Immortality begins with raising apprentices

Chapter 84 Please Begin Foundation Establishment (Chapter 9 & 10 combined)

wrong!

Chen Ye only realized this belatedly.

Qingjun's talent has not yet been revealed, and she is no different from an ordinary girl. How could she possibly arouse the covetousness of the demonic cultivators of the Crossing Love Sect?

It's impossible for a demonic cultivator to sneak into the market while severely injured just to kidnap a seemingly ordinary little girl!

This makes no sense at all!
Seeing Chen Ye's changing expression, Li Qiuyun casually said in a somewhat formulaic tone:
"Or perhaps it got lost? Fellow Daoist Chen, although there was indeed a demonic cultivator behind the scenes stirring up trouble regarding the demonic beast, this demonic cultivator is extremely cunning and seriously injured. He has long since fled to the depths of the Three Thousand Mountains and there is absolutely no way he is still staying in Yunxifang."

She paused, then added, her tone tinged with disdain:

"The neighborhood is a mixed bag, with at most a few greedy rogue cultivators who are secretly involved with demonic cultivators. They can't amount to much."

Her words were unintentional, yet they brought Chen Ye sudden clarity!
Qingjun always stayed at home, rarely going out, and never showed any extraordinary qualities to outsiders.

Even if that female demon cultivator wanted to find a furnace or a child with a special physique, she couldn't possibly lock onto Qingjun from a distance!
The most likely scenario is that these are rogue cultivators who secretly collude with demonic cultivators and kidnap people for them!

Chen Ye remembers it very clearly.
Someone had contacted him before, wanting to buy his apprentice.

"Who is that rogue cultivator who kidnapped Qingjun?"

Chen Ye's heart sank, and his mind raced through a list of suspicious individuals.

"How could this person have kidnapped Qingjun so quietly, without noticing Granny Li and Zhiwei? Although Bishui Street is not as bustling as the city center, it has many neighbors. If a stranger kidnaps someone, it's impossible for it to go unnoticed..."

Chen Ye's gaze swept over his own small courtyard, then looked at the tightly closed gate of Granny Li's house next door.

"Unless the one who kidnapped Qingjun was not an outsider, but a neighbor?"

"It's also possible that Qingjun was just being playful and sneaked out while Zhiwei wasn't looking, only to be caught? If Qingjun went out on her own... that would explain why Zhiwei didn't notice. After all, even Luo Heng couldn't catch someone silently in front of her."

Chen Ye frowned, but quickly dismissed the idea.

Although Qingjun is lively, after experiencing all that she has gone through, she is far more wary and timid than her peers when it comes to the outside world, especially strangers.

Especially with monsters raging and chaos outside, there's absolutely no way she would run out on her own!

Chen Ye took a deep breath and looked at Li Qiuyun in front of him.

This female cultivator from the sect wore a crisp, sky-blue Daoist robe that accentuated her breathtakingly beautiful curves.

Her pretty face was full of heroic spirit, and she was always serious and rarely smiled.
But at this moment, his brows already showed obvious impatience.

Chen Ye didn't care about anything else; his tone was resolute.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I suspect that the one who kidnapped my disciple is a rogue cultivator who colludes with demonic cultivators!"

Li Qiuyun was taken aback, then sneered:
"Fellow Daoist Chen, are you perhaps confused by your haste? Why are you always thinking about how the demonic cultivators want to capture your disciple? She's just a mortal girl, most likely she's just lost... Never mind, I don't have time to waste with you."

Just then, several outer disciples who had just finished patrolling the surrounding area walked over.

Upon seeing Li Qiuyun and Chen Ye standing together, one of them grinned mischievously:

"Oh my, Senior Sister Li, are you catching up with this Senior Chen again? Tsk tsk, I think Uncle Bai's golden words will soon come true!"

Another disciple chimed in, "That's right, Senior Sister Li, when are you going to invite us to your wedding?"

These days, because of Bai Susu's joke, Li Qiuyun has been teased a lot among her fellow disciples.

Being brought up in public at this moment made her both ashamed and angry, her pretty face turning bright red.

She gave the jeering disciples a cold glare: "What nonsense are you spouting! If you dare to talk nonsense again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Seeing that she was really angry, the disciples stuck out their tongues, laughed, and quickly left.

Li Qiuyun took a deep breath, suppressing her anger, and turned to look at Chen Ye, her tone becoming increasingly cold and impatient:
"Fellow Daoist Chen! I'll say it again: I sympathize with your disciple's disappearance, but the sect has its own procedures for investigation! Your baseless accusations are baseless, so stop making trouble here and delaying our official duties!"

She found Chen Ye increasingly unpleasant to look at, and if it weren't for her duties, she would have stormed off long ago.

Chen Ye knew that empty words would not convince her.

He gritted his teeth, suddenly grabbed a handful of spirit stones from his storage bag—ten in total—and shoved them into Li Qiuyun's hand without a word!
Li Qiuyun was stunned by the sudden appearance of the spirit stone!
Ten spirit stones!

This is a considerable sum for an outer disciple like her who has no background.

She instinctively wanted to refuse, but then she felt the heavy spirit stone in her hand.

He quickly put it into his storage bag, his face still expressionless.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, what is the meaning of this? Are you perhaps trying to bribe a disciple of your sect?"

Seeing that she accepted the spirit stones, Chen Ye felt a little relieved, knowing that there was hope!
He quickly lowered his voice and said earnestly, "Fellow Daoist Li, you misunderstand! I had no such intention! I just wanted to ask if our sect has any methods for tracking demonic energy?"

In the cultivation world, there are many things that can be traced and tracked.

