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Wen Xu:!!!!!!

Not human? Then what was he? A demon? A spirit creature?

"I heard you came from the Mortal Realm? Your master did not believe it at first, but now I do." Divine Venerable Cheng Wei had an exceedingly fine appearance. Back when he had stirred up storms throughout the Cultivation Realm, the storybooks written about him could have been stacked into a towering building. Even though everyone knew he could see into people's hearts, and that no cultivator weaker than him could escape his gaze, people were still bewitched by his looks and thought him a good person.

Unfortunately, Divine Venerable Cheng Wei was not human at all. He was the descendant of a Black Dragon and a cultivator. Later, for the sake of cultivation, he cast aside his human bloodline and became a true dragon soaring through the heavens.

"Actually, your master used to be quite famous in the Cultivation Realm. Later... sigh, they all stopped wanting to play with your master, so I could only stay here on Springless Peak and become a lonely old dragon."

For a moment, Wen Xu did not know what he ought to think, nor what he ought to say. In the end, the steady scholar could not help speaking up. "Master, is this the sect's secret that must not be passed down?"

He even seriously reflected on it. Wen Xu, did you really have to take this master? Learning from Lü Bu and becoming a servant to three fathers does not seem so bad after all. At worst, Yonglu Mountain would strike your name from its rolls.

Taking a dragon as his master was certainly imposing beyond measure, but Wen Xu could understand the words left unsaid. His powerful Divine Dragon master had clearly only survived until now through sheer strength!

Well, that settled it. The supreme elders of the neighboring great sects indeed would not come beat up his master, but all those mighty figures his master had offended would probably send their disciples to beat him up instead!

Wen Xu considered it carefully and became utterly, absolutely certain that Yonglu Mountain had set him up.

"Ah, well, of course not."

Divine Venerable Cheng Wei extended a finger and wagged it. "You possess a Mutated Spiritual Root, so your Destiny Pattern must be unusual. Some Destiny Patterns hinder cultivation, while others are harmless. For example... Meixi Sword of the Heaven-Shattering Sword Sect has a Born Sword Physique. His sword is his Destiny Pattern, which is why he cultivates the sword a hundred times faster than ordinary people."

A Destiny Pattern? Another thing Wen Xu had never encountered before.

"Let your master take a look. What kind of Destiny Pattern do you have? Whether it needs...?!" For the first time, Divine Venerable Cheng Wei revealed a stunned expression. Unfortunately, Wen Xu could not see it. He only felt a powerful stream of spiritual energy brush gently over his body, and then felt nothing at all.

"You... little disciple, you have quite the background."

Wen Xu did not understand what that meant. "This disciple is an abandoned child. Since I was young..."

"That is impossible. You clearly possess an Imperial Destiny! Eh? Your Destiny Pattern has been suppressed severely. Are you truly not from the imperial clan of the mortal world? Could it be that you are the... leader of rebel troops about to found a new dynasty? That is not right either. Since you are already in the Cultivation Realm, your Imperial Destiny should indeed be suppressed. But you say you are an abandoned child? That makes no sense at all."

Divine Venerable Cheng Wei curiously sized up his new disciple. Shamefully enough, he was already over a thousand years old, yet this was the first time he had ever accepted a disciple. And the very first one he accepted was the strangest of all. Though that was hardly surprising—if Wen Xu had not been strange enough, he would never have been sent to Springless Peak.

"Disciple, strive to reach the Golden Core Realm quickly, then return to the Mortal Realm and solve this mystery for your master."

Divine Venerable Cheng Wei clicked his tongue, then pulled out a storage ring and tossed it over. "Here, your initiation gift and a basic cultivation technique. Since you possess an Imperial Destiny, you cannot become an emperor of the mortal world—but you can become an emperor who commands the winds of the world!"

"Disciple, let us set a small goal. How about surpassing Jun Zhaoying in a hundred years?"

Wen Xu finally spoke in fury. "Master, you might as well tell this disciple to die. That would be faster!"

Aha, he had teased him too hard. Divine Venerable Cheng Wei had never coaxed a hatchling before. Fortunately, he had a substantial household fortune. He stuffed another pouch of Spirit Stones into his disciple's hands as compensation, then announced that he was going into seclusion and Wen Xu could go down the mountain to play for two days.

Wen Xu:...

"Oh, right. If you are pretending to be blind, you must make it convincing. This ribbon has been infused with your master's spiritual energy. Unless someone possesses greater spiritual energy than I do, no one will be able to examine the condition of your eyes again."

By now, Wen Xu was completely certain that his newly minted master was someone who delighted in watching trouble unfold without fear of making it bigger. Oh, no, not someone—a dragon.

Yet even with that realization, Wen Xu thought it over and still covered his eyes with the ribbon. Since he had already started pretending, he ought to see it through from beginning to end. In any case, even if a cultivator went blind, it would not affect cultivation.

The sky had already gone completely dark. No news was the best news, Gu Wufang thought as he stood at the foot of the mountain.

"Whoa, when did you show up?!" The one bad thing about Springless Peak was that even he, the sect master, had to restrain his spiritual energy. That was how this junior disciple had managed to approach him.

"Sect Master, I have been standing here all along," Wen Xu said faintly.

"You... the little grandmaster was willing to accept you?" Seeing the storage ring on Wen Xu's hand, Gu Wufang knew the matter had succeeded. But then—"Your eyes... even the little grandmaster could do nothing about them?"

In a sense, that was indeed true. So Wen Xu nodded, even putting what he had learned to immediate use. "Master said it is related to my Destiny Pattern."

A Destiny Pattern—no wonder. Gu Wufang had been wondering how a cultivator could still be blind after entering the Dao.

Gu Wufang did not doubt him in the slightest, but he soon became troubled again. With a lone courage in his heart, he had sent such a fine seedling up the mountain to take a master. Now the master had indeed been taken, but... when it came to seniority, had he not found himself a little grand-uncle?

Or rather, he had found every disciple of Yonglu Mountain below him a little grand-uncle!

Ah, saying it that way immediately made him feel much better.

Gu Wufang happily accepted this new arrangement. "Good. Since the little grandmaster is willing to take you in, cultivate diligently. If there is anything you do not understand, just ask your master."

Wen Xu:... I thought you meant I could just ask you, Sect Master.

**

"Why is Wen Xu-Xu taking so long? My stomach is about to be flattened by hunger! I deliberately did not take a Grain-Repelling Pill. If we wait any longer, the hotpot broth will boil dry." Bian Chunchou rubbed his stomach, which promptly let out a rumbling growl.

Chen Zui paid him no mind. If he had not wanted so badly to know which elder Wen Xu had taken as his master, he would have returned to his peak to cultivate long ago. His master was a Spirit Transformation Venerable from Blade Peak, and there were already two senior brothers under that master. Both senior brothers had accepted sect missions and were currently away from the mountain, so naturally he had to seize this chance to learn more from his master.