"Those were all top-grade pills, and many of them even bore Pill Patterns—the legendary divine treasures.♙♕ 😲✌"
"They're really going to distribute them to the disciples..."
Someone hesitated.
Pills with Pill Patterns weren't cabbages growing by the roadside, there for the picking.
He'd never seen a Pill Pattern pill in his life—until now.
"If we just hand them out like this, aren't we wasting priceless treasures?"
Zhang Feng smiled as he finished speaking.
Seeing this, the man gritted his teeth and nodded. "That's right. Bestowing such precious treasures so freely goes against the sect's rules..."
"Alas..."
Zhang Feng waved a hand and sighed. "In ordinary times, I wouldn't be willing to do this either. But now we've reached the brink of life and death. If we keep fretting over useless things, we may not even know what killed us."
"But this is far too extravagant."
"Some of the disciples are ordinary people. Many have only reached the first or second rank."
"This..."
The man was about to say more.
Zhang Feng raised a hand to stop him and looked at him sternly.
He surveyed the room and spoke gravely.
"That settles it. The Young Sect Master has no objections, so distribute them! After all, they belong to her."
At this, Zhang Feng's expression turned complicated and rueful. "Besides, these disciples stayed even at a time like this, despite facing tremendous pressure—from friends and family, from their own prospects, and even direct threats to their lives."
"These are the people who truly care about the sect."
"For that alone, we old fellows mustn't let them down."
"Otherwise, how would we be any different from those traitors who only think of themselves?!"
His words rang out like a stone striking the ground!
Zhang Feng's meaning was clear!
Since these disciples hadn't abandoned the sect at the critical moment to save their own skins, then the sect would never let them down!
"They're only pills. Hand them out!"
"Thirty for each person: fifteen ordinary pills and fifteen with Pill Patterns, matched to their cultivation level!"
"At a time like this, there's nothing more to discuss!"
"Eat your fill, then fight to the death!"
"If the Three Mountains Alliance dares to provoke the Jingyun Sect, then even if we die, we'll make them tremble with fear!"
By the end, Zhang Feng's eyes were bloodshot, his killing intent spilling out!
"Then we fight!"
Elder Hao let out a quiet breath and declared resolutely.
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
"Fight!"
Liu Yanran and the others nodded. Everyone present wore solemn expressions, their fighting spirit soaring.
With so many high-quality pills to supply them, their combat strength could multiply several times over!
"Send word: don't hold back on the pills. Use whatever you can, right away!"
"And whatever you can't use, don't leave it behind as spoils for the enemy!"
With that, Elder Zhang Feng let out a long breath.
Ever since the Young Sect Master went into seclusion, the sect's affairs had fallen mainly to him and Elder Hao.
Wang Xue'er, Liu Yanran, and the others had been assisting them.
It had put them under immense pressure.
But no matter how great the pressure, they couldn't simply surrender!
The Library Pavilion.
Lin Cheng read a storybook and sipped tea, utterly at ease.
The turmoil and tension outside didn't affect him in the slightest.
To him, the Three Mountains Alliance's threat was like children playing house.
It wasn't worth a moment's concern.
His cultivation had now reached the eighth level of Foundation Establishment.
With just one more step, he could try to comprehend the Great Dao, condense a Great Dao Golden Core, and become a Golden Core Heavenly Monarch.
That heavenly chasm simply didn't exist for him.
Ever since he began cultivating the Nine Transformations of the True Spirit, Lin Cheng had never worried about cultivation bottlenecks.
To put it plainly,
even if he spent his whole life lying around and sleeping all day,
after a few million years, he'd naturally reach the legendary realm.
For him, there was only a difference between improving quickly and improving slowly.
As for where his limit lay?
He had no idea.
As his strength grew, he felt more and more keenly how elusive and unfathomable the Heavenly Dao was. A sense of awe had begun to stir in his heart.
It was as if, no matter what realm he reached, he would still be nothing more than an insignificant mortal ant.
That left Lin Cheng very dissatisfied.
So he cultivated even more diligently.
Now, with pills supplied in abundance, he was drawing ever closer to the modest goal he'd set himself back then.
Becoming a Golden Core powerhouse!
"Hmph. Once I become a Golden Core cultivator, surely there won't be anywhere in the Southern Region that can threaten me, right?"
"Then I'll have to go pay those fellows in the Mist Forest another visit."
"Last time, I got kicked by a hoof. I still have a score to settle..."
Lin Cheng was lounging about, his thoughts drifting far away.
Suddenly, someone arrived at the Library Pavilion.
"Here comes Meng Tangtang again."
Without using his spiritual sense, Lin Cheng could guess who it was.
Now that some things about him had come to light, the higher-ups of the Jingyun Sect had begun to suspect a few things.
The area around the Library Pavilion had basically become forbidden ground.
Usually, when elders and disciples passed by, they were careful not to make a sound, lest they disturb that expert.
Only Meng Tangtang barged in so carelessly.
Truth be told, after spending so much time with Meng Tangtang, he often felt as if he'd aged considerably, like he was already seventy or eighty.
Still, by Lin Cheng's estimate,
even if he really were seventy or eighty, given his cultivation, he'd probably be no different from how he was now.
His heart had grown old.
Or perhaps he'd simply matured.
"Whew, Master! Master!"
The moment Meng Tangtang came through the door, she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"What happened? Don't panic. Take your time. Master's probably in seclusion."
Lin Cheng helplessly dug at his ear. How many times had he told her? She was still all bluster and had none of a girl's demure reserve.
Lin Cheng felt as if he hadn't taken in a disciple.
He'd taken in a daughter.
One who would never grow up.
She was giving him endless headaches.
"Master's in seclusion?"
Meng Tangtang spotted her junior sitting leisurely in a reclining chair, reading, and hurried over.
"Look at you, slow down. The sky isn't falling. Have some tea first."
Lin Cheng glanced up, then immersed himself in his storybook again.
He'd just reached the exciting part and hadn't finished reading when the girl interrupted him.
"Junior Brother, stop reading! Something terrible has happened!"
Meng Tangtang drained the whole cup of tea, then hurriedly shook Lin Cheng.
"..."
Lin Cheng was at a loss.
"Is it because of the Three Mountains Alliance?"
"Junior Brother, you knew?"
"I know a little."
Seeing that Lin Cheng already knew why she'd come, the hope that had just dimmed in Meng Tangtang's heart flared up again.
"Quick, tell me. Is there a way?!"
"There is, and it's very simple."
Lin Cheng looked her over. At the peak of the ninth rank—he nodded in satisfaction. It seemed she hadn't slacked off in her cultivation these past few days.
"What is it?"
"Just have the Jingyun Sect produce another innate cultivator. Wouldn't that solve everything?"
Lin Cheng answered unconcernedly.
Then he smiled and pointed toward Meng Tangtang. "If I'm not mistaken, Senior Sister, you've already reached the limit of the ninth rank, haven't you? You should be able to attempt the breakthrough to the innate realm. Once you succeed, the Jingyun Sect's crisis will be over in an instant, won't it?"
Once Meng Tangtang became an innate powerhouse,
with her innate physique and the advantages of the Yin-Yang Emperor Scripture, her combat strength would rival that of an established innate cultivator.
Dealing with the mere Three Mountains Alliance would be no trouble at all.
Before you continue