Chapter 44

The next day, a spirited and radiant Zhou Qing leisurely strolled around his house, leading his old hen.

Originally, he had planned to go down the mountain, but since the Treasure Exchange Gathering had not yet ended and the people from the Azure Feather Qingshu Qingshu Xian Zong were still searching with all their might for the so-called peeping pervert, he dared not walk into the line of fire at such a critical moment.

"Everyone, Shixiongs and Shijies, let's stop here. This place and everything further up is where the core disciples of my peak reside. It involves many secret matters, so I hope you will all forgive me."

The true disciple of Little Spirit Peak stopped, his face full of apology, and bowed respectfully.

At this moment, behind him, there were actually over a hundred disciples from the Jin Leizong, Azure Feather Qingshu Qingshu Xian Zong, Tianji Sect, and Cangyan Dao Palace.

According to the custom of previous years, as the Treasure Exchange Gathering was about to conclude, the host would invite disciples interested in going up the mountain to look around, in order to understand the local customs of the other sects.

Today, the first stop was chosen to be Little Spirit Peak.

Peak Master Mo Xingjian had even entrusted this heavy responsibility to several true disciples to handle together, after all, he knew better than anyone how unreliable his two bastard sons were.

"May I ask Shidi, is that the courtyard where the core disciples live? It seems to be much larger than the one in my Azure Feather Qingshu Qingshu Xian Zong."

Cui Yingying, a core disciple of the Azure Feather Qingshu Qingshu Xian Zong, couldn't help but ask curiously.

She had participated in the Five Sects Treasure Exchange Gathering several times, but this was her first time coming to Taiqingmen since it was their turn to host.

No, to be precise, it should be the second time; a few days ago, in order to find the suspect, she had specifically led a team here once.

The true disciple nodded slightly and replied: "Reporting to Shijie, this is the residence of Zhou Qing, Zhou Shixiong. There are only four core disciples on my Little Spirit Peak, so the living space is relatively spacious..."

Just then, the hundred-plus people from the various sects cast their gazes forward in unison, only to see Zhou Qing strolling out slowly from the back wall of that large courtyard, leading a chicken.

When he met so many pairs of eyes, Zhou Qing was stunned; he never expected that so many people would suddenly gather in front of and behind his own courtyard.

At this moment, everyone looked at each other, staring blankly, then looked in unison at the chicken Zhou Qing was leading, and then subconsciously cast their gazes toward Cui Yingying and the twenty-plus other people from the Azure Feather Qingshu Qingshu Xian Zong.

Some even quietly took out that wanted portrait.

How could the chicken in the hands of the masked man be so similar to this one?

No, this chicken was slightly thinner, but those bulging eyes were almost exactly the same.

At this moment, Cui Yingying, as the victim, lowered her head to look at the chicken, then glanced at Zhou Qing.

How did you suddenly become shorter?

For a moment, the surrounding air seemed to freeze, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Zhou Qing was extremely embarrassed at this moment; all words of rebuttal seemed meaningless at this point.

After a few breaths, Zhou Qing gently squatted down, hugged the old hen in his arms, nodded politely to everyone, and then ran into the courtyard like a gust of wind, quickly closing the gate and activating the barrier.

A light breeze, carrying fallen leaves and a slight smell of urine from under the tree, blew gently by...

…………

"So, what exactly did they say?"

As soon as Zhou Qing saw Yan Xiaohu, he asked impatiently.

Yan Xiaohu put his arm around his shoulder with a helpless look and said: "The Azure Feather Qingshu Qingshu Xian Zong clarified again, saying that the peeping pervert is not Zhou Qing, a core disciple of Little Spirit Peak of Taiqingmen, but someone else. However, they are no longer offering a reward to catch the thief, giving the reason that the Treasure Exchange Gathering is about to end and there is no need to waste time on this."

After hearing this, Zhou Qing stood there blankly.

"Isn't this obviously 'there is no silver three hundred taels here'? It's just short of telling others directly that it's me," Zhou Qing said.

Yan Xiaohu was also angry.

"The situation now is that everyone knows it's you, but they just won't break this layer of window paper. After all, the Azure Feather Qingshu Qingshu Xian Zong hasn't admitted it, and they are too embarrassed to offend anyone."

