Chu Linyuan and his group finally realized that their martial uncle was holding a child in his arms.
A child!?
Whose child? Where did it come from? And what was with that massive tribulation lightning behind their martial uncle?
Everyone was burning with curiosity in their hearts, wanting to know, but Venerable Jinghe remained motionless as a mountain holding the child, his expression very calm as he waited for their response.
“Venerable, this disciple is the head of the Yushan Hall,” a middle-aged cultivator with a kind face stepped forward and bowed, his voice somewhat unsteady due to excitement. “May this disciple take the child’s pulse?”
Chu Jun naturally knew of the Yushan Hall. Hearing this, he nodded, “He was just frightened earlier.”
The Wushi Sect disciples who were woken up in the middle of the night by the mountain-leveling tribulation lightning: …
It would be strange if he wasn’t frightened, ancestor!
As the head of the Yushan Hall was taking Ning Xiu’s pulse, Chu Linyuan, as the sect leader, was still very reliable and helped ask the question in everyone’s hearts, “Venerable, this child is—”
Behind him, the group of elders and chief disciples had very calm and respectful expressions, but their ears perked up.
“My son,” Chu Jun said calmly.
The Wushi Sect disciples led by Chu Linyuan: Their Venerable Jinghe, who was as cold and detached from the mortal world as an immortal, actually had a son!? Who was the child’s mother?
A silent tidal wave of shock swept through the crowd, but no one dared to voice the questions in their hearts.
Chu Linyuan, who had weathered many storms, smiled upon hearing this and said, “Congratulations to the Venerable on having a son.”
With the sect leader speaking up, everyone else quickly followed with congratulations. “Congratulations to the Venerable on having a son!”
Chu Jun nodded slightly. The head of the Yushan Hall said, “The young master is only feverish due to excessive fright. He just needs to take a calming and fever-reducing pill.”
The pills for children were different from those for adults. It was a very small pill, light pink in color, and emitted a faint sweet fragrance. It dissolved instantly in the mouth.
Ning Xiu took the medicine and smacked his little lips, snuggling into Chu Jun’s embrace and whimpering twice. “Ah~”
Mother~
Chu Jun gently patted his back, then heard Chu Linyuan ask, “Venerable, may I ask what happened earlier?”
“A cultivator infiltrated the Wushi Sect, with cultivation above the Hinayana level,” Chu Jun said. “Their whereabouts are difficult to trace.”
Chu Linyuan’s expression changed slightly. No wonder someone as low-key as Venerable Jinghe had released his pressure and divine consciousness twice in succession and even engaged in a void battle. He immediately said, “This disciple will have someone activate the sect’s Big Dipper Array.”
Chu Jun nodded slightly.
Earth-shattering tribulation lightning struck down with a crack, and the ground shook violently. Chu Linyuan hesitated, but finally asked, “May I ask the Venerable who is undergoing tribulation here?”
Chu Jun thought of Ning Buwei’s current identity, looked at Ning Xiu in his arms, and said unhurriedly, “It’s the child’s—”
The martial uncle suddenly paused.
Chu Linyuan had a sudden realization, “So it’s the Venerable’s wife.”
Chu Jun: “…”
Feng Zizhang and Jiang Zheng were already numb with shock.
The ordinary-looking, irritable senior they had been following all along was the great demon Ning Buwei.
The person who was sitting on a small stool eating sweet potatoes with them just a few hours ago was Venerable Jinghe of the Wushi Sect, Chu Jun.
Their father and Venerable Jinghe had a son together.
Venerable Jinghe personally acknowledged Ning Buwei as his Dao companion.
Jiang Zheng muttered, “What have I done to deserve this…”
Feng Zizhang, however, considered more than her. Who was Ning Buwei? He was the great demon whose name shook the seventeen states! His father was undergoing tribulation in the stronghold of the righteous path – wasn’t he doomed? What did it matter if Venerable Jinghe acknowledged it? Weren’t there still many scoundrels who killed their wives or husbands to gain enlightenment?
He pulled Jiang Zheng and slowly inched backwards.
Jiang Zheng asked him with her eyes: What’s wrong?
Feng Zizhang answered her with his eyes: The situation doesn’t look good, let’s quickly run away with father!
Jiang Zheng nodded at him with determination in her eyes.
“May I invite the Venerable to move to the main peak? This disciple will send people to set up an array to protect your wife,” Chu Linyuan said to Chu Jun.
“No need,” Chu Jun looked up at the tribulation lightning. “I’ll handle it.”
A senior elder smiled and said, “The Venerable and his wife are truly a deeply affectionate couple.”
