The next day, the sun blazed high in the sky.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
A flurry of urgent knocks came from outside Fei Luo's little courtyard.
Fei Luo got up lazily and yawned.
"Coming, coming!"
Still bleary-eyed, Fei Luo hadn't yet gotten used to the daily routines of this world, despite being a transmigrator.
People like Uncle Nine usually got up at daybreak.
This era didn't have many forms of entertainment, so people generally went to bed early and got up early.
When he opened the gate, Fei Luo saw Wencai standing outside. "Wencai, what's going on so early in the morning?"
"Junior Brother, Master sent me to call you. He said Master Ren invited us over for tea today. Hurry up and get ready."
"It's just tea," Fei Luo muttered, annoyed that Wencai had interrupted his wonderful dream.
Wait! Master Ren?
Didn't that mean Master Ren's father was about to become a jiangshi?
At that crucial thought, all traces of sleepiness vanished. Fei Luo immediately said, "Senior Brother Wencai, go tell Master right away that I'll be there as soon as I've washed up."
Without waiting for Wencai to recover from his bewilderment, Fei Luo dashed away.
"Huh? Wasn't he sickly? How come he looks so fit?" Wencai scratched his head, at a loss.
He'd felt that something about Fei Luo had been off since yesterday.
But he couldn't quite put his finger on what.
After thinking it over, Wencai scratched his head and turned to leave.
Back inside, Fei Luo took out his freshly washed clothes, quickly put them on, and started washing up.
"Good heavens! One Red-Clothed Vengeful Ghost earned me a Heaven Origin Soul Gathering Pill. Master Ren's father is an Iron Corpse, with strength comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. I wonder what reward I'll get for him?"
Fei Luo's thoughts had already soared far beyond the heavens.
He even wanted to go with his master right now to subdue demons and exorcise evil.
The ghosts that terrified ordinary people were nothing but experience piñatas and walking bags of money to him.
After tidying himself up, Fei Luo looked at his handsome reflection in the mirror and smiled before heading out.
"Eh? Xiao Luo, you..." Uncle Nine, Qiusheng, and Wencai had already left the house, and they happened to run into Fei Luo as he came out. Seeing how healthy he looked, Uncle Nine was utterly astonished.
"It's all thanks to Master's excellent medical skills. I took one dose of medicine last night and recovered completely." Fei Luo smiled shyly at Uncle Nine.
Fei Luo held Uncle Nine in great respect.
He could feel how genuine Uncle Nine's affection for him was.
Only in front of Uncle Nine was Fei Luo not a cold, haughty young master.
"Hm? You recovered after one dose?" As he spoke, Uncle Nine pulled Fei Luo over and pressed two fingers to his arm. His expression changed at once.
"You're at the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm?" Uncle Nine stammered, unable to find his words. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
The ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm!
How was that possible?
At his words, Qiusheng and Wencai both sucked in a sharp breath.
"Heh-heh, I don't know what happened either. I woke up like this." Fei Luo pretended to be clueless, though he was secretly lamenting his bad luck.
He'd already tried to keep a low profile, deliberately pretending to be at the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm. But from the looks on Uncle Nine and the others' faces, they were still utterly shocked.
"How far have you cultivated the Qi Guiding Art?" Uncle Nine's throat felt dry, and a gleam flashed in his eyes.
"Your disciple is unworthy, but I've already cultivated the Qi Guiding Art to perfection."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Uncle Nine and the other two were petrified on the spot.
Qiusheng and Wencai's mouths hung open as if they'd been struck by lightning.
Uncle Nine's expression darkened. "Xiao Luo, you may like sleeping in and not be diligent in your cultivation, but Master has always believed you to be an honest boy. Lying goes against the rules of our Maoshan Sect."
At Uncle Nine's words, Fei Luo looked embarrassed. "Master, I really have cultivated the Qi Guiding Art to perfection. If you don't believe me, take a look."
Fei Luo formed a hand seal. A dense stream of energy poured into his body like a whale gulping water, drawn in by lungs of extraordinary capacity. Yet his expression didn't change, and his chest didn't rise. It was as if he were performing a magic trick.
"This..." Uncle Nine was at a loss for words. He rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Yesterday, Fei Luo hadn't even reached minor proficiency in the Qi Guiding Art, and his cultivation was only at the third level of the Qi Refining Realm. Today, the art was perfected, and he'd reached the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm?
With Uncle Nine's discerning eye, he could tell at once that Fei Luo had demonstrated the Qi Guiding Art in its perfect, unified state.
A genius! Had he really taken in an unparalleled genius as his disciple?
Could that ordeal with the evil aura have awakened Fei Luo's talent?
The Maoshan Sect's historical records mentioned geniuses like this, but those accounts were ancient legends, impossible to verify.
Even Uncle Nine himself, hailed as the youngest genius of the Maoshan Sect in his generation, had taken three years to cultivate the Qi Guiding Art to perfection.
Qiusheng was just as shocked. "It took me ten years to cultivate the Qi Guiding Art to perfection. I can't believe Junior Brother managed it in one day. This..."
Wencai's throat felt dry. "So it turns out I'm the stupidest one. I'm only at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Realm, and after ten years, I still haven't perfected the Qi Guiding Art."
Suddenly, Uncle Nine remembered last night's storm of spiritual energy. His pupils contracted sharply.
That was it. Some expert hadn't passed through and cultivated here last night after all.
The source of that storm of spiritual energy had to be his little disciple.
The shock in Uncle Nine's eyes turned to delight. He stared intently at Fei Luo, the more he looked, the more pleased he became.
"The rise of our Maoshan Sect is within reach! I, Lin Jiu, have been blessed by the Patriarch to receive such a wonderful disciple, yet I let his talent gather dust for three years. What a sin, what a sin."
Uncle Nine felt a thousand emotions stirring within him. In silence, he prayed to the Patriarch.
Now that the world was in the Age of Dharma Decline, cultivation was difficult, and finding a disciple with excellent roots was harder still.
Uncle Nine had once thought his own lineage was doomed. Qiusheng and Wencai had limited prospects.
But today was different. Uncle Nine could see the promise of Fei Luo's rise.
Perhaps Fei Luo would become the brightest star in the Age of Dharma Decline.
"You two, from now on, you're both to learn from Fei Luo. At this rate, he'll catch up to your master in a few years. If you keep slacking off, how will you shoulder the duty of exorcising evil, protecting the world, and upholding the righteous path?" After staring at Fei Luo for a while, Uncle Nine immediately turned him into a backdrop and began lecturing Qiusheng and Wencai.
At these words, Fei Luo's face was a giant display of embarrassment.
Qiusheng and Wencai, meanwhile, wilted like roosters with the wind knocked out of them and hurriedly agreed.
Before long, the group arrived in the bustling heart of town.
Looking at the rows of shops along the street, Fei Luo felt a thousand emotions.
Western culture had flowed into Xia Nation during this era, leading many people to worship all things foreign.
For example, they thought everything belonging to foreigners was good and everything left by their ancestors was inferior.
Fei Luo shook his head, finding it hard to agree.
Soon, the three of them reached their agreed meeting place: a lavishly decorated Western-style café spread across three floors.
At the entrance, Fei Luo looked every bit the elegant young master, while Uncle Nine and Wencai, dressed in their rustic clothes, drew strange looks from the doorman.
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