Chapter 136: Fellow Disciple Affection, Scolded for Capturing a Tiger

The journey was silent.

Chen Ci suddenly felt that the tea and wine he was carrying were no longer appealing; he thought that if fellow disciples were sparring to improve, that would be one thing, as most cultivator duels began with exchanging moves between friends and fellow disciples, and few truly drew their swords to fight outsiders to the death.

But for this to be real between fellow disciples, Chen Ci felt he couldn't handle it; could it be that under Jiao Zhenren, the philosophy was survival of the fittest?

Just looking at Lin Laohu's style of conduct, he showed no mercy when intercepting and killing fellow He Mountain Sect disciples, so this possibility was indeed quite high; why was it so hard for him, Chen, to find a decent backer?

He didn't ask for a beautiful master, senior sister, or junior sister; he would be satisfied with normal, good mentors and friends.

Sigh.

In the time it took to sigh, the two of them, Lin and Chen, had left the Sea Market along Changsheng Fang and arrived at a strangely perilous mountain peak, lush with greenery and adjacent to the vast sea, with a stone tablet standing at its base inscribed with the two large characters "Zhaiyun."

"This counts as the branch of our He Mountain Sect in the Liangjiang Sea Market, though Master Jiao is not here year-round; if not for the Dragon Lord of Liuyun Palace's thousandth birthday this time, I fear we would have no chance to pay our respects."

Lin Qinhu looked up at the mountain peak and bowed with cupped hands: "Of the Longevity Five Realms, the Primordial Spirit is the most profound; I only hope Master Jiao attains the Primordial Spirit soon, and the Dao of Immortals remains evergreen!"

Chen Ci: "?"

Chen Ci: "!"

This white-clad cultivator glanced at Chen Ci, the corners of his mouth curling slightly, before transforming into a long rainbow and leaping into mid-air, flying toward the mountain.

Chen Ci hurriedly followed, secretly reflecting that he truly still had much to learn on the road of life.

Glancing at the last remaining small bundle of Purple Bamboo Flowing Clouds in his hand, Chen Ci was quite speechless; his already meager gift was now halved, a true blood loss.

The young cultivator stroked his chin, sized up Lin Qinhu for a few moments, and suddenly smiled: "Good, very good, Nephew Lin, very good indeed. Your master will surely be greatly pleased to see you, haha, haha. I won't tease you anymore; it's a bit embarrassing to have come empty-handed, so I'll borrow some gifts to save face."

Chen Ci's heart thumped, while Lin Qinhu bowed with both hands, respectfully addressing him: "Greetings, Uncle Yang."

Lin Qinhu glanced at Chen Ci, signaled for him to follow, and headed up the mountain.

Old Lin, we are still a hundred thousand miles from the summit!

Chen Ci felt his body stiffen and his hands grow light; the small bundle of Purple Bamboo Flowing Clouds was still in his hand, but the two jars of Blood Wood Treasure Wine had vanished into thin air.

Robbing wine on the road, are you crazy with poverty!

Chen Ci muttered under his breath, not daring to speak aloud; after a long while, Lin Qinhu finally said: "Let's go. If you run into this uncle in the future, remember to stay far away."

Although Zhaiyun Mountain was strangely perilous, its spiritual energy was quite abundant and the scenery was beautiful; it was deep winter, but the temperature on the mountain was not too low. Although the mountain path was somewhat rugged, it was not too difficult for a Dao Foundation High Cultivator and a Qi Refining cultivator. Lin Qinhu did not walk fast, and after half an hour, they had only reached the halfway point, with the sky already beginning to brighten.

Just that attitude alone showed he was not a kind person.

Could it be Jiao Zhenren himself?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, that rainbow light circled in the sky, looped back, and landed leisurely not far from the two of them, revealing a young cultivator in white robes and a high crown who looked to be in his early twenties. His expression was cold and arrogant, his body surrounded by light Spirit Light, with only a White Gold Collar around his neck catching the eye. He scanned Lin and Chen from a high position and chuckled twice.

In just this short time, Chen Ci's shock increased by 1, his wine decreased by 2, and he still had no idea what had happened.

"Oh."

Yet in that smile, there seemed to be a different meaning.

Chen Ci responded obediently; looking at Lin Laohu's appearance like a mistreated wife, that fellow just now was at least a Dan Realm True Person, someone truly not to be trifled with. However, the "fellow disciple affection" here at Jiao Zhenren's place seemed quite intense; it was rare to see an uncle trying to crush his nephew the moment they met.

