Outside the Punishment Hall.
"Brother Chen?"
Seeing Chen Xun come out, Zhao Ting hurriedly called to him.
But Chen Xun was absorbed in the Wordless Book and went down the mountain humming a little tune.
Zhao Ting froze. Just as he was about to chase after Chen Xun and pull him back, Chu Ningshang emerged from the Punishment Hall and said, "Zhao Ting."
Zhao Ting stopped in his tracks, hurriedly turned around, and bowed. "Master."
Chu Ningshang nodded. Gazing intently at Chen Xun's retreating figure, she moved her lips and asked, "How did you and... your friend meet? Could you tell me?"
Zhao Ting assumed his master must want to know about Brother Chen's illness, so he said, "Master, Brother Chen and I actually met by chance, like duckweed drifting together on the water. It happened like this..."
Then Zhao Ting recounted every detail of how he had met Chen Xun, leaving nothing out. He even repeated Chen Xun's exact words from that day about how he possessed spirit essence and had the makings of an immortal cultivator.
Finally, Zhao Ting sighed. "On the second day after we met, Brother Chen suddenly went mad. Fortunately, he still vaguely recognized me."
Chu Ningshang nodded slowly, her gaze flickering as she looked at Zhao Ting, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
Taken aback, Zhao Ting asked anxiously, "Master, is there any way to cure Brother Chen's condition?"
Seeing Zhao Ting's worried expression, Chu Ningshang sighed inwardly. She had no idea whether his friendship with that Senior... Chen, whom even the sect master treated with caution, would prove a blessing or a curse.
In truth, even now, Chu Ningshang herself still had many questions.
For instance, just who was this Senior Chen? How had the sect master come to know him? And then there was... the list went on.
Chu Ningshang closed her eyes and said, "Zhao Ting, you needn't worry about your friend. Have you ever considered that he might not be an ordinary person?"
With that, she left the bewildered Zhao Ting behind and turned back into the hall. She had suffered a backlash earlier and needed to tend to her injuries.
She simply had not let it show in front of Zhao Ting.
Outside the Punishment Hall, Zhao Ting remained bewildered. He truly had not understood her. Only after a long while did he remember something and give a wry smile.
"Oh, right. I forgot to tell Master that Brother Chen comes from a cultivation clan. He really isn't ordinary, when you think about it. Master could tell even that?"
Chen Xun's first year in the Heavenly Dao Sect.
Every day consisted of eating, sweeping, sleeping, eating, sweeping, and sleeping.
Except when Chen Xun slept, Qian Laifu followed him around every day without fail, fussing over his well-being. He repeatedly tried to persuade Chen Xun to move somewhere else, but Chen Xun brushed him off every time.
Many of the disciples halfway up Servant Disciple Peak gradually noticed something strange... the steward treated Chen Xun, a mere mortal, far too well-so well that it was abnormal.
Someone, somehow, got wind that Chen Xun was a friend of the Purple-Robed Disciple Zhao Ting. Only then did they gasp in surprise and understand.
No wonder.
Still, in a sect with such a strict hierarchy, would anyone really do that? Especially a Purple-Robed Disciple.
Only later, when quite a few disciples personally saw their purple-robed Senior Brother Zhao Ting sitting on the mountain path chatting with Chen Xun, did everyone finally believe it. They could not help marveling inwardly: though Chen Xun was a mad mortal, he was truly fortunate to have such a sincere friend as Senior Brother Zhao Ting, who refused to abandon him.
During this time, Zhao Ting also began to show his brilliance. With his own talent and the sect's resources poured into him, he drew spiritual energy into his body in half a day, reached the third level of qi refinement in ten days, and achieved foundation establishment in a hundred days, creating a tale that would be told with admiration!
His aptitude shook the Heavenly Dao Sect. The disciples of Servant Disciple Peak, in particular, felt keenly the crushing weight of supreme talent.
Foundation establishment in a hundred days!
What a Purple-Robed Disciple achieved in a mere hundred days was a dream Servant Disciples could never reach in their entire lives.
