On Fu Qing’s Songqing Peak.
Lian Yunzhi sat in a place where spiritual energy gathered, meditating and regulating his breathing, while Fang Tianxin ran around feeding the immortal cranes.
After Lian Yunzhi opened his eyes, Fang Tianxin hurried over and said eagerly, “Yunzhi, let’s go out and play.”
Lian Yunzhi looked at him. “Isn’t it good to stay in Lin Xian Sect?”
“It’s pretty good, just a bit boring,” Fang Tianxin said. “I don’t know anyone here, and not many people pay attention to me. A Qing is busy every day, but my Sect Leader father gave me a lot of spirit stones… I heard the market here is huge, with all kinds of spirit tools and magic robes for sale. Let’s go spend some spirit stones!”
Lian Yunzhi had once loved those gorgeous and exquisite things the most, whether clothes or magic artifacts—he always wanted the best and trendiest available at the time. But now, after being pointed at and called shabby, he had no interest in buying new clothes.
Before he could refuse, however, Fu Qing returned on an immortal crane and joined their conversation. “Don’t even think about it. You two had better stay put for this period and not go anywhere.”
“Why?” Fang Tianxin asked, puzzled.
Fu Qing sighed and jumped down from the immortal crane. He didn’t answer Fang Tianxin directly but instead asked Lian Yunzhi, “How does it feel to have defeated the number one genius of the Upper Immortal Realm?”
Lian Yunzhi thought for a moment and said, “It feels great. A few more times like that, and the discomfort in my body will be completely alleviated.”
Fu Qing sighed again. “Do you know how much of a shock your action caused in the Upper Immortal Realm? Everyone is asking who you are and where you came from. The most troublesome part is that someone used an Image-Retaining Pearl at the time. Because of your actions, all of us were recorded, including Xiao Xin’s identity and experiences, which have been dug up. Now everyone knows that the three of us came out of the Lost River. Some even think you’re so powerful because you obtained the Immortal Treasure from Xiaoze State…”
“What’s an Image-Retaining Pearl?” Lian Yunzhi asked.
“Yeah, A Qing, what’s an Image-Retaining Pearl?” Fang Tianxin asked too.
Fu Qing: “…”
Fu Qing took out a bead glowing with five-colored light. “Here, this is it—an Image-Retaining Pearl. They’re cheap; fifty spirit stones each outside.”
He tossed it into the air, and a scene slowly unfolded in midair.
In the image, five-year-old Fang Tianxin wielded a small wooden sword, huffing and puffing as he practiced. But as he practiced, he poked his own face, immediately threw the sword away, sprawled on the ground with limbs splayed, and wailed loudly. Fu Qing’s hearty laughter came from off-screen, and then he entered the frame, picking up little Fang Tianxin with a smile and coaxing him.
Fang Tianxin watched and gradually blushed.
Lian Yunzhi looked at Fu Qing. “Do you have a lot of these?”
Fu Qing casually pulled out a handful, poured a few into Fang Tianxin’s palm, and offered the rest to Lian Yunzhi. “Image-Retaining Pearls—everyone carries seventy or eighty. Want some? The transparent ones are unused.”
Lian Yunzhi didn’t take them but asked an inexplicable question. “Why didn’t you bring them out earlier? Why not in Xiaoze State?”
Fu Qing was puzzled. “What?”
“Nothing.” Lian Yunzhi realized he was being unreasonable. He turned his head and continued the interrupted topic. “Others think I got the Immortal Treasure, and then? Are they going to team up to capture me and force me to hand it over?”
By the end, a hint of mockery tinged his brow.
Fu Qing said, “Righteous sects definitely wouldn’t do such a thing, but evil cultivators with crooked intentions might. That’s why I said you two should stay in Lin Xian Sect for now and not go out. Lin Xian Sect is the foremost immortal sect in the cultivation world. No matter how much those evil cultivators covet treasures, they wouldn’t dare come here to cause trouble for you.”
Lian Yunzhi looked up. “Lin Xian Sect is so kind? I beat your Chief Disciple and made your sect lose face, yet you’re prepared to protect me?”
“…You did save the Sect Leader’s Son, after all,” Fu Qing said, but even he felt it didn’t hold water. He touched his nose and added, “The Sect Leader and the elders hope you’ll join our sect. Lin Xian Sect will send a Body Fusion or Great Vehicle cultivator to take you as a personal disciple. You could even become the Sect Leader’s disciple, making you fellow disciple brothers with me and Xiao Xin from then on…”
Lian Yunzhi said nothing.
He didn’t dislike Lin Xian Sect, but he wasn’t willing to casually take just anyone as his master.
The master-disciple relationship in the cultivation world was extremely close. If he became someone’s personal disciple, he would form karmic ties with that person. From then on, whether he did good or evil, that person would be implicated. In return, the master would have some control over him. Even if his cultivation surpassed his master’s one day, the master could still restrain him through the Master-Disciple Contract.
