Chapter 15

Pei Zhan slowly opened his eyes.

The spiritual energy in the cave abode spun violently, forming an enormous vortex of spiritual energy with Pei Zhan at its center.

Pei Zhan formed hand seals with both hands and circulated his cultivation method, drawing the spiritual energy along his meridians in cleansing waves until the spiritual energy outside calmed and was fully absorbed.

It was done!

Even though Pei Zhan had been in charge of the Divine Creation Sect for more than a hundred years, he could not help the joy that showed on his face. In his early years, in order to protect the Divine Creation Sect, he had forced his way through the Spirit Transformation tribulation. Although he had succeeded, his realm had remained unstable for the past century, and the lingering force of the Purple Abyss Lightning Tribulation had never dispersed, stirring up trouble in his meridians from time to time. Now, because of that single word “Dao” from his little junior brother, he had gained an insight. After only a few months of seclusion, his early-stage Spirit Transformation realm had already stabilized and even showed signs of a breakthrough. More than that, the hidden injuries left from forcing his way through the tribulation had also been dispelled by more than half.

It was impossible not to be delighted.

He had to properly thank his little junior brother, old father Pei pondered. He wondered whether his little junior brother had gotten used to life in the sect while he was in seclusion, and whether Fuyi, rough-handed and rough-footed as always, would know how to take care of a child properly...

Pei Zhan breathed out, stopped circulating his cultivation method, and finally opened the stone door of the cave abode where he had been in seclusion. A page boy had long been waiting outside and quickly bent at the waist in greeting. “Welcome out of seclusion, Sect Leader!”

…

A spirit boat streaked across the horizon. The body of the boat was pure white and flawless, with only two large characters carved at the bow—Heavenly Evolution.

Wenqu saw the distant range of mountains stretching on and on. The lines of the defensive grand array flickered faintly, guarding everything inside so tightly that it seemed like a paradise beyond the world.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

An elderly woman walked to Wenqu’s side with a tall walking stick. Her hair was done up in a married woman’s bun, and her face was full of wrinkles, but her eyes were bright. It was not difficult to see what she had looked like in her youth. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Wenqu, she slowly said, “So that is the Divine Creation Sect, once famous for ‘creating gods’?”

“Yes.” Wenqu held both hands behind his back, his blue Daoist robe rustling in the wind. “According to ancient records, the founding patriarch of the Divine Creation Sect once seized the fortune of heaven and earth to refine a puppet that seemed no different from a real person, then proved his Dao and ascended with it. Afterward, the sect changed its name to the Divine Creation Sect, meaning the creation of gods.”

The old woman smiled. “So after you finished reading that jade slip, you wondered whether the Divine Creation Sect had produced another breathtaking genius like their patriarch. That is why you were so impatient to come and meet them.”

Wenqu’s thoughts had been seen through, but he remained perfectly composed. “So what if it is?”

“Nothing.” The old woman shook her head and blinked like a young girl. “It is only that you can fool Pojun, but you cannot fool me.”

“Senior Brother, your Dao heart is in turmoil.”

A Dao heart was the foundation of a cultivator. If one could not keep their Dao heart firm, then their path was bound to be rough.

Tanlang Star of the Heavenly Evolution Sect presided over killing and conquest, and was best at peering into things, striking straight to the heart with a single sentence.

Wenqu fell silent.

The spirit boat advanced along its set course, just like Wenqu at this moment. He longed to discuss the Dao with the cultivator who had written the jade slip, yet he also feared meeting him, feared that the Dao heart he had kept firm for several hundred years would shatter with a crash, dragging even the existence of the Heavenly Evolution Sect into becoming a joke.

…

“Mengji broke through?” Pei Zhan listened as the page boy explained the major events that had happened in the sect since he entered seclusion.

Shen Mengji was Pei Zhan’s first disciple and had been at the peak of Foundation Establishment for two years. Pei Zhan knew that breakthroughs could not be rushed; only when everything was rounded, smooth, and fully connected would it do. It was only a pity that when his disciple broke through to the Golden Core realm, he, the master, had not been at his side.

