1: Old Taoist and Young Man

It was the height of summer, with clear skies and white clouds.

In the lush green mountains, an Old Daoist priest and a youth leisurely walked along the mountain path.

Perhaps it was due to the heat, or perhaps the shrill chirping of cicadas.

The Old Daoist stopped, looking at the youth behind him who was gritting his teeth and struggling to keep up, his eyes full of affection.

The cicadas' chirping in his ears was indeed a bit noisy, even so piercing that it made one feel dizzy.

Seeming to find it a bit too loud, the Old Daoist's gaze slightly sharpened.

A gentle breeze suddenly rose, softly lifting his sleeves. The wind swept through the forest, as if putting the entire mountain forest on pause; everything around them quieted down considerably.

Only then did the Old Daoist nod with satisfaction, find a rock to sit on, pull out a water flask, and hand it to the youth, saying reassuringly, "Uh... Referencing Gu Wanquan, my Junior Martial Uncle lives here. Don't worry, he'll definitely take you as a Disciple as soon as he sees you!"

The youth looked about fourteen or fifteen. Although dressed in coarse linen, he had fair skin and rosy cheeks. Despite being exhausted, he pretended to be at ease, looking like a little adult.

Taking the water flask, the youth took several large gulps before speaking with some confusion, "Daoist Grandpa, I don't want to take anyone else as Master. Can't you teach me?"

The Old Daoist smiled and shook his head, saying softly, "I also want to take you as a Disciple, but unfortunately, we have no fate together!"

"You're so amazing, are you saying I'm too stupid?" the youth asked nervously.

He had seen Daoist Grandpa make a move; with a raise of his hand, mountains crumbled and the earth sank, just like the old immortals in storybooks!

Daoist Grandpa refusing to teach him meant he had no immortal fate, and also proved that this immortal grandpa didn't fancy him.

Thinking of this, the youth's bright eyes dimmed slightly, feeling somewhat disheartened.

Seeing the youth like this, the Old Daoist, afraid he might misunderstand, quickly explained with a chuckle, "It's not that I look down on Referencing Gu Wanquan, but rather that Referencing Gu Wanquan's talent is simply too high, so high that I cannot teach you!"

"Nonsense! Daoist Grandpa, you haven't even taught me, how do you know my talent is high?" the youth immediately retorted.

The Old Daoist looked at the youth before him, swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue, then moved his throat and said with gentle eyes, "I'm not lying to you. Precisely because I cannot teach you, I brought you to see my Junior Martial Uncle."

"Your Junior Martial Uncle? Can his abilities be even higher than yours?" the youth asked, looking at the Old Daoist with some suspicion.

"Higher, much higher!"

"How high?"

"As high as dozens of stories!"

...Coaxing the skeptical youth, the Old Daoist's thoughts returned two hundred years, a smile gracing his Face.

His Master was once the greatest Sword Immortal in this world, traveling with a single sword, slaying demons, eradicating evil, and upholding justice.

He himself was adopted by his Master during his travels. At that time, he also didn't believe how capable his Master was.

And his Master always wore a calm, peaceful expression.

It was as if even the greatest matters were trifles in front of his Master.

Even now, as a Great Cultivator, the Old Daoist still felt his Master's unfathomable depth when recalling what his Master could do.

Perhaps his Master had already reached the legendary Celestial Realm and achieved the Land Immortal Realm!

"Hey, kid, catch a sparrow to eat!"

A playful voice abruptly rang out in the Old Daoist's mind.

The Old Daoist, who had been reminiscing, had a somewhat strange expression on his Face.

Beside his Master, who wore a long robe and had a sword hanging at his waist, a figure suddenly appeared.

He was lazily draped in a long robe, casually chewing on a blade of grass, looking at him with a mischievous smile.

It seemed his childhood nightmare had continued to the present.

The Old Daoist awkwardly put away his memories, looked at the youth, and said, "Although my Junior Martial Uncle has a strange personality, he is also a renowned Great Cultivator!"

After hearing the Old Daoist's words, the youth's mind conjured an image of an even older man than the Old Daoist, with white hair and beard, a kind Face, holding a walking stick, smiling at him.

