Before Wen Xu could refuse, Zhi Lianshan directly gave him a grand bow, then swept up the local gifts from the table and left like a gust of wind. At Wen Xu's Golden Core Realm cultivation, he could not see the man's speed clearly at all.
The attendant who had just come in with spirit tea: ...Huh? Where did Martial Uncle Zhi go? Wasn't he just here?
There was no sense of passing years in mountain cultivation. After settling his past affairs and calming his state of mind, Wen Xu no longer possessed that frantic, workhorse obsession with cultivation. Though he still cultivated as diligently as ever, his mindset had become extremely relaxed. He no longer deliberately pursued higher cultivation, instead letting things follow their natural course.
Yet strangely enough, his cultivation progressed more and more smoothly. By the time they were about to depart for the Five Sects Assembly, he had quietly crossed the threshold into Late Golden Core. Even he himself had not expected it, much less anyone else.
"A-Xu, you have truly been working hard lately. In your master's opinion, there is no need for you to attend the Five Sects Assembly."
Wen Xu: "...The sect master will leap out and cling to your thigh, crying."
Divine Venerable Cheng Wei was utterly cold and merciless. "Then kick him down the mountain. Out of sight, out of mind."
...Then the sect master would probably cling to him and weep about his master's cold-heartedness.
"A-Xu, your heart is still too soft. If it were your master, when encountering certain shameless fellows who cling on like leeches, I could not possibly be so good-tempered."
Wen Xu: Was Master giving him an advance warning? Telling him to be more vigilant at Bitter Crossing Temple?
Thinking of that fellow Bushi, Wen