Wait a minute, where is my master?

Nine Provinces Realm, Qing State, on the outskirts of Qingmu County lies Qingmu Academy.

Qingmu Academy was constructed on a flat stretch of land between a range of mountains and covered an extremely vast area.

At the academy gate stood an archway, built from two towering columns of Green Gold Stone, with an overhead signboard made from Che Liang Wood bearing the name "Qingmu Academy" in four large characters.

The strokes were bold and powerful, evidently the work of a master calligrapher.

Passing through the archway, a long flight of green stone steps extended upwards to a high platform.

Once atop the platform, the first thing to meet the eye was a towering and ancient statue of the Confucian Saint, carved from a single piece of white jade and erected in the very center of Righteous Square.

They say that this square is where the many newly admitted Confucian disciples attend their morning classes. Every dawn, gathered here, they chant the Confucian classics, their Vast Righteous Qi soaring through the clouds!

Beyond the square stood a grand hall built entirely of Green Gold Stone, which looked solemn and respectful. On the stone pillars beside the hall doors, there hung a pair of couplets.

The first line read, "Breathing with the four seasons, merging virtue with heavens, earth, sun, moon, and spirits,"

And the second, "Teaching spans ten thousand generations, successors to Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu as their mentors."

The hall was named Dacheng Hall, after the Confucian Saint's notion of 'great accomplishment and supreme sagehood'.

Beyond the great hall were various schools, including Six Arts School that taught Cultivation Skills, as well as the Four Gentlemen Academy teaching numerous Confucian classics, among others.

Further back were rows of buildings.

And in the deepest part, there was a forest of gentle bamboo, in front of which stood a three-story pavilion made of gentle bamboo—the place where the Old Dean of Qingmu Academy went into seclusion.

However, curiously, part of this bamboo pavilion appeared very new, particularly the section at the top.

At this time, a man and a woman stood before this bamboo pavilion.

It was none other than Jin Xu and Yu Yaoer.

Luckily, Xuanxu Temple could record places that had been visited, otherwise, Jin Xu would have had no clue on how to navigate here.

The two had come by way of the Xuanxu Temple, but the young Taoist thought it polite to visit his master's old friend.

Out of respect, he had parked the Xuanxu Temple on the slope outside.

"Is this the forbidden area of Qingmu Academy? The young master's teacher truly deserves to be the temple master of Xuanxu Temple. Such a high realm to make friends,"

Back then, Yu Yaoer had secretly marveled in her heart.

When she had first completed her shape-shifting, she had come to Qingmu Academy once with her grandmother.

On that occasion, her grandmother had been invited by the dean of Qingmu Academy to cure a female Confucian scholar who had contracted a cold poison. While waiting outside the room, she had glanced over in this direction from afar.

Perhaps rumors were unreliable, or maybe it was due to asking others for favors. Regardless, the Confucian scholars within the academy didn't seem as haughty as the outside world described them to be.

Seeing her curious glances, the Confucian scholars standing outside the room even explained to her.

They said this was where their Old Dean would seclude himself.

As Yu Yaoer was reminiscing, she saw the young master beside her step toward the bamboo pavilion.

Just as she was about to remind the young master to be cautious of the pavilion's prohibition, she saw the young master enter?

"Master... Uh, never mind."

Jin Xu felt as if he had passed through a layer of film, but the sensation was so weak it seemed like an illusion.

He didn't dwell on it and turned to ask Yu Yaoer, who was outside of the prohibition.

"Aren't you coming in?"

"..."

Yu Yaoer felt like her young master was mocking her.

But upon seeing the expression on Jin Xu's face, her retort upon reaching her lips transformed into,

"You go ahead, young master. I'll wait here for you."

After speaking, she even added a sweet smile (˵¯͒¯͒˵).

"Okay,"

Jin Xu nodded, turned around, and walked up the steps of the bamboo pavilion.

Arriving at the entrance, he knocked on the door very politely.

"Anyone home? If no one answers, I'll enter."

The Old Dean of the academy within the bamboo pavilion presently sat cross-legged on a wooden meditation cushion, eyes tightly shut.

In front of him stood an empty jade vase with a lingering fragrance of tree sap.

Having just recovered from his injuries, he was about to enter seclusion when suddenly, he discovered someone had breached his prohibition.

His Divine Sense swept out, finding a Nascent Soul Realm fish monster standing on the open ground outside the pavilion.

"What's going on with Qingyun? How could he allow a monster to trespass into the academy's forbidden grounds?"

Looking at the entrance of the bamboo pavilion, there stood a familiar little Taoist, clad in a dark blue robe, knocking on the door while calling out,

"Anyone home? If no one answers, I'll enter."

The Old Dean of the academy was stunned for a moment. Was this the little disciple of Tianxing Taoist?

During the brief moment of surprise, the little Taoist had already pushed the door and entered.

"How did he get in here?"

Jin Xu, seeing no one had responded, waited for a moment and thought that perhaps due to the old man's age, his hearing wasn't good, and he didn't hear the knocks. So, he pushed the door and entered the bamboo pavilion.

The first floor was empty except for a bamboo table, and on the wall above the table hung a portrait of the Confucian Saint.

How did Jin Xu know it was the Confucian Saint?

Well, it was written right there on the painting, 'Portrait of the Confucian Saint'.