Aside from Shen Mengji’s breakthrough, there was also the little junior brother Pei Zhan had been thinking about. First, he farmed on Qionggu Peak, then he opened classes to teach arrays and runes. He gathered disciples to make many lamps that even mortals could use, and in the end, he even brought back Xuncang the wolf king.

The page boys chimed in one after another, excitedly recounting how their little martial uncle had sent Xuncang the wolf king to deliver something to He Changyue of the Sword Sect. In the end, the wolf king had forced his way into the Sword Sect, causing the gatekeeping elder to think it was an enemy attack. The Sword Sect’s sect leader and several elders had all mobilized together, only to discover in the end that it had been a glorious misunderstanding.

Pei Zhan: “...”

He felt that he really should not have been worried about his little junior brother. Look at him. Fuyi’s Qionggu Peak had been bought with half a piece of meteoric iron. The wolf king helped him run errands. The disciples all thought their little martial uncle was the best in the world. He had even compiled a jade slip about arrays and runes.

Even Pei Zhan felt suddenly enlightened by what the jade slip taught.

He heard that Lu Yan had a class today. Perhaps he should go to Qionggu Peak and see how his little junior brother taught.

Just as he was thinking this, before he could leave, Pei Zhan suddenly raised his head and looked toward the sky. His divine sense seemed to stir. Pei Zhan instructed the Daoist page boys not to make a fuss, then his figure flashed, and he stood outside the defensive grand array.

At the same time, Daoist Yichen and Daoist Yiwen stood with their hands behind their backs. The three of them looked in the same direction, as if waiting for something.

The white jade spirit boat poked its head out from the layered clouds. The first thing to appear was the two characters “Heavenly Evolution” on the bow.

“The Heavenly Evolution Sect.”

Pei Zhan’s now-stabilized Spirit Transformation pressure condensed into a single beam, pointing directly at the spirit boat. “You have come without a visiting card. Might I ask what important matter brings you here?”

Daoist Yichen muttered under his breath, “Doesn’t the Heavenly Evolution Sect claim to avoid the world? Getting them to leave the house is like asking for their lives. How did three of them come out all at once?”

On the spirit boat, Wenqu sensed the pressure of the Spirit Transformation stage and secretly praised the Divine Creation Sect for having capable successors. Holding a jade slip, he infused his voice with spiritual power and let it spread as he said loudly, “I wish to visit your sect. If there is anything improper, I hope you will forgive me.”

Daoist Yiwen took a step forward, the corners of his mouth curving up. “So it is Senior Brother Wenqu.”

The spirit boat grew smaller and smaller. Three streams of light fell, and the spirit boat was put away into a palm. Wenqu stood at the front, with Tanlang and Pojun behind him, forming a triangular formation.

Wenqu was quite pleased to see Daoist Yiwen. “Greetings, Junior Brother Yiwen. It has been many years. I ask the junior brothers and Sect Leader Pei to forgive my abrupt visit.”

Behind him, Pojun and Tanlang also greeted them one by one.

Their courtesy was proper and beyond reproach. The six people faced one another, and Daoist Yiwen spoke. “May I ask what brings you here?”

Wenqu took out a jade slip from his storage space and asked, “May I ask which fellow Daoist wrote this jade slip?”

Daoist Yichen did not even need to use his divine sense. He recognized it at a glance. With one turn of thought, he knew what had happened and said, “My disciple was the chief editor. Is there a problem?”

When the Heavenly Evolution Sect was first established, it advocated peering into the secrets of heaven and exploring heaven and earth. It was extremely skilled at divination, and its runes and arrays formed a school of their own. The people of this sect did not come out, and outsiders could not enter, causing this sect to be one step ahead when it managed to peer into the secrets of heaven, and one step behind when it could not.

When Daoist Yichen had traveled the cultivation world in his youth, he had encountered several disciples who had come out of the Heavenly Evolution Sect. Every single one of them was mystical and nagging, only recognizing the Heavenly Evolution Sect’s path of arrays and runes as orthodox. If someone broke that belief of theirs, they could perform a shattered Dao heart on the spot.

If Lu Yan were here, he would definitely have been able to describe them accurately: homebodies with glass hearts.

