Some time later, women’s playful laughter started to ring out inside Shangqing Palace.

　　Several young, beautiful Foundation Building female cultivators ran over while joking around with each other. Just as they were about to run into Mingxin Residence, they suddenly stopped in shock, staring at the man who sat on the railing as if he had become one with the dragon engraved pillar.

　　“Martial Uncle Shoujing?” Xianshu said while blinking her eyes, seemingly not daring to believe what she saw.

　　She exchanged looks with Daihua then she also looked towards Xiuqin and Qingqi.

　　Qin Xi finally stirred. He swept his gaze over them and said, “Do you know what happened?”

　　His expression was very cold, causing the four female cultivators to remain silent for a while—all were a bit afraid to answer. Eventually, Xiuqin said cautiously, “We heard… Martial Uncle Mo had an accident inside the Ten Thousand Laws of Nature Formation.”

　　“Since you already know, why are you still so noisy?” There was no hint of rebuke in his tone, but it was so apathetic that he seemed as cold as the stone pillar.

　　“…” It was still Xiuqin, who was the eldest among the four of them, who answered: “Yes. We’ll be more careful from now on.”

　　Without saying anything further, Qin Xi looked away then closed his eyes. It was as if he didn’t want to worry about anything anymore.

　　Qin, Qi, Shu, and Hua snuck glances at each other. In the end, they bowed then proceeded to cautiously make their way into Mingxin Residence.

　　“Wait.”

　　The four felt their hearts skipping a beat. Although Martial Uncle Shoujing usually didn’t like to smile, he was still very polite. But his manner today was indeed frightening; he was even more frightening than grandmaster.

　　Xiuqin asked in a low voice: “Martial Uncle Shoujing, do you have any other commands?”

　　Qin Xi didn’t even turn his head to look at her and simply said faintly, “Mingzhu was also injured; have you seen her?”

　　“We have. Momei and the others were behind us; they’ll soon bring Senior Martial Sister Ruan back.”

　　“En.” He waved backward. “You may go.”

　　The four of them cautiously went towards Mingxin Residence, where they then found Martial Uncle Mo’s formation not in place, so they softly stepped inside.

　　Upon entering the courtyard, Xianshu finally whispered, “What’s going on with Martial Uncle Shoujing? He was really scary just now.”

　　“Who knows…” Xiuqin wrinkled her brows. All of a sudden, however, she showed a stunned expression. “Martial Uncle Shoujing showed up here—does this mean he already exited his Closed Door Meditation?”

　　Daihua mused: “Didn’t they say he’ll be in Closed Door Meditation until he makes a realm-breakthrough? Just now, I still thought I saw things wrong, wondering how Martial Uncle Shoujing could possibly have come out of his Closed Door Meditation.”

　　“I don’t see the problem in him coming out of his Closed Door Meditation, but why was he sitting there in a daze?” Xianshu said in bewilderment.

　　Qingqi said, “Could it be… Martial Uncle Shoujing came back to Mingxin Residence but then he remembered this was now Martial Uncle Mo’s dwelling?”

　　Xiuqin said, “Rubbish! Ever since Martial Uncle Shoujing moved out, how many times has he come back here? Every time he came back, didn’t he just go to the main hall to talk to grandmaster and leave right after he finished?”

　　“True…”

　　Xianshu’s eyes shifted around. Soon afterward, she came closer to the three others, whispering: “Did you guys hear? It was Martial Uncle Shoujing who suddenly went to the main peak’s valley and brought Martial Uncle Mo back today.”

　　“Ah!” Daihua cried out in surprise. She soon realized she was too loud, so she immediately covered her mouth with her hand before she said quietly, “I came out late, so I didn’t know. What happened?”

　　“I’m not too sure about it either.” Xianshu said, “I only heard that bit. En, this makes me remember the rumors from several dozen years ago…”

　　The four of them looked at each other, and they immediately knew what each of them wanted to say.

　　Qingqi held her chin, saying: “Originally, I still thought it was nothing but a rumor!”

　　“There’s no smoke without a fire.” Xianshu laughed. “We’ve served by grandmaster’s side for almost a hundred years—what do we not know when it comes to matters regarding Martial Uncle Shoujing? Martial Uncle Mo was originally accepted by grandmaster as his disciple because of Martial Uncle Shoujing. Besides, that year… didn’t you think Martial Uncle Shoujing treated her much better than he did everyone else?”

