Taking advantage of the chaotic situation right after Master Song Feng left, Mo Tiange stealthily exited the Virtual Sky World. She then ran towards the main hall, pretending to have just rushed over.

At that moment, the Core Formation and Foundation Building cultivators, who hadn’t dared to come close earlier because of the spiritual aura pressure emitted during the fight between Nascent Soul cultivators, ran over one after another. Thus, no one noticed her appearing from the air.

“Master!” Mo Tiange rushed hastily to Lord Daoist Jinghe’s side and saw that he already looked problem-free and was chatting cheerfully with others.

She finally released the worry she felt in her heart. Based on how he looked now, his injuries weren’t heavy.

Upon seeing her, Lord Daoist Jinghe beckoned her to approach while secretly giving her a meaningful glance. “What happened? Why are you in such a rush?”

Mo Tiange was a bit startled. For a moment, she wondered what his glance meant. “Master, I…”

“Did you want to see me about something?”

“En…”

Lord Daoist Jinghe immediately cupped his hands towards the Nascent Soul cultivators around him and said with a smile, “Fellow Daoists, forgive me. I have some issues to deal with so I’ll have to take my leave first.”

Once he finished talking, he led Mingxia and Wanqiu and exited the main hall with Mo Tiange.

“Master?”

Lord Daoist Jinghe didn’t say anything and just led the three of them to fly back to Clear Spring Peak. Once they arrived at Clear Spring Peak and walked into Shangqing Palace, Lord Daoist Jinghe suddenly stopped.

“Master…” Mo Tiange wanted to say something, but she only managed to say one word before she saw his body swaying then suddenly toppling to the floor.

“Master!”

“Grandmaster!”

The three of them turned pale with fright.

Lord Daoist Jinghe managed to stand straight with some difficulty. He shook his head and said, “No need to worry; help me into a seated position first.”

Mingxia and Wanqiu propped him back up to the dragon couch. The three of them then waited at his side, anxiously watching him.

They didn’t know how much time passed before Lord Daoist Jinghe’s pale face finally regained some color. At last, he opened his eyes and exhaled slowly. “After not seeing each other for several hundred years, old man Song Feng’s devil art has unexpectedly become so hard to deal with…”

This time, Mo Tiange finally understood. The injuries Lord Daoist Jinghe sustained weren’t light, but because he wanted to maintain his reputation, he gave her a meaningful glance so she’d help him. She felt a bit conflicted about whether she should laugh or cry. This master… indeed had this kind of virtue!

“Mingxia, Wanqiu, you two leave first.”

Mingxia and Wanqiu glanced at each other then answered, “Yes.”

“Tiange, come here.”

Mo Tiange walked towards him, feeling bewildered. “Master?”

“Sit.” Lord Daoist Jinghe pointed at a spot next to him.

“This…”

“I told you to sit, so you just need to sit!”

“Okay…” She cautiously stepped forward and cautiously looked at him then cautiously sat down. She couldn’t be blamed for reacting like this though. After all, Lord Daoist Jinghe was behaving too friendly! Too elder-like!

“Tiange…”

“Yes.” Mo Tiange was worried. She wondered what kind of tricks this master was going to play.

But this time, Lord Daoist Jinghe just sighed and looked at her in a very normal way. “Do you perhaps feel that Master doesn’t teach you anything?”

“…” After thinking for a while, Mo Tiange honestly answered, “Regarding cultivation, Master has never taught me anything, so I am indeed a bit baffled. However, I’ve come across several fated chances; right now, my cultivation level is far above what I should be able to handle with my current age. What Master has taught me is precisely what I need most at the moment.”

“It’s good you understand that.” Upon hearing her answer and seeing her sincere expression, Lord Daoist Jinghe felt relieved. He remained seated in a crossed-legged position and closed his eyes. “Regarding today’s matter, how much of it did you see?”

“Disciple saw everything. Furthermore, in the side hall, I also met a female cultivator who seemed to have something to do with Master Song Feng.”

“Oh?”

Mo Tiange carefully described the matter regarding that claw-equipped female cultivator.

