Pan Long did not stay in Sui Shan Town to help prepare for the celebration. Instead, he returned to Guangling alone.
He went first to the Worldly Retreat, hidden on an island, only to find that his teacher was still in seclusion.
"Why has Teacher been in seclusion so long?" he wondered. "The Ancestor of the Ren Family has gone through the whole process, from learning to entering seclusion to becoming an Immortal or Buddha... and Teacher is still in seclusion?"
"People are different," Lanling Kuang said mildly. "Don't compare a true genius who relied entirely on his own efforts and reached the end of the road to Longevity several times, only to be delayed until today by sheer bad luck, with an ordinary crow whose only talents are fighting and acting cute."
Pan Long was startled. "Isn't Teacher a genius? I think she's incredibly talented!"
Lanling Kuang and Lie Yukou exchanged a glance but said nothing.
"She became a Demon God. Surely you can't say she has no talent!" As Bi Lingkong's disciple, Pan Long could not help defending his teacher. "Maybe she isn't as extraordinary as you two, but saying she has no talent just isn't right!"
Lie Yukou patted him on the shoulder. "You'd better stop there. You're young. You don't know what Little Bi Bird was like back then..."
"What was she like?"
"Gluttonous and lazy, slippery and sly, fanning flames and walking off with whatever caught her eye..." Lanling Kuang rattled off a string of faults, then summed up, "Before she met Wen Chao, it was only because Senior Brother Gongye kept her in check that she didn't cause a catastrophe. Even then, she committed no great wrongs but made little mistakes without end. Whenever the Master needed a bad example, he used her to