"Wait, who is your uncle? If you try to claim such a relationship again, see if I don't crush you to death with one slap."

Looking at the things in his own hands, Chen Ci was silent for a moment, then hurriedly nodded in agreement: "Me too."

After walking for a while longer, pavilions, stone platforms, and pine groves began to appear in the mountains. Chen Ci scanned them, feeling they were quite elegant, when suddenly a mass of clear light flew from the horizon like a long rainbow, passing directly over them toward the mountain. Just looking at the escape light, it was far stronger than Lin Laohu's black smoke; he didn't know if the person who just passed was a Dao Foundation High Cultivator or a Golden Core True Person.

In fact, if the two of them had put their full strength into climbing, they would have reached the summit long ago, but Lin Qinhu insisted on taking it one step at a time, and Chen Ci had nothing to say.

The white-clad cultivator smiled coldly: "Just passing by Zhaiyun Peak, I wondered who was polluting the spiritual energy of this mountain, but I didn't expect it to be... Eh?"

Fortunately, there were no more twists and turns after that. Following Lin Qinhu to the summit, it was just past the hour of Chen, and the sky had just brightened. Chen Ci looked down from the height and felt a sense of detachment from the mundane world; no wonder scholars and poets of old loved to climb to high places, he guessed this was the reason.

At the top of the mountain was a Daoist temple, occupying a large area; just looking from the outside, there were dozens of rooms, seven or eight courtyards, and three or four stories of pavilions. To the left of the temple stood a stone tablet with the two characters "Tianhe" written in cursive script, the brushwork continuous, elegant, and sharp.

Tianhe Daoist Temple?

Beside the stone tablet stood five or six people, most of whom wore the red cloud-patterned Daoist robes of the Red Dragon Temple. The two in the lead, one old and one middle-aged, seemed to be whispering to someone. At the very front was a heroic-looking Daoist of about thirty, dressed in a green robe, hands behind his back, his expression slightly impatient.

Perhaps seeing Lin Qinhu, the old and middle-aged Red Dragon Temple Daoists stopped their conversation and raised their hands in a salute: "Junior Brother Lin."

"Senior Brother Shen, Senior Brother Guan, what are you doing here?"

Lin Qinhu returned the salute and asked.

"Naturally, we are here to pay respects to Jiao Zhenren, but..."

The old Daoist was named Shen Gao, the Temple Master of the Red Dragon Temple in Jiujiang Prefecture. He was originally an Inner Sect Disciple of the He Mountain Sect who followed Jiao Zhenren to the Liang Kingdom to establish the Red Dragon Temple. Although there was no formal master-disciple relationship, he was still labeled as part of Jiao Zhenren's lineage.

"So it is Junior Brother Lin."

The green-robed Daoist just smiled indifferently: "The teacher is currently meeting guests; you all should wait a while before going in to pay your respects."

Hearing this, anger appeared on the faces of Shen and Guan, but they dared not act on it. In the mundane world of the Liang Kingdom, they were masters of a prefecture with the power of life and death, but today, being blocked at the door while visiting a senior of the sect—who could swallow this insult?

But they had to swallow it; first, their Dharma Power quality was inferior, and second, the Red Dragon Temple's connection to Jiao Zhenren was still a bit distant, likely not as close as this disciple of the Tianhe Daoist Temple.

To put it more clearly, they couldn't guess whose intent it was for this fellow to block the door, so naturally, they dared not be presumptuous.

"Ridiculous. Fellow disciples visiting, and instead of being led to a side hall for tea, we are blocked at the door. What kind of logic is this?"

Lin Qinhu's brows furrowed, but he was not as submissive as the white-clad cultivator earlier; he stepped forward: "Move aside."

"Heh, I said the teacher is meeting guests. You He Mountain... truly do not know etiquette."

The green-robed cultivator smiled mockingly and ignored him. Seeing Lin Qinhu move forward, he simply released a mass of clear light to block the path. This was the Dharma Power cultivated by a Dao Foundation cultivator; it was like two people testing their strength—the weaker one could not advance, and unless they engaged in a major fight, it was impossible to pass peacefully.

Lin Qinhu snorted coldly and also released a mass of rolling black energy. Upon contact, the green-robed cultivator trembled, a look of surprise appearing in his eyes. His expression grew serious, and the Dharma Power around his body condensed into dots of stars, possessing a somewhat transcendent air.

