She saw that the chubby Jianghe standing beside Chen Weishan nearly stumbled and fell; she saw that Shen Jiu, upon hearing these words, simply covered his face with his palm, as if swearing to stay away from Chen Weishan in the future; she saw that even the usually expressionless Kou Qianzhi showed a moment of cracking; she saw…

She saw too much, all flashing through her mind like images, gone in an instant.

What left a deep impression on Jian Chou was the burst of laughter that erupted after a long, cold, deadly silence.

“Ahahahahahaha…”

Sect Master Zheng Yao suddenly burst into laughter.

“Wahahahahahaha…”

Master Fudao Shanren, beating his chest and stamping his feet.

Jian Chou suddenly didn’t feel like talking very much.

She silently glanced at Chen Weishan and smiled coolly: “Thank you for the praise, Sixth Junior Brother.”

What a good junior brother indeed.

The days ahead are long—no rush, no rush.

Chen Weishan was still stunned. Looking at Jian Chou’s expression, he instinctively glanced at Qu Zhengfeng.

Eh…

Why did he feel that Eldest Senior Sister’s expression looked similar to Second Senior Brother’s from before?

Thinking about what happened after Second Senior Brother smiled at him like this in the past…

It seemed like he got beaten up…

No way, right?

Chen Weishan suddenly shivered with a chill.

He opened his mouth as if wanting to explain something, but Jian Chou had already turned around directly, dropping a single sentence before walking away.

“Let me carry the axe back and form a bond with it first.”

Perhaps after forming a bond, it wouldn’t be so heavy anymore?

Jian Chou sighed inwardly, just wanting to leave the Guihe Well as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, “tap tap tap”—light, quick footsteps came as Fudao Shanren cheerfully chased after her.

“Girl, girl, oh my, don’t be angry. Sixth Junior Brother meant well, too. That pose just now looked good! Such a great presence! Well, how about you lend the axe to me to play with? Oh my, with this axe, no matter where your master goes in the future, no one would dare bully me…”

As if anyone would dare bully you anyway.

Jian Chou knew very well that even with his cultivation regressed, this man was still a terrifying Spirit Separation stage expert who could take down a whole group by himself. He wouldn’t be bullied by any blind fool.

She turned back to look and saw Fudao Shanren gazing at her Ghost Axe with gleaming eyes.

In that instant, she had the urge to swing the axe back and commit regicide!

“Master, why are you following me?”

Jian Chou felt powerless.

Fudao Shanren walked right beside her, dissatisfied: “I’m your master—why can’t I walk beside you? Look, you’re already a person with one foot in the grave. Who knows, maybe one day, when you reach Spirit Separation, you’ll just kick the bucket. Of course, your master has to hurry up and spend time with you.”

“…”

Where did that cute and caring master go?!

Where did the master who swore to find a way to repair her deficiencies go?!

Was he eaten by a dog?!

Jian Chou turned back to look at him in near shock, unable to speak.

Fudao Shanren blinked with an expression of “why are you looking at me like that?”

“Disciple, why did you stop walking? Can’t carry it anymore? Should your master help you?”

“…”

Jian Chou held it in for a long time, but finally said nothing and strode forward!

She didn’t want to believe in this world anymore!

Too much of a trap!

Jian Chou walked, and Fudao Shanren chased.

He still had things to discuss with Jian Chou. Seeing her walking so fast, he immediately waved his arms angrily: “Do you respect your elders or not? Don’t you know old people walk slowly? Why are you walking so fast? Hey! Slow down! You rebellious disciple! Too bad, too bad! You…”

“…Shut up!”

The utterly exasperated Jian Chou finally exploded.

However…

What responded to her was still Fudao Shanren’s endless chatter.

“My dear Ancestor Luye, my newly accepted good disciple told me to shut up… Is there any justice left? So unfair…”

“…”

By the Guihe Well, everyone watching the gradually departing old man and young woman felt sympathy and admiration arise spontaneously.

Shen Jiu stroked his chin, saying with lingering fear: “Not seen for three hundred years, Master has become more and more terrifying. I don’t know how difficult those days when Eldest Senior Sister traveled with him must have been…”

“Why do I feel like you don’t seem sympathetic at all?”

Chen Weishan asked perceptively, frowning.

