Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 168 Ascension

People are bound to change, and once their living environment becomes too comfortable, they naturally become complacent. Those who are always mindful of potential dangers even in times of peace are always a minority.

These disciples may have passed the three trials, but that doesn't mean they'll forever remain at the same mindset they had when they passed them. Just like officials undergo layers of vetting, in the end, a bunch of corrupt officials still emerge.

Although Zhang Chengdao had noticed the disciples' laxity, he had long planned to design a competition system to urge them to cultivate, but he hadn't had time to bring it up yet.

Unexpectedly, Murong Ruyan's substitute teaching once again exposed the lax atmosphere among the new disciples, and she even scolded them for a long time!

After hearing about this, Xu Ying's opinion of Murong Ruyan changed drastically: although this princess was spoiled and her behavior was not quite right, at least she was diligent in her cultivation and respected the sect leader very much.

At night, when everyone should have been sound asleep, suddenly the ground shook violently.

Then, the entire earth began to sway slightly, like a ship floating on the sea.

Under the moonlight, the area around the lake instantly erupted in chaos.

Murong Ruyan's reprimand of everyone during the day was indeed effective. That night, almost no one slept; everyone was diligently cultivating. The area near the lake with the highest concentration of spiritual energy in Baishi Mountain was overflowing with people.

Among them were disciples who worked hard and managed to draw qi into their bodies that very night—given the ever-increasing concentration of spiritual energy in the White Stone Immortal Sect, they should all be able to draw qi into their bodies around this time.

"What happened?"

"The earth dragon has turned over?!"

"Want to escape?"

"Run away my ass! Where could be safer than the sect?"

"This, this is true..."

"And if something really goes wrong, the sect leader will definitely not ignore it."

"That makes sense, that makes sense..."

The disciples were discussing among themselves. Zhang Chengdao, who had also been interrupted from playing Snake and Bubble Bobble, was stunned for a moment. Then, he sensed something and hurried to Peach Garden.

When we arrived at the Peach Garden, sure enough, the tree in the garden had grown even bigger!

Not only did the light become larger, it also "lifted" the entire White Stone Mountain!

The entire Baishi Mountain is like a candied hawthorn skewered on a tree trunk—or, to be more precise, a candied hawthorn skewered on a toothpick. Because the trunk of Xunmu is too slender compared to the entire Baishi Mountain, it appears swaying precariously, which directly leads to the feeling that standing on Baishi Mountain is like standing on the deck of a ship.

Zhang Chengdao sighed, "How did you manage to lift up White Stone Mountain like that!"

As he spoke, he gently touched the trunk of the Xunmu tree.

This time, he was not pulled into the "alternate dimension" again, but was able to accurately receive the "information" conveyed by Xunmu.

Although Xunmu was still complaining of hunger, he was in much better condition than last time. Zhang Chengdao had no choice but to create another "Crane Pond Reflecting Moon Lantern" and draw all the water from the pond to water Xunmu.

Then, unsurprisingly, Baishi Mountain suddenly began to shake incessantly—the Xunmu tree had started to grow again!

After growing for about half an hour, the size of the tree grew to an unimaginable size—it was almost as tall as a mountain!

Its canopy completely disappeared into the clouds, and because it was night, it was even more difficult to see, casting a large shadow over the entire Peach Garden. In addition, it also pushed the White Stone Mountain, which connects to many peaks, all the way to the clouds, and even some night mist drifted over from the Peach Garden, surrounding Zhang Chengdao.

Looking out from Baishi Mountain is like looking down from a high-rise building. Roughly estimated, it is about a hundred meters high, and everything can be seen. You can almost overlook the entire Zhujian Manor complex in the distance!

Of course, with such an exaggerated size, it has gradually been able to support the White Stone Mountain, and the ground has become more stable and no longer shakes.

Is this some kind of "World Tree" or something?

Gazing down at the distant scenery from his vantage point, Zhang Chengdao couldn't help but speculate.

Both Eastern and Western mythologies mention the "World Tree" or similar concepts. For example, in the East it is called Jianmu, while in the West it is called the World Tree or the Sacred Tree.

In various mythologies, these "world trees" are characterized by their immense size and are often associated with the concept of connecting the world of the living with the world of the dead, or the world of gods with the world of mortals.

However, while this tree is indeed large, it's not as exaggeratedly large as the mythical tree that connects the world...

It can't possibly grow any longer, can it?

Just as Zhang Chengdao was about to communicate with the tree again, he discovered that it had fallen asleep once more.

Well, looks like it'll be longer next time!
Helpless, Zhang Chengdao dug up all the peach trees in the Peach Orchard again, preparing to replant them in a completely different place—the entire Peach Orchard was already big enough for the trees to grow on their own, and there was simply no room for normal peach trees!
After much deliberation, in order to ensure the quality and quantity of the "Immortal Peach," Zhang Chengdao simply planted all the peach trees in the open space next to the lake, creating a beautiful scene from afar.

The disciples who were cultivating were startled.

Wow, so many trees!?

"It looks like a peach tree, doesn't it?"

Because Zhang Chengdao did not prohibit the disciples from moving around, many disciples went to the outer perimeter of Peach Garden—the inside was not allowed. The owner of Peach Garden, Anche Huaishan, kept a close watch on this, and Peach Garden itself also had a "barrier" that could not be easily entered.

But that doesn't stop people from recognizing that these trees are peach trees.

and……

"How did so many peach trees suddenly grow out of nowhere in the middle of the night! This is terrifying!?"

One of the disciples patted his chest in lingering fear.

The other disciples chimed in, saying, "The earth dragon's transformation just now was far more terrifying than these peach trees!"

"The problem is clearly with that tree!"

"Could that tree be some kind of evil spirit?"

This guess startled everyone, but then someone shouted, "You're the evil one! What evil dares to live in our White Stone Immortal Sect?"

Then someone completely veered off-topic: "Actually, 'demons' aren't all bad. Isn't Sandy from our sect a good one?"

After all, they've been disciples for quite some time now, and even with Sandy and Xiaoli included, there weren't many people in the sect before. These disciples already knew about it.

Because of their rarity, and since everyone only knew these two "demons," many disciples tried to bribe Sandy and Little Fox with food. However, only the latter would happily eat the food from the disciples' hands. Sandy, on the other hand, was very aloof and rarely encountered humans.

(End of this chapter)