Lin Xuanzhi fell into deep thought.

　　Moments later, he raised his eyes and asked, “If the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest is ruled by demonic beasts, then what about the Ji family?”

　　The Ji family was the number one beast tamer family in the West Continent. It was said that every single disciple from their family knew how to tame beasts. In addition, if they wanted to earn the family’s recognition, then they must venture deep into the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest before they reach adulthood and contract with a demonic beast at or above a specified level. Otherwise, their rite of passage to adulthood would be postponed.

　　More importantly, the demonic beasts contracted by the Ji family were all captured, raised, and trained in the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest. If the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest was truly sealed off by the demonic beasts, then the first one to bear the brunt of it would be West Continent’s Ji family.

　　This was very awkward and dangerous.

　　Sure enough, as soon as Lin Xuanzhi mentioned the Ji family, Qi Yun’s chatterbox switch was flipped, and he started talking nonstop.

　　“At first, the Ji family was quite calm, saying that they could tame demonic beasts of any level. However, when I went to the West Continent a few days ago, I heard that the Ji family had sent many core disciples deep into the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest, but all of them were thrown out after having their cultivation crippled. The Ji family elders are now ashamed to appear outside. I reckon that their young master is currently trying to unite the other families in the West Continent to fight against that great monster in the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest.”

　　“They hunted wild geese all day long, yet they were ultimately pecked by wild geese.” Lin Xuanzhi commented nonchalantly, “It was difficult for demonic beasts and humans to coexist peacefully, to begin with, plus generations of West Continent’s Ji family made a living taming demonic beasts, so this can also be considered as accumulating a long-cherished wish.”

　　Yan Tianhen mused, “If the situation in the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest really did become like this, then I’m afraid that Yuyang Gege’s antidote will not be easy to find.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi responded, “It’s difficult to say. Although the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest used to be dangerous, it hasn’t yet reached the point of becoming a forbidden area. Apart from the Ji family, many large families and sects also get all their demonic beasts, rare herbs, spiritual plants, and demonic beast cores from the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest. These families will never allow this situation to continue.”

　　Yan Tianhen understood Lin Xuanzhi’s meaning and suddenly realized, “Dage means that maybe this is an opportunity.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi nodded. “Challenges and opportunities exist side-by-side; no single family can take down the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest alone.”

　　Qi Yun was not very interested in the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest. Similarly, he knew the truth “the less you know, the longer you’ll live” very well. After the task was completed, he did not inquire about the dispute between Qing Zhu and that Liu family head. He took the money and left. In any case, even if Lin Xuanzhi hired him again to fight against the Liu family, he would never accept it to keep his little life.

　　Lin Xuanzhi probably knew this too, so he didn’t mention it either.

　　Before he left, Qi Yun especially asked about Ah Bai and Hu Po, but Lin Xuanzhi had no plans to throw them out for training for the time being — although these two tiger cubs had again reached the point of “taking tiles off the roof after not getting hit for three days”.

　　This was not a good place to talk either. After Qi Yun left, Lin Xuanzhi and the others returned to their courtyard in Profound City together.

　　Along the way, everyone was silent.

　　Yan Tianhen was full of thoughts about Liu Mengchen, that Liu family head. Although he did not know the full name of Qing Zhu’s sweetheart before, he remembered that there was the word “Mengchen” in that person’s name.

　　It was difficult to not think about the association between these two people.

　　By the time they arrived at the other courtyard, Yan Tianhen’s imagination was full of wild conjectures.

　　After closing the door, Qing Zhu was somewhat helpless and tired, but he looked at the two teenagers in front of him with vague excitement, “You’re right. Liu Mengchen is the master of the Liu family, and he is also my former lover.”

　　Lover?

　　This word wasn’t anything good.

　　Lin Xuanzhi poured a glass of water for Qing Zhu and pushed it over. “It sounds like quite a long story, I think. Drink some water to moisten your throat first. We’re not in a hurry.”

　　Qing Zhu, “…”

　　He suddenly had a feeling that others were watching a show at his expense.

　　But…forget it, even he himself felt like the entire thing was a joke.

　　Qing Zhu took a sip of water, and his dry throat felt more comfortable. His conflicted feelings before about not knowing where to start also greatly dissipated.