Everyone chimed in with praise. Some wanted to secretly peek at who was actually undergoing the tribulation, but Venerable Jinghe’s divine consciousness was everywhere, making it impossible to glimpse anything.
Chu Jun found these people quite noisy and said solemnly, “A great enemy is before us. Do not linger in one place.”
“The Venerable is right. We will go set up the Big Dipper Array now,” Chu Linyuan was also concerned about this matter, but still respectfully said, “The ceremony for coming out of seclusion will be in three hours. At that time, we humbly welcome the Venerable to bring his wife and son.”
Chu Jun nodded slightly.
After everyone dispersed, only the last bolt of tribulation lightning remained.
“Are you two injured?” Chu Jun looked at the two children slowly inching towards the tribulation lightning.
Jiang Zheng and Feng Zizhang froze in place.
“V-Venerable, we’re fine,” Jiang Zheng smiled stiffly.
“Not injured at all!” Feng Zizhang grabbed Jiang Zheng’s arm tightly. “We, we just wanted to see how father was doing.”
“Right, right, we weren’t thinking of running at all,” Jiang Zheng suddenly covered her own mouth.
Chu Jun: “… The last bolt of tribulation lightning is especially dangerous. Don’t disturb him.”
Jiang Zheng and Feng Zizhang nodded vigorously like pecking chicks.
Under the tribulation lightning, Ning Buwei was slaying his inner demons in the Heart Demon Realm.
Every tribulation required passing through the Heart Demon Realm to slay inner demons. For those with heavy attachments in their hearts, slaying inner demons was a matter of life and death.
In Ning Buwei’s Heart Demon Realm, the same people and events appeared over and over again. The Heart Demon Realms of Foundation Establishment and Golden Core had many flaws for him, so he didn’t plan to spend too much time on them.
But this time, there was one more person in the Heart Demon Realm – or rather, the person who had existed like a shadow for five hundred years finally showed their face.
****
The Wanxuan Academy was located in Louzhou, Qian Prefecture in the Northwest. Louzhou had many rivers and seas, with islands scattered like chess pieces. The climate was mild, and the scenery was beautiful all year round.
The Wanxuan Academy was built on the largest island group in Louzhou. It was originally founded jointly by the ancestors of the Hao and Zheng families to accommodate cultivators without sects or clans. After tens of thousands of years, it had become the highest academy in the seventeen states. Whether from sects or clans, disciples considered it an honor to be selected to cultivate at the Wanxuan Academy.
Ning Chengfeng entered the academy at ten and topped the academy exam at sixteen. As he was also the young master of the Ning family, the number one clan in the seventeen states, people came to flatter and curry favor with him every day. This annoyed him greatly. In addition, he didn’t like attending classes, so he instigated Wen Zaiye and Cui Ci to go to the Fuluo Secret Realm under the sea with him.
The three boon companions agreed at once. They deceived Hao Zheng, tricked the island’s gatekeeper, and entered the Colored Glaze Plank Road.
This Colored Glaze Plank Road was actually a transparent tube with countless luminous pearls inlaid at the top, used to connect various islands from the seabed. One could see various rare and exotic creatures in the sea, but because flying swords couldn’t be used inside, the speed wasn’t fast, so not many students liked to use it.
“I heard from a senior brother of the Wanghai Sect that there’s a teleportation array in the middle of this plank road. It seems a powerful expert casually set it up while watching the sea, and it happens to lead to the Fuluo Secret Realm,” Wen Zaiye never forgot his fan wherever he went, pretending to fan himself.
“There’s a kind of spirit fruit in Fuluo that’s especially delicious. My uncle brought me some last time,” Cui Ci said enthusiastically. “Today I want to eat to my heart’s content.”
Ning Chengfeng flicked the colored glaze beside him, startling a small lanternfish that was stuck to it to suddenly swim away. “The Fuluo Secret Realm is rich in black jade. I want to dig a piece to take back.”
Cui Ci bumped him and teased, “What do you want black jade for? Don’t tell me you’ve had an epiphany and want to give it to some junior sister?”
“Get lost,” Ning Chengfeng pushed him away. “I accidentally broke Hao Zheng’s paperweight last time. The old man keeps nagging in my ear every day, so I’m digging a piece to give back to him.”
Wen Zaiye burst out laughing. Ning Chengfeng, embarrassed and angry, was about to beat him up. The three of them arrived at the location of the teleportation array, arguing noisily. With great skill and courage, they fearlessly plunged in.
As the saying goes, if you don’t court death, you won’t die. Perhaps because they courted death too much, Ning Chengfeng was very calm when he found himself separated from his friends and opened his eyes to find himself in a tailless wolf den.
