Who Is Violet Cloud Mountain's Sky?

Seeing Wei Kuang's dejected expression, Zhou Qing smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't take it to heart."

"Those who cultivate seek to cast off falsehood and preserve truth. In all things, one need only ask whether one truly ought to do them. Why care about others wagging their tongues?"

"Things born of illusion have no solid core. In the end, they will vanish like smoke and clouds with the passage of time. When you break through Foundation Establishment and form your Golden Core, you will discover that the clamor of human words is nothing more than drifting clouds in the sky. Only the single sincere thought of seeking immortality can reach eternity."

Wei Kuang gave him a grateful look and cupped his hands. "Senior Apprentice's teachings are correct."

After saying that, he sighed. "I am merely saddened. We are all of the Azure Cloud Sect's lineage, and should be joining forces and working with one heart to strengthen the sect. Why must we blindly divide ourselves into insiders and outsiders, then attack one another?"

Wei Xu also came over with a smile. "Brother Wei is an upright and open man, so naturally he cannot understand their way of thinking."

"Some people rely on stepping on others to feel good about themselves. Even when there was no distinction to begin with, they insist on creating one, all to show that they stand a head above everyone else."

"We need not pay them any heed. As long as we sincerely seek the Dao under Senior Apprentice's guidance and cultivate diligently, one day we will leave them with nothing to say."

Feeling the concern the two men had shown him, Wei Kuang's heart warmed. He looked at them both. Zhou Qing possessed a deep, tranquil, indifferent bearing, as though his foundations were unfathomable. Wei Xu, meanwhile, was strong and bold, carrying the spirit of soaring straight into the clouds.

Nie Yunxi, Yuan Hongying, Wang Xiaohu, and Feng Yuan behind them each had their own shining qualities as well. Wei Kuang could not help secretly rejoicing that he had encountered such good friends.

He nodded heavily. "Cultivation cannot do without like-minded people to spar with and temper one another. To meet all of you, my senior and junior apprentices, and become friends walking the same path—I, Wei Kuang, am truly blessed through three lifetimes!"

"What? Only senior and junior brothers? Do us senior and junior sisters not have such good fortune?"

Yuan Hongying pretended to be angry as she linked arms with Nie Yunxi.

Wei Kuang said awkwardly, "All of you, all of you!"

Seeing his embarrassed expression, everyone burst into laughter.

The group strolled through the bamboo grove outside Zhou Qing's courtyard for a while, exchanging insights and doubts about cultivation and tempering the heart. Only then did they leave Zhou Qing's residence, each fully satisfied.

After leaving the bamboo grove, Liu Bingxuan finally could not hold back any longer. "Senior Apprentice, why didn't you let me teach him a proper lesson?"

Fang Yuhe said, "Didn't you see that Zhou Qing never strayed more than thirty yards from the entrance? So long as we dared to make a move, he would dare activate the restrictions. When that happened, we would be the ones suffering the loss."

"Besides, we have cultivated for at least three years longer than he has. If we used strength to bully the weak, the elders of the sect would surely be displeased. We would be the ones in the wrong."

Liu Bingxuan said indignantly, "That Zhou Qing is far too arrogant. He has no respect at all for us senior apprentices. He even dared to say that he was the Senior Apprentice, so how could there be any senior apprentices above him? What utter nonsense."

"If I don't teach him a lesson, this grievance will stay bottled up in my chest."

Fang Yuhe smiled. "If we want to teach him a lesson, we do not necessarily need to do it ourselves."

Liu Bingxuan's eyes lit up. "Senior Apprentice has an idea?"

Fang Yuhe said, "I have my own plans for this matter. You can all return. I'll take a walk over at Azure Cloud Mountain."

With that, he left his fellow apprentices behind and headed down the mountain alone, walking toward Azure Cloud Mountain.

Among the Azure Cloud Sect's four great halls, the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall held the lowest status.