People were not all alike. That was reality.
And Zhao Ting was a genius through and through.
Achieving foundation establishment in a hundred days was a first even among all the Purple-Robed Disciples of Heaven Mystic Peak.
That alone showed the extent of Zhao Ting's talent.
Listening to the other elders' praise, Chu Ningshang basked in the reflected glory.
Most notably, on the day Zhao Ting achieved foundation establishment, Sect Master Nangong Yao came in person and offered him a smiling appraisal: "You are very good."
Speaking of Nangong Yao.
As sect master, he was fairly busy, yet throughout that year, he still slipped over to the thatched hut on the western side of Servant Disciple Peak every few days to visit Chen Xun-with fine wine, of course.
Though Chen Xun babbled nonsense, his occasional earth-shaking remarks gave Nangong Yao considerable inspiration and jolted him deeply, to the point that Nangong Yao felt the barrier to his next cultivation realm faintly loosening.
Nangong Yao was moved to tears with gratitude and became even more convinced that Chen Xun was an expert-an exceedingly lofty one, at least far beyond anything Nangong Yao could compare with.
After every lesson, Nangong Yao would bow deeply to Chen Xun. Later, he even began addressing him as "Teacher."
In Nangong Yao's heart, Chen Xun's standing rose ever higher. He seemed more and more like a teacher guiding him along the path of immortal cultivation.
And Servant Disciple Peak, a place Nangong Yao would never previously have set foot on, miraculously became his sacred ground for learning and comprehending the Dao.
As Nangong Yao's visits to Servant Disciple Peak grew more frequent, the disciples noticed nothing thanks to his secrecy, but the Core Elders gradually began to take notice...
Fourth Elder Chu Ningshang was less surprised, since she had already known there was something special about Chen Xun. Even so, Sect Master Nangong Yao's enthusiasm toward that senior still shocked her. From then on, Chen Xun became ever more mysterious in her eyes.
At the end of the first year.
Some disciples of Servant Disciple Peak had reached their limits. Alone and despondent, they left the Heavenly Dao Sect and returned to the mortal world.
By contrast, Zhao Ting had already reached the foundation establishment middle stage, progressing at a speed that could only be called flying.
One evening, Nangong Yao again visited the thatched hut on the western side of Servant Disciple Peak.
Though it was already deep winter, snow never fell on the sacred mountain where the Heavenly Dao Sect stood. It was spring all year round, and the insects in the wilds sang without cease.
Chen Xun sat on the ground, swaying his head as he babbled to himself.
Nangong Yao sat cross-legged on the ground beside him, not minding the dirt in the slightest. He listened earnestly to Chen Xun's mad ramblings, his eyes occasionally lighting up as he nodded and said, "You are right, Teacher."
Only after Chen Xun yawned, turned, dashed into the thatched hut, and began snoring soundly did Nangong Yao come back to himself. He slowly rose, bowed toward the hut, and headed away.
As usual, once Nangong Yao reached the mountain path thick with grass, he prepared to take flight and leave Servant Disciple Peak.
But just as he was about to leave, his gaze suddenly shifted, and he said irritably:
"A pack of skulking cowards. Get out here!"
The air fell still.
Then came a rustling sound.
The Core Elders emerged from the grass beside the path, their faces filled with embarrassment.
The elders glanced at one another, some coughing dryly, others darting their eyes about, all looking guilty.
Nangong Yao turned around and looked at Liu Yunjian and the other elders, saying flatly:
"With those hiding skills of yours, you thought you could fool me? You elders certainly have gall enough to blot out the sky, joining forces to tail your sect master! Hmm?"
Yes, all nine Core Elders were there, without a single one missing.
Seeing the other elders all look toward him, Liu Yunjian had no choice but to cough dryly and say:
"Ahem, Sect Master, you've misunderstood. How would we dare follow you? We simply thought that we'd never visited Servant Disciple Peak before, and the scenery looked lovely this evening, so we decided to come up together and enjoy the view. Ahem, running into you was purely a coincidence!"
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