　　“That’s indeed correct,” Daihua said, “But I still find it quite hard to believe; how can Martial Uncle Shoujing…”

　　“Otherwise, why would he be standing guard outside? Think about how he looked just now; when have we ever seen him sitting so casually on a railing in a dazed state like that?” Xianshu continued on secretively, “According to me, the truth’s most likely exactly what we think.”

　　“…” Daihua said, “You must’ve over thought things, right? We’ve been by grandmaster’s side for so long; when have we ever seen someone with a stauncher Dao Heart than Martial Uncle Shoujing?”

　　“Well, you’re right too.” Xianshu shook her head, overthrowing what she just said. “In any case, this matter doesn’t have anything to do with us.”

　　Eventually, Xiuqin spoke: “Alright, we’ve just been rebuked by Martial Uncle Shoujing, but you guys are still so chatty—could it be that you haven’t been rebuked enough?”

　　Xianshu immediately shut her mouth.

　　Qingqi muttered: “Ay~ We only laughed for a bit but Martial Uncle Shoujing rebuked us like that… It’s not like we’ve never—”

　　“Martial Uncle Mo’s injured!” Xiuqin put a stop to Qingqi’s words. “Grandmaster treats us very generously, but we also mustn’t be lazy about what we should do. I heard Martial Uncle Mo’s injuries were quite severe; if we’re still laughing and joking around, wouldn’t we be making others uncomfortable? It wouldn’t matter much if we didn’t know, but since we already said we knew, we should tone ourselves down a bit.”

　　The other three nodded, then with sighs, they followed Xiuqin towards the small house.

　　In fact, it really wasn’t their fault for still joking around when they came back. At first, although they knew Martial Uncle Mo was injured, they also heard her injuries weren’t life-threatening, and grandmaster also didn’t seem to take the matter too seriously. Besides, although they didn’t dare to disobey Martial Uncle Mo, they weren’t friends with her.

　　However, what Xiuqin said obviously meant Xianshu was talking nonsense, but it also had another meaning worth pondering. If they were somewhat joyful, others might feel uncomfortable… was it because Martial Uncle Mo was injured? The four of them indeed couldn’t help but mull over this idea.

　　Qin Xi continued to sit in a daze for another while, during which he saw Momei and the others bringing Ruan Mingzhu back. This time, the masters of Mingxin Residence and Zhili Buildings both got into accidents; the maids in Shangqing Palace all lamented their bad luck but could do nothing about it.

　　It was already clear who’d take care of Mo Tiange—Qin, Qi, Shu, Hua lived closest to Mingxin Residence; until now, it had always been the four of them who took care of every task at Mingxin Residence. As for the Zhili Building, although Ruan Mingzhu was no longer staying at Mount Taikang, her identity persisted in the end, so Mei, Lan, Zhu, Ju had no choice but to bear the duty of looking after her.

　　This time, the school’s test had practically caused Shangqing Palace to be a complete mess.

　　Being stared at by the strange gazes of the passing maids again and again, Qin Xi finally couldn’t sit still any longer. He stood up then slowly walked towards the main hall.

　　The moment he took a step into the main hall, however, he was immediately filled with regret.

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe was the only one in the main hall. He was seemingly waiting for him.

　　After giving it some thought, Qin Xi eventually decided not to flee. “Master.”

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe seemed to be a bit surprised. He swept his gaze over Qin Xi before he spoke. “Why did you take so long?”

　　“I sat and thought about some things for a while.”

　　“Thought about things?” Lord Daoist Jinghe’s eyes brightened. “What did you think about?”

　　Instead of answering, Qin Xi took a seat and once again sank into contemplation.

　　Although he already understood his heart, he was still very unaccustomed to this kind of situation—as it turned out, this was how having one’s mind filled with all kinds of things felt like. This being the case, sometimes, women really couldn’t be blamed. Women were always a bit more emotional, and some matters… were beyond people’s control once they started.

　　But he always had resolute willpower. Since he already made his decision, he wouldn’t hesitate anymore.

　　“Master, why do you care so much?” he asked indifferently.

　　“Brat, you…” Lord Daoist Jinghe was fuming. “Is there anyone who talks to their master like this?”

　　“You’d definitely feel uncomfortable all over if I didn’t speak like that to you, right?”