As Jin Xu took steps to ascend to the second floor, he remembered what his master had said about showing him his cultivation level at that time.

...

At the time, my master had brought me here himself, but the records of Xuanxu Temple showed that not long after the first time he brought me, my master had returned to Xuanxu Temple once again.

Perhaps I was too engrossed in arduous cultivation to notice what was happening outside the temple, so I was unaware of what transpired during my master's second visit.

But the first visit was indeed deeply etched in my memory.

It happened right outside this bamboo building, with the Tianxing Taoist yelling all sorts of obscenities at the door, making Jin Xu blush.

Then, from inside the building, an elder in a dark green robe, with a Confucian scholar's headgear and a dark green satchel around his waist, and a face full of rage, burst out.

The old scholar, holding a scroll in his hand, was about to hit the Tianxing Taoist.

But when my own master mentioned the "old rules," the scholar put away his scroll and took out the Green Gold Ruler instead, and the two old men started fighting right there.

Ultimately, the Tianxing Taoist won with an absolute advantage.

Jin Xu and others watching were dumbfounded, thinking it was all a show of cultivation. How did it turn into cursing and fighting with old men?

Although the movements of the two were incredibly fast, and their physiques were unlike that of elderly men, the brilliant spells from fantasy novels were nowhere to be seen.

After it was all over, my master asked Jin Xu, "How about that?"

Jin Xu just shook his head blankly—this was all too bizarre.

Seeing Jin Xu's head shake, the Tianxing Taoist took him to three more places. Each time, they first arrived and cursed loudly, then when the opponent came out, he shouted "old rules" and began a fistfight.

These three were an old man with flaming red hair and beard, an old man with muscles like the Terminator, and an apparently gentle old lady.

After the last old lady lost the fight, she clung to my master's leg and wouldn't let him leave, looking like she was about to play the victim.

Bullying old men and ladies, what was this all about?

Jin Xu was in despair. Having finally crossed through once, had he stumbled into some bizarre organization?

After Tianxing Taoist finished the rounds and saw that his disciple's expression was still off, he suddenly realized something.

"Tch, I forgot you're a greenhorn who doesn't know anything and hasn't started cultivating. Naturally, you can't tell that those four I just fought are no ordinary people."

"They're certainly not ordinary, huh? One with such old age has dyed his hair red, and another's as muscular as Sylvester Stallone," Jin Xu muttered under his breath.

"They are the four ancestors with the highest cultivation from the current Four Immortal Sects!"

Jin Xu felt that the Taoist was still pulling his leg.

Thinking to himself, I'm such a fool, truly, I shouldn't have ever crossed over here. If I hadn't crossed over, then I...

Seeing Jin Xu's disbelieving look, the Tianxing Taoist had to think of another plan.

"Come on, take another look this time!"

He then took his disciple and flew above the East Sea.

Gazing down at the rolling waves below, Jin Xu felt dizzy; he was afraid of heights.

The old Taoist next to him, however, had his eyes shining with a divine light as he calculated with his fingers and uttered a shout

"Such a being surrounded by bloodlust must have committed many sins. You're the one!"

He then headed straight for a particular stretch of sea.

...

The Black Flood Dragon had been living in this sea for three hundred years. Born a dragon, it required no cultivation, reaching the Void Refinement Realm just by maturing.

On happy days, it swallowed passing fishing boats; on unhappy days, it went ashore to abduct village maidens—life had its flavor.

What human-demon treaty? What Shui Clan law? Jokes aside, did they not know it had a second uncle who worked in the Dragon Palace? That was a pureblood Black Dragon.

As for the question of why its father was a green dragon and its mother a white dragon, yet it was a black dragon, it didn't bother pondering. Living was living, regardless.

Feeling good today, it planned to devour a passing fishing boat and, incidentally, enjoy the cries of mortals begging for mercy, a sound it relished.

Just as it was causing a ruckus and toying with the fishermen,

it saw an old Taoist flying over from the horizon, who, without a word, performed hand seals.

A silver thunderbolt descended from the sky.

"This tm is hitting me? Isn't that a bit of a waste?"

The Black Flood Dragon's last thought in this world flashed by,

"Boom!"

An entire area of the sea was hollowed out by the silver lightning, which lingered for a long time, leaving not a trace of the Black Flood Dragon in the sea, while the nearby fishing boat was completely unscathed.

The fishermen aboard knelt on the deck, bowing their heads in gratitude, thanking the immortal for saving their lives.

...

Jin Xu stared blankly at the scene, somewhat stunned, having completely forgotten his fear of heights.

Then his heart began to pound wildly, and adrenaline surged with excitement.

Turns out, his adoptive master was truly powerful.

Jin Xu now kind of believed what the Tianxing Taoist had said earlier, that those four were ancestors of the Immortal Sect.

He had barely caught a glimpse of that big black worm before his master obliterated it with a single Thunder Skill, leaving nothing behind.

The power was like a walking railgun.

Observing Jin Xu's bewildered look, and to regain some face, the Tianxing Taoist took Jin Xu around on the East Sea to strike down several more deeply evil demons before they finally returned home.

This demon-slaying trip to the East Sea greatly reinforced the impression in Jin Xu's mind of his master being an extraordinary recluse, unrivaled in the world,

and solidified Jin Xu's determination to diligently cultivate and catch up to his master one day.

Most importantly, having such an impressive master gave Jin Xu a significant sense of security.