This day, Jianghe came out of his room as usual and casually leaped outward—

Living on Yashan had no other benefits, but every day when going down to Lingzhao Peak, he could experience the thrill of suicide.

Jianghe particularly enjoyed this feeling of completely losing control.

Of course, he was still young—at least appearing to be only ten years old this year—so naturally, he couldn’t just die like that.

Therefore, at the moment his body fell and was about to hit the ground, his battle disc flashed beneath his feet, purple-red radiance quick as an illusion.

When the radiance dissipated, he stood steadily on the ground again.

Looking up, this morning’s Lingzhao Peak was still beautiful. In another half month, the immortal cranes of Guihe Well would return, only…

As Jianghe’s gaze moved toward Guihe Well, a strange animal inevitably entered his field of vision.

“Sigh…”

A long sigh.

Jianghe patted his forehead, no longer knowing what to say.

As the seventh… no, former seventh disciple under Fudao Shanren, the slightly plump Jianghe had some understanding of Fudao Shanren’s various bad habits.

But how had he never known before that Master liked keeping geese?

He had heard that this goose had followed Fudao Shanren from a lonely island in the mortal realm to the lands of the Nineteen Continents. Originally, Fudao Shanren had planned to eat it, but when the time came that he could eat it whenever he wanted, he said, “To be able to raise a goose for so long is probably not merely a fate of filling one’s stomach,” and simply spared this fowl’s life.

Everyone up and down Yashan, upon hearing this, all looked at Fudao Shanren with extremely horrified expressions.

They thought the sun had risen from the west, and Fudao Shanren would never eat meat again.

Unfortunately…

Jianghe walked near Guihe Well, looking at this… big white goose that was elegantly curving its neck on the rather spacious well water surface, contentedly grooming its glossy feathers.

This was that big white goose’s destination.

No one had expected that old bastard Fudao Shanren would directly keep the goose in Guihe Well!

Jianghe circled this big white goose left and right twice, his finger resting on his chin, feeling a surge of anger stuck in his throat.

Senior Sister was one thing, but how could even the goose related to Senior Sister be so arrogant?

Though he’d heard that Master’s newly taken Senior Sister was someone with a very gentle appearance, Jianghe just couldn’t like her.

No helping it…

When he first heard that Master had finally taken another new disciple, he was moved to tears—finally, he could escape the ranking of youngest junior brother, how wonderful!

Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, the promised junior sister had become senior sister!

The unfortunate Jianghe was still Fudao Shanren’s youngest disciple, though he’d gone from seventh disciple to eighth disciple.

This life was unbearable!

A few days ago, it was his turn to be on duty at the Administrative Hall with Sixth Senior Brother Chen Weishan, and they happened to encounter that unreliable sect master abandoning his responsibilities, dumping a whole pile of miscellaneous tasks on them. It was truly overwhelming, and he hadn’t found time to see the newly arrived Senior Sister.

As a result, in less than twelve hours, Master had directly ordered Senior Sister into closed-door cultivation!

Poor Jianghe and Chen Weishan hadn’t even seen the face of this legendary “Yashan Senior Sister,” “Yashan’s only female cultivator.” Now Jianghe could only stare intently at this big white goose that was said to have deep connections with Senior Sister.

The big white goose played in the water, its two webbed feet paddling beneath the surface, its posture quite elegant.

Jianghe shook his head, watching, and couldn’t help but mutter: “I bet in another half month when that flock of immortal cranes returns, they’ll chase you out!”

The big white goose turned its head away, showing its rear to Jianghe.

Jianghe looked and was speechless.

Was it such an unlucky year that even a big white goose was bullying him?

Just as he was pondering whether to secretly find an opportunity to turn Master’s “fated goose” into a delicacy in the kitchen, before Jianghe could decide, he heard a tremendous crash behind him!

His small face immediately tensed, and just as Jianghe turned around, he immediately felt a powerful aura rushing toward him!

Terrifyingly refined spiritual energy, carrying an almost destructive aura, swept past overhead!

The speed was astounding!

Before Jianghe could react, that terrifying attack had already disappeared.

In that instant, all of Yashan was startled!

The tremendous sound was still echoing throughout the mountain valley, with Lingzhao Peak buzzing with noise.

Jianghe stiffly stood by Guihe Well, looking up.

He saw that high on Yashan’s cliff face, at a location said to be Senior Sister’s place of closed-door cultivation, something had blasted open a huge hole, fully seven or eight zhang high, with quite peculiar edge contours.

Jianghe blinked and looked for a long time, finally swallowing hard.

He recognized it—this looked like a person’s leg.

