“Old Daoist Zhenyang!” Lord Daoist Jinghe majestically burst into Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s Immortal’s Cave and shouted as if he was an enemy. “Come the hell out!”

　　Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s Immortal’s Cave was as plain as those of most cultivators, but it had everything it ought to have. Being one of the only four or five late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators in the Celestial Pole and being the person who wielded the most power in Xuanqing School, Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s Immortal’s Cave was naturally heavily-guarded with countless restrictions. If any enemies appeared, they certainly wouldn’t be able to get in. Nevertheless, the person coming now was Lord Daoist Jinghe, so the gate-keeping disciples could only let him come inside unhindered.

　　Lord Daoist Zhenyang, who was cultivating, opened his eyes. With a wave of his hand, he removed the restriction he placed on his body and allowed Lord Daoist Jinghe to come in.

　　Unlike Lord Daoist Jinghe, whose clothing demonstrated the imposing style of an incapable ruler, Lord Daoist Zhenyang only wore a plain and simple Daoist robe from the school and had his hair bundled into a Daoist topknot. His hair was white, but he had a youthful complexion. He also looked calm and completely serene. At first glance, anyone would instantly know he was a genuine master who was removed from worldly affairs—he was someone with outstanding behavior, like an immortal.

　　Upon seeing Lord Daoist Jinghe bursting into his own cave, he simply opened his eyes but soon closed them again. His voice sounded mild and calm: “What’s going on?”

　　“What’s going on?! You’re still asking me what’s going on?!” Lord Daoist Jinghe’s shouts were full of accusation. “I say… Old Daoist Zhenyang, did you perhaps notice that I accepted a heavenly-gifted disciple, so you secretly felt envious but didn’t dare to say it?”

　　Not to mention in Xuanqing School, but even in all of the Celestial Pole, it was perhaps only Lord Daoist Jinghe who dared to talk like that to Lord Daoist Zhenyang. In the past, Lord Daoist Zhenyang was also known as a genius. He advanced into the Nascent Soul realm in his two hundreds and into the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm in his six hundreds. From then on, he moved unhindered for several hundred years. There were only perhaps four late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators who were his equals. The reason why people were unsure whether it was three or four Nascent Soul cultivators was because one of them, the old monster whose cultivation level was already in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, had long gone into seclusion. No one knew whether he was still alive or not.

　　As for Lord Daoist Jinghe, whether it was in Xuanqing School or in the Celestial Pole, he couldn’t be considered the best based on his cultivating experience. He could only be considered outstanding at best. However, Lord Daoist Jinghe was obviously the only one who could talk like that without any repercussions from Lord Daoist Zhenyang.

　　There were also some reasons for this. Firstly, although Lord Daoist Jinghe’s cultivation level was in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul realm, he was aggressive and liked to fight. Moreover, his understanding of fights of magical powers was quite profound and he also had countless treasures and secret techniques. Even great cultivators in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm weren’t certain they could easily defeat him. Secondly, his temperament was already like this. Lord Daoist Zhenyang understood this very well, so why should he lose his temper and fight with him because of this trivial matter?

　　Therefore, even though Lord Daoist Jinghe was making a ruckus, Lord Daoist Zhenyang still looked calm. In fact, he didn’t even look at Lord Daoist Jinghe.

　　“You accepted some disciples, but I have disciples of my own; why would I be envious of you?”

　　“You’re not envious?” Lord Daoist Jinghe revealed a sarcastic smile. “If you’re not jealous, why did you allow your disciple to seduce mine?”

　　This question made Lord Daoist Zhenyang feel a bit bewildered. He finally opened his eyes to look at Lord Daoist Jinghe. “Seduce?”

　　This term was indeed vulgar, but Lord Daoist Jinghe continued to sneer: “Don’t tell me you didn’t know about it. You’ve always treated that single spiritual root disciple of yours like some kind of treasure; I don’t believe you had no idea about this ‘major problem’—your disciple seducing mine!”

　　As Lord Daoist Jinghe deliberately emphasized “major problem,” he also raised his eyebrows and threw a sideways glance at Lord Daoist Zhenyang. His meaning was: don’t try to fool me!

　　“Are you talking about Yanfei?” Lord Daoist Zhenyang looked up. There were only a few disciples with a single spiritual root in all of Xuanqing School, so with just a little bit of thinking, he already knew who Lord Daoist Jinghe was talking about.