Shen Jiu rolled his eyes at him, looking at him with a half-smile.

“Who said I’m not sympathetic?”

Chen Weishan shivered and lowered his head, muttering: “Why do they all smile so terrifyingly…”

Forget it, better not to speak—safer that way.

Qu Zhengfeng withdrew his gaze from a distance and didn’t participate in everyone’s discussion, turning to leave directly.

The chubby Jianghe glanced over but paid no attention. Instead, he touched his head and frowned: “Eldest Senior Sister just said ‘finish him off,’ but who is ‘him’?”

Once this question came out, everyone was stunned.

Right, who was “him”?

Such a good person as Eldest Senior Sister—could she have enemies?

***

After being followed by Fudao Shanren to her door, Jian Chou stopped and stood still, looking at him.

“Master, is there anything else?”

“Of course there is.”

Fudao Shanren’s eyes rolled around as he gnawed on a chicken leg without stopping.

“I still need to guide your cultivation. Finally managed to drag back an axe—it’s a bit ugly and not very suitable for female cultivators, but it suits you quite well…”

“What?”

Jian Chou again had the urge to swing him away.

Fudao Shanren immediately explained: “Hey hey hey, don’t misunderstand. I mean, you look quite good using magical instruments that male cultivators generally use. That’s what you call heroic and graceful, like a jade tree in the wind, captivating thousands of girls… oh no, boys.”

“…”

Jian Chou turned to leave.

“Hey hey hey, don’t rush.”

Seeming to have said something wrong again, Fudao Shanren quickly grabbed Jian Chou and rubbed his hands together.

“You always want to know how a Heavenly Void Body should cultivate, and about the Dao Seals later, and including this axe, right? I know all about it…”

He looked at Jian Chou with an expression of “I know everything, aren’t you curious?”

Jian Chou stared at him for half a moment before saying stiffly: “Curious.”

“Very good.”

Fudao Shanren directly pulled out a token. Last time it had the character “Scripture,” but this time it became the character “Dao.”

It seemed somewhat different from last time.

Jian Chou stood beside him and watched as Fudao Shanren, as before, pressed that token against the plaque by her door. The wooden plaque with the two characters “Jian Chou” changed to black and became the two characters “Dao Field.”

Fudao Shanren generously pushed open the door, and Jian Chou saw that her poor little room had disappeared again.

What appeared before her eyes was an exceptionally spacious, enormous space, shaped like a funnel going downward. All four sides had many stairs, and the lowest position was a circular platform that seemed suitable for standing.

“This is Yashan’s Dao Field, though it hasn’t been used by anyone for a long time. Oh, right, store away these tokens.”

As he spoke, he directly reached out and produced a large string of tokens, handing them to Jian Chou.

Jian Chou reached out to take them.

Fudao Shanren walked straight inside while speaking: “Yashan is very tall. The disciples all live on the mountain walls. On the surface, it looks like there’s only Lingzhao Peak and that ring of pill refining and artifact forging halls outside, but it’s very large. You’ve been to the Armory—that was left by Yashan’s predecessors, who had already perished. This Dao Field is built underground beneath the mountain. As long as you hold a token and stand within Yashan’s range, you can press it against any wall to get here.”

Correspondingly, the other tokens worked the same way.

Jian Chou curiously flipped through them. This string of tokens, besides the “Scripture” character token she’d seen before, had the “Dao” character, and there were also “Cultivation” character tokens, “Battle” character tokens, etc…

Each character token should hide a place behind it.

“Take this too. Cultivators have too many things—they all need a small bag to store them.” Fudao Shanren tossed over a seemingly ordinary light blue brocade bag. “This thing is called a Qiankun Bag. Of course, that group of bald monks to the east likes to call it a Mustard Seed Bag. I think they’re about the same—similar to our Yashan tokens.”

Still catching the bag, Jian Chou looked at it—small, just like a sachet: “Isn’t this too small?”

“Try opening it and putting things in?”

This was just an interesting little item from the cultivation world. Fudao Shanren couldn’t help but stop to watch her proudly.

Jian Chou frowned, opened the small bag, and hesitantly placed several tokens toward the opening. She saw a misty light surge out, and those tokens disappeared instantly!