This left Chen Ci, who was watching from the side, stunned.

No, we are all He Mountain Sect disciples, why is your style so different from ours?

But Lin Qinhu didn't care; he took a step forward, and the green-robed cultivator had to take a step back. He was clearly a notch weaker, and a flush of blood rose to his cheeks, whether from exerting too much force or some other reason, it was unclear.

"Let's go."

Lin Qinhu shook his head slightly, sneered, and walked into the temple first. Chen Ci whispered "awesome" to himself, thinking Brother Tiger was mighty, and hurriedly followed, keeping his head low so as not to be caught in the crossfire.

Seeing this, the few Red Dragon Temple cultivators were also pleased and followed behind.

The old Daoist Shen Gao walked a few steps and asked in a low voice: "Junior Brother Lin, have you already achieved an Upper Grade Dao Foundation?"

Lin Qinhu nodded slightly, but did not reply.

The group entered the three-layered courtyard; while this Tianhe Daoist Temple was not luxurious, it was elegant, featuring not only covered walkways and pavilions and exotic flowers and herbs, but also running water diverted from who knows where, winding and flowing, keeping a few Golden Scale Carp, which was quite festive.

It was just that the more Chen Ci looked, the more he felt the shimmering sand and stones paved at the bottom of the small stream and pond looked like an entire layer of Water Attribute Divine Sand.

"This Jiao Zhenren is truly insidious, actually using this item to test an Apprentice's Dao Heart?!"

Chen Ci inhaled the fragrance of silver coins permeating the air several times fiercely, and only then did he barely manage to suppress the thought of letting the five little ones go and secretly dig up a few shovelfuls.

Seeing they had arrived at a great hall, with young attendants standing on both sides, Chen Ci was still thinking about how much Five Elements Divine Sand was paved in that pool just now, when he suddenly discovered the figure of Lin Qinhu walking directly in front of him had abruptly vanished; looking closely, a somewhat familiar back was already very nimbly sliding to the ground, bowing respectfully: "Unfilial Apprentice Qinhu pays respects to Benevolent Master, wishing Benevolent Master an early realization of the Primordial Spirit and an everlasting Immortal Dao!"

The cultivators of Red Dragon Temple: "."

Chen Ci: "."

Well played, Lin Qinhu; such a grand kowtow is usually performed when face-to-face, how could you arrange it before even seeing the true face of Jiao Zhenren? By doing this, doesn't it make everyone else look very impolite?

Chen Ci was also impressed; back at the foot of the mountain, he already knew his cheap Shixiong was not as rough as he appeared on the outside—that mind of his was truly small and exquisite.

He had just let his mind wander for a moment and failed to keep up with the pace of Lin Laohu; he really was too inattentive.

Chen Ci reflected deeply once more; the remaining few cultivators were just about to follow suit, but the air in front of the great hall seemed to solidify; including Chen Ci, the few cultivators from Red Dragon Temple felt they could not take a single step forward, and even Lin Qinhu, a Dao Foundation High Cultivator with an Upper Grade Dao Foundation who was kneeling on the ground, could not move, a bead of sweat seeping from his forehead.

There is a saying in the mortal world: accompanying a ruler is like accompanying a tiger.

But for low-level cultivators facing a higher-realm cultivator, it is truly like ants staring at the might of heaven and earth; if it were not for the fact that there was only anger here and no killing intent, it is feared that not one of the cultivators present would have fared well, and even their Dao Hearts would have suffered a setback.

While Chen Ci struggled to circulate his shallow Nether Yin True Qi to keep himself from appearing too uncomposed, he was secretly complaining in his heart.

He actually knew exactly what Lin Qinhu had done.

Could it be that Jiao Zhenren was angry at Lin Laohu for acting first and reporting later by intercepting and killing the member of the Yao Clan, and was not prepared to help him cover it up?

If that were the case, it would truly be a disaster; Lin Laohu was, after all, an expert who had realized an Upper Grade Dao Foundation and was a True Inheritor seed of the He Mountain Sect, so even if Jiao Zhenren were furious, he would likely still show some leniency, but for a small fry like himself, it was hard to say.

Lin Senior Brother, I am your own Junior Brother.

"Get up."

After a long time, a deep reprimand came from within the great hall: "Do you know where you went wrong?"

Lin Qinhu did not dare to rise, only bowing his head to the ground and explaining in a muffled voice: "This unfilial Apprentice has done too much wrong, and does not know where to begin."

(End of chapter)