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

Chapter 94 Still Have to Pretend

Ye Shuyun replied, "Master probably lost track of time during his seclusion, so he didn't keep track of the days. Counting today, it has been exactly one month since you went into seclusion."

After his initial surprise, Zhang Chengdao became somewhat worried: "Nothing major has happened in the past month, has it?"

There are only a handful of people in my sect, so our ability to withstand risks is too low. Even if we have a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Chang Ping'an, it's not impossible that we might encounter a ruler who has lost his mind and insists on some kind of value system that says "those who are not of our race must have different hearts." If he insists on suppressing the White Stone Immortal Sect, it's not impossible.

"Speaking of major events... there are some," Ye Shuyun thought for a moment and said, "The Emperor of Xiao Kingdom sent someone to deliver an imperial edict. In addition to the rewards, he also conferred upon my senior sister the title of Princess of Xing Kingdom, with a fief of two thousand households. He also conferred upon you the title of Duke of Baishi, with the same rank as a duke, and a fief of three thousand households. Furthermore, he bestowed upon you a plaque personally inscribed with the words 'The Number One Immortal Sect Under Heaven'."

The series of rewards was quite unexpected for Zhang Chengdao, and it also gave him a new assessment of the official combat power of this martial arts and cultivation world.

Judging from the degree of control that governments in various countries have over private sects in this martial arts cultivation world, the overall strength of the country must be greater than that of the private sects.

The leadership of a country is generally not fools—at least not all of them are fools. So, after they sent a military envoy to test the waters, their diplomatic behavior was so friendly, even offering high-ranking officials and generous salaries, yet they made no demands. This was clearly not because the emperor of Xiao was too kind.

It's because they weren't confident they could beat themselves.

Looks like I still have to keep up the pretense.

Having set his course of action in mind, Zhang Chengdao, with an expression of neither elation nor sorrow, calmly asked, "Where are those who delivered the imperial edict?"

Ye Shuyun replied, "They are all staying at the Sword Casting Manor, waiting for you to come out of seclusion."

Zhang Chengdao glanced at Ye Shuyun indifferently, then asked, "In your opinion, how should we deal with this?"

Ye Shuyun replied, "I think the imperial edict can be accepted, but whether or not it is received in person depends on Master's opinion. If Master is impatient with dealing with these mundane matters, it is acceptable to ask Steward Xu to receive the edict on his behalf."

"Yes, there's no need to accept the decree. Just accept the order."

Zhang Chengdao made the final decision.

He is a dignified immortal, and his sect is full of lesser immortals. How can you, an ordinary emperor, control me, an immortal?
I'm already giving you face by acknowledging your decree. Do you really expect the people in my sect to kneel down and accept it?

I'm being lenient by not making you kneel!
As a master, I refuse to accept my disciples kneeling in respect. How could I possibly allow them to suffer such humiliation outside? Are you kidding me?

However, Zhang Chengdao also understood the principle of using both carrot and stick. In order to save trouble and to get more things from the court in the future, he added: "However, since we have received the emperor's reward, we should give him something in return."

Upon hearing the words "return gift," Ye Shuyun's spirits lifted considerably, and he inquired, "What is the return gift?"

"Just give me two baskets of peaches in return!"

Anyway, peaches are the cheapest fruit, and there's a huge pile of them in the warehouse!

As he spoke, Zhang Chengdao casually twisted two bamboo baskets with a bamboo stick, took them out of his backpack, and handed them over, saying, "Use these two bamboo baskets to fill two baskets with immortal peaches and have someone deliver them... Hmm, how has your cultivation progressed during my month-long seclusion?"

As Zhang Chengdao was speaking, he suddenly considered the problem that even if the immortal peach was a food with a spirit, it would still spoil normally.

Kyoto is 400 li away from Mount Shiroishi. Even a fast horse would take at least three days to deliver the goods, and by then they would be wilted and look unsightly.

After all, the bamboo basket produced by the Golden Finger is just a container, unlike a warehouse building which has a built-in "preservation" function. It wouldn't look good if someone carried two baskets of wilted peaches and called them "immortal peaches"! So he immediately changed his mind and thought of having his cheap eldest disciple, Chang Ping'an, deliver them by sword or wind. It would be much faster, taking only about three hours for a round trip. This would both preserve the peaches and allow him to show off in front of the emperor, killing two birds with one stone!
But Chang Ping'an hasn't seen much of the world, will he get stage fright?
If Emperor Ruyan and Ye Shuyun had also reached the Foundation Establishment stage, I could be more at ease having them run errands for me.

Ye Shuyun replied, "Master, Senior Sister Murong has broken through two levels and is now at the fourth level of Qi Refining. I am not talented and have only broken through one level, now at the second level of Qi Refining. However, Sect Leader Xu Wen has already drawn Qi into his body and is also at the first level of Qi Refining."

"What about Ping An? Has he not broken through again?"

"Senior Brother Chang has not yet made another breakthrough."

"Um……"

Zhang Chengdao hesitated for a moment, then suddenly thought of the "Ten Thousand Swords Return to One" technique he had just learned. A somewhat immature but seemingly feasible idea suddenly appeared in his mind.

The most difficult part of the Ten Thousand Swords Return to One technique is not controlling how many swords at the same time, but controlling how far the swords can fly!
If a powerful being were to use this move, they could probably summon a greatsword from thousands of miles away and strike their mortal enemy.

But I'm just a small karami right now, let alone ten thousand miles, I can't even travel a thousand miles!

But if it's only four hundred li, it should be... possible?
However, it's not easy to lead people with a sword, so it's better to use the same principle of "controlling people" instead.
But this doesn't look imposing enough...

Just then, I heard a few whimpering sounds.

Zhang Chengdao looked in the direction of the sound and found that it was Xiao Li chasing butterflies under the peach tree in the yard.

Perhaps because it ate so well and was spared from wind and rain, the little raccoon was raised with glossy fur. Its orange-red fur shimmered like satin in the sunlight, and its huge, fluffy tail swung back and forth carefree.

I really want to find it a job!

In an instant, another "evil" thought sprouted in Zhang Chengdao's mind.

"Little Tanuki! Come here!"

Zhang Chengdao called out softly a few times, summoning the little fox that was chasing butterflies over.

Because the little fox lived in an environment rich in spiritual energy for a long time and was forced to listen to scriptures and lessons every day (even though it couldn't understand them), although it couldn't compare to Sandy in terms of having awakened its intelligence, it was still much smarter than ordinary animals. It could not only understand human speech, but also perform simple thinking and responses.

After Zhang Chengdao called Xiaoli over, the first thing he did was to pry open its mouth and feed it a portion of [Immortal Dew].

Although the little fox didn't eat grass, seeing Zhang Chengdao insisting that it eat, it had no choice but to chew it cowardly and bewilderedly, and swallow the fairy dew grass with fairy dew.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but the little raccoon that ate the "Fairy Dew" does seem to be less silly.

So Zhang Chengdao tentatively said to it, "I'll ask you to do something in a little while, which is to make you bigger and then carry Ye Shuyun to the capital."

"Don't be afraid. I'm not asking you to run. I'm using my immortal power to lift you up and fly you in the sky. You don't need to do anything. Just listen to Ye Shuyun after you land. When I lift you up again with my immortal power, you can just run a few steps like you would on the ground. Do you understand?"

(End of this chapter)