Time flew, and half a year passed.
Library Pavilion.
"Phew, I've finally reached perfect Innate Realm." Lin Cheng gazed out the window, his ink-black eyes gleaming with a light deeper than the night sky.
Rip!
He pointed casually, and the air boomed.
"At least now I have a little ability to protect myself."
Feeling the Innate true qi surge ceaselessly through his meridians like a river, Lin Cheng was thoroughly satisfied. After a little more practice, he would start preparing to break through to Foundation Establishment. Only then would he be able to come and go freely in the Southern Region.
Although he possessed an overpowered cheat like the Nine Transformations of the True Spirit, his cultivation would encounter no bottlenecks. All he lacked was a reserve of true qi.
Still, Lin Cheng chose to be cautious and decided to spend a while longer adjusting to the power within him.
"I feel like I'm absurdly strong now."
"I wonder, with my current cultivation at perfect Ninth Layer Innate and the Nine Transformations of the True Spirit, how would I fare against a Foundation Establishment Venerable...?"
Lin Cheng quickly shook his head.
Why rush?
The Nine Transformations of the True Spirit had nine levels, and he had only just reached perfection in the first.
Give him a little more time, and forget Foundation Establishment Venerables—even if some Nascent Soul old monster showed up, he'd be nothing more than a single slap away from death.
"Keep a steady mind, and you'll hit harder."
"Don't get carried away."
Lin Cheng was rather eager to test his strength, but he still dismissed the idea of finding someone at Foundation Establishment to spar with.
With nothing else to do, Lin Cheng suddenly remembered the Blood-Oath Sect from a while back.
Since he had time on his hands, he started searching through the bookshelves.
Although Lin Cheng had the Eye of Truth-Breaking, a technique comparable to divine sense, he still read the books one by one with his own eyes. As for why...he could only say it was a kind of ritual, a way of being human.
"Found it."
Lin Cheng studied the records about the Blood-Oath Sect, frowning in thought. "I never expected the Blood-Oath Sect and Jingyun Sect to have such a tangled history. The previous generation's ancestor of the Innate Realm at Jingyun Sect was said to have died from cultivation deviation, but it turned out the Blood-Oath Sect had struck him down."
He spent several hours reading.
"The Blood-Oath Sect really is rotten to the core, a blight on the Southern Region. Yin-Yang Valley is no better, either. They gather yin to replenish yang and gather yang to replenish yin, ruining countless people. If I run into them in the future, I might as well crush them."
As a model young man from the twenty-first century, Lin Cheng despised evil forces with every fiber of his being!
He absolutely couldn't let them run wild!
Aside from Jingyun Sect, the Southern Region's ten great sects included the Blood-Oath Sect, Yin-Yang Valley, the Five Elements Sect, the Mystic Pill Sect, the War Puppet Sect, Myriad Array Mountain, the Treasure Pavilion, Beast Taming Mountain, and the Shadow Sect.
Among them, the Five Elements Sect was unquestionably number one.
Jingyun Sect, however, was dead last.
Seeing that, Lin Cheng's mouth twitched. He hadn't expected the sect he was staying in to be so pathetic. If it got wiped out one day, wouldn't he be caught in the crossfire?
The answer was yes.
If they were going to destroy a sect, they'd slaughter everyone. Why would they spare him just because he was a menial worker in the Library Pavilion?
Most likely, they'd squash him like an ant without a second thought.
"Forget it. If the sect really gets wiped out, I won't come out of it unscathed. If I run into something that isn't too much trouble, lending a hand wouldn't hurt... Though of course, my own interests come first." Lin Cheng wrestled with it for a moment. He had everything he needed right now; all he lacked was time!
Give him enough time, and he could tear a Great Golden Immortal apart with his bare hands!
"Jingyun Sect absolutely can't be wiped out."
If that day really came, then even if he survived, he'd definitely be caught up in trouble. That was what concerned him.
"But I only want to quietly collect my sign-in rewards. Why invite trouble?"