　　“Thank God you’re not senile yet!” Lord Daoist Jinghe said mockingly. Soon after, he spoke very earnestly: “Old Daoist Zhenyang, I’m telling you, my disciple is indeed very good, but you have to ask me first before your disciples are allowed to seduce her. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be terrible if it destroyed the friendship between us?”

　　Lord Daoist Zhenyang wasn’t fooled by his words and simply asked, “What’s actually going on? You better explain clearly or just stop wasting my time.”

　　In all of Xuanqing School, the only person who could talk like that to Lord Daoist Jinghe was also only Lord Daoist Zhenyang.

　　Upon hearing how blunt those words were, Lord Daoist Jinghe knew Lord Daoist Zhenyang was getting impatient. One had to quit when one was ahead, so Lord Daoist Jinghe immediately stopped beating around the bush. “That disciple of yours… I don’t know what kind of bad medicine he took, but he incessantly tries to get close to my disciple—my disciple doesn’t even dare to go out now because of him. What? Did you really have no idea about this?”

　　“How could I know about this kind of trivial matter?” Once he heard the whole story, Lord Daoist Zhenyang couldn’t help but develop a headache.  This Jinghe is outrageous! Does he really think a disciple who wants to get close to a woman has to report to their master first? Is there anyone as idle as him? He’s already in the Nascent Soul realm, yet he still personally came to interrogate me just over a trivial matter like his disciple being flirted with?  Nonetheless, Lord Daoist Zhenyang still verified the story in an unhurried manner: “You’re saying that Yanfei is pursuing your disciple? En, it’s the young disciple you just accepted, isn’t it?”

　　“That’s the one!” Lord Daoist Jinghe said with a nod. He then patted Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s shoulder and once again said earnestly, “Senior Martial Brother Zhenyang, don’t say I didn’t take you into consideration; that disciple of mine is indeed pretty good, but I really can’t give her to your disciple. Please tell your disciple not to cause any trouble, okay?”

　　Lord Daoist Zhenyang said with bewilderment, “My disciple isn’t married and your disciple isn’t married either; what’s the problem? Is this kind of trivial matter really worth you personally making a trip to my place?”

　　Once Lord Daoist Jinghe heard those words, he immediately fumed with anger. “Trivial matter?! I’m telling you—this isn’t a trivial matter!” He proceeded to look left and right in an exaggerated, secretive manner before leaning close to Lord Daoist Zhenyang. He whispered, “This disciple was brought back by that brat from my family. You know what that brat’s like. Imagine how rare it was for that brat to bring back a girl! Right now, he’s worried about forming his Nascent Soul, so he can’t take care of this himself. If I don’t take care of this for him, he’ll certainly get angry with me when finishes!”

　　After Lord Daoist Jinghe finished, he added: “You better tell your disciple to stop coming and wrapping himself around my disciple; tell him not to even think about it!”

　　Upon hearing the first part of Lord Daoist Jinghe’s explanation, Lord Daoist Zhenyang already understood the matter, but because Lord Daoist Jinghe complacently added a warning, he suddenly became unhappy. “Your disciple has her own strengths, but my disciple has a single spiritual root, which rarely appears in a century. He’s young, promising, and will certainly have a bright future later—does he need to wrap himself around your disciple? I think he’s just bored, so he wanted to talk to your disciple. Young people talk to each other; you shouldn’t think too much about it.”

　　“I’m thinking too much?” Lord Daoist Jinghe shouted, “If it’s really me thinking too much about it, would your disciple incessantly invite my disciple out? Old Daoist Zhenyang, you shouldn’t just blindly protect your disciple. I have to say this—although your disciple possesses a single spiritual root, he isn’t up to scratch compared to my disciple! Do you want to know what my disciple’s natural endowments are? Hehe, I’m not telling you!”

　　Upon seeing this bragging and boasting, Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s complexion darkened. “That’ll do! Stop treating your disciple like she’s some kind of treasure! If my disciple wants to perform Dual Cultivation, there are a lot of candidates to be his partner. Why should he exert so much effort just to get close to your disciple? Your worries are groundless!”

　　“Hey… Old Daoist Zhenyang, I’m telling you, you’re just jealous! Jealous!”

　　“I’m jealous? I have a disciple with a single spiritual root—do I still need to envy you? Is this kind of trivial matter really worth you personally making a trip to my place? Go back!” Having his own disciple continuously belittled, Lord Daoist Zhenyang was naturally annoyed. He swung his sleeve in anger, unceremoniously ordering Lord Daoist Jinghe to get out.

