Venerable Yu Yi and Venerable Wanhe had been summoned at the same time. Between them, they were over a thousand years old, yet even they were speechless.
At least their years had not been lived in vain. It had not come to the point of children fighting and their elders fighting as well. The two merely exchanged a glance.
Jiang Wan stood perfectly fine off to the side.
Su Yunrou and Jiang Yao both had bruised, swollen faces. Because an array suppressing spiritual power had been activated, they could not use spiritual power to heal themselves either. They looked rather miserable.
Venerable Yu Yi tucked both hands into his sleeves.
"Ah, how could you fight? Look at what you did to your two Senior Sisters. You beat them into this state—it is painful just to look at."
Then he turned toward Venerable Wanhe, his soothing tone making Venerable Wanhe want to fight the old bastard.
"Venerable Wanhe, they are only children. How hard could they have hit? Er... at most, a few bruises and a swollen face.
"As long as they have not damaged their bones or foundations, there is nothing to worry about. What child does not fight? Let us go back and continue cultivating.
"Now that this spiritual power array is active, they will all behave themselves. In the future, there is no need to report such minor injuries to us."
Venerable Wanhe cast a disdainful glance at his own little daughter. She was taller than the other girl and older than her, yet she had been bullied into this state by a three-year-old child.
"Venerable Yu Yi is right. In the future, handle such children's fights yourselves. Do not come looking for us over every little thing."
The two adults shook their heads and left, leaving the three children behind with varied expressions.
Su Yunrou stomped her foot.
"Why did my father just leave like that? Junior Sister Jiang Yao, do not be afraid. Is she not merely strong? I have a way to deal with her."
Jiang Wan lazily glanced at the two of them, then turned to ask the managing Martial Uncle.
"Martial Uncle, can we go back and eat now?"
"Yes. You go back first. I will come after treating your two Junior Sisters."
Jiang Wan looked at their bruised, swollen faces. Too miserable. One should not hit people in the face—but next time, she still would.
On the way back, she ran into little Xu Hengliang.
Xu Hengliang looked her up and down.
"Did Patriarch not hit you?"
Jiang Wan was speechless. Now that she could not use her Storage Bag, she could not even take out her Chicken Legs. Her stomach was so hungry; she had no time to waste words on him.
"Why would he hit me? It is not as though I lost."
Little Xu Hengliang tilted his head.
"So if you win, you do not get beaten?"
Jiang Wan shrugged her little shoulders.
"Maybe. Stop bothering me. I am going to eat."
Little Xu Hengliang stood where he was. It seemed he had attained enlightenment.
No wonder his father had always beaten him after he fought before. It had to be because he lost.
He turned to look thoughtfully at Jiang Wan's small retreating figure. If he fought her and won, would his master beat him?
When Jiang Wan returned to the dining hall, Nangong Wanyu had already gotten her food, including her favorite Chicken Legs.
"Wanwan, you were amazing today. Did your master punish you?
"If she did, count me in. I will help you."
Jiang Wan reached out and rubbed her little cheeks. Xiao Yu really was adorable.
"No. I did not lose, so why would Master punish me?
"Oh, right, Senior Brother Liuhuo. The next time you go home, you must tell my Mother every last detail of what happened here. Let my Mother know that those mother and daughter are no good people.
"You know how Madam Li bullied me before, right? Today she came again to put on a show of deep mother-daughter affection. I think she is definitely up to no good."
Liuhuo obediently nodded.
"Alright. When I go back, I will definitely tell the truth."
Jiang Wan gave him an approving look.
"Not bad. You can still be my Senior Brother, then."
Liuhuo secretly vowed that the next time his Junior Sister made a move, he would definitely stand on her side.
After Jiang Wan finished eating, she went back. Now that the Spiritual Control Array had been activated here, Jiang Wan, who possessed absolute strength, could be said to be incapable of suffering even the slightest loss under any circumstances.
Unless they voluntarily left the range of the Spiritual Control Array.
Their daily lessons remained common knowledge of the Cultivation World.
Little Xu Hengliang was the first to rise from his meditation cushion and voice his dissatisfaction.
