300: The past is gone.

That night... that physical intimacy to fulfill his dying wish... the heart-lake that had been frozen for a hundred years, ripples forced open for the first time... at this moment,

unexpectedly surged up at this inopportune moment of reunion after surviving a disaster.

Yao Delong's heart was similarly filled with mixed emotions.

The cold, solitary, and peerless Revered Master before him was the key person who helped him activate the System and change his destiny.

If not for that one time... he would have long since turned into withered bones, let alone having today's Nascent Soul Realm cultivation and a Flawless Sword Heart!

Gratitude, awe, and a hint of subtle sentiment arising from that special relationship intertwined in his heart.

Just as the gaze of the Revered Master and Disciple met, and the atmosphere was subtle and silent—

“Revered Master—!”

A cry with a sob broke the silence.

Lin Qingxue pounced forward like a young swallow returning to the forest,

tightly hugging Leng Yuekui's arm, tears falling like broken pearls:

“Revered Master! You've finally come out of seclusion! You must seek justice for Senior Brother! Wuwuwu...”

Leng Yuekui was pulled back to reality by this sudden tearful complaint, and her heart was startled again.

She looked at the two Personal Disciples before her, both of whom had entered the Nascent Soul Realm,

one with an aura as thick as an abyss, the other weeping piteously, her heart full of doubt.

Seek justice? Within the Yin Yang Sect, for Leng Yuekui's Disciples,

even if Yao Delong was once a waste, no one dared to blatantly bully or humiliate them.

Moreover, now that both had reached Nascent Soul, and Yao Delong had even displayed shocking methods, who would still dare to be so blind?

“Don't cry, Qingxue, come with Revered Master.”

Leng Yuekui suppressed the churning thoughts in her heart, her cold voice carrying a soothing power.

With a gentle wave of her jade hand, a soft spatial power instantly enveloped Yao Delong and Lin Qingxue.

Swish!

The figures of the three instantly disappeared from the peak, and the next moment,

they appeared within the Luoxia Peak's core hall—the Sunset Glow Hall.

The furnishings in the hall remained the same, cold and simple, carrying Leng Yuekui's consistent style.

Yao Delong looked around this familiar yet strange hall, his heart filled with a thousand emotions.

A year ago, it was also in this hall that he was old and frail, with low cultivation,

and made that request to his Revered Master that was almost a pipe dream.

Now, things had changed and people were different; he had gained a new life, and his cultivation had even reached the Nascent Soul Realm, as if a lifetime had passed.

“Revered Master!”

As soon as they entered the hall, Lin Qingxue couldn't wait to speak, her voice filled with urgency and grievance,

“During this year you were in seclusion, we... we almost didn't make it back!”

Like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube, she recounted the thrilling encounters of the Hidden God Abyss Secret Realm trip one by one:

How they were hunted by Xiao Chen in collusion with the Moyang Sect Elders, how Meng Bi became an accomplice,

how he was now imprisoned in the Soul Prison, how Xiao Chen was taken away and protected by the Moyang Sect,

and the most soul-stirring part—Luo Tianying, who was with Xiao Chen, was actually a lurking Demonic Sect Mole!

She had broken through to the Half-step Soul Transformation in the Secret Realm, her demonic power towering!

If Senior Brother Yao Delong hadn't protected them with his life and lured her into a dangerous place, they would have been wiped out long ago!

Lin Qingxue became more excited as she spoke, and finally, she even blurted out how Yao Delong was promoted from an Outer Sect Disciple to a core inner Disciple against the rules,

and how he had suppressed the crowd and won the champion title in the core ranking competition, her face full of pride as if she shared the glory.

Her small face was full of pride and shared glory.

Leng Yuekui listened quietly, her cold eyes lingering on Yao Delong.

She naturally knew the character of this Disciple of hers: resilient and sentimental.

She just never expected that after that one time, his changes would be so earth-shattering.