　　“You think telling me to go back will make me go back?” Lord Daoist Jinghe retaliated. “I’m telling you this—my disciple possesses the Spiritual Roots of the Origin! You know what Spiritual Roots of the Origin are, right? She even already obtained the Art of the Origin! She isn’t thirty years old yet, but she’s already in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm. Could your disciple accomplish that? For someone with a mere single spiritual root wanting to woo my disciple, he’s still far too inadequate!”

　　“The Spiritual Roots of the Origin?” Lord Daoist Zhenyang was burning with anger, but right after he heard that, he paused for a second. “Your disciple possesses the Spiritual Roots of the Origin from the Distant Past?”

　　“Correct!” Lord Daoist Jinghe raised his chin.

　　In the next second, however, Lord Daoist Zhenyang sneered again, “So what if she possesses the Spiritual Roots of the Origin? It’s been extinct for tens of thousands of years; we still don’t know what it’s actually like! My disciple, however, genuinely possesses a single spiritual root. Even if he’s lacking, he isn’t lacking by that much!”

　　“Old Daoist Zhenyang!” Upon hearing what Lord Daoist Zhenyang said, Lord Daoist Jinghe, who was still waiting for him to admit defeat, was furious. “What’s the point of having a single spiritual root? How many of us Nascent Soul cultivators advanced because we had single spiritual roots? Old man Song Feng possesses three spiritual roots, but you still lost to him!”

　　Upon hearing Lord Daoist Jinghe bringing this up, Lord Daoist Zhenyang was outraged. “When did I ever lose to him? We just never got to the final outcome of our fight!” Right afterward, he said mockingly, “Haven’t you always been disgusted with old man Song Feng? Why are you speaking on his behalf now? Besides, you also possess a single spiritual root; are single spiritual roots really bad? How did you advance to this realm?”

　　“It’s precisely because I have a single spiritual root that I don’t see what’s so good about it! What’s so amazing about a single spiritual root? How many people with single spiritual roots can’t even cultivate to the Nascent Soul realm!?” Lord Daoist Jinghe seemed to have lost all reason.

　　Lord Daoist Zhenyang was so angry that he suddenly laughed. “Qin Jinghe, old fellow, you must’ve needed a beating so you purposefully came to my place to get one, right? This old man will fulfill your wish!” As he spoke, he groped around and took something out. When he opened his clasped his hand, something was hurled forward.

　　Lord Daoist Jinghe promptly dodged out of the way. In a split second, a surging spiritual aura blasted one of the stone walls into dust, causing his anger to flourish even more. He then took out a calabash gourd and raised his hand in one move. As a jet of Real Fire was spouted from the gourd, he shouted, “Old man Zhenyang! If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll really think I’m easy to bully!”

　　Instead of answering, Lord Daoist Zhenyang recalled his magic weapon and once again rushed to attack.

　　—

　　Mo Tiange naturally didn’t know that her complaints caused the two most powerful Nascent Soul cultivators in Xuanqing School to fight each other and practically razed Lord Daoist Zhenyang’s Immortal’s Cave to the ground.

　　Of course, this happened because Lord Daoist Jinghe was too good at stirring up trouble. It was such a trivial matter, but when it came out of his mouth, it instantly upset the people who heard it. Thus, the blame from this matter couldn’t be heavily attributed to Mo Tiange.

　　At that moment, she entered Ye Zhenji’s small room with a very solemn expression.

　　Within the past two years, Ye Zhenji had grown a lot taller and made progress in his cultivation level. He just finished his studies at Mengxue Hall a few days ago and became a formal disciple. The disciple rations for formal and elite disciples as well as the way they were managed were different, but since Ye Zhenji lived in the Shangqing Palace, the steward’s hall couldn’t interfere much. It was very difficult to prevent other people from talking about this matter, so Lord Daoist Jinghe stepped forward and directly hinted to them to allocate Ye Zhenji as Master Daoist Shoujing’s disciple.

　　Mo Tiange originally wasn’t in favor of this idea. Why should the child she personally taught become someone else’s disciple, especially when that person definitely wouldn’t take care of him?

　　Nevertheless, Lord Daoist Jinghe said that Mo Tiange was only in the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm and no matter how fast her cultivation progressed, she would need at least another fifty to sixty years old before she could form her Gold Core. By that time, Ye Zhenji ought to have built his foundation. Foundation-Building Pills were allocated to elite and ordinary disciples differently, so did she really want to hinder Ye Zhenji from building his foundation?