The cultivators originally on Lingzhao Peak all looked toward the incident site, and those not on Lingzhao Peak also quickly flew out on their artifacts, with countless magical artifact radiances appearing in mid-air.

Everyone discussed in a flurry.

“Enemy attack?”

“How dare someone attack Yashan? Don’t they want to live?”

“Doesn’t seem like it…”

“Such a big hole!”

“Why does this shape look a bit strange…”

…

Indeed, quite strange.

Jianghe extended his short arm, supporting his chubby chin with baby fat, his dark eyes flashing with thought. He directly stepped on a purple-red radiance and rose, heading straight for that strangely shaped breach.

At this time, Fudao Shanren, who had come upon hearing the news, also wore a grave expression.

The eternally lazy Sect Master Zheng Yao had stuck out his belly and followed behind Fudao Shanren.

Several people said nothing, flying directly toward the breach.

That blasted hole was too large…

It was hard for the newly arrived people not to see Jian Chou standing inside.

Through that strangely shaped large hole, Jian Chou’s gaze was truly calm and composed.

She naturally also saw Fudao Shanren and the sect master and others hovering in mid-air, including several faces she didn’t recognize, and even a child who looked like a little radish had followed to watch the excitement.

Jian Chou thought for a moment, crushed the paper with the drawn Dao Seal in her right hand, and that sheet of paper disappeared in her palm.

She slowly walked out holding the jade slip in her left hand, surrounded by complete silence.

Stepping over the ruins left on the ground, Jian Chou discovered that the Scripture Pavilion’s great door seemed to exist in a state between reality and illusion.

Between the broken Scripture Pavilion door and the broken rock ceiling, there seemed to be a black crack. When Jian Chou wasn’t looking, she could sense it was there, but when she looked, it wasn’t there anymore.

Jian Chou carefully stepped over, and the daylight from outside finally shone upon her.

All the Yashan disciples standing on Lingzhao Peak immediately recognized her, causing an uproar.

Wasn’t this the Senior Uncle who had entered closed-door cultivation ten days ago?

What exactly had she done to cause such a commotion?

Could there be an enemy attack?

The disciples’ questions were also the questions of the sect master and elders.

But Fudao Shanren didn’t care about all that. His expression was unusually stern, and with his deep, penetrating eyes looking over, he immediately discovered how Jian Chou differed from before.

Though she had been in closed-door cultivation for ten days, her facial skin was excellent, tender, and lustrous.

There was panic and bewilderment in her eyes, but no trace of fatigue. Instead, her spiritual light was concentrated, no longer scattered.

Her left hand held a jade slip, while her right hand seemed not to know where it should be placed.

Carefully examining Jian Chou’s entire body and finding no wounds, Fudao Shanren immediately breathed a sigh of relief: “Seems like there’s no major problem.”

The four white-haired old men following behind Zheng Yao all couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of their mouths.

Finally, an elder with eyebrows as long as his hair couldn’t help it and spoke: “Senior Uncle Fudao, saying this might not be quite right? Don’t matters of Yashan count as matters anymore?”

Fudao Shanren disdained speaking with this junior and gifted him a pair of rolled eyes.

The elder immediately had nothing to say.

How wronged he felt!

So what if he was an elder?

He couldn’t compete with Fudao Shanren’s seniority!

Who told him to be the only surviving elder from that great battle ten jiazi ago? Without Fudao Shanren, there would be no Yashan today.

Though the elder felt aggrieved, he could only endure and swallow it.

Seeing they had stopped talking, Fudao Shanren also landed, standing before her. Jian Chou finally slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fudao Shanren immediately asked: “Did you encounter villains attacking?”

“No…” Jian Chou kept a stiff expression, hesitating for a moment before answering, “The Disciple didn’t expect it would cause such a big commotion.”

“Pff!”

The sect master behind them suddenly spat.

He choked on his saliva, but before he could catch his breath, he asked in shock: “What did you say?!”

What did she mean by “Disciple didn’t expect it would cause such a big commotion”?

This meant the commotion wasn’t caused by outsiders at all, but was their own Yashan’s handiwork?

What a joke…

That terrifying fluctuation still made Zheng Yao’s heart palpitate, let alone the other disciples and elders!

That power that burst through the wall was extremely pure, and more importantly, it contained a feeling that made one’s scalp tingle…

What that feeling was, Zheng Yao couldn’t describe.

Perhaps it should be something that transcended mere “power”—more terrifying than power itself!

Perhaps it could be called—

Pressure aura?

In any case, Zheng Yao didn’t think this was from a Qi Refining stage…

“Wait, what realm are you in now?”

His gaze, looking at Jian Chou, suddenly became strange, and he asked in surprise.