　　Indeed, people really should be nice to themselves.

　　Qing Zhu cleared his throat, “In fact, this matter can be summed up in a few words. Simply put, I used to be in a relationship with Liu Mengchen. But later, because we argued and broke up, I ambushed and seriously injured him. After that, I hid with Young Master’s help. Liu Mengchen probably couldn’t swallow this grievance in his heart, so he ordered Young Master Zhan to hand me over. However, he didn’t succeed. In his anger, he began to try every means and use dirty methods to disturb Young Master Zhan’s businesses, attempting to use this method to force Young Master Zhan to yield.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi, “…”

　　Indeed, he gave a very clear account with only a few words.

　　This much information didn’t satisfy Yan Tianhen’s desire for gossip at all. He eagerly looked at Qing Zhu, “Brother Zhuzi, as far as I remember, wasn’t Liu Mengchen only a mortal when he visited our house before? How did he become the Liu family head within two years?”

　　Qing Zhu froze for a moment, and his expression became colder at a speed visible to the naked eye. He let out an extremely sarcastic and cold Hmph from his throat. Only then did he say, “It’s nothing more than being able to disguise himself well. The mighty Master of the Liu family and a Profound Realm cultivator who achieved major attainment in the Return Origin Stage — how can such a person be a mere mortal?”

　　“Ah!” Yan Tianhen let out a cry and frowned, “He lied!”

　　And he also fooled Lin Zhan.

　　Lin Xuanzhi added silently in his heart.

　　Lin Zhan had many magic treasures on his person. In theory, he should have been able to discover the spiritual Qi fluctuations on Liu Mengchen. However, Lin Zhan thought Liu Mengchen was a mortal, from beginning to end.

　　That was probably why Lin Zhan agreed to let Qing Zhu leave with Liu Mengchen so easily–

　　No matter how they tried, it was impossible for mortals to bully cultivators.

　　However, Lin Zhan likely didn’t expect that the ordinary mortal Qing Zhu spoke about in his slightly sad life story and whose chance encounter with Qing Zhu had a dreamlike quality to it would be the master of a reclusive family, an existence that stood at the top of the Five Continents. He probably also didn’t expect that Liu Mengchen’s cultivation would reach Profound Realm’s peak stage.

　　He’s afraid that even if one looked through the entire Five Continents, they still wouldn’t be able to find someone with a higher cultivation than Liu Mengchen.

　　Even if there was, their cultivation would still be forcibly suppressed to peak Profound Realm by the Five Continent’s level cap.

　　Lin Xuanzhi looked at Qing Zhu’s dark expression, “Why did Liu Mengchen lie to you?”

　　Qing Zhu gritted his teeth, “For Inquiring Immortals.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi was slightly shocked, “Inquiring Immortals, the spiritual plant that can give mortals spiritual roots?”

　　Qing Zhu nodded. “To tell you the truth, I came from the West Continent’s Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest, and my true form is that of an Inquiring Immortals Grass.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen both showed their astonishment.

　　Qing Zhu saw these two juniors’ expressions, and the melancholy in his heart dissipated somewhat. He smiled, “Since ancient times, instances of plants gaining human form have been rare. From the moment of our births, we must absorb heaven and earth’s spiritual Qi and the sun and moon’s essence. We sip the morning dew, drink the snow and wind, and never ingest the human world’s five grains. In theory, our race should have the easiest time becoming an immortal. But in reality, it is precisely because we are too pure that most of us have been pulled out by humans to use as refining materials before we even developed a consciousness of our own. More importantly, if a plant wants to possess spiritual wisdom and then transform itself, it must find a big opportunity — the opportunity I obtained was a bamboo spirit’s entire cultivation a few years ago.”

　　“The entire cultivation?” Lin Xuanzhi raised his eyebrows slightly.

　　As soon as a plant could take human form, its cultivation would already be above Primary Realm. Exactly how much was the entire cultivation of a bamboo spirit? It couldn’t be easily estimated.

