Chapter 9: New Friends

As soon as he brought the child back to Lingxiao Palace, a disciple hurriedly approached him at the mountain gate and said, “Third Master, you’re back! The Master has been looking for you everywhere.”

“What happened?” An Ran asked, confused.

“I heard that Elder Zhou…” The disciple paused and then corrected himself, “No, that demon is about to attack Lingxiao Palace!”

From the moment An Ran stepped through the mountain gate, he felt an atmosphere of tension, as if a great battle was imminent.

So it was because of this.

He smiled casually, “About that, that guy is already dead.”

The disciple was stunned for a moment. “Huh?”

Less than half a day later, the news had spread throughout the entire sect.

Yan Qinghong and Lu Xiuyuan hurriedly arrived.

“Third Junior Brother, I heard you…”

Seeing An Ran calmly drinking tea beside his desk, the two of them relaxed.

“Good, good,” Lu Xiuyuan said, patting Yan Qinghong on the shoulder. “I told you Third Junior Brother would be fine.”

An Ran still didn’t understand, “What’s going on?”

“It’s that disciple’s fault for not being clear,” Lu Xiuyuan said, walking over and sitting down, pouring himself a cup of tea. “He only said you killed your little junior…,” he paused, coughed, and corrected himself, “Zhou Xuyiao. But he didn’t mention you were unharmed, so Big Senior Brother dragged me here.”

Without a word, Yan Qinghong walked over and grabbed An Ran’s wrist to check his pulse. An Ran was startled by the sudden action. “Is this necessary?”

After a moment, Yan Qinghong’s expression softened. “Why wouldn’t it be? I heard he was at the top level of the God Transformation stage. You…” His brows furrowed as if he had recalled something and asked with confusion, “Did you kill him alone?”

An Ran’s eyes flickered slightly. He was pondering whether he should tell the truth when he overheard disciples outside gossiping, “I heard our Master destroyed that demon in one strike!”

“Really? But that was a God Transformation cultivator.”

“Of course! They say it was just one strike, and a thunderbolt came down…”

Before they could finish, An Ran immediately shouted, “What are you making all this noise for?”

The disciples, startled by his reprimand, gathered at the door and stood silently, not daring to make a sound.

He frowned and continued, “Go practice. Do not spread rumors.”

Once the disciples left, An Ran realized that both Yan Qinghong and Lu Xiuyuan were looking at him in shock.

“You… really…”

An Ran lowered his head, took a small sip of tea, and casually said, “I was fortunate to have had a chance.”

The two of them still couldn’t believe it. The original Yu Wanqiu would never have casually killed a fellow disciple, even if the person had fallen into the demonic path. It wouldn’t have been so easy for him to decide to kill.

“What exactly happened?” Yan Qinghong asked seriously.

“Tell us the truth. Was he trying to harm you?”

An Ran began to rethink his overly calm actions after seeing their reactions. After recalling the original owner’s memories, he felt a bit dazed.

Killing his fellow disciple over a disagreement really didn’t seem to fit the original owner’s character.

But now, he had no choice but to downplay the situation and explain that the disciple’s life was in danger, and he had to take action.

Yan Qinghong nodded, “You were eager to save your disciple, and that is understandable.”

“Junior Brother, tell us honestly, have you made any breakthroughs?” Lu Xiuyuan asked with a smile.

An Ran hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding. “I suppose so.”

For him, the concept of cultivation realms was as if it didn’t exist—whether it was God Transformation or Qi Cultivation, there was no real difference.

“That’s great!” Lu Xiuyuan said happily. “Now, that old fool at Xuan Yue Pavilion will be furious again.”

Yan Qinghong sneered and then said heavily, “What about Zhou Xuyiao’s body…”

“Are you still concerned about that? The demonic sect’s people have nothing to do with us. Let his disciples worry about it!” Lu Xiuyuan said coldly, even grinding his teeth. “If it weren’t for him, the Master wouldn’t have…”

“Alright, stop talking about that.”

The three of them sat down and chatted for a while, unaware that the whole sect was already buzzing with the news, and it was becoming more and more exaggerated. Some even claimed that Lingyun Xianzun had already reached the Half-Step Yang God realm.

What An Ran didn’t know was that if this continued to spread, he might soon “ascend.”

Nearby, a disciple was eavesdropping at the wall of Crane Dream Hall and then ran out to spread the latest news.

“I heard that the Master had no choice but to kill him in order to save Xia Chenyu.”

“I told you! I heard the Master and that demon were the best of friends in the past, how could…”

“Pah, pah, pah, what are you talking about? That was almost in the previous life.”

“Demonic cultivators should be eradicated, Master is doing justice.”

“Exactly.”

These words reached Xia Chenyu’s ears, and he was touched for a long while, realizing that his Master had killed a fellow disciple to save him.

When a disciple came to summon him to meet the Master, he quickly tidied up his clothes and respectfully went, only to find An Ran with a grim expression.

It seemed that An Ran was still immersed in the pain of killing Zhou Xuyiao, Xia Chenyu thought, and cautiously asked, “Master, is it because…?”

Before he could finish, An Ran shouted, “Who told you to spread rumors everywhere?”

