In that instant, a thousand, ten thousand guesses flashed through Jian Chou’s mind, but ultimately they boiled down to—

How could he be here?

What had he come to do?

What was the situation with my master?

What major events had occurred during these twenty years that I don’t know about?

Did Hengxu know he was here?

What was his current identity?

…

The massive number of questions almost instantly overwhelmed her, even making her gaze at the two of them somewhat rigid. Until both approached her, her expression still couldn’t return to normal.

It wasn’t that Jian Chou lacked composure—this “shock” had come too unexpectedly!

“Little Jian Chou, Little Jian Chou, haha, you finally have some conscience! You came back right after finishing your tribulation. This time I won’t scold you.”

Seeing her, Fudao Shanren was so delighted he nearly threw away his chicken leg.

With a disciple, who needed chicken legs?

No, no, no…

Stop, stop—chicken legs were still necessary.

He bounced in front of Jian Chou, his bright eyes looking her up and down. The more he looked, the more his brows rose with joy: “You really are at Void Refining stage! Haha, that old monster Hengxu is probably going to die of anger! Let him show off to me back then with his ten-day Foundation Establishment—now he’s dumbfounded, right? Good disciple, you haven’t wasted this mountain man’s careful cultivation of you.”

Careful… cultivation?

Wait…

Jian Chou finally came to her senses. Looking at her master, her expression became somewhat indescribable. But with Fu Chaosheng right beside them, she forcibly suppressed that inexplicable awkwardness, glanced at him, and held back from exposing her master’s shortcomings in front of this “outsider” Fu Chaosheng.

“Old friend Jian Chou, congratulations.”

Perhaps Fu Chaosheng had already gained some understanding of Fudao Shanren’s temperament. At this moment he showed no objection whatsoever, instead stepping forward with a slight smile to offer congratulations.

This sounded very strange to Jian Chou’s ears.

First, hearing such words from a great demon like Fu Chaosheng gave them a taste of suddenly being touched by mortal affairs. Second, at this moment on Yashan’s Lingzhao Peak, she was receiving congratulations from a great demon.

It was truly quite bizarre…

Jian Chou forcibly suppressed her feelings and returned his smile with some hesitation.

But when about to address him, she realized he certainly hadn’t come to Yashan as a great demon, especially since his demonic aura was completely concealed at this moment.

So regarding how to address him, she felt some uncertainty.

Instead, Fudao Shanren beside them, originally very happy about Jian Chou’s return and having ignored Fu Chaosheng, now noticed when he spoke.

Thus, his earlier questions surfaced.

His eyes rolling around, he walked forward without bothering to acknowledge Fu Chaosheng, directly pulling Jian Chou aside.

“Master?”

Jian Chou was involuntarily pulled toward the Sword-Drawing Platform, but her heart already had vague premonitions, so she glanced at Fu Chaosheng.

Fu Chaosheng only shook his head slightly, his lips still carrying a faint smile.

This was telling her not to worry.

Jian Chou understood, but didn’t completely relax. After calmly withdrawing her gaze, she had already walked with Fudao Shanren to below the Sword-Drawing Platform.

“What’s this guy’s background?” As soon as they stopped, Fudao Shanren immediately asked. “What’s your relationship with him? How did you meet? What did he come to find you for?”

“I…”

She had a whole pile of questions in her heart too. Who would have thought Fudao Shanren’s questions were almost as numerous as hers? This barrage left Jian Chou barely able to react.

“He’s my friend, someone I met by chance on the road…”

“Met by chance?”

Fudao Shanren’s eyes rolled directly, looking at her with obvious suspicion that he didn’t bother to hide.

“He came to Yashan during your disappearance, claiming to be your friend. That means you knew him at least twenty years ago. What was your cultivation then? Look at his cultivation level! Great cultivators at Void Refining stage aren’t people you can casually befriend…”

“But Master…”

Though a bit late, his disciple was now also a Void Refining great cultivator.