"But, besides you, they also dragged me into it, saying that I watched enough for fun, then swapped you in, and came out myself to keep watch. Otherwise, just by you, a Foundation Establishment realm, you couldn't possibly come and go as you please. Don't you think this is framing someone?"

Watching his Third Shixiong so angry that white smoke was rising from his head, Zhou Qing didn't know what to say.

This misunderstanding was simply impossible to explain.

"No, I must go settle the score with that Huang Rui. That beast deliberately led people to you; that guy still remembers the grudge from when I beat him back then!"

Yan Xiaohu got up, cursing and swearing, and headed straight for the area where the true disciples lived.

Zhou Qing hurriedly shouted from behind: "Third Shixiong, don't be impulsive!"

…………

"Master, what do you want to see me for?"

Inside the magnificent main hall, after Seeing Lu Yaoyao entered, she bowed respectfully to Sect Master Cao Zhengyang.

Cao Zhengyang turned around, his face beaming with a smile, then looked Seeing Lu Yaoyao up and down, saying "not bad" three times in a row.

"I really didn't misjudge you. In such a short time, you have actually reached the ninth layer of Qi Condensation; you're only one step away from Foundation Establishment, right?"

Cao Zhengyang said with a chuckle.

Seeing Lu Yaoyao was also full of joy and said: "It's all thanks to Master's careful teaching, as well as the guidance from the five Shixiongs on a daily basis. Being able to join Taiqingmen in this life is a blessing that Yaoyao has cultivated over several lifetimes."

Cao Zhengyang smiled and said: "Don't belittle yourself. The first time I saw you, I felt that your bones were extraordinary and your foundation was built exceptionally solidly. You are the type that accumulates and then breaks out; you were already at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation before you even officially started cultivating."

Seeing Lu Yaoyao bit her lip lightly and said: "When I was a child, a down-and-out uncle came to the village. He stayed there for a period of time and guided me for a few days. The foundation was built by him at that time. He also told me that on the path of cultivation, one must never be in a hurry, and even more so, one must not be anxious to break through."

After hearing this, Cao Zhengyang nodded in approval.

"It seems that he must be an expert traveling through the mortal world; it can be considered a stroke of fate. Come here, Master will give you something good!"

Cao Zhengyang beckoned to Seeing Lu Yaoyao, then took out a box sealed in layers from his bosom.

Seeing Lu Yaoyao walked over curiously and looked through the box; inside, there was actually a wisp of airflow slowly rotating.

The strange thing was that the airflow seemed to contain the entire night sky.

"This is, the twenty-sixth ranked Heavenly Dao Qi—Star Spirit!!!"

The moment Seeing Lu Yaoyao recognized it, her face was full of shock.

Cao Zhengyang was a bit surprised: "You actually recognize it?"

Seeing Lu Yaoyao hurriedly said: "That, I accidentally saw the relevant introduction in the Collection Pavilion before, but this is the first time I've seen it in reality."

Cao Zhengyang suddenly realized.

"It seems you've done your homework. That's right, this is the twenty-sixth ranked Heavenly Dao Qi—Star Spirit, born from a star that fell from the sky."

"You also know that Foundation Establishment is divided into three grades: Heavenly Dao, Earthly Dao, and Human Dao. For this wisp of Star Spirit, Master has collected it for over two hundred years and couldn't bear to use it. Now, it's yours."

Cao Zhengyang handed the box over.

Seeing Lu Yaoyao was immediately flattered.

"Take it. Master also wanted to get you a better Heavenly Dao Qi, but this thing is extremely rare. For this wisp, I almost died in those ruins back then."

Cao Zhengyang smiled bitterly, a look of reminiscence appearing in his eyes.

Seeing Lu Yaoyao was moved to tears and knelt down immediately: "Thank you, Master!"

"Get up quickly, what is there to thank? Don't forget, I am your Master. Don't run around recently; Master will set up a Spirit Gathering Array for you right here to condense your Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment!" Cao Zhengyang said.

Seeing Lu Yaoyao nodded repeatedly, then looked at the box, full of anticipation.

She never expected that one day she could also have a Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment. Before, she had thought that if she could get a wisp of Earthly Vein Qi and achieve an Earthly Vein Foundation Establishment, that would already be very good.

(End of chapter)