　　“…” Surprisingly, Lord Daoist Jinghe didn’t retort back. He contemplated for a moment then said, “Brat, your mood isn’t that good today.”

　　“You knew but you still irritate me.” Qin Xi also didn’t try to conceal it. In any case, some matters were already obvious from what he’d been doing. Rather than being laughed at by this shameless old man, he might as well be a bit more honest.

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe was silent for a long time, but he continued to size Qin Xi up with his stare. A while later, a smile finally emerged on his face. “Brat, do you finally understand now?”

　　“En.” Qin Xi also didn’t try to evade the question. His gaze fell into the distance, but his tone was still flat. “Master, what else do you want to ask about? Just ask it all at once.”

　　The more normal his attitude was, the happier Lord Daoist Jinghe became because this meant the brat already made some decisions.

　　“First tell me about your plan.” He couldn’t hold back the smile on his face. “In fact, although the two of you have a disparity in your cultivation levels, the disparity isn’t that big. Right now, Tiange’s mental state and cultivation are both good enough—she’s already met the requirements for core-formation. If she supposedly succeeds in forming her Gold Core, the two of you will be same-realm cultivators. As for what will happen when you form your Nascent Soul later, she’ll only be a bit slower than you, so there’s simply no need to—”

　　“I want to advance into the Nascent Soul realm.” Qin Xi cut him off.

　　Upon being interrupted midway, Lord Daoist Jinghe started to berate him: “What did you say? You still haven’t given up on this idea even now? Didn’t you say you understand now?”

　　Qin Xi hung his head, fixating his gaze on the teacup in his hands. His gaze was gentle, but his tone sounded very firm. “Unless I advance into the Nascent Soul realm, I won’t say anything to her.”

　　“You—” Lord Daoist Jinghe was almost choked in anger. After a long time, he finally asked quietly, “What are you doing?”

　　Qin Xi said softly, “What would it look like if I told her how I feel now? Forcing her to repay my kindness? Or using my power to pressure her?”

　　A wrinkle emerged on Lord Daoist Jinghe’s brows. “What kind of nonsense are you talking about? This kind of matter requires both sides to be willing. If Tiange’s not willing, she just has to refuse—it’s not like we’ll force her or anything.”

　　“But what will she think about it?” Qin Xi still hung his head. “Right! Master, your relationship with her has been very good all these years, but no matter how good the feelings between you are, she’s always had some vigilance against others deep inside her heart—Master, she’s about to form her Gold Core now; we better not disturb her mental state.”

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe was silent for ages before he finally let out a sigh. “But didn’t it cross your mind that if you formed your Nascent Soul, the distance between you would become even further?”

　　Qin Xi’s hands shook a little, but he still didn’t look up.

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe continued to speak: “After all these years, I also roughly understand her temper. The pride in Tiange’s heart isn’t less than yours. You don’t want to use her, but will she not think the same as you? Therefore, the higher your cultivation level is, the farther she’ll be from you.”

　　Qin Xi said nothing for a very, very long time, but Lord Daoist Jinghe noticed his hands were shaking slightly.

　　After a long time, he finally asked, “Then Master, what do you think about this? She’s going to form her Gold Core soon; in any case, it’ll definitely take her about ten to twenty years, right? Could it be that I should stop cultivating now and just wait for her to catch up to me?”

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe chuckled. “This child… you’ve become stupid, haven’t you? If you form your Nascent Soul after you two become a couple, can she still back out?”

　　“…”Qin Xi didn’t nod; he seemed to be pondering what Lord Daoist Jinghe said.

　　Upon thinking this and that back and forth several times, he finally spoke: “I’ll just wait then. In any case, she’ll definitely form her Nascent Soul someday. It’ll be only two hundred years at most. I still have a lot of time; I can wait for her patiently.”

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe choked on Qin Xi’s words; he never expected Qin Xi would eventually make such a decision. Nevertheless, he also mulled over it for a long time and in the end, he also stopped fighting against it. Lord Daoist Jinghe said, “Alright, maybe this solution’s the best… Even if she succeeds in forming her Gold Core now, the gap between the early stage and the peak stage of the Core Formation realm is still too big, but after advancing into the Nascent Soul realm, she ought to have no other thoughts about this matter.” At this point, Lord Daoist Jinghe raised his gaze, which seemed to contain some secrets. “However, are you really willing to wait two hundred years?”