Jian Chou glanced back at Fudao Shanren, who also said, “Right, what realm are you at?”

“About, just reached Foundation Establishment stage?” Jian Chou wasn’t very clear either, “Disciple sealed the disc and established foundation not long ago, but there’s no sun or moon in the Scripture Pavilion, so I don’t know how much time has passed. Was I in closed-door cultivation for long?”

“…Foundation Establishment?”

This was Sect Master Zheng Yao thinking he was dreaming.

“Not long ago?”

This was Fudao Shanren tilting his head and also thinking he was dreaming.

These two particularly unreliable leaders almost simultaneously turned their heads to look at each other.

Now they were both a bit stunned.

“Wait, wait, things are getting a bit confused. Let this seat sort it out.” The wise fat man finally landed as well, noticing that this area in front of the door was particularly small, so he simply waved his hand and instructed, “Four elders, dismiss everyone else. We’re few, let’s go. Go inside to talk.”

Saying this, Zheng Yao took the lead, walking in front, re-entering the Scripture Pavilion.

There was a large round table in the center of the Scripture Pavilion, currently empty.

Zheng Yao walked over, casually pulled out a chair, sat facing the chair back, rested both hands on the armrests, and used the kind of gaze one would use to look at a rare animal to examine Jian Chou from head to toe.

This gaze was truly spine-chilling.

Jian Chou’s previous questions hadn’t been answered yet, and she vaguely felt that the Dao Seal she had experimented with seemed to have caused quite a bit of trouble. Feeling guilty, she didn’t dare ask again, only forcing herself to endure that feeling and stand properly in front.

Fudao Shanren also pulled over a chair to sit down.

At this time, Zheng Yao finally spoke: “Let’s start with the first question. Senior Sister, what is your cultivation level?”

“About Foundation Establishment.” Jian Chou thought, then added, “It shouldn’t be long, so it’s… early stage?”

Zheng Yao immediately lowered his head and began counting on his fingers.

As he counted, he felt something was wrong, then suddenly looked up again, this time toward Fudao Shanren: “Senior Uncle, Senior Uncle, when did she start cultivating with you?”

Cultivating?

Fudao Shanren thought carefully, feeling his scalp tingling.

“About thirteen days ago? However…”

He looked up at Jian Chou: “When you were on the Immortal Path Thirteen Islands, did you cultivate?”

Jian Chou shook her head.

Then she suddenly noticed a detail.

“Master said I started following you thirteen days ago, which was when we were on the cliff at Qingfeng Nunnery, meaning it’s now been… ten days?”

She had no way of knowing the passage of time outside while in the Scripture Pavilion, originally thinking that at least three to five months should have passed…

But she hadn’t expected it to be only ten days?

She suddenly realized why both Zheng Yao and Fudao Shanren had those expressions.

Ten-day Foundation Establishment, Xie Buchen.

The first thing that came to mind was this, not because of Xie Buchen, but simply because of the ten-day Foundation Establishment.

In the Nineteen Continents, where a hundred-day Foundation Establishment could make one famous throughout the world, what concept was a ten-day Foundation Establishment?

It meant the next Xie Buchen.

“Counting time this way, it’s about ten and a half days… Moreover…” Fudao Shanren’s eyes immediately filled with strange colors. “I remember you said, Jian Chou girl, that before you caused such a commotion, you should have already established a foundation, right?”

“…Yes.”

Jian Chou blinked.

“It’s just that disciple cannot determine exactly when I established the foundation…”

“That’s enough!”

Zheng Yao suddenly slapped his thigh, completely abandoning the lofty image of Yashan’s sect master!

He even laughed wildly, standing up and saying to Fudao Shanren: “Even if it’s ten and a half days, so what? Senior Uncle, Senior Uncle, how many years has it been? How many years has the Nineteen Continents not produced such a genius! To have one in our Yashan is merit accumulated over ten thousand generations, it’s enough!”

No one could predict a genius’s impact on a sect.

No one could predict two geniuses on the Nineteen Continents.

Jian Chou at this moment couldn’t understand Zheng Yao’s wild joy.

Fudao Shanren felt somewhat sour in his heart. He silently pulled out a chicken leg and bit down with a crunch: “I’m not happy… I’m not happy at all… This is too bullying! Too bullying!”

As he spoke, he felt the chicken leg had lost its flavor, worse than chewing wax!

With a “snap,” the chicken leg was directly thrown onto the smooth tabletop.

Fudao Shanren turned to look at Jian Chou: “Wait, your battle disc is one zhang. When I lit up a one-zhang battle disc, I roughly understood how much time it took. How could you be so fast? How many Kun lines did you light up?”