When Lord Daoist Jinghe heard everything, he opened his eyes and thought to himself. “From your story, this woman’s technique does sound like it’s related to old man Song Feng. In the great seven cultivation groups, I probably understand old man Song Feng the best. I don’t know what that old man ran into back then, but his constitution isn’t human, monster or devil—it’s like he’s gone through a freak transformation. He’s neither a conventional Dao cultivator nor a devil cultivator, but he learned the best of both worlds, so he became extremely difficult to deal with. That woman sounds like a martial cultivator, and her techniques are infused with devil aura. That being the case, I think she’s most likely old man Song Feng’s disciple or grand disciple. You might not have lost to her today, but if you encounter that woman again in the future, you must be careful at all costs.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Lord Daoist Jinghe nodded then asked, “Do you have any idea what kind of grudge exists between me and old man Song Feng?”

Mo Tiange shook her head. “Back then, Disciple only heard the dialogue between you two, but Disciple knows it probably has something to do with Senior Martial Brother Shoujing.”

Lord Daoist Jinghe chuckled softly. There was both helplessness and pride in his expression. “You’re right; this is indeed a disaster that brat caused. Old man Song Feng once had an extremely talented junior who came into conflict with your Senior Martial Brother Shoujing and ended up dead. At that time, old man Song Feng had long disappeared from this world, so I didn’t take the matter too seriously. I never expected that he was actually alive and even wants to take revenge for this matter. Ay… that old man is extremely vindictive—this is going to be hard to deal with later.”

“Then… Master, is there any conflict between you and Master Song Feng?”

“It can’t really be called a conflict. When I just advanced to the middle stage of the Nascent Soul realm several hundred years ago, me and old man Song Feng went to a secret place together and had some disputes.” Lord Daoist Jinghe didn’t explain further and just shook his head. “Although we didn’t really become enemies at that time, we parted on bad terms.”

With her master’s personality, it would really be a wonder if he could get along harmoniously with a strange-tempered man like Master Song Feng! Master Song Feng’s impression of her master was already bad, but then his beloved disciple also got killed by Qin Shoujing; his hatred would’ve naturally deepened.

Once Mo Tiange thought up to this point, she couldn’t help but have a headache. No one knew how long people who cultivated until the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm would live. Her master was already more than 800 years old, so Master Song Feng ought to be more than 1,000 years old. If her master couldn’t advance to the next realm, he would certainly pass away earlier than Master Song Feng. At that point, wouldn’t master’s direct disciples like her become the target of Master Song Feng’s revenge? Of course, if she stayed inside Xuanqing School, she would be alright…

“Tiange… If you go out by yourself in the future, it’d be better for you not to reveal your identity as my disciple in front of others unless old man Song Feng already passes away or you already form your Nascent Soul, understand?”

Mo Tiange was stunned. Lord Daoist Jinghe was always arrogant and tyrannical, yet he said this to her. He obviously wanted to protect her from this disaster! She was so touched that she even called him master with the utmost sincerity: “Yes, Master.”

Witnessing her current state, Lord Daoist Jinghe laughed unexpectedly. “This child! Today’s probably the first time you called me master sincerely, right?”

Mo Tiange bowed her head and chuckled. Although her master was unreliable, he was very insightful. Besides, even though she normally called him master without much respect, she always felt she was very fortunate to have this kind of master.

Once Lord Daoist Jinghe laughed enough, he said, “After I formed my Nascent Soul, I accepted five disciples: Xuanyin, Qingyuan ¹ , Mingzhen, Suxin, and Changkong. Your original second martial brother, Qingyuan, unfortunately died a premature death, so when I accepted another disciple, I bestowed ‘Qingyuan ² ‘ as his Daoist name.”

“I originally planned to stop accepting disciples but when I later took a trip back to Qin Clan in the secular world, I unexpectedly found your Senior Martial Brother Shoujing. He was still my collateral descendant, and his spiritual roots also weren’t bad—I naturally had to show him a bit more care. Because of that, I brought him back with me to Mount Taikang and accepted him as my disciple.”

“Even though that brat’s spiritual roots are ordinary, he has a very good temperament and is extremely intelligent. After I accepted him, I thought that having him as my last disciple was already enough, but he unexpectedly told me to accept you as a disciple…”

Sure enough, that person’s the reason why I was accepted as master’s disciple… Mo Tiange had long guessed it, so she wasn’t at all disappointed. It was just that she couldn’t feel happy about it either.