"Martial Uncle, we already know all this. Only three-year-old children need to learn these things. We are not three-year-old children anymore. What we need now is to cultivate quickly!
"I demand that the Spiritual Control Array be removed."
Without spiritual power, he could not even open his Storage Bag, much less take out anything fun.
Han Li shook his head. This was precisely when they needed to properly establish a correct sense of right and wrong, to understand good and evil. Blind cultivation alone could improve their cultivation, but if their character went astray, all their previous efforts would go down the drain.
In order to give the children's vigorous energy an outlet, Martial Uncle Han Li added a body-tempering course.
Every afternoon, they had to run around the back mountain. Three-year-olds ran one lap, and each additional year meant another lap. Seven-year-olds ran four laps.
Those older than seven could leave and cultivate.
Little Xu Hengliang immediately raised his hand.
"Martial Uncle, I am already seven, so I can leave."
Martial Uncle Han Li glanced at him.
"I meant actual age, not nominal age."
Jiang Wan gave a shudder. Actual age too?
Not to mention animals, even poisonous spirit herbs in the mountain had been cleared out. Foundation Establishment Cultivators also periodically watched over them with divine sense, preventing them from getting lost.
Especially after Jiang Wan had nearly been abducted last time, this place had become as impregnable as an iron bucket.
The children walked through the mountains in twos and threes, slowly following a mountain path. Jiang Wan looked at little Dong Chen's sword. He was still carrying it; he really was diligent.
"Senior Brother Dong Chen, is your sword heavy? Do you want me to carry it for a while?"
Jiang Yao came over, wanting to carry Dong Chen's sword for him. Dong Chen reached out to protect his sword, not allowing Jiang Yao to touch it.
"No. Master said Sword Cultivators must temper their strength and will. This has been weighted by Master. No one can take the sword off me unless they are an enemy."
Jiang Yao gave an oh.
"But I am your Junior Sister, Senior Brother."
A huge question mark appeared over Dong Chen's head.
"You have already become Venerable Wanhe's disciple, so you are not my Junior Sister."
Jiang Yao did not think there was anything wrong with that.
"Our master, True Lord Bitter Sword, is the master who teaches me sword practice. Master Wanhe is my greatest master. Why can I not take two masters?"
Dong Chen was left at a loss for how to answer. He turned to look at Jiang Wan, only to discover that she had already gone far ahead.
"Junior Sister Jiang Wan, wait for me."
Watching him run away, Jiang Yao rolled her eyes. Why had Madam Li not made a move yet?
In a few more days, forces from every direction would gather, and the disciple-acceptance ceremony for Spirit Transmutation Cultivators would begin.
She turned and saw Xu Hengliang trudging over, exhausted as a dog.
"Senior Brother Xu, are you not taking little sister Wanwan to that valley anymore?"
Xu Hengliang waved his hand.
"No. I am tired. Every day I am so tired I do not even want to move. I do not want to bother with her!"
Su Yunrou walked over. She was tired too. It was all this Xu Hengliang's fault. If he had not kept whining, why would they have added a body-tempering class?
"Xu Hengliang, are you trying to bully Jiang Yao? With me here, you people from Tianyan Peak can forget about bullying us people from Changhe Peak."
Xu Hengliang rested for a while and recovered some strength. Hearing that, he rolled his eyes.
"Get lost. You are still my Young Martial Uncle's defeated opponent."
Su Yunrou said, "What did you say?
"I did not perform well that time. Besides, even if I cannot beat her, can I not beat you?"
Jiang Wan was utterly stunned when she found out. How had these two little children ended up fighting?
She glanced at Jiang Yao, who wanted her to break up the fight, and shook her head.
"No!"
If she wanted to live to a ripe old age, she had to meddle less in other people's affairs.
[You once set up roadblocks and held up Heavenly Prodigies from every direction, confiscating every treasure on their persons. To further cleanse your reputation, persuade the many demonic cultivators following you to remove the roadblocks and stop targeting those Heavenly Prodigies. The world will eventually understand your intentions. Mission Difficulty: Supreme. Mission Reward: Imprint Treasure Mirror.]
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