Daoist Grandpa's Junior Martial Uncle, wouldn't that be a legendary immortal?

A fruit pit hit the youth's head, knocking him from his reverie back to reality.

A teasing voice came from above:

"Ouch, what a thud! Not bad! A good thud means a good head!"

The youth looked up and saw a young man, about twenty-five or twenty-six, dressed in a Daoist robe with a delicate Face, squatting on the treetop, looking at him with interest.

The young man wasn't exceptionally handsome, but he had a refined appearance and a casual demeanor that made him seem like a dissolute young Master.

Although the fruit pit didn't really hurt, it was uncomfortable. Rubbing his head, the youth said with some dissatisfaction, "Who are you? Why are you littering!"

Before the other party could speak, the Old Daoist beside him chuckled, stood up, and bowed slightly to the young man in the tree, respectfully saying, "Junior Martial Uncle above, Disciple Yu Zhen pays his respects to Junior Martial Uncle!"

Seeing the Old Daoist bow, the youth, who was still rubbing his head, was stunned on the spot.

The young man in the tree looked only about twenty-five or twenty-six, while the Daoist Grandpa beside him had white hair and beard.

Daoist Grandpa actually bowed to a young man and called him Junior Martial Uncle?

In other words, this young-looking man in front of him was an immortal?

In an instant, the youth convinced himself: it wouldn't be surprising for an immortal to have means to preserve eternal youth, right?

The young man in the tree looked at the aging Yu Zhen and said with a smile, "Get up, Yu Zhen. I don't have so many formalities here. You act like a dead man with your Master, why so many rules when there's nothing going on?"

Yu Zhen looked at the young man in the tree and said with a chuckle, "A hundred years unseen, Junior Martial Uncle's demeanor is as it was!"

Hearing this, the young man sitting on the tree branch looked at Yu Zhen and remained silent for a long time.

Yu Zhen also didn't speak, standing there quietly, waiting for the young man to speak.

After a long while, the young man finally spoke slowly, "Yu Zhen, you've grown old!"

Yu Zhen's smile grew even brighter, and the young man's figure gradually overlapped with the image in his mind.

After more than two hundred years, this Junior Martial Uncle was still the same as when he first met him, his appearance completely unchanged.

It was as if time had stopped for this Junior Martial Uncle, and years had no effect on him whatsoever.

Yu Zhen chuckled and said, "I am already two hundred and sixteen years old this year, so naturally I've grown old. But Junior Martial Uncle, seeing you reminds me of the first time I met you."

Hearing Yu Zhen's words, the young man jumped down from the tree. To the youth's astonished gaze, he reached out and patted Yu Zhen's head, saying with a smile, "After so many years, you still speak so formally, kid. Tell me, what do you need?"

A young man patting an old man's head was an indescribably strange sight.

Yet, both of them seemed to take it for granted, and Yu Zhen even squinted his eyes, looking quite pleased.

Suddenly, Yu Zhen remembered something and quickly pulled the youth, whose brain had just crashed, in front of him, introducing him to the young man, "Junior Martial Uncle, this is the disciple I found for you; he's a good prospect!"

The young man glanced at the youth and immediately said with some displeasure, "What disciple you found for me? I have no interest in teaching disciples!"

"Hmm, this child is intelligent and, more importantly, has a steady temperament, so please take good care of him, Junior Martial Uncle." Yu Zhen seemed not to hear the young man speaking, continuing on his own.

"Hey, are you so old you're deaf? I said! I don't want to take disciples!" the young man yelled at the top of his lungs.

"For Master's and my Face, Junior Martial Uncle, please agree!" Yu Zhen grabbed the young man's clothes and negotiated with a smile.

"Hey, you kid, I told you a long time ago, don't look for me for no reason. Besides, this kid is yours, you take him! What does it have to do with me? I said I'm not doing it!" the young man said discontentedly, trying to pull his clothes out of the Old Daoist's hand.

As if knowing the young man would say this, Yu Zhen, still clutching the young man's clothes tightly, continued to say with a chuckle:

"Junior Martial Uncle, I'm dying!"