69: Chapter 69: The Punishment of Impulsiveness (Revised)

Above the village, Ling Hao frowned slightly as he sheathed his sword and stood there, watching the direction where the light of the escape had vanished, murmuring to himself:

"Burning the Origin of his Primordial Spirit, and even mixing in the power of Dao Laws... This old monster likely has quite a background."

Within the Sect's range, Ling Hao was at the Void Refinement Stage, so he was familiar with the power of Dao Laws, which one only begins to Revered Master at the Soul Transformation Stage.

The smoke and dust slowly dissipated, revealing a land that looked as if it had been ravaged by a natural disaster. The area that was once hills was now a mess of deep craters and rubble.

The Cultivators watching from afar had long been scared pale by this world-shaking battle, and now they were even more shocked into silence by the scene before them.

Someone pointed at the vanished hills, their voice trembling:

"Those... those mountains... they're just gone?"

Ling Hao withdrew his gaze, and before he could even turn around, he felt his arm tighten.

"Revered Master! You were so cool just now! Simply invincible!"

Chi Wanhe hugged his arm, her large eyes full of little stars of adoration, shaking it affectionately in an attempt to act cute and get away with it.

Ling Hao looked down at his eldest Disciple, who was acting cute and being a clown, a faint, inscrutable smile on his face:

"Chi Wanhe."

Chi Wanhe's body instantly froze, her movement of hugging Ling Hao's arm stopping as well; the smile on her small face solidified, and her heart skipped a beat.

It's over! Revered Master isn't even calling me 'Xiao He' anymore! He's going to settle the score now!

...

Ever since the Old Ancestors of the three Sects—Tianhuo Sect, Earth Flame Sect, and Liuyun Temple—returned from the Demon Subduing Plains, the atmosphere throughout the entire Qing State had suddenly turned tense, with undercurrents surging.

The Old Ancestor of Tianhuo Sect, True Lord Yanjin, and the Old Ancestor of Earth Flame Sect, Fairy Huoling, were both Nascent Soul True Lords and were recognized as a pair of Dao Companions in the Qing State cultivation world.

In the past, this pair of Dao Companions often had falling outs or even came to blows over Sect interests, their relationship fluctuating between good and bad.

After this return, the two had actually cast aside their past grievances and joined forces intimately!

First, they forcibly occupied the largest Spirit Stone vein under Liuyun Temple's name, then they used various pretexts to seize several blessed medicine gardens that produced rare Spiritual Plants.

Liuyun Temple actually retreated again and again in response, showing no fierce resistance, and even tough words were rarely heard from them.

This abnormal yielding allowed the Cultivators of the Qing State to keenly sense that something was wrong.

"Looking at this situation, the rumors might be true! The Old Ancestor of Liuyun Temple met with a great disaster in the Demon Subduing Plains and is critically injured and dying!"

"Most likely! Otherwise, with Liuyun Temple's usual attitude, how could they retreat again and again like this?"

"The key is that the couple has reconciled this time! When Yanjin and Huoling join forces, their strength is not as simple as one plus one! If Liuyun Temple faces them alone, they have no chance of winning!"

"Now it all depends on the attitude of Sect Master Ling of the Moonshadow Sect! If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold! If Liuyun Temple is wiped out, the Moonshadow Sect will be next!"

"Sigh, it's hard to say! I heard that both Old Ancestors, Yanjin and Huoling, obtained good things from the Immortal Cave of the Demon Subduing True Venerable, and their strength has increased greatly!"

"If the Moonshadow Sect forcibly stands up for them, they might just be dealt with directly..."

"But if the Moonshadow Sect stands by and watches, Liuyun Temple likely won't survive this time..."

The storms of the outside world, however, could not blow into the Fuqu Courtyard deep within the Moonshadow Sect at all.

Inside a wing of the small courtyard, a conversation could be faintly heard.

"I want to pick a flower to give to my Revered Master!"

"Revered Master, Revered Master! Look, there's a flower..."

Ling Hao raised his hand and gave a slap.

*Smack—*

"I told you not to be impulsive; your Third Junior Sister already warned you!"

*Sound of fake crying—*

*Exclamation—*

Inside the wing, a bright and beautiful spiritual flower that had just been picked and still bore morning dew lay lonely on a round table.

Behind the screen, two hazy figures were reflected: one sat upright like a mountain, while the other was... prostrate.

