The War of the Teeth

"Even if Yunji isn't human, he is still a disciple of mine, Tian Buyi! I... I will not let anyone harm a disciple of mine! No one!" Tian Buyi's face was flushed with rage, as if someone were truly bullying his disciple at that very moment, and he roared with his neck thick with veins.

He was also worried about this matter.

It was not that he feared Luo Yunji had some dark past; after all, Luo Yunji had been found and brought up to Azure Cloud Mountain when he was just a child.

However, if he truly were of a different race, Azure Cloud, as one of the great righteous sects, would be unable to keep him. Not killing him would already be considered a show of mercy. It was not that the sect could not distinguish between good and evil, but as a leader of the righteous path, their role as an example was both an honor and a shackle.

Tian Buyi knew that with Luo Yunji's current muddled nature, if he were to leave Azure Cloud, he would surely be abducted and sold by someone!

While the couple fretted over their youngest disciple's identity, the other disciples were busy celebrating and making a ruckus over their own breakthroughs in cultivation.

At dinner, in the dining hall, the disciples still wore joyful expressions, their faces glowing. Tian Buyi and Su Ru knew the disciples were happy today, so they let them be.

"Junior Brother has made progress!" Sixth Senior Brother said with a sigh as he watched Luo Yunji eating.

"What kind of progress?" Zhang Xiaofan looked at his youngest junior brother sitting beside their mistress, then turned to ask the Sixth Senior Brother, Du Bishu, with curiosity.

"Indeed! He's become much more self-aware!" The Fifth Senior Brother, sitting beside the Sixth, added with a mischievous smile.

"In the past, Junior Brother would be asleep while eating! Look, now he's actually keeping his eyes open while he eats." The Fourth Senior Brother, He Dazhi, explained with a hearty laugh. Having finally broken through a bottleneck that had plagued him for years, he was overjoyed and took the rare opportunity to tease his youngest junior brother while laughing to his heart's content.

Zhang Xiaofan felt a row of black lines appear on his forehead after hearing this. "Senior Brother! Isn't... isn't the standard for Junior Brother a bit too low?" he whispered, feeling somewhat speechless.

"That little monster, even Master can't control him, so what can we do? We can only watch with envy!" The Third Senior Brother leaned over and whispered.

Zhang Xiaofan thought about it and realized it was true; from what he had seen and heard during his time here, this youngest junior brother was indeed quite different from ordinary people.

Just as Zhang Xiaofan was lost in thought, a chopstick flew over and smacked the Sixth Senior Brother on the head.

"Ouch! Who was that?" Du Bishu, the Sixth Senior Brother, widened his eyes and scanned the brothers around him, only to see them all keeping their heads down, diligently shoveling rice into their mouths as if they couldn't see the delicious dishes on the table.

The Sixth Senior Brother's heart skipped a beat. He stiffly turned his neck toward the head of the table and saw Tian Buyi glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

"M-Master!" Du Bishu quickly sat up straight, staring ahead, waiting for a lecture.

"Is that how you refer to your youngest junior brother? Envy? Do you also want to learn from him and sleep all day without waking up? Hmm?" Tian Buyi's rapid-fire questions caused the Sixth Senior Brother's head to slowly droop until his chin touched his chest.

Tian Buyi scanned his disciples, seeing them all clutching their bowls and shoveling rice into their mouths, wanting to laugh but not daring to, and said, "Just eat your meal properly!"

"Yes, Master!" the disciples replied, finally returning to eating normally.

"You have all just broken through, so spend this time properly consolidating your cultivation," Tian Buyi instructed his disciples after the meal.

"Yes, Master," everyone replied.

"Xiaofan! From now on, the meals are in your hands!" Tian Buyi looked at Zhang Xiaofan. "You know how to cook, right?"

"I... I do. I used to cook at home. It's just... I'm not sure if it will be to the taste of Master, Mistress, and all the senior brothers." Zhang Xiaofan looked at Tian Buyi nervously, answering in a flustered rush.

"It's fine! Aside from your youngest junior brother, none of the others are particularly picky. Just remember to make some meat dishes for him," Tian Buyi said with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, Master!" Zhang Xiaofan replied earnestly.

After dinner, the Sixth Senior Brother showed Zhang Xiaofan around the kitchen, then led him to gather sneakily with the other senior brothers.

"How is it?" the Sixth Senior Brother asked, leaning in toward his brothers.

"Eldest Senior Brother wouldn't really think we'd forget such an important matter, would he?" Wu Dayi asked, still finding it hard to believe.

"Everyone knows that when Junior Brother was teething, it was Eldest Senior Brother who handled those teeth. Now that we know how powerful his teeth are, how could he not have dug them out?" The Fourth Senior Brother analyzed with a confident smile.

"After dinner, Eldest Senior Brother took Junior Brother back to his room and hasn't come out since. Do you think he's already gotten his hands on them?" The Second Senior Brother, Wu Dayi, stared at the youngest junior brother's room with glowing eyes.

"I think so! As soon as Eldest Senior Brother comes out, we'll surround him. We must make him hand them over!" The Sixth Senior Brother's eyes glowed as well.

Zhang Xiaofan finally understood: these senior brothers were plotting to get the teeth that had fallen out when the youngest junior brother was teething, which the Eldest Senior Brother had kept. However, the events of today had given him a rough impression of just how abnormal his youngest junior brother truly was.

"He's out! He's out!" the Sixth Senior Brother excitedly whispered a warning.

Just as they were about to swarm him, a short, stout figure suddenly appeared at the door of Luo Yunji's room, intercepted Song Daren, and after saying something, Song Daren followed him away with his head hanging low.

"Intercepted by Master?!" The Sixth Senior Brother stared at the two figures disappearing into the main hall, his expression one of disbelief as he tugged anxiously on the Fourth Senior Brother's sleeve.

"Sigh! One move behind!" the Second and Fifth Senior Brothers sighed, leaning against the wall in frustration.

"Not necessarily!" The Fourth Senior Brother rubbed his temple and thought for a moment. "Perhaps Master has other business with Eldest Senior Brother!"

"I hope so!" the Sixth Senior Brother muttered dejectedly. "Let's go, let's go! Back to sleep."

In the main hall, a faint, imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of Tian Buyi's mouth as he looked at his eldest disciple standing before him.

"Take them out."

"W-what?!" Song Daren looked up at Tian Buyi with a confused expression.

"What do you think? Tell me, how many are there in total?" Tian Buyi rubbed his belly and looked at his eldest disciple with a faint smile, feeling a sense of relief in his heart. It seems the eldest isn't entirely an honest man either!

"M-Master! You want the youngest junior brother's teeth too?" Song Daren looked at his master with curiosity.

Tian Buyi glared at his eldest disciple with dissatisfaction.

Song Daren felt intimidated by the look and immediately, honestly, pulled all the collected teeth from his robes and respectfully handed them over.

Tian Buyi took them, opened the small bundle, and looked at the little teeth, each with the luster of a pearl. He reached out and pinched one to examine it; aside from the white, moist luster, he couldn't see anything special about it.

He applied force with his fingertips, but it remained completely undamaged! With his hand strength, even an iron ingot would have deformed. Yet, this tiny tooth remained perfectly intact.