“This…”

“This small bag is made from a special material that can sense spatial force and form its own small space. Though not large, it’s just right for carrying around and storing miscellaneous items.”

This thing wasn’t common because anything related to “rules” was extremely rare.

Space and time were the universe and cosmos. Through countless millions of years, except for “Bounded” cultivators, who could create their own space and comprehend the primordial universe?

Most cultivators just stored things inside their bodies after blood-bonding recognition.

As for Yashan?

Just wealthy and powerful.

Fudao Shanren said, “Come down. I’ve been so busy lately. Since you’ve awakened and have your magical instrument, let me show you that this master isn’t for nothing.”

Finished speaking, he proudly raised his chin and directly sat cross-legged on the central stone platform below.

Jian Chou shouldered her axe and walked over, sitting cross-legged across from Fudao Shanren.

At this moment, with no one around, in the vast Dao Field, there were only the master and disciple.

The casual expression on Fudao Shanren’s face finally disappeared: “What I’m going to discuss today concerns your Ghost Axe, Dao Seals, and future cultivation. Let’s start with the axe…”

The Ghost Axe lay beside Jian Chou, its deep red rust marks like clouds and ink, resembling patterns carved on the Ghost Axe.

The ferocious designs witnessed the glory it had once experienced.

Fudao Shanren couldn’t help but look for a long time before laughing lightly: “Ten cycles ago, our Yashan experienced a great battle, traveling far to the Extreme Domain, surrounded by a hundred thousand evil spirits. Among them was one person, a Void Refining great master, considered the most brilliantly talented person in our Yashan at that time. He carried this axe into Yama’s realm, traversing three thousand li of the Extreme Domain, sealing countless evil spirits.”

A Void Refining, great master?

Jian Chou was slightly stunned, never expecting this axe to have such origins.

Also, what was this great battle ten cycles ago about?

She wanted to ask, but Fudao Shanren didn’t elaborate, only saying: “This axe was forged with Yin Iron and Yang Fire, originally named the Yin-Yang Axe. It was crafted by an artifact refining grandmaster from the Northern Domain’s Yin-Yang Twin Sects, supposedly an upper-grade Profound Treasure with the ability to communicate between the Yin and Yang realms. When he perished, he gifted this axe to our Yashan. But unexpectedly… after following that person to the Extreme Domain, it came back by itself.”

“Came back by itself?”

Jian Chou was astonished.

An axe could come back by itself?

Fudao Shanren smiled at her, his smile somewhat strange: “When you were in the Armory, didn’t you see that many of those magical instruments were stained with blood?”

“Yes…”

Jian Chou’s mood grew somewhat heavy, as if understanding something.

“Yashan’s Armory is vast, accumulated over thousands upon thousands of years. New magical instruments are constantly being forged, and old people pass away, so their original magical instruments become ownerless. Any Yashan disciple who takes a magical instrument from the Armory—if that person dies, the instrument automatically returns to Yashan.”

Fudao Shanren spoke calmly, reaching out to pick up the axe with ease.

“Many people died in that battle ten cycles ago. The master of this axe probably didn’t make it either. That you could obtain it is also a kind of fate. Perhaps it’s a future opportunity.”

So that’s how it was.

Jian Chou understood…

She wasn’t very good at comforting people and didn’t know what to say.

Fudao Shanren wasn’t as shallow as he appeared.

“Blood-bond with it.”

He looked for a long time. The scenes from past battlefields were practically branded like marks, making his whole being suffer in hellfire.

Setting down the Ghost Axe, Fudao Shanren looked at Jian Chou.

Jian Chou nodded. Her fingertip flicked lightly, and a drop of blood emerged from her fingertip, falling onto the Ghost Axe’s dull black surface.

In that instant, the red blood gradually merged into the Ghost Axe. As it slowly disappeared, the Ghost Axe began to tremble.

Once, then again.

As if it had slept for six hundred years and finally had a chance to stretch.

Dark light flowed around it. The evil spirits on the axe’s surface seemed to smell the stimulation of fresh blood, becoming increasingly fierce and menacing, slowly writhing.

The moment the red blood completely disappeared, Jian Chou heard a howling in her ears—

That was the wailing of evil spirits.

Dark light blazed!

Countless evil spirits struggled out from within the axe, instantly filling the entire Dao Field—ox heads and horse faces, utterly vicious, ghostly winds howling, ten thousand spirits roaring!

