Mutual Generation and Mutual Restraint

Ye An's gaze swept across the grotto, and he noticed a small stone chamber near the rock wall on the left. A figure stood on the stone steps before it.

The other party wore gray-white robes. He was tall, and a cold sharpness lingered between his brows and eyes—the harshness forged by years of licking blood from the edge of a blade.

He looked to be around sixty. Though he was a Gathered Origin Martial Artist, his temples were already lightly frosted with white.

"Chief Disciple Ye."

His voice was low and steady, carrying the texture of someone who rarely spoke and only occasionally opened his mouth.

Ye An cupped his fists in salute. "Ye An pays his respects to Senior."

Chu Xiaoling's gaze lingered on Ye An for two breaths as he scrutinized him.

The reputation of this Four Symbols Sect Chief Disciple had swept through Cangwu Prefecture like a storm over the past year. Even Chu Xiaoling, who spent most of his time outside carrying out missions for the Demon Suppressing Guard and rarely returned to the sect, had heard Ye An's name.

"Chu Xiaoling." Chu Xiaoling stated his own name without any unnecessary preface or embellishment. "I wonder if you've heard of me. I'm from the White Tiger Hall."

"I heard that you practice Black Tortoise Hall Martial Arts. Why didn't you go to the Cold Pool Spirit Grotto of the Blackwater Sect and instead come to the Blazing Fire Grotto?" Chu Xiaoling asked, somewhat puzzled.

Water restrained fire, and fire restrained metal. By rights, cultivating Black Tortoise Inner Art in the Cold Pool Spirit Grotto was the proper path. If he came to a fire-attribute grotto to cultivate, wasn't he just wasting his time?

Ye An recalled what Zhao Xuanji had said earlier and used this