This tailless wolf had probably just given birth to wolf cubs and was very fierce. It opened its mouth and nearly bit his head off directly.
Ning Chengfeng nimbly dodged and ran, with the two-man-tall tailless wolf in hot pursuit. Suddenly, a fluffy white little wolf head popped out from inside his robe and howled at him, “Awoo!”
He met those wet eyes and instantly felt they had a connection. Perhaps the tailless wolf saw that he had extraordinary bones and wanted to accept him as its master.
The mother of the wolf cub was chasing behind, and Ning Chengfeng ran forward holding the cub. When he felt something was wrong and turned his head, he saw dozens of tailless wolves fiercely chasing him.
With a boom, a sturdy male tailless wolf blocked his path.
Ning Chengfeng swallowed hard, held up the wolf cub in front of the big wolf’s fangs, forced a smile, and said nervously, “It was your son who insisted on following me…”
“Roar—”
Foul breath hit his face. Ning Chengfeng jumped on his flying sword to escape, but the wolf was extremely fast and swiped at his head with a paw.
He rolled nimbly, falling off the flying sword, only to see a black mass of wolves baring their teeth and surrounding him.
Ning Chengfeng’s face turned pale. These tailless wolves were notorious beasts in the Fuluo Secret Realm, extremely strong in combat and fond of moving in packs. They were also vindictive. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would lose half their life if they got involved. He, a small Golden Core cultivator, was probably done for.
Just as he took out an explosive talisman to fight to the death, suddenly a masked person in white descended from the sky, grabbed him by the collar, and flew him into the air. Their voice was pleasant but carried a cold detachment, “Return the cub.”
Ning Chengfeng held the wolf cub tightly and said defiantly, “It insisted on following me to be my contract beast!”
The person in white was silent for a moment. “…Tailless wolves don’t acknowledge masters. They can’t be contract beasts.”
Ning Chengfeng, whether in the Ning family or at Wanxuan Academy, was always pampered and coddled. The youth also cared greatly about face, so he said with a straight face, “Then I’ll just raise it.”
“Its parents are still alive. Why make them separate from their flesh and blood?” the person in white said solemnly.
Ning Chengfeng was stunned. The wolf cub nestled in his arms and licked his hand, calling out to him in a milky voice, “Awoo~”
He kept a straight face and used a small ball of spiritual energy to carry the wolf cub, sending it back to the wolf pack.
The pack of tailless wolves circled below, howling angrily for a long time before slowly dispersing.
The person in white brought him down to the ground. Although Ning Chengfeng wasn’t very happy, he still respectfully bowed deeply to the other person. “This junior is Ning Chengfeng, disciple of Wanxuan Academy. Thank you, senior, for saving my life.”
“It’s nothing,” the person in white turned to leave.
“Wait!” Ning Chengfeng chased after them. “May I ask for senior’s name?”
The person in white paused slightly, “Chu Jun.”
“Jun as in handsome?” Ning Chengfeng glanced at his ugly mask, but looking at just those eyes, they were quite beautiful.
Beautiful? Ning Chengfeng was shocked by his own strange description.
“Jun as in steep,” Chu Jun frowned slightly, seeing him all dirty. “Wanxuan Academy should be in class now. Why are you here?”
Ning Chengfeng raised an eyebrow, “Skipping class, of course.”
Chu Jun’s frown deepened, “You’re still young. You should be diligently learning skills—”
“Stop!” Ning Chengfeng raised his hand to stop him, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He said helplessly, “Senior Chu, I’ve heard these words so much my ears have grown calluses. Say something else.”
Chu Jun: “…”
Seeing him not speak, Ning Chengfeng became curious again, “Senior, why are you in the Fuluo Secret Realm? This realm is private property of Wanxuan Academy. You didn’t sneak in, did you?”
The other seemed to find him too noisy and quickened his pace.
“Don’t worry, you saved me. Even if you snuck in, I won’t report you,” Ning Chengfeng, despite his recent adventure, was incredibly energetic. “What was that move you used earlier? The one that repelled that wolf with one palm.”
Chu Jun said, “Taiji Seal.”
“Can you teach me?” Ning Chengfeng thought that move was really impressive, looking much more powerful than his brother’s Four Symbols Six Harmony Formation.
“It’s exclusively passed down in my sect,” Chu Jun was cold and distant.
Ning Chengfeng hugged his sword and walked quickly a few steps, turning to face him while walking backwards. He smiled, “Then I’ll just become your disciple.”
“Taking a disciple is a serious matter. It can’t be done so casually,” Chu Jun slowed down, seeing him walking backwards.
“How is this casual?” Ning Chengfeng didn’t understand. “You saved my life. The debt of saving a life is the deepest karmic connection.”