Even more unexpected was that during the year she was in seclusion to impact the Void Refining stage, having lost her as a backer,

these two Disciples had actually lived so difficultly in the Sect, even narrowly escaping death several times!

A trace of imperceptible guilt quietly surfaced in Leng Yuekui's heart.

She was obsessed with the Great Dao and single-mindedly pursued the path of immortality, almost never inquiring about the affairs of Luoxia Peak.

In the peak, besides the two Personal Disciples Yao Delong and Lin Qingxue,

the other Disciples were all assigned by the Sect, and she had never given them the slightest guidance.

This also led to Luoxia Peak being sparsely populated and having little reputation within the Sect,

and newly entered Disciples avoided it. It was she, the Peak Master, who had failed her duty of protection.

[Ding! Target Leng Yuekui, Favorability +40, currently 60 points (Grateful, slightly guilty).]

The System's prompt sounded in Yao Delong's mind.

Leng Yuekui's gaze finally fixed on Yao Delong, and her cold voice,

rarely carried a hint of imperceptible softness and apology:

“Delong... this year, you have suffered.”

Yao Delong's heart shook slightly, and he quickly bowed, his tone steady and firm:

“Revered Master, you overstate it. We Cultivators are meant to go against the current; if we do not advance, we retreat.

The path to immortality is bumpy and full of thorns; I should naturally hack through the brambles and strive for the top!

A few hardships are also a form of tempering.”

These words were powerful and resonant, carrying a sharp edge of moving forward indomitably.

Leng Yuekui looked at the young man before her, as upright as a pine and with a determined gaze; in a trance,

she seemed to see that small figure brought before her over eighty years ago.

At that time, Yao Delong was still a young child with bright eyes, full of curiosity and vitality.

Even when he was tested to have only two points of Spiritual Power Affinity, which could be called a waste body, he never gave up.

The small figure practiced diligently every day, trying to draw Qi into his body over and over again.

And she, as his Revered Master, had also searched for Heaven And Earth Treasures for him, expending effort to try and change his fate against the heavens.

However, more than ten years of effort only resulted in a snail's pace of cultivation.

Hope was ground away bit by bit. That child who once had bright eyes,

the light in his eyes gradually dimmed, and he became decadent and gave up on himself.

From diligent practice to being inconsistent, to later simply giving up cultivation completely.

He even silently returned the treasures she had worked so hard to find that could slightly improve his Physique... Leng Yuekui understood that he didn't want to be a burden to her anymore,

and didn't want her, his Revered Master, to waste her efforts on a Disciple who was destined to be hopeless.

And she, after many disappointments, also gradually put more energy into her own cultivation,

paying less and less attention to this Disciple until he was almost forgotten.

A brief silence fell in the hall. The tide of memories silently washed over the emotions of the Revered Master and Disciples.

Leng Yuekui looked at the reborn and sharp Yao Delong before her,

and then at Lin Qingxue who was leaning on her, a long-lost feeling called 'responsibility',

quietly melted a bit in her frozen heart-lake.

She slowly raised her hand, and a gentle but irresistible force lifted Yao Delong's bowed body.

Her cold gaze became deep, as if penetrating through time.

“The past is gone.”

Her voice was still cold, but it had an added touch of solemnity,

“Delong, since you have been reborn and stepped back onto the path of immortality, all the past is like dispersing clouds and smoke.

From now on, you are the Chief Disciple of my Luoxia Peak!”

Chief Disciple!

This was not just a title; it represented a status and power within Luoxia Peak that was second only to the Peak Master!

It was Leng Yuekui's formal recognition of Yao Delong's strength, Heart-Nature, and his life-saving grace today!

“As for the matters Qingxue mentioned...”

Leng Yuekui's gaze turned cold, and the temperature of the entire hall seemed to drop suddenly,

“Moyang Sect... Meng Bi... and that Demonic Sect Mole... since I have come out of seclusion, I shall settle these accounts one by one!”