Uncle Feng’s face darkened with anger as he scolded loudly, “Yu Mi, do you think this is Yun City? Coming to Xuan Yue Ancient City and not knowing to restrain yourself, how did you end up fighting with that Shameless Qin? You’ve just entered the Golden Core stage a few days ago and you’re fighting with a cultivator who has been in the Nascent Soul stage for five hundred years. How many lives do you think you have to gamble with? If it weren’t for me arriving quickly, ten of your lives wouldn’t be enough to die!” The more he scolded, the angrier he got. He lifted his leg and kicked towards Yu Mi, shouting, “Go to the Quiet Reflection Hall and face the wall for three months!”
Seeing Uncle Feng lifting his leg to kick Yu Mi, Bao Gu quickly stood in front of her, raised both hands to hug Uncle Feng’s thigh, and cried out, “Uncle, it was first those five swindlers who came to blackmail us, followed by people from Tai Yin Sect recognizing us and saying we had treasures unearthed by our sect on us, wanting to kill us for them.”
Uncle Feng became furious upon hearing this, and shouted through voice transmission, “What? Robbery! Shameless Qin, come out! Have you no shame! Knowing you’ve been anxious about not breaking through the Nascent Soul stage for five hundred years, if you wanted Monkey Wine, you could have come to our Xuan Tian Sect and asked our sect leader nicely, and he would have given you a few cups. What’s the meaning of bullying two juniors! You even have the nerve to bully a girl who hasn’t ‘t been in the sect for half a year and is only at the third stage of Qi cultivation! You want to fight, is it? Come on, I’ll fight you!” His angry shout was as loud as thunder, echoing for miles.
Yu Mi knew she couldn’t keep the Supreme Monkey Wine any longer. With her head lowered, she took it out and offered the Supreme Monkey Wine to Uncle Feng with both hands, guiltily saying, “Disciple is incompetent, unable to protect the Supreme Monkey Wine you entrusted. Please take it back, Uncle Feng.”
Uncle Feng’s expression softened slightly, staring at Yu Mi with a look of disappointment, and lectured, “You, having treasures on you and not knowing to restrain yourself, showing off like this, don’t blame me for scolding you! The sect leader is in seclusion, trying to break through to the Mahayana stage, and will come out soon. I will take the wine back on behalf of the sect leader.” Saying this, he decisively took the Supreme Monkey Wine into his sleeve, then looked around and asked, “Where did that ink monkey demon beast go?”
Bao Gu replied, “Uncle, I sent it to call for reinforcements.”
Uncle Feng’s expression changed several times before he finally sighed deeply.
A voice came from the sky, “Yo, Brother Feng, why such anger?” A middle-aged man in a brocade robe flew in on the wind and landed in front of Uncle Feng.
Upon hearing this, Uncle Feng’s face broke into a smile, exclaiming, “Brother Lu, you’re here too!” Leaving Bao Gu and Yu Mi behind, he went forward warmly, punching the man on the shoulder and laughing, “It’s been a decade since we last met, hasn’t it?” He warmly grabbed his arm and said, “Come on, let’s go have a few drinks!”
Brother Lu laughed, “Sure!” He then turned his gaze to Yu Mi and Bao Gu, asking, “And these two are…”
Uncle Feng said, “Two unworthy disciples of my junior brother Ming Sheng! He’s in seclusion and hasn’t come out, so he entrusted me to look after them.”
Brother Lu said, “I see they both have excellent roots and will surely achieve great things in the future! Come on, Brother Feng, let’s go drink at my place.” He then looked at Yu Mi and said, “Your injuries are not light; you need to take good care of them. My place is quiet, a good place for healing.”
Yu Mi bowed and said, “Thank you, Senior Lu!” Seeing how warmly Brother Lu and Uncle Feng interacted, she guessed they must be old friends with considerable strength, both in the late Nascent Soul stage. With them around, she wasn’t afraid of Tai Yin Sect causing trouble.
Suddenly, the void cracked open, and several teleportation platforms appeared in the sky, starting Brother Lu and Uncle Feng as they turned around.
Eight teleportation platforms burst out of the void almost simultaneously, with cultivators all in the middle to late stages of the Nascent Soul realm.