Lord Daoist Jinghe continued to speak: “When I accepted you as my registered disciple, I didn’t take the matter seriously at first. At that time, I thought that with the spiritual roots you had, it would already be great if you could enter the Foundation Building realm and that it would probably be impossible for you to enter the Core Formation realm. That being the case, I also had no need to teach you anything, and you wouldn’t be formally considered my disciple. Never once did it cross my mind that you were indeed fated to be my disciple. This girl… you shouldn’t feel wronged. Since I’ve formally accepted you as my disciple, I will naturally treat you sincerely.”

Mo Tiange chuckled. She wasn’t a little girl who’d lived a smooth, happy life; how could this trivial matter possibly make her feel wronged? “Rest assured, Master. I understand.”

With a smile etched on his face, Lord Daoist Jinghe nodded and said, “I really appreciate this about you. You’re steady and realistic, have a staunch will, and never undervalue yourself—you’re not like Qingyuan’s little girl whom I spoiled ever since she was a child, ay~! Back then, I found the daughter your Senior Martial Brother Qingyuan left behind and also brought your Senior Martial Brother Shoujing back. I’ve raised the two of them at my side, but god knows why neither of them turned out well…”

“Master…” Lord Daoist Jinghe’s rarely-seen dejected appearance made Mo Tiange feel a sense of unfamiliarity as well as bewilderment. “Isn’t Senior Martial Brother Shoujing doing great now? Presumably, within the next dozens of years or the next hundred years, he’ll certainly be able to set foot on the Great Dao of the Nascent Soul realm.”

“You don’t know what I’m talking about.” Lord Daoist Jinghe shook his head. “This brat… Ever since he was a child, he already had a firm Dao Heart and always cultivated painstakingly. Originally, I was also very happy that my disciple turned out like that. However, it’s only now that I realize what was lacking in my teaching. He’s too smart and too persistent. I used to think this was a good thing and didn’t need to meddle much. Now, I finally realized that if his persistence is present in other matters, it can be life-threatening.”

Mo Tiange was stunned but she didn’t say anything.

She heard Lord Daoist Jinghe continue on slowly: “Nowadays, I worry most about him. Aside from that old man Song Feng wanting to find him and take revenge against him, he himself is also plagued by obsessive nightmares. Right now, he’s insisting on remaining in Closed Door Meditation until he forms his Nascent Soul, but I’m really worried that… he won’t be able to pass the obstacle we know as Inner Demon during his realm-breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm.”

After he said that, Lord Daoist Jinghe closed his eyes and heaved a long sigh, looking extremely tired.

Mo Tiange was silent for a long time. Eventually, she asked softly, “Master, you’re telling me all this… for what?”

Lord Daoist Jinghe opened his eyes. His expression, which never looked serious before, looked benevolent now. “You’ll find out in the future.”

“…”

“After I accepted you, I realized you’re very similar to how that brat used to be. It’s really no wonder he would…” Lord Daoist Jinghe paused for a moment before continuing, “Since I’ve already misguided him, now I mustn’t let you enter the same path as him. Back then, that brat cultivated wholeheartedly and never paid any attention to ordinary affairs, but I didn’t care. Now, after much thinking, I think it’s best to make you more involved in the school’s matters. If you can see and hear more, you’ll never become too attached to anything in the future. For children like you guys, I don’t need to worry about your specific cultivation technique. Your behavior, however, has to be properly guided so you don’t walk on too many roundabout paths in the future.”

Mo Tiange had long guessed why Lord Daoist Jinghe taught her the way he did, but to hear him personally explaining it to her now, she still felt touched.

“Alright, Master’s injuries aren’t important now. Back when I took you back, I said you’d be grounded and have to ponder over your mistakes for ten years; now, there are still five years left. These past several years, I’ve allowed you to experience many things, and you’re more or less familiar with the school’s matters now. You should begin your Closed Door Meditation now. In five years when you come out of Closed Door meditation, you may go down the mountain and travel. Go!”

“Yes, Master.”