Of the four great halls, the Hall of Skill Transmission held the highest status. Its head was a Golden Core True Person, while the four Elders under him were all experts at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Xuan Zheng, head of the Discipline Hall, was known as the Azure Cloud Sect's number one beneath the Golden Core, and the four Elders under him were all at Foundation Establishment as well.

Only the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall was different. Its head, He Huifeng, was merely at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment, roughly comparable to Bai Muyun, head of the Esoteric Division.

Yet Bai Muyun was proficient in all three arts of alchemy, artifact refinement, and talisman crafting. In terms of status, he even stood above Xuan Zheng. How could He Huifeng compare to him?

Of the four Elder positions beneath He Huifeng, three were still vacant. Only Elder Chengguang, who had only recently entered Foundation Establishment, handled all the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall's affairs for him.

Fang Yuhe arrived at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall and headed straight for the duty room where Elder Chengguang handled matters.

Upon seeing Fang Yuhe, Chengguang smiled. "Why aren't you cultivating properly, boy? What are you doing here again?"

Fang Yuhe smiled. "I came to see whether Elder has any new tasks available to take on."

Chengguang shook his head. "If you have something to say, say it quickly. Why beat around the bush? Before the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall announces internal tasks, when have I not sent someone to notify you in advance so you could prepare?"

Fang Yuhe grinned. "Elder's care has left this disciple endlessly grateful. This disciple came to see Elder this time in hopes that Elder might notify this disciple even more promptly in the future—only release the task after this disciple has already entered the Spirit Realm Network."

Chengguang was taken aback. "What tricks are you up to now? It sounds as though someone wants to compete with you for tasks. Is there anyone among the Outer Disciples who dares defy you?"

Fang Yuhe sighed. "Elder does not know. Among this batch of new disciples, there is a thorn in the side. Forget defying this disciple—he already dares lecture this disciple without the slightest restraint."

As he spoke, he recounted what had just happened.

Chengguang said in surprise, "He truly dared say that?"

"Would this disciple dare deceive Elder?"

Fang Yuhe said, "After all, this disciple has cultivated six years longer than he has. If I were to discipline him personally, it would inevitably look like the strong bullying the weak. Therefore, this disciple hopes Elder can help suppress his arrogance and let him know that one should not be too full of fiery vigor."

"Otherwise, if he causes trouble in the future, he may instead bring disaster upon the sect."

Elder Chengguang smiled. "That is easy enough. In the future, I will wait for your message before releasing tasks. I guarantee he will not get a single task. After enough time, he will naturally learn who is Violet Cloud Mountain's sky."

Fang Yuhe smiled. "This disciple thanks Elder in advance."

Zhou Qing returned to a calm and regular life.

Every morning, he practiced the accuracy of his iron pellets. In the afternoon, he replenished his depleted magnetic field energy. At night, he spent three hours cultivating.

His iron pellet practice quickly showed results. Two days later, he could frequently land the pellets on target. Another three days passed, and he had basically achieved a perfect hit every time.

At that point, he began increasing the speed of the iron pellets.

Once the speed increased, his accuracy dropped again. Fortunately, he had the experience from practicing at low speed, and he quickly learned how to calibrate their trajectories.

Once his accuracy improved, he raised the speed of the iron pellets again, repeating the cycle over and over.

His iron pellet practice improved steadily, but his cultivation ran into trouble.

His two Mid-Grade Spirit Stones had been exhausted in only three days. After that, his cultivation speed fell back to that of six Spiritual Roots—and six Spiritual Roots without any Spirit Stones to use. His cultivation speed was even twice as slow as that of his fellow junior apprentices with six Spiritual Roots.

Having experienced high-speed cultivation, he immediately found himself somewhat dissatisfied.

He wanted to take on tasks to earn some Spirit Stones, but although he entered the Spirit Realm Network at least three times every day, he never saw any tasks released. He could only withdraw in frustration and continue waiting patiently.

Zhou Qing had assumed that the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall simply released tasks very rarely, until Yuan Hongying came to find him at his home that day.