Jian Chou almost thought she was already in Yama’s hell, seeing only evil spirits all around!

Endless evil spirits!

Black shadows, red blood, white skulls…

Yellow Spring waters flowing, Three Lives River rushing…

Suddenly, a dark axe shadow descended from the sky, exploding into dazzling white light upon hitting the ground!

The countless evil spirits retreated, all turning to ash and vanishing!

Thus, all the visions before her eyes disappeared again.

What Jian Chou saw returned to that empty Dao Field.

The Ghost Axe lay quietly before Jian Chou, the fallen blood drop having disappeared.

A mysterious mental connection was finally perceived by her.

“Just now…”

Jian Chou still felt frightened, taking quite a while to react before looking at Fudao Shanren across from her.

“Famous instruments have spirits. Though this axe is damaged, it once slew ten thousand spirits.” Fudao Shanren naturally saw that scene. “That was merely this axe’s inner unwillingness—it once made ten thousand spirits weep with a single strike.”

One strike makes ten thousand spirits weep.

Jian Chou’s finger rested on the Ghost Axe, feeling that the dark light on the axe’s surface seemed somewhat more lustrous.

Fudao Shanren said, “Blood-bonding is complete. Try channeling spiritual power into it—I want to see if this axe’s instrument seals are still there.”

Jian Chou knew about instrument seals.

She had read about many things in the Scripture Repository.

Any famous spiritual instrument, from the moment of its creation, would carry innate instrument seals like a cultivator’s natural battle disc—these seals were the same as a cultivator’s Dao Seals, being innate abilities.

Some instrument seals could vanquish evil, some were protective, some were fierce attacks…

Even the highest-level instrument seals would become Dao Seals that cultivators could also practice, used to match instrument seals.

The Ghost Axe had them, too?

Jian Chou grew curious, gripping the axe handle and channeling spiritual power.

Streams of white light flowed around the axe, transforming into lustrous dark light and radiating outward.

On the axe body, some black and white light points gradually appeared.

Fudao Shanren focused intently but sighed: “The instrument seals are damaged. Originally, there were three; now only one remains. Truly a damaged axe, missing things…”

“Is this axe missing something?”

Jian Chou looked carefully, her gaze stopping on the circular depression on the axe’s spine.

Fudao Shanren nodded: “Exactly here. The person who forged this axe was a traitor from the Northern Domain’s Yin Sect who later joined the Yang Sect, so he could practice both Yin and Yang techniques. He created a ‘Two Extremes Pearl’ and placed it here to give this axe the ability to communicate between the Yin and Yang realms. Now that’s impossible… But it’s fine. The remaining instrument seal is just right for you—it’s the Void-Splitting Slash.”

“Void-Splitting Slash?”

Jian Chou pondered.

Fudao Shanren wasn’t in a hurry, slowly explaining to her.

Besides the Ghost Axe, there was much more to discuss.

Jian Chou and Fudao Shanren sat in this Dao Field for a full three days before Jian Chou finally understood her current situation.

Because she had a Heavenly Void Body, cultivating Dao Seals would become exceptionally easy for Jian Chou, but this also had a drawback—comprehensive but not refined. So the path Fudao Shanren set for Jian Chou was: she could learn many Dao Seals, but must specialize in some, preferably choosing well-matched combinations.

“Now you have one immensely powerful Dao Seal for offense. For other Dao Seals, you should go back to the Scripture Repository and choose carefully.”

Fudao Shanren was already considering what kind of Dao Seals to give Jian Chou.

Hearing this, Jian Chou suddenly remembered: “Master, what’s the origin of that Dao Seal I copied in the hidden realm of Azure Peak Hermitage?”

“The origin is too significant—even we don’t know now.”

Mentioning this, Fudao Shanren chuckled.

“These past days, I’ve been busy with this Dao Seal. Something remarkable seems to have emerged from that hidden realm. This seal is just one of them. At the time, many great masters sent their divine consciousness across the sea but couldn’t observe this Dao Seal’s complete form. A little girl like you managed to get the bargain…”

Thinking of how that skeleton on the altar hadn’t seen the Dao Seal’s complete form either, and was finally shocked speechless by the Dao Seal he’d obtained, Fudao Shanren felt immensely proud.