Xia Chenyu was stunned for a moment. “What rumors?”

He had only truthfully recounted the events; how did it become a rumor?

An Ran naturally knew what was going on, but he just used this as an excuse. He continued, “First, you went down the mountain without permission and put yourself in danger. Then, you spoke carelessly and spread rumors. As punishment, you’ll work in the garden as manual labor to reflect on your actions. You’re not allowed to step out of the garden without my order.”

“Master! I…”

Work in the garden? Doesn’t that mean chopping wood, fetching water, and tending to the fields? Those were all tasks for outer sect disciples, busy all day in the fields—how would they have time to practice?

Xia Chenyu was eager to explain, but An Ran gave him no chance.

“Don’t say any more, go,” An Ran said, waving his sleeves and turning to leave, leaving Xia Chenyu stunned in place for a while.

Over the next few months, disciples came to watch Xia Chenyu’s misfortune.

Xu Wenmin and a group of senior brothers surrounded him, kicking over a bucket of water he had just filled.

If it had been before, Xia Chenyu would have slapped them away, but now he silently righted the bucket and continued drawing water, as if nothing had happened.

Because of this, even those who had been afraid of him began to grow bolder, and everyone wanted to kick him when he was down.

They didn’t know that Xia Chenyu had his spiritual veins sealed, unable to retaliate, and that he felt guilty toward his Master, not wanting to upset him by causing trouble.

“Do you think you deserve to be saved by the Master?” Xu Wenmin said more boldly, grabbing the bucket again and throwing it, spilling the water on the ground. The wooden bucket rolled to Xia Chenyu’s feet.

The boy said nothing, sighed lightly, picked up the bucket, and set it against the wall before taking the farming tools and rolling up his sleeves to continue working in the fields.

Laughter erupted from the crowd.

“I think he’s quite suited for this work. The Master is truly wise.”

“Such a young genius? I see more of a servant.”

“Hahahaha!”

The mocking words grew more biting, but Xia Chenyu ignored them, focusing on his work, drenched in sweat.

A young man suddenly appeared, wearing the outer sect disciple’s uniform, and casually walked over, handing Xia Chenyu a face towel. “Wipe your sweat.”

The boy nodded. “Thank you, Senior Brother,” and wiped his forehead.

The young man turned to Xu Wenmin and the others. “What’s with calling him a servant? Don’t look down on farm work, or you’ll suffer.”

“Who do you think you are?” Someone shouted and charged toward him.

But the incoming punch was easily blocked, and the youth pushed the person back, sending him stumbling. Then he kicked the person in the side, knocking him to the ground.

Seeing this, Xu Wenmin signaled to the others, and they all rushed toward him.

Despite having seven or eight people, they couldn’t even make a dent in the youth’s defense.

Xia Chenyu stood aside and just chuckled, unconcerned, continuing his work without offering to help.

The scene was comically absurd, with the group struggling while the boy calmly continued working.

Soon, all the attackers were knocked to the ground, some clutching their stomachs, writhing in pain.

“Who is this person from the outer sect?” Xu Wenmin wondered, but kept his composure and bravely asked, “What’s your name?”

The youth smiled and replied, “Just a nameless nobody, nothing worth mentioning.”

Several of them were cultivators in the Qi Refining or Foundation Building stage, but they were easily taken down—how could such a person be in the outer sect?

Xu Wenmin still wanted to ask more but realized they couldn’t win and felt too embarrassed to continue. Just then, someone called from afar, “What are you doing?”

As Zhuang Mingyuan approached, the group felt they had a backbone.

“Senior Brother, this person is amazing,” someone whispered in Zhuang Mingyuan’s ear.

Zhuang Mingyuan sized up the youth, then looked at the fallen disciples, and his eyes flashed. He turned to the others. “The time for the Master’s test has come. Why are you still here?”

Only then did they remember the important matter and hurriedly ran off.

Zhuang Mingyuan cupped his hands and asked, “I am Zhuang Mingyuan. May I ask your name?”

The youth smiled and answered, “That’s more like it. Let’s speak properly. I’m Du Ziming.”

Zhuang Mingyuan seemed to recognize the name but didn’t linger on it. “I have business to attend to. I’ll come back to learn from you another day.” With that, he turned and left.

Once the others had gone, Xia Chenyu straightened his back, rubbed his sore back, wiped his forehead again, and, as if nothing had happened, smiled at Du Ziming. “Thank you, Senior Brother.”

“Has Lingyun Xianzun punished you for these months and not let up?” Du Ziming asked with a light laugh.

Xia Chenyu’s heart skipped a beat, and he shook his head.

The youth smiled and said, “I think your Master may be doing this to temper you. A smooth path isn’t always good.”

Looking at Du Ziming’s carefree demeanor, Xia Chenyu suddenly understood. The burden in his heart lightened considerably.

So that’s how it is. His Master was indeed doing this for his own good. His heart steadied once more.

Meanwhile, An Ran was relaxing in a sun chair in the courtyard, drinking tea, finally feeling a bit better after the long absence of the troublesome world-bound disciple.

But suddenly, he sneezed several times in a row, and an unsettling feeling crept up his mind.

What could it be?