"Still..."
"Those old men and women seem to value that little girl. Maybe they'll even name her the sect's successor. Then, as her master, wouldn't I become the sect's ancestor? And if I'm the ancestor, that makes me the biggest boss. By that logic, Jingyun Sect is my private property..."
"Those old men and women are my disciples and juniors!"
"Huh?"
Lin Cheng was suddenly stunned. The more he thought about it, the more damn right it seemed!
Exactly!
Jingyun Sect was his, and its elders and disciples were all working for him. That made it even more important that the sect not be destroyed.
"Right, that's how it is!"
"If someone lays a hand on my private property, I can't just put up with it."
At that thought, Lin Cheng's mind cleared!
The guilt that had been nagging at him over stepping in the other day finally lifted, and he happily went back to sweeping.
Stepping in for your own people was only right.
It didn't go against his principles.
That was it. Nothing wrong with that!
Meanwhile, in the forbidden grounds behind Jingyun Sect.
"Little girl, when you meet the Supreme Elder in a moment, remember to be polite. Don't speak loudly, and don't look around. Show her respect, understand?" Elder Hao gave his usual reminders.
He nagged like an old mother, rattling off a long list of things to watch out for. Meng Tangtang was left utterly bewildered. Only then did he let out a breath and say, "Have you remembered all of it? If you disturb her, no one will be able to bear the consequences."
"Don't worry, Elder. I understand."
Meng Tangtang nodded repeatedly.
At the same time, she couldn't help wondering to herself. Her eyes shifted as she thought suspiciously, This really does seem to be where the Supreme Elder lives. Could it be that he really isn't my master?
She had started to grow suspicious on the way there.
When she first heard they were taking her to meet the Supreme Elder, she'd assumed they were going to the Library Pavilion, but then she realized they weren't.
She hadn't thought much of it.
Someone like her master wouldn't normally stay in a place like the Library Pavilion.
After they arrived at the forbidden grounds behind the mountain, Meng Tangtang realized her master hadn't contacted her. She couldn't help wondering about it, and a bold guess began to take shape...
Could it be that my master isn't the Supreme Elder?
Could there be someone else!
The moment that thought occurred to Meng Tangtang, many of her questions were answered. No wonder every time my master gives me pointers, he tells me to go to the Library Pavilion. And he's never said he was the Supreme Elder. I just assumed it myself.
Thinking this, Meng Tangtang was astonished by her own guess.
She hadn't expected Jingyun Sect to be hiding another senior expert at the Innate Realm.
On the other hand, her previously calm state of mind began to waver.
If the person she was about to meet wasn't her master...
Then.
Meng Tangtang swallowed, realizing that at some point her palms had grown slick with sweat and her legs were trembling slightly.
Though they were both at the Innate Realm, meeting her own master and meeting the Supreme Elder—
Those were two completely different things!
She was full of gratitude toward her master. She respected him, but wasn't afraid of him.
But she didn't know what to expect from the Supreme Elder. She was more afraid than anything else.
At that thought, Meng Tangtang suddenly stopped walking. Her heart sank. She'd thought she was only going to meet her master, but things weren't what she'd imagined at all. She hadn't had a moment to prepare herself.
The realization hit her, and suddenly she was full of nerves.
In front of the cave dwelling.
Elder Hao noticed that Meng Tangtang had suddenly stopped and was trembling. He assumed his earlier words had frightened her and chuckled to himself. This little girl. I thought she wasn't nervous at all. She'd acted as if nothing was wrong the whole way here, but now her true colors are showing!
He knew it!
No one could face an Innate Realm expert without batting an eye.
The first time he'd met the Supreme Elder, he'd nearly wet his pants... Ahem, dark history. The past was too painful to revisit. Best not to mention it!
"Don't be nervous. The Supreme Elder is a very kind person."
"Come, follow me inside."
Elder Hao smiled and offered a few words of comfort, then led the apprehensive Meng Tangtang inside.
Before you continue