Well.

Twenty years ago, a Nascent Soul cultivator wanting to be friends on equal terms with a Void Refining cultivator was indeed somewhat wishful thinking.

The cultivation world was like this.

Even if great cultivators might treat everyone equally in their hearts, if your cultivation was somewhat lower, most of the time you’d feel inferior.

So most of the time, friends you made had cultivation levels basically equivalent to yours.

Jian Chou wanted to explain something but found there really wasn’t much to explain, so she cleverly changed the topic: “Speaking of which, didn’t he say what he came to do?”

“Hmph.”

Mentioning this made Fudao Shanren want to sneer coldly. He viciously took a big bite of his chicken leg, as if chewing someone’s flesh, quite menacing.

“This person initially came asking about your whereabouts. When this mountain man saw someone coming to our door, I thought it was your enemy, but he said he was a friend. That would have been fine, but he also wanted to stay at Yashan. Even worse, within a few days, he actually connected with our ancestor, and the ancestor let him stay permanently!”

An-ancestor?!

Jian Chou’s mind immediately conjured the scene from when Fudao Shanren had brought her to Yashan’s depths—that spacious dark space, that high circular altar with the Mitian Mirror on it, and that withered skeleton sitting on the mirror.

Fu Chaosheng had actually connected with the ancestor…

Why did this sound like a dream to her?

What exactly had happened?

Unable to resist, Jian Chou looked back again at Fu Chaosheng still standing by Guihe Well, finding it incredibly unbelievable. But thinking again, she remembered that Mitian Mirror.

The Mitian Mirror could traverse yin and yang.

Had Fu Chaosheng come because of this?

She wasn’t entirely certain. After pondering for a moment, she asked Fudao Shanren: “Didn’t the ancestor say anything?”

“Our ancestor is Laozu Luye—he’s just a pile of old bones, dead for who knows how many years. What could he say?”

Recalling how evasive the ancestor had been when he went to ask, Fudao Shanren’s temper flared and he nearly wanted to scatter that skeleton.

“Anyway, he acts like he knows nothing, only saying to let him stay first. But this mountain man sees that every day he spends several hours going to see the ancestor. Hey, you don’t think this could be one of our Yashan’s long-lost disciples, do you?”

A disciple?

Jian Chou’s feelings immediately became indescribable.

She had personally witnessed Fu Chaosheng transform from a mayfly into a great demon. He absolutely couldn’t be some lost Yashan disciple—Fudao Shanren was just randomly speculating and certainly didn’t take it seriously.

So regarding such obviously unreliable guesses, Jian Chou directly ignored them, only saying: “Since the ancestor approved, he must have his reasons. Now that your disciple has returned and has some connection with him, if Master is worried, shall I ask him about it later?”

“It’s not that I’m worried…”

Regarding his disciple who worried him both at home and away, Fudao Shanren was actually quite confident. It was just that this cultivator claiming to be named “Fu Chaosheng” had arrived too suddenly and mysteriously.

“You know people well enough, and Master knows you rarely act foolishly in important matters. But this person isn’t quite right.”

Her eyelids twitched slightly, even her heartbeat quickened a bit.

Jian Chou held her breath, quietly suppressing this without letting her master see any flaws, only asking carefully: “What’s not right about him?”

“Though this mountain man’s cultivation wasn’t very high recently, and now I’m about to be caught up by you disciples, I was once a genius too. I might not know all the old monsters in these Nineteen Regions, but regarding great cultivators, every single one—there’s none this mountain man doesn’t recognize.”

Fudao Shanren frowned, glancing at Fu Chaosheng who still showed no intention of leaving.

“But your friend is like he popped out of a rock crevice. I’ve never heard his name before, let alone seen him. If he hadn’t appeared, I wouldn’t know the cultivation world had such a person.”

Yes, this was where the flaw lay.

But Jian Chou had no intention of helping Fu Chaosheng cover anything, only nodding: “Master is right.”