"Before I set out, I gave you repeated instructions. What was the most important thing?"

Ling Hao's deep voice rang out.

*Smack—*

"Preserving yourself is the number one priority!"

Ling Hao's voice was stern.

*Smack—* Another crisp sound!

"Yet you treated it as wind past your ears."

"When you saw the erosion qi wind, you acted closer to it than to your own father! What were you trying to do by getting so close? Become a snack for an Erosion Demon?"

*Smack—*

"Revered Master, in the future, I..."

*Smack—*

"That old Devil Head was a Nascent Soul True Lord!"

"This time, it was thanks to your Third Junior Sister being clever; she crushed her jade pendant to warn me as soon as she noticed something wrong with the erosion qi wind..."

*Smack—*

"Wait for you to crush the jade pendant? By the time I got there, I'd probably only be able to..."

Ling Hao's voice carried a chill of lingering fear, as he pretended to be heartless.

"...erect a tombstone for the two of you."

A wail of sorrow.

In fact, Ling Hao's System mall had top-tier Talismans capable of instant teleportation.

But these life-saving trump cards could never be mentioned openly; otherwise, this audacious eldest Disciple would probably poke a hole in the sky.

"Hmph, you truly don't have even a bit of the composure an Eldest Senior Sister should have!"

Halfway through the lecture, a timid knock and a soft, delicate voice came from outside the door:

"Ma... Revered Master... your Disciple... your Disciple has made some snacks and would like to invite Revered Master to try them..."

"Come in."

Ling Hao's voice sounded, carrying the helplessness of being interrupted.

A young girl wearing a lotus-root-colored high-waisted ruqun walked in, holding an exquisite food box in her hands.

This was the Disciple Chi Wanhe had requested Ling Hao to take in before setting out for Hanyang City.

Ling Hao felt that since he had eaten her food for free for so long, and given her sufficient sincerity—her loyalty was at 99!

Even if the System wouldn't return rewards because she didn't have a Heavenly Spiritual Root or a special Physique, Ling Hao didn't care anymore.

Taking a Disciple didn't have to be too utilitarian.

*Cough cough*... anyway, it was definitely not because he was greedy for her food.

Lu Changning kept her head down, walked in quickly with small steps, and hurriedly placed the food box on the table. Throughout the entire process, she didn't dare look behind the screen, saying in a soft, thin voice:

"These are the Dewdrop Snow Hibiscus Cakes and Spirit-Infused Flower-Fruit Tea I made. Please enjoy them, Revered Master... your Disciple will take her leave now!"

She put the things down and immediately slipped out like a rabbit, closing the door behind her.

Actually, Lu Changning had heard from the Third Senior Sister, Du Yuqing, that the Eldest Senior Sister had been 'invited' by Revered Master to have a 'heart-to-heart talk.' Unable to bear it, she had specially made something delicious to 'save the day.'

Behind the screen, Ling Hao looked at the exquisite snacks on the table and the troublesome spiritual flower, then glanced at Chi Wanhe, who was lying prone on the couch.

The young girl was secretly rubbing her backside, pouting pitifully at her Revered Master; she looked as pathetic as could be.

Ling Hao's tone couldn't help but soften slightly:

"It seems you, as the Eldest Senior Sister, have been quite good to her."

To be able to make the timid Fourth Disciple muster the courage to 'save' her, besides the favor of the recommendation, his eldest Disciple had likely taken care of her quite a bit in their daily lives.

"Of course!"

Upon hearing this, Chi Wanhe immediately lifted her small face, looking as if her tail was about to wag, temporarily forgetting the 'lesson' on her backside.

Ling Hao reached out in exasperation and flicked her smooth forehead with his finger:

"It's just that this brain of yours is sometimes not enough! When you should be learning your lesson, you instead grow all sorts of strange ideas!"

Ling Hao withdrew his finger, looking at the slight redness on Chi Wanhe's forehead, his gaze falling on a certain spot as he asked softly:

"...Does it still hurt?"

Chi Wanhe originally wanted to shake her head and say 'it doesn't hurt anymore'—what was a mere slap to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator?

But by some strange twist of fate, snippets of her Third Junior Sister Du Yuqing sharing 'Revered Master is very gentle' with a blushing face that night flashed through her mind, and her heart warmed inexplicably.