Seeing this, Yu Mi’s scalp tingled, and she quickly bowed and greeted, “Greetings to Uncle Wu, Uncle Zhu, Uncle Shui…” A series of uncles and aunts, followed by a pretty young woman walking towards her, to which she exclaimed with great joy, “Little Martial Aunt, you’ve come out of seclusion!”
This woman, dressed in a snow-white gown, with a slender waist that could be encircled with a single hand, and a graceful figure, was so beautiful it was hard to look directly at her. She raised her delicate finger to Yu Mi’s forehead and scolded softly, “Always causing trouble. I just finished my transformation tribulation this morning, and by evening, I had to come to rescue someone!” A completely black monkey full of spiritual energy emerged from her hair, proudly squeaking at Bao Gu, then landed on Bao Gu’s shoulder.
Bao Gu was scared silly by the powerful presence in front of her.
Brother Lu was also shocked! What madness had Xuan Tian Sect succumbed to, deploying nine great experts for two juniors! He looked at Uncle Feng and said, “Brother Feng, these two… do they have a significant background?”
Uncle Feng shook his head and said, “This Bao Gu… has five spiritual roots, just like our sect’s founding ancestor, chosen by the ancestor himself as the successor of the next generation! How can we not honor the ancestor’s command?”
Brother Lu exclaimed, “Wasn’t your sect’s ancestor thought to have perished over thirty thousand years ago?”
Uncle Feng said, “We thought so too! But it turns out the ancestor has always been in Ling Yun’s old peak… It’s a long story, complicated by some incidents.” The Xuan Tian Sect’s ancestor, even if just a remnant soul from over thirty thousand years ago, was enough to deter all Nascent Soul and even Mahayana cultivators.
Xuan Tian Sect’s strength was not inferior to Tai Yin Sect’s, and now with the news of a treasure being involved, it wouldn’t hurt to use the ancestor’s name to intimidate others. Bao Gu had seen the ancestor’s remnant soul, so it wasn’t false, but whether the ancestor’s will could continue to support after its fulfillment was uncertain. Everyone in Xuan Tian Sect speculated that the ancestor’s remnant soul had dissipated, but without confirmation, they treated it as if the ancestor was still present, serving as an invisible deterrence. Otherwise, after giving Tai Yin Sect a hard time today and with a treasure emerging, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tai Yin Sect gathered forces tomorrow to come for the treasure.
Bao Gu was startled and cried out, “Uncle Feng, the ghost… ah, the ancestor is scaring people again?” As soon as she finished speaking, the surrounding uncles and aunts glared at her, scaring her into silence.
Duobao Spirit Monkey seemed displeased with being called “ghost” and tugged at Bao Gu’s hair, then knocked on her head with its little paw.
Uncle Zhu looked around, naturally noticing the traces of the fight. He asked with a stern face, “What’s the big emergency that you’ve called us all here for?”
Yu Mi stepped forward and briefly explained the situation of coming to Xuan Yue Ancient City.
Uncle Zhu angrily said, “How outrageous! To think they would bully Xuan Tian Sect like this! Niece Yu Mi, don’t be afraid, your uncle will support you.”
Yu Mi bowed and said, “Thank you, Uncle.”
Brother Lu said, “Fellow Daoists, this place is crowded and not suitable for chatting. How about we move somewhere else?”
Uncle Feng said, “Then we’ll trouble Brother Lu.”
Brother Lu said, “Not at all, it’s my pleasure to meet fellow Daoists from your sect. Please!” He led the way, flying into the sky.
Bao Gu was lifted onto a flying sword by Yu Mi, who carried her as they flew. Yu Mi was severely injured, causing the flying sword to wobble, which terrified Bao Gu. Then she saw Little Martial Aunt gently lift her hand, stabilizing the wobbling flying sword. Bao Gu turned her head to look at the beautiful Little Martial Aunt with curiosity. The Little Martial Aunt transformed from a great white snake was so beautiful.
Little Martial Aunt glanced at Bao Gu with a smile that was not quite a smile, then meaningfully looked at the Duobao Spirit Monkey on Bao Gu’s shoulder. Did anyone think they could outdo the Duobao Spirit Monkey in terms of face? When even the elders of various peaks had made a wasted trip?