Sealing the disc and establishing the foundation was a matter of timing. Generally, as long as one could light up a bit more than half, Foundation Establishment would succeed.

If Jian Chou had only lit up half, that would truly be a waste of this talent.

Thinking of this possibility, Fudao Shanren’s feigned dejection and silence became somewhat real. He waited for Jian Chou’s answer.

Jian Chou thought of the “Heavenly Disc” matter, and her face showed a smile, about to tell Fudao Shanren.

Unexpectedly, the long-eyebrowed elder from earlier had landed again and was walking into the Scripture Pavilion.

“Reporting to Sect Master…”

“Didn’t I tell you all to leave? Why are you back?”

Zheng Yao was waiting for Jian Chou’s answer and was annoyed by the interruption, responding somewhat impatiently.

The long-eyebrowed elder sighed and said, “Sect Master, there are outside guests here to pay respects.”

“Outside guests?”

Zheng Yao frowned and stood up, sticking out his belly and pacing two steps by the table.

“Where have we had outside guests visiting Yashan in recent years? Which sect? Who?”

“They claim to be from the Jianzhu Sect, three people total. The highest cultivation is a woman, only mid-stage Foundation Establishment, saying they represent their junior sister Xu Lan’er, coming to apologize to Senior Uncle Jian Chou.”

Jianzhu Sect?

Representing Xu Lan’er to apologize to her?

Jian Chou immediately put all cultivation-related matters out of mind and frowned.

Zheng Yao didn’t know what grudges were involved, only looking at Jian Chou.

Fudao Shanren also looked at her, saying: “What’s this all about?”

That day, when news came from Fengmo Sword Sect and Wuwang Studio, after Jian Chou read the messages, she returned with Qu Zhengfeng, encountered Shen Jiu, and the two had fought with drawn swords. Then Jian Chou had confusedly begun her closed-door cultivation, not yet having time to report this matter to Fudao Shanren.

Remembering now, she recounted the previous events on Zhanye Island, then spoke of the recent message transmission.

“Ten days ago, both Fengmo Sword Sect and Wuwang Studio sent messages saying Junior Sister Xiaowan was already healing from her injuries. Xu Lan’er was also unharmed and had returned to Jianzhu Sect. Besides this, there was no other news.”

Zheng Yao said strangely “A sect disciple attacks others, yet Jianzhu Sect didn’t go to Wuwang Studio to apologize? Wuwang Studio also made no mention of pursuing the matter?”

This was also what puzzled and confused Jian Chou.

She shook her head to answer Zheng Yao’s question.

At that moment, Zheng Yao sneered.

Having been sect master for many years, though he said daily he wanted to abandon this mess, at critical moments, he could never abandon it.

He put his hands behind his back, quite disdainful.

“Wuwang Studio is weak after all. Disciple grudges not escalating to sect grudges is an agreement both sects reached. Only this Jianzhu Sect’s behavior is too despicable—the real victim received no apology, yet they’re eagerly rushing to our Yashan to apologize to Senior Sister Jian Chou.”

A bunch of boot-lickers who bully the weak and fear the strong!

Zheng Yao was most impatient dealing with such people. He directly waved his hand: “A group of newly Foundation Establishment cultivators dare come to Yashan? Be careful, I activate the mountain protection array and blast them to death! Drive them away, tell them to scram!”

“This…”

The long-eyebrowed elder was more concerned with the big picture, feeling this approach wasn’t quite right.

Jian Chou thought briefly, then said: “Reporting to Sect Master, this might risk wrongful killing. Perhaps they already sent people to apologize to Wuwang Studio before coming to Yashan. Why not meet them first, then drive them away?”

“Hmm…” Zheng Yao was slightly surprised. Thinking carefully, this was indeed possible, “But they want to see you. The one who’ll have a headache then is Senior Sister. Have you thought this through?”

Jian Chou only wanted to know what the Jianzhu Sect had done, and was truly curious how Xu Lan’er could escape unscathed.

In her view, Tao Zhang of the Wuyi Sect was no good person.

As for headaches?

Jian Chou thought the one with headaches definitely wouldn’t be her, someone who now had Yashan’s big tree as backing.

So she couldn’t help but smile: “If Jian Chou has a headache, Sect Master will also have a headache.”

Stunned, then laughing heartily.

Zheng Yao was quite pleased and said, “Then let’s go out and meet them.”

Saying this, he was about to leave.

Fudao Shanren had been unable to interject for a long time. Seeing Jian Chou settle things with Zheng Yao so quickly, he felt something was wrong.

Wait, Jian Chou girl still hadn’t answered his question!

“How many Kun lines did you light up?”