In particular, the patterns Lu Yan had summarized from countless arrays ran counter to the Dao intent of the entire Heavenly Evolution Sect. There was no need to think about it. These Heavenly Evolution Sect elders were obviously here to argue theory.

Daoist Yichen was protective of his own. His little disciple was only so old. If those three opposite them wanted to bully him, they should at least look at whose territory they were standing on.

Wenqu was not stupid, so of course he could see the dislike in Daoist Yichen’s expression. The Heavenly Evolution Sect did indeed produce a great many glass hearts, and Wenqu could be considered the most glass-hearted of the seven elders. At this moment, for the sake of a smooth path in the future, and for the sake of the Heavenly Evolution Sect, he had to make this trip before the jade slip spread through the cultivation world. “So it was the young martial nephew. A hero truly emerges young. To tell the truth...”

Daoist Yichen interrupted him. “Don’t. My disciple is still young. You had better keep it to yourself.”

Wenqu: “...”

How was he supposed to respond to that?

Tanlang voluntarily took up the burden and said calmly, “Senior Brother Yichen, please do not take offense. At first glance, young martial nephew’s jade slip truly shakes the deaf and enlightens the blind. We have also gained something from it. That is why we came, hoping to discuss the Dao with our martial nephew and exchange insights.”

Daoist Yichen could not hold back after all. “All of you are so old, yet you are bullying a child. Do you have no shame?”

Pei Zhan deeply agreed.

Cultivators were generally at least a hundred years old. The “child” understood by the three from the Heavenly Evolution Sect was very different from an actual child. They were of high seniority and high cultivation. When they encountered someone of the younger generation or someone of lower cultivation, they would also call them “child.” A martial nephew capable of compiling such a jade slip had to be a genius among geniuses, definitely above Foundation Establishment, and perhaps even higher in realm.

Forgive this group of homebodies. When Daoist Yichen accepted his disciple, he had not remembered at all that such a sect existed.

Thus the Heavenly Evolution Sect party was even less capable of imagining that this martial nephew had entered the sect less than a year ago.

In the end, Daoist Yiwen came out to smooth things over. His empty eyes reflected no light, yet they strangely held a hint of something special as he took the initiative to decide the outcome of this confrontation. “Since that is the case, everyone, please enter the sect.”

…

Qionggu Peak. It was the class time Lu Yan had set for once every five days.

After teaching many classes, Lu Yan decided to hold an in-class quiz. He had personally written the test paper, and all the questions were ones he had covered before. On Qionggu Peak, every single one of them counted. As long as they had attended class, not one could escape.

Except for Fuyi. Her realm was high and she ran fast. No one could catch her.

The exam included the three brothers of sea, land, and air.

The half-crippled Jiao Ruyan bit the end of her pen, spreading the jade slip flat along the edge of the bathtub. Her head swam, and she looked like a dead fish.

The cool, tyrannical, domineering, and draggy Xuncang had transformed one hand into a wolf claw and was beginning to miss the simple joy of delivering packages.

He Nian, the earliest worker bird to arrive at Qionggu Peak, wrote as if aided by the gods. As for whether it was right or wrong, that was not under consideration.

As for the remaining disciples, some scratched their ears and cheeks, some wracked their brains in bitter thought, and some were full of confidence.

Whether they were bad students or top students, one only needed to look at their expressions.

Lu Yan watched the time, then struck a bronze gong with a clang. “Time’s up. Everyone stop writing. Check whether you wrote your names. Hand in your papers now!”

Wonderful things like jade slips were practically born for exams. As long as one used divine sense to engrave one copy, the rest could be infinitely duplicated. Grading papers was even simpler. With one sweep of divine sense, right and wrong became clear as day.

The Heavenly Evolution Sect arrived at precisely this moment.

Their backs were turned to Lu Yan as they looked down over the whole of Qionggu Peak.

Qionggu Peak had originally been filled with sword-cultivator-style ruggedness. Now the ground was level, and the disciples in uniform Daoist robes stood with straight backs, as if preparing to listen to someone’s admonishment.

Pojun, who had been holding back without speaking, sensed a different aura. His full beard twitched. “Demon cultivators?”

The Heavenly Evolution Sect had always looked down on the demon race’s idea of “the strong survive.” A demon was a demon. Even with a human form, it would never possess humanity.