　　Hence, Mo Tiange had no other choice but to agree with this idea. Now, Ye Zhenji was still living with her like he did before and hadn’t even once seen his nominal master.

　　Mo Tiange walked towards the jade bed. Seeing Ye Zhenji sprawled askew on the bed, a frown appeared on her face. She propped him into a sitting position then placed her palm on top of his head to insert her spiritual aura into his body.

　　After a long time, Ye Zhenji finally groaned as he started to regain consciousness. Once he saw her, he whispered, “Aunt.”

　　Mo Tiange released her hold. “Aren’t you going to take the medicine and heal your injuries?”

　　Ye Zhenji flushed. He hurriedly took out some medicinal pills, took them, then sat up straight in a lotus position.

　　Mo Tiange kept watch by his side, observing his condition silently.

　　When she was cultivating a moment ago, she also used her divine sense to pay attention to the situation outside. However, she suddenly realized that there was a spiritual aura fluctuation here. Upon more careful examination, she found that the spiritual aura inside Ye Zhenji’s body was unexpectedly in chaos. Moreover, he also showed some indications that he was about to experience spiritual aura deviation. Back when she placed her palm on top of his head, she instantly discovered what the problem was—this child obviously took several Aura-Converging Pills, but the power of the medicine was too strong and couldn’t be controlled, causing him to almost experience spiritual aura deviation.

　　Before long, the spiritual aura inside Ye Zhenji’s body gradually settled down. Once he opened his eyes and saw that she was calmly standing in front of him, he immediately lowered his head. “Auntie, I’m sorry.”

　　Mo Tiange recovered her train of thought and shook her head. “Why are you apologizing to me?”

　　“… I made you worry.”

　　His answer made her sigh. She sat next to him and said, “So what if you made me worried? In the end, the one who’ll bear the consequences is you. Remember, you’re cultivating not for me but for yourself.”

　　“Yes,” Ye Zhenji answered. He hesitated for a moment then asked, “Auntie, don’t you blame me?”

　　“Blame you for what?”

　　“I… Just now, the accident happened because I gobbled some Aura-Converging Pills as I pleased. Don’t you blame me for acting recklessly?”

　　Mo Tiange chuckled. “What’s the point of blaming you? The most important thing is that you don’t repeat the same mistake in the future. En, if you still feel unwell, you can talk to me; why did you take so many Aura-Converging Pills at once? Did you really not think that things might go wrong?”

　　“Well…” Ye Zhenji paused for a moment before answering honestly, “I thought my cultivation was progressing too slowly, so I wanted to take some medicinal pills to accelerate it.”

　　“Cultivation progressing too slowly…” Mo Tiange couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re just twelve years old, but you’re already in the third layer of the Aura Refining realm; how is it slow?”

　　“But… Hualing is already in the fifth layer of the Aura Refining realm despite being the same age as me!”

　　Hualing was the young disciple of Master Daoist Mingzhen, who was the second eldest disciple of Lord Daoist Jinghe. Because he was the same age as Ye Zhenji, he could now be considered Ye Zhenji’s playmate.

　　Mo Tiange said with a smile, “Hualing is from Martial Uncle Mingzhen’s family. His spiritual roots are better than yours, and he’s been carefully taught ever since he was a small child; how could you compare to him?”

　　Ye Zhenji flattened his lips and his gaze lowered. “I know my aptitude isn’t as good as his, but does that mean I will forever be inferior to him?”

　　“Of course not,” Mo Tiange said while stroking Ye Zhenji’s head, “Aptitude alone isn’t enough in the path of cultivation. You might not be comparable with him now, but as long as you always cultivate earnestly, you’ll certainly be able to overtake him one day. Besides, within two years you’ve advanced two realms from the first layer to the third layer, while Hualing, who’s been cultivating long before you, only managed to advance to the fifth layer several days ago with much difficulty. What are you afraid of?”

　　Ye Zhenji’s head was still lowered as he remained silent. Seeing his current state, Mo Tiange knew he was still unconvinced. Thus, she smiled and said, “Let’s do this then—you have to cultivate earnestly for ten years then you can compare and see whether you build your foundation first, or he builds his foundation first! What do you think?”

　　Ye Zhenji pondered Mo Tiange’s words. Thinking that his odds of successfully building his foundation in ten years were quite large, a smile finally bloomed on his face. “En!”