Yu Mi understood too! She was so annoyed she wanted to beat up the Duobao Spirit Monkey! Couldn’t you have just called one or two uncles over? Why call so many at once, and how are we going to send them off later? Except for Bao Gu, this simpleton, everyone in Xuan Tian Sect was a fierce and unyielding character! Inviting helpers doesn’t cost money? Inviting Nascent Soul realm elders as helpers—Yu Mi thought of the expense and felt both toothache and heartache!
Soon, Bao Gu saw everyone following Brother Lu and landing in front of a mansion even more beautiful than the imperial palace. She looked up and saw the mansion’s plaque read: Qing Feng Pavilion. Two rows of disciples dressed in flowing white garments, wearing luxurious jade crowns and carrying swords, stood guard in front of the mansion.
Brother Lu said, “Please!” and led everyone inside.
Bao Gu followed Yu Mi inside, curiously looking around. Upon entering, they found a large courtyard where some people were sitting cross-legged in meditation, while others were practicing with weapons such as swords, fans, pens, and inkstones, all of which were used beautifully and elegantly, truly resembling immortals.
After entering the living room, Bao Gu heard someone call Brother Lu “Pavilion Master.”
Brother Lu greeted everyone to sit down and arranged for disciples to take Yu Mi down for healing and rest, even giving her healing spiritual medicine.
Bao Gu wanted to follow Yu Mi but was stopped and had to obediently stay behind Little Martial Aunt. Compared to the other peak elders, she felt safer behind Little Martial Aunt.
Uncle Feng introduced everyone, and there was a round of polite greetings.
Brother Lu, being considered, chatted for a while before arranging a separate courtyard for the people from Xuan Tian Sect and then excused himself.
Bao Gu thought to herself, “Senior Lu, why don’t you chat with everyone a bit longer?” She watched Brother Lu leave, looking pitifully as she followed Little Martial Aunt into the courtyard arranged by Brother Lu.
Duobao Spirit Monkey sneakily hid in Bao Gu’s hair at the back of her neck, its bright eyes flashing non-stop, repeatedly trying to escape but hesitating each time it transmitted a message: If it ran away, who would come to rescue Bao Gu next time she was in danger?
Duobao Spirit Monkey could only tug at its own ears, squeaking in a pitiful manner unlike any before.
After the elders entered the courtyard, they tacitly set up a three-layered defensive formation to prevent outside prying.
Seeing this, Duobao Spirit Monkey let out a pitiful squeak and covered its eyes tightly.
Bao Gu also inwardly wailed, thinking, “Sister, don’t heal anymore, come out and save me!” She looked pitifully at the various peak elders staring at her and weakly asked, “Uncles and aunts, how did Tai Yin Sect know about our sect’s treasure?”
Uncle Zhu said, “You don’t need to worry about this; we will investigate it ourselves.” He coughed heavily, staring at Duobao Spirit Monkey, and said, “Duobao Spirit Monkey, your visit to my Shui Yun Ze’s medicinal field caused our heavy losses!”
Duobao Spirit Monkey squeaked and hid behind Bao Gu’s hair, not coming out, only letting out low, sobbing squeaks.
Bao Gu reached behind her neck and gently patted Duobao Spirit Monkey, saying, “Little monkey, in half a year we’ll be able to enter the ancient ruins, where there are many treasures to be found, don’t cry!” She felt sorry too! But she had no choice but to persuade, “Little monkey, look at how many uncles and aunts came specially for us, we should thank them!”
I’m in tears, I don’t want to thank you! Can’t you all just go back?
Duobao Spirit Monkey climbed onto Bao Gu’s shoulder, gesturing and miming the shape of a wine gourd, then spreading its hands, meaning it had no more Supreme Monkey Wine.
Bao Gu asked, “What about the spiritual fruits and medicines?”
Duobao Spirit Monkey let out a pitiful scream, as if its flesh was being scraped off.
Bao Gu weakly looked around at the various elders waiting for her to produce something, and asked very pitifully, “Can we owe it for now?”