Yet on this tiny mountain peak, three demons of different strengths were actually so harmonious?

Daoist Yichen was too lazy to bother with him. When he saw Lu Yan, his eyes filled with smiles, and he proudly pointed. “Look, that is my disciple!”

The three from the Heavenly Evolution Sect immediately felt their spirits jolt. They widened their eyes and searched before finally seeing a tiny radish head sitting on a large rock.

A tiny radish head???

Daoist Yichen worked hard to strike them down. “My final disciple, Daoist name Bupo. He entered the sect half a year ago and is exactly five and a half years old.”

Five and a half.

Pojun grabbed off a handful of his beard.

Tanlang tightened her grip on her walking stick.

Wenqu clutched his glass heart.

With a crash, it shattered.

Daoist Yichen’s words kept echoing in his mind: “Bullying a child. Do you have no shame?”

“Do you have no shame...”

“No shame...”

Lu Yan still had no idea someone was watching him. He sat on the large rock with a table in front of him, all the papers placed there. Lu Yan picked up the topmost jade slip and called out a name. “Jiao Ruyan, blank paper. Once the answers are handed out, copy them a hundred times in your free time.”

Jiao Ruyan had no strength to resist. She sank herself into the water and dully blew bubbles.

“Xuncang, scribbles and doodles. Copy it a hundred times. Your rabbit supply is cut in half!”

Previously, Lu Yan had followed the method of planting spirit rice and drawn a Spirit-Gathering Array to raise rabbits. The results had been quite good. Not only was the meat tender and juicy, it contained spiritual energy, and it was Xuncang’s favorite.

No matter how much the Heavenly Evolution Sect avoided the world, they had still heard the famous name of Xuncang the wolf king.

Powerful Demonic power, rarely matched, fierce and violent, someone no one dared provoke.

The fierce, violent, and unprovokable wolf king argued with exceptional backbone, “I’ll deliver two more packages for you. You’re not allowed to reduce my rabbits!”

Lu Yan put the test paper aside. “You still have to copy it a hundred times.”

Xuncang crossed one leg over the other. “Deal!”

The Heavenly Evolution Sect party: “...”

Lu Yan took out the next one. “Comrade He Nian’s paper looks pretty good. Only two questions wrong.”

He Nian happily flashed a mouthful of big white teeth. What merfolk, what wolf king? None of them were his match!

Lu Yan graded them one by one, and finally picked up Shen Mengji’s paper. Surprised and delighted, he said, “Erji got full marks. Super awesome!”

Shen Mengji obediently revealed a smile.

High in the air, Pei Zhan perked up his ears and proudly puffed out his chest, feeling honored as if the glory were his own.

As expected of my disciple!

After grading the papers, Lu Yan returned each jade slip, then took out his little blackboard and prepared to explain the questions. “Listen up, listen up. Digest everything on the spot after finishing the problems. If you make the same mistake on the next exam, copy that question a hundred times. Did you hear me?”

The disciples roared very loudly, “We heard you!”

Lu Yan’s classes were all about explaining profound things in simple terms. He did not put on airs. As he lectured, he demonstrated on the blackboard, explaining every question clearly and thoroughly from the inside out.

Wenqu listened quietly, his expression growing more and more solemn.

If he had just had some doubts about such a small child, now they had all turned into full respect.

There truly were heaven-sent geniuses in this world.

After class, the disciples descended the mountain one after another, leaving only the three demon cultivators and Lu Yan.

Lu Yan slowly put away his teaching materials. At Xuncang’s prompt, he raised his head and said casually, “Everyone, there is a fee for auditing the class.”

Wenqu was caught off guard and met a pair of pitch-black eyes. In a daze, he seemed to see countless lights and shadows interweaving within them. He could no longer care about anything else. He was the first to descend and solemnly saluted. “Those of the Heavenly Evolution Sect request a discussion of the Dao.”

Lu Yan was puzzled. “And you are?”

Wenqu stiffened.

Oh. He had forgotten. His martial nephew was a real child and might not necessarily have heard of the Heavenly Evolution Sect.

Wenqu only felt that his glass heart, with a crash, shattered again.

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