Is There an Immortal in This World

"It's actually—him?"

Gazing out the window into the main hall, at the burly middle-aged man standing with his hands clasped behind his back, Yang Xiao's scalp went numb, and he could not help sucking in a sharp breath.

On the burly man's head, a cluster of golden light shot up into the sky, piercing through the martial hall's roof beams, as though reflecting all the heavens!

And within that burly man's golden light, Yang Xiao's vision blurred. In his mind, a youth whose features resembled Uncle Mute's suddenly appeared, his head wrapped in a yellow scarf, standing amid a vast desert of yellow sand.

"The so-called Lei Jie of the martial hall, Hall Master Lei, is actually—Uncle Mute?"

A chill ran through Yang Xiao from head to toe. Instinctively, he wanted to flee, but he abruptly realized the occasion was wrong.

Yang Xiao could only stand where he was, uneasy in his heart and silent, not daring even to breathe too loudly.

"Junior Brother Ye, although that Yang Xiao is a waiter, his aptitude and bones are utterly ordinary. His future achievements are destined to fall short of yours."

"You and I, junior brother, are both destined to become Blood-Exchange experts. There's no need to befriend this kind of trash with no future at all."

Far off at another seat by the window, Huo Zhen swept a cold glance over Yang Xiao and warned Ye Feng beside him.

Though he had not deliberately spoken loudly, he had not hidden it either.

Around them, the martial hall disciples clustered about Huo Zhen all nodded when they heard this, agreeing deeply.

"Senior Brother Huo is right, but Big Brother Yang has treated me well. If this little brother truly achieves something one day, I will definitely not let Big Brother Yang down."

After hesitating for a moment, Ye Feng still flushed red and mustered his courage to say it.

At these childish, naive words, a trace of disapproval flashed through Huo Zhen's eyes, but he did not refute them. He turned his gaze out the window of the side room.

Outside the window, in the martial hall's main hall.

"Hall Master!"

The martial hall disciples all around rose one after another and saluted respectfully.

"Hall Master Lei!"

Outside the martial hall, hundreds upon thousands of waiters, menials, and all manner of people from the three religions and nine schools alike all saluted.

"No need for so much ceremony, everyone. Today, this humble one's martial lecture will mainly explain the current divisions of the martial path."

Lei Jie nodded slightly, hands clasped behind his back, and spoke in a clear voice. "In the martial path of this age, the blood-qi martial path reigns supreme..."

It had to be said that, as one of the finest among Two-Blood experts, Lei Jie not only possessed formidable martial skill, but also had considerable experience in explaining martial arts from the shallow to the deep.

Even Yang Xiao, uneasy though he was, gradually found himself drawn in by the contents of Lei Jie's lecture, listening with great relish.

"Today's martial lecture ends here. If anyone has questions, this humble one will not be stingy with instruction."

Only when Lei Jie's deep, forceful voice sounded did Yang Xiao realize that the martial lecture had already ended.

"Uncle Mute is the grand elder of the Peace Sect, carrying the sacred object and fleeing in betrayal. He was hiding perfectly well in the back courtyard of the kitchen, emptying slop buckets—so why did he have to create the identity of Lei Jie and run to the top floor to publicly lecture on martial arts?"

Looking out the window at the righteous-faced Lei Jie, Yang Xiao was full of bewilderment, and even felt an impulse to ask a question in public and seek martial guidance.

But to avoid attracting Lei Jie's attention, Yang Xiao ultimately suppressed the impulse.

"May I ask Hall Master Lei, aside from the blood-qi martial path, are there any other roads to practicing martial arts in this world?"

In the crowd outside the martial hall, an old man leaning on a cane could not help asking loudly.

"There are thousands upon thousands of paths of cultivation in this world. The blood-qi martial path is naturally not the only one, but it is the most complete in this age, and also the martial path most suited to the majority of people—bar none."

Lei Jie smiled.

"I heard the demons of the Peace Sect can call the wind and summon the rain, scatter beans to form soldiers. May I ask Hall Master Lei, is this true?"

Someone else asked.

"The only one who can call the wind and summon the rain, scatter beans to form soldiers, is the Heavenly Master of the Peace Sect alone."

"Rumor has it that all who have seen the Heavenly Master are dead. I have never seen the Heavenly Master, so how would I know?"

Lei Jie's smile remained unchanged.

"May I ask Master, in this world—are there immortals?"

Huo Zhen suddenly spoke.

In an instant, the entire place fell silent.

Everyone looked toward Lei Jie.

Yang Xiao also pricked up his ears.

"As for whether immortals exist in this world, I am merely a trifling Two-Blood martial artist. Such secrets are naturally impossible for me to know."

Lei Jie sighed. "However, Daoist arts do indeed exist. As for exactly how great their power is, if all of you encounter a Daoist expert in the future, everything will naturally become clear."

With that said, Lei Jie cupped his fists to the crowd with a smile, turned, and walked behind the screen, vanishing from sight.