　　Qing Zhu nodded, “It’s indeed the entire cultivation. That bamboo spirit killed people and was seriously wounded. He fled to the forest where I took root. He knew that he didn’t have long to live, so he probably wanted to find someone to inherit the mantle. Thus, he sprinkled all his cultivation on the field where Inquiring Immortals Grass gathered. My mind was very muddled at that time, but I possessed a vague semblance of a consciousness. Although I was far from gaining actual sentience, those Inquiring Immortals Grass next to me were only young sprouts. Of course they couldn’t win against me, so I swallowed up all of that bamboo spirit’s cultivation. The other Inquiring Immortals Grass didn’t get any benefit at all.”

　　Later, Qing Zhu’s cultivation grew by leaps and bounds, as if he received divine help.

　　Plants assuming human form was the most difficult transformation out of all living beings in this world. However, the Dao of Heaven was fair. Once these spiritual plants succeeded in transforming, they would become extremely powerful existences.

　　On the day when Qing Zhu truly assumed human form, the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest attracted dark clouds and thunder. Battered and exhausted, he was able to survive the tribulation and finally saw a different world. But he suddenly found out that he was a naked kid only a meter tall! Qing Zhu almost exploded with anger. He looked at the reflection in the lake in disbelief  — that bamboo spirit was clearly tall and handsome as heck. How come it turned out like this when it got to him? Without waiting for Qing Zhu to recover, he met Lin Zhan, a young master who came with the Fifth Elder to experience and train in the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest.

　　At that time, Qing Zhu’s teeth probably didn’t even finish growing out yet, and he stared at the intruders with a pair of big watery eyes. When Lin Zhan saw him, he thought that Qing Zhu was cute and amusing. He asked him for half a day but didn’t even know where Qing Zhu’s home was, so Lin Zhan’s heart itched with the desire to take Qing Zhu with him to the Lin family.

　　Originally, Qing Zhu didn’t want to pay attention to Lin Zhan. He felt that he had lived for thousands of years and was already an adult. Although Lin Zhan was taller and stronger than him, fundamentally, Lin Zhan was truly still a kid.

　　However……

　　“Your dad gave me a roasted chicken leg, and I followed him.” Qing Zhu said, blushing.

　　He had always lived in one place. Where had he ever tasted such roasted flavors before? This first sensation was so rare. Moreover, in Qing Zhu’s eyes at that time, there was no concept of good and bad people. In Qing Zhu’s eyes, those who gave him food were good, so he was easily swindled by Lin Zhan.

　　Lin Xuanzhi was speechless for a while, but he couldn’t help laughing.

　　Unexpectedly, his dad knew how to swindle children from an early age.

　　Although Qing Zhu had lived for so many years, spiritual plants all shared one common characteristic, which was a simple and pure personality — this was not only related to how they didn’t ingest the human world’s five grains and only drank morning dew, rain, and snow, but it was also because they lived quiet, lonely, and peaceful lives away from the dust of the mortal world for many years. Naturally, their hearts were free from dust and dirt, and they knew nothing about the ugliness of this world.

　　Just like how Qing Zhu was tricked into following Lin Zhan by a single chicken leg. If their situations were reversed, not only would Qing Zhu not know the same tricks that a young Lin Zhan knew, but Lin Zhan also wouldn’t be coaxed away by a chicken leg.

　　This was the difference between human beings and plant spirits.

　　However, even after living in the human world with Lin Zhan for so many years, Qing Zhu still didn’t become a slippery character. His pair of eyes were still as clear as ever, and occasionally silver light patterns unique to Inquiring Immortals Grass would flash through his eyes.

　　Qing Zhu spoke a lot about his past with Lin Zhan.

　　When he got to the end, Qing Zhu couldn’t help sighing, “I also blame myself for living for so many years in vain. The young master was like a brother and a father to me. Even if my cultivation was higher than his, he would still shelter me from the wind and rain and wouldn’t let me touch any filthy matter, but I was still so easily deceived by Liu Mengchen.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi comforted, “This is not your fault. Liu Mengchen has lived for many years and is also the head of a reclusive family. He even deceived my dad, not to mention Brother Zhuzi.  However, I still don’t understand: why does he want to deceive you so much?”

　　Qing Zhu hesitated, “He knows that my true form is an Inquiring Immortals Grass, and he just happened to urgently need Inquiring Immortals Grass.”

　　Yan Tianhen was puzzled, “But…if he wanted it, couldn’t he directly bring it up with Dad or you and just make a business deal? There’s no need to pretend to be a mortal and cheat your feelings, is there?”