“Also, his cultivation appears to be mid-stage Void Refining, but it doesn’t feel quite right, and the impression he gives isn’t quite right either.”

Speaking of it, Fudao Shanren had a basketful of doubts.

“Looking at him, he seems no different from ordinary cultivators, but inside it’s not like that. This mountain man feels this person has some strange aspects, not like he’s on the righteous path…”

Truly worthy of being the Law Enforcement Elder renowned throughout the Nineteen Regions even while acting as a hands-off manager—her master’s instincts were sharp enough to be astonishing.

Jian Chou’s current cultivation was already about the same as Fudao Shanren’s.

But if she didn’t know Fu Chaosheng and just let him stand before her for observation, she wouldn’t sense half a flaw, yet Fudao Shanren could smell that bit of abnormality.

Ultimately, Fu Chaosheng was a great demon.

Jian Chou didn’t think there was any problem associating with him, but if others knew what kind of existence he was, that might not be the case.

After all, most cultivators here agreed on one point: those not of our kind must have different hearts.

She frowned slightly, temporarily not responding to Fudao Shanren’s words.

But Fudao Shanren laughed, pointing at the distant Fu Chaosheng with his half-eaten chicken leg, asking: “We were both on Huanqiao Peak just now, paying attention to your tribulation. Do you know what he said to this mountain man?”

“What?”

Jian Chou asked instinctively.

For the first time, Fudao Shanren’s not-very-serious face showed a subtle, indescribable expression, making his eyes—almost hidden by his messy hair—carry some unfathomable light.

“He said, Heaven’s Dao is merely a dead thing.”

“…”

Fudao Shanren’s retelling tone was originally very plain, but perhaps because this sentence itself carried some heart-stopping quality, Jian Chou actually heard a bloody killing intent in it!

Heaven’s Dao is merely a dead thing…

She remained silent for a long time. After quite a while, following the direction of Fudao Shanren’s chicken leg, she cast her gaze on Fu Chaosheng for the third time.

Thus those words he had once spoken above the Western Sea echoed clearly in her ears again.

Jian Chou couldn’t clearly identify what she felt in her heart, becoming somewhat lost in thought.

Seeing her expression, Fudao Shanren knew Jian Chou probably knew something.

He was about to speak again and ask, wanting to discuss Jian Chou’s unprecedented “Self Dao” issue, but as soon as he opened his mouth, lightning flashed across the sky.

Then came a thunderclap from clear skies!

“Rumble!”

When the two looked up, they saw that dragon-like lightning coming from Kunwu’s direction. In an instant, it fell directly into the courtyard of Yashan’s Assembly Hall behind the Sword-Drawing Platform.

Fudao Shanren immediately frowned and stopped talking.

After waiting just a moment, Sect Leader Zheng Yao emerged clutching that thunder message, hurrying out with what seemed like some joy on his face: “Uncle Fudao, Master Qu—”

Speaking to this point, he suddenly realized that person was no longer a Yashan disciple, and his voice abruptly cut off.

Then, turning his gaze, he suddenly saw Jian Chou.

So he smoothly adjusted, quickly calling out: “Eldest Senior Sister, you’ve finally returned! Congratulations Eldest Senior Sister, felicitations Eldest Senior Sister—from now on you’re a great cultivator! Haha, how enviable!”

How perceptive was Jian Chou?

Hearing those two words from Zheng Yao, she already realized this thunder message probably had some connection with Mingri Star Sea, so she only exchanged brief pleasantries with Zheng Yao.

But Fudao Shanren directly asked: “What happened?”

“It’s news from Master Hengxu, saying Mingri Star Sea has agreed to Central Domain. This is the reply made jointly by Sword Emperor Qu Zhengfeng, Scattered Immortal Cangji, and Physician Lord Yiming.”

Speaking thus, Zheng Yao handed the wisp of thunder message at his fingertip toward Fudao Shanren.