his words just now were delivered with deep emotion, his expression not seeming fake. Her heart warmed, and she said softly:

"Junior Brother, are you serious?"

"Naturally!" Ling Yunpo stated resolutely.

[Unbending persona, synchronization value +1.]

An Zhisu's gaze grew even gentler, and she asked again:

"Master may continue to be in solitary confinement in the future, unable to guide our cultivation, and we will have to rely on ourselves for everything. Can you accept this?"

Ling Yunpo said sternly:

"Without a master, what does it matter? From now on, Senior Sister and I will support each other and carry on this Green Snail Peak lineage!"

[Unbending persona, synchronization value +1.]

This unbending persona's synchronization rate is a bit difficult to raise!

"Junior Brother..." An Zhisu was deeply moved, her eyes instantly welling up with tears. Her gaze was tender as she bit her lower lip, unable to speak.

Lou Zhizheng on the other side had been listening in a daze. After a long while, he snapped back to reality, angrily waved his sleeve, and berated:

"Stubborn and foolish!"

"In that case, my Purple Cloud Peak need not show any more courtesy!"

With that, he tossed a sword talisman and sped away on his sword light.

An Zhisu's eyes were quick. Her Frostfall Sword transformed into a stream of light, and before the sword talisman could land, she reeled it back. Upon seeing the inscription, her expression immediately changed drastically.

It clearly read:

Shushan Law Enforcement Hall approves the request of Lou Zhizheng, a disciple of Purple Cloud Peak, to initiate a sword duel against Ling Yunpo, a disciple of Green Snail Peak, with the witness of the Elder of Affairs.