The martial lecture ended there.

Yet Yang Xiao's pupils shrank, and his heart began to pound violently.

"When Lei Jie mentioned immortals just now, his heartbeat clearly sped up. He said he didn't know anything about immortals, but he was—lying!"

"Immortals definitely existed in this world. And from the look of it, Lei Jie should know some inside information!"

The more Yang Xiao thought about it, the more excited he became.

Could the sacred object passed down by the Peace Sect for thousands of years also be connected to immortals?

As Yang Xiao was thinking, several burly men immediately walked out of the martial hall, holding wooden buckets, and made their way through the crowd one by one.

Wherever they went, people kept tossing in silver ingots. Before long, more than a dozen wooden buckets were filled.

These burly men immediately returned to the martial hall, and another dozen or so burly men came out, likewise holding empty wooden buckets.

"So Uncle Mute impersonated Lei Jie to put on a vest, making it easier for him to openly rake in money?"

Yang Xiao suddenly understood.

Soon, a burly man came into this side room carrying a wooden bucket.

Clang!

With a sweep of his large hand, Huo Zhen dropped ten taels of silver into the bucket.

Everyone around them generously opened their purses one after another.

Even Ye Feng hesitated for a moment, but in the end he still gritted his teeth and threw one tael of broken silver into the wooden bucket.

"If Brother Yang hadn't generously opened his purse and given me a full six taels of broken silver before and after, then today, I would've lost face in front of all my senior brothers and become a laughingstock..."

Ye Feng could not help looking toward Yang Xiao with emotion, only to freeze.

He saw Yang Xiao take out one copper coin and toss it into the wooden bucket without a change in expression, then leave in a carefree manner, neither blushing nor panting.

"Could it be that Brother Yang gave me all his silver, and that's why his purse is empty?"

Seeing everyone around them look at Yang Xiao's departing back with disdain, Ye Feng's eyes could not help reddening, and he clenched his fists.

Brother Yang, don't worry. If your little brother succeeds in learning martial arts, I will definitely not fail you!

"That kid Ye Feng is actually a talent worth shaping. If there's a chance in the future, it's not as if I can't give him a hand."

Through the Nine Cicada Auditory Arts, Yang Xiao clearly heard the discussions behind him. He did not care in the slightest about everyone's disdain; instead, he felt somewhat moved.

Ye Feng was only a casual idle move Yang Xiao had placed at random. As for what would happen in the future, he would just let fate decide.

Yang Xiao did not return directly to Ding Pavilion. Instead, he went to the kitchen, pretended he was going to the latrine, and casually swept his gaze over the back courtyard.

The back courtyard was piled all around with swill buckets, making it impossible to see whether anyone was there.

But just as Yang Xiao had expected, in the corner of the back courtyard, the golden light that had originally shot into the heavens had indeed vanished without a trace.

"Looks like I guessed right. Uncle Mute is Lei Jie, and Lei Jie is Uncle Mute!"

Yang Xiao's heart tightened, while at the same time he secretly let out a breath of relief.

At this point, how could Yang Xiao still not understand? As long as it was someone whose qi above their head he had once read, no matter how the other party disguised themselves, they could not deceive his eyes.

It counted as an unexpected joy!

Worried that Uncle Mute might return at any time, Yang Xiao did not dare linger. He walked into the kitchen and began eating.

The surroundings were filled with waiters and handymen. They sat in groups of three and five, chatting idly while eating. Most of them were talking about Lei Jie's martial lecture, each of them extremely excited.

"Six days from now is the Grandmaster Dao Debate. It's said the grandmaster coming this year is the Medicine Grandmaster of the Azure Cloud Sect. Rumor has it that when Hall Master Lei was young, he once entered the Azure Cloud Sect and was also the Medicine Grandmaster's pill-refining boy. I wonder whether that's true or false?"

At the table by the window, a waiter drank clear wine and lowered his voice.

As soon as these words came out, perhaps feeling that openly discussing a grandmaster was not very appropriate, that waiter quickly shut his mouth and changed the topic.

"The Peace Sect will cause chaos six days from now, and the Grandmaster Dao Debate is also six days from now. Could Uncle Mute impersonating Lei Jie be not simply for raking in money, but because he has some other scheme?"

The more Yang Xiao thought about it, the more his back chilled. He immediately realized that he had to think of a way to reasonably leave Vermilion Bird Tower on the sixth day.

It had to be said that the kitchen was a good place to gather information, but at this moment, Yang Xiao no longer had any heart to listen to it.

Yang Xiao hurriedly left the kitchen. He had just reached a remote, deserted alley when suddenly his vision blurred, and he immediately sensed golden light soaring into the sky behind him, brilliant as the blazing sun.

An icy, gloomy, aged voice came from behind him along with a bone-piercing cold wind:

"Boy, you've passed by the back courtyard several times. Don't tell this old man it was a coincidence—speak. What business did you have in seeking this old man?"