　　“However, we better make this clear now; you mustn’t do anything rash that might set you back like you did today! Cultivating has to be done step by step. If you’re not careful and experience spiritual aura deviation, your progress will be delayed for years—short-term gains won’t make up for the losses.”

　　“Okay, I’ll do what Aunt said.”

　　On the other side, by the time Lord Daoist Jinghe finished his fight, his luxurious, dazzling gold dragon robe had been burned and turned into a scorched gray color. His face was also dirtied by a lot of things, ash, and dust among them. Even half of his pretty beard also got burnt. All in all, he looked completely battered and pitiful.

　　He flew back towards Clear Spring Peak, muttering along the way. “Old Daoist Zhenyang, I, your father, left you with some dignity today! Had I really used the Yang-Vanishing Technique, even if you didn’t die, you’d absolutely lose half your life! Hmph! Taking into consideration that we’re from the same school, I’m letting you go now!”

　　Meanwhile, Lord Daoist Zhenyang was currently commanding some disciples to tidy up his cave with a darkened expression. Soon afterward, he called his young disciple over. Right after, they entered a considerably intact stone room and shut themselves inside. He instantly went berserk and chewed his disciple out. “Brat! You must’ve been too idle that you lost your head, right? Instead of cultivating properly, you actually went to woo the disciple of Qin Jinghe, that old brute!? You could’ve taken a fancy to anyone, but you fancied his disciple! That old bastard was a total rogue! If the upper beam isn’t straight, the lower beam will be crooked too! Could his disciple be much better than him? Mind your conduct and forget about her!”

　　Bai Yanfei was baffled. “But Master, I told you about this matter before…”

　　Surprised, Lord Daoist Zhenyang said, “You have? When did you tell me?”

　　“Last time, when you were cultivating, I told you that I wanted to find someone to be my Dual Cultivation partner. You said I could act as I wished regarding this matter…”

　　After thinking carefully and realizing that it seemed to be the case, Lord Daoist Zhenyang suddenly looked embarrassed. Nevertheless, a split second later, he continued cursing in rage: “I said as you wished, so you really acted as you wished? There are countless beautiful female cultivators with high cultivation levels in our school; how could you take a fancy to that old bastard’s disciple?” This time, he didn’t even want to say “Qin Jinghe” and just directly referred to him as “old bastard.”

　　Bai Yanfei felt even more wronged. “I already said I’d choose among the disciples of several martial uncles, and you said okay. After examining them, only Senior Martial Sister Mo was the most suitable…”

　　“You didn’t tell me your choice!” Lord Daoist Zhenyang contemplated for a moment then said fumingly, “Doesn’t your Martial Uncle Miaoyi also has a girl under her guidance? From what I remember, she isn’t old. She’s quite suitable for you; why didn’t you pick her?”

　　Bai Yanfei cautiously snuck a glance at his master. “That Senior Martial Sister Wu… Her looks aren’t too…”

　　Bai Yanfei wasn’t done talking, but how could Lord Daoist Zhenyang not understand? He glared furiously at him and said, “You… As a cultivator, what value do you place on external appearances? Whether they look beautiful or ugly, there’s nothing but white bones under their skin! Besides, how ugly could cultivators be? That old bastard’s disciple also isn’t that much of a beauty either!”

　　Seeing how enraged his master was, Bai Yanfei cleverly shut his mouth and kept quiet. Right now, his master just had a falling out with Martial Uncle Jinghe. If he spoke again, he would only be adding oil to the fire.

　　Lord Daoist Zhenyang paced back and forth inside the room several times before he once again spoke: “This is the end of this matter. You don’t have to think about this girl anymore. That old bastard already designated her for his own boy—you won’t get her!”

　　“Huh?” Bai Yanfei was bewildered. “Master, what do you mean?”

　　“I mean that girl is Qin Shoujing’s! Understand?”

　　This information shocked Bai Yanfei, but he soon shouted, “What does this have to do with him? I’ve already probed Senior Martial Sister Mo before; she obviously doesn’t have any intentions of performing Dual Cultivation!”

　　“That’s also none of your business.” Lord Daoist Zhenyang stared at his own disciple and sneered, “Brat, please be a bit smarter. I, your master, just had a falling out with that old bastard. If you still pursue his disciple, wouldn’t that be equivalent to slapping my face? Forget about her. If you want to perform Dual Cultivation, you can just choose someone else!” Once he finished talking, he flung his sleeves back and left the stone room.

　　Even though he understood his master didn’t sneer to himself, Bai Yanfei was still fuming with anger.