“Supposedly, this Dao Seal is called the Heaven-Overturning Seal, ninth-grade upper, extremely rare among the rare. It’s just unclear whether there are any defects… so the grade has probably dropped somewhat. But regardless, you little girl has struck it rich.”

“Ninth grade?”

Jian Chou couldn’t help but gasp.

Dao Seals were divided into nine grades, from one to nine, with ascending quality.

Ninth grade was the pinnacle!

Though defective, it was essentially still ninth grade!

She immediately thought of the other Dao Seals.

Those were also somewhat related to Azure Peak Hermitage’s hidden realm. Jian Chou pondered for a moment before speaking: “Master, that day outside Azure Peak Hermitage’s hidden realm, right at that great gate, I also obtained four more Dao Seals…”

“Pfft!”

Fudao Shanren choked on his saliva.

In that instant, he raised his eyes and looked at her with the gaze one might use to look at a beast: “How many?!”

Jian Chou’s voice grew smaller: “Four… four.”

Added together, that was five total.

Jian Chou wanted to show them to Fudao Shanren, which was why she mentioned it. After all, he was her master—Jian Chou felt there was nothing wrong with telling him.

Fudao Shanren pressed his chest, his expression dazed.

“I’ve cultivated my whole life and the highest I have is eighth grade… Damn it, do you want people to live or not?”

“Master?”

Jian Chou felt somewhat awkwardly embarrassed. In matters concerning Dao Seals, her luck seemed extremely good.

“I’m not sure if they can be cultivated, though, so I wanted to ask Master to help me look…”

“No, no, no!”

Unexpectedly, Fudao Shanren refused outright.

Jian Chou was surprised: “Master?”

Fudao Shanren shook his head, finally managing to adjust his mindset back: “I’m now merely a Spirit Separation stage cultivator, unable to compare with those great masters who spy on heaven and earth. The Azure Peak Hermitage hidden realm affair is significant, and there’s still no clear resolution. If you show me those Dao Seals, it would count as leaking heavenly secrets, and great masters might well deduce it through grand techniques. Better forget it—we’ll discuss it when the time is right.”

The Azure Peak Hermitage hidden realm affair was significant, but Fudao Shanren didn’t dare risk this little girl’s life.

He patted Jian Chou’s shoulder: “Anyway, you can look and see if you can use them yourself. This kind of thing can be done, but not spoken about—once you talk about it or show them, people will know. The Nineteen Continents are quite frightening.”

Jian Chou couldn’t understand but didn’t object.

Fudao Shanren, across from her, patted his bottom and stood up, stretching and producing a chicken leg in his hand.

“Well, everything that needed to be said has been said. You should cultivate properly on your own.”

Having said this, Fudao Shanren felt he had fulfilled enough of his duties as a master and turned to leave.

Jian Chou stood to see him off, but unexpectedly…

His steps stopped. Fudao Shanren paused and turned back: “Oh right, girl, what was your ex-husband’s name again?”

A name was right on the tip of her tongue, ready to spill out.

However, just as she was about to speak.

She swallowed it back. Jian Chou looked at him: “Why does Master suddenly ask this?”

“Well, didn’t you want to finish off that heartless bastard?” Fudao Shanren looked like he wanted to help Jian Chou seek justice. “The Nineteen Continents are so vast—when will you ever run into him? Why not tell me, and later our entire Yashan can help you find him. Once we find him early, we can kill him early—wouldn’t that be better?”

“…”

Her eye twitched. Jian Chou was silent for quite a while before asking: “Master, are you afraid that before I can ask why and get my revenge, I’ll die first?”

“Cough cough cough…” Fudao Shanren immediately started coughing, his eyes rolling around wildly. “Look what you’re saying—how could that be? Your master isn’t that kind of person. I just want you to get your revenge sooner.”

“That’s easy then.”

Jian Chou smiled slightly: “Once this disciple cultivates quickly enough, Master can take me to Kunwu.”

“That’s easy then.”

Fudao Shanren waved his hand without thinking, as if this matter was completely in his hands.

However…

Wait!

Was something wrong here?

Kunwu?!

Fudao Shanren suddenly jumped up, his finger trembling as he pointed at Jian Chou: “What what what what what what do you mean?”