Since Zhiwei was able to detect demonic energy from Pingzhuo's corpse, perhaps the sect has a way to find him.

Upon hearing Chen Ye's request, Li Qiuyun felt as if the spirit stone in her hand was burning hot.

For the sake of the spirit stones, she said expressionlessly:

"Looking for something imbued with demonic energy? There is indeed a second-tier magic treasure called the Demon-Detecting Mirror in the market, which is managed by Protector Sun. Not long ago, another demonic cultivator perished because of this item... But this treasure requires a Foundation Establishment cultivator to activate it. How could a Foundation Establishment cultivator listen to your one-sided story and come looking for it personally?"

Chen Ye then slipped ten spirit stones into her hand.

"..."

Li Qiuyun was speechless when she saw the ten spirit stones that had appeared in her hand.

Twenty spirit stones!
This rogue cultivator... is actually so willing to spend money?!

Just for a mere mortal girl?
Li Qiuyun swallowed hard, forcing a smile onto her handsome, spirited face.
"Since you care so much for your disciple, I can inform him on your behalf. However, I cannot guarantee whether it will be successful or not."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye felt a glimmer of hope rekindle in his heart and quickly asked, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Li! I wonder if Steward Zhou Mingyuan is in the market? Steward Zhou is very knowledgeable, perhaps..."

Besides Li Qiuyun,
The person Chen Ye knew with the highest status in the Lingyin Sect was Zhou Mingyuan!
The two had discussed the art of spiritual plants in Luo Heng's warm pavilion.

Moreover, Zhou Mingyuan also valued Chen Ye highly.

Unfortunately, the two weren't very familiar with each other yet.

Because he rarely socialized, Chen Ye did not know whether he was still in Yunxifang.

After all, Zhou Mingyuan had come to Yunxi Fang with an inner disciple. Now that the inner disciple has returned to Lingyin Sect, Zhou Mingyuan should have gone back as well.

“Deacon Zhou?” Li Qiuyun nodded. “Because of this cold disaster, Deacon Zhou has been ordered to stay in Yunxi Fang temporarily. According to the regulations, he should be in the Internal Affairs Hall right now.”

"Then I'll trouble Fellow Daoist Li to take me to see Steward Zhou!"

Chen Ye was delighted to hear this. With Zhou Mingyuan speaking up for him, the possibility of getting a Foundation Establishment True Person to help was undoubtedly much greater.

Li Qiuyun glanced at him, but ultimately did not refuse. She turned around and led him toward the Hall of Internal Affairs.

The Inner Affairs Hall is located in the city center, where it is even more heavily guarded.

Before long, Li Qiuyun, steeling herself, led Chen Ye to Zhou Mingyuan amidst the strange looks of her fellow disciples.

After listening to Chen Ye's account, Zhou Mingyuan stroked his beard, his brows furrowed slightly, and a look of doubt appeared on his face.

He pondered for a moment and said, "This matter does sound rather strange. Ever since Protector Chang made his move and killed one demonic cultivator, the other one has long since fled. How could he possibly capture your disciple... If we can really use this to find out who the demonic cultivator is, it wouldn't be such a bad thing..."

He looked at Chen Ye with a scrutinizing gaze: "However, borrowing the Demon-Detecting Mirror is a serious matter, and we must consult Protector Sun, who is in charge of this treasure. If no evidence is found in the end, Fellow Daoist Chen, do you know the consequences?"

Chen Ye replied without hesitation, "I am willing to take full responsibility!"

Zhou Mingyuan gave him a deep look, and then recalled the exquisite spiritual plant techniques that this person had displayed at Yunshang Pavilion last time.

He nodded: "Very well, I, Zhou, will make this trip for you. Li Qiuyun!"

"Disciple is here!" Li Qiuyun said respectfully.

Zhou Mingyuan looked at her with a half-smile: "Given your personality, you wouldn't make a trip for someone for nothing, would you? Did you accept spirit stones from Fellow Daoist Chen?"

When Zhou Mingyuan exposed her in public, a hint of panic flashed across Li Qiuyun's cold face, and her ears burned slightly.

“Deacon Zhou, you are wise! This disciple…this disciple was only eager to see him, so I accepted the gift for now to put his mind at ease.”

Immediately, she turned around abruptly and, without saying a word, took the twenty spirit stones back from her storage bag and practically forced them back into Chen Ye's hand.

"Fellow Daoist Chen! These spirit stones are unreasonable and against the rules! Take them back!"

Li Qiuyun's face was cold and hard, but her heart was bleeding.

Chen Ye was somewhat bewildered.
What... what's going on? Spirit stones can be returned?

He intended to return it to Li Qiuyun, after all, this person had indeed put in a lot of effort for him.

But Li Qiuyun probably wouldn't accept it in front of Zhou Mingyuan...

Zhou Mingyuan saw all of this and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Li Qiuyun is as thin-skinned as ever...

But Zhou Mingyuan preferred to befriend Chen Ye rather than ordinary outer disciples.

Perhaps this is also a kind of mutual appreciation among plant cultivators.

He coughed lightly:
"Alright, since Fellow Daoist Chen is willing to bear the consequences, I, Zhou, will make the trip for you. As for whether Protector Sun will agree, that's up to fate."

After saying that, Zhou Mingyuan got up and walked quickly toward the depths of the Inner Affairs Hall.

Not long after, Zhou Mingyuan returned.

Accompanying him was an elderly man with a simple and profound appearance.

The old man had white hair and beard, and his every step exuded an imposing aura.

Is this the legendary Foundation Establishment True Person?

But to Chen Ye's surprise,
The man spoke in a very friendly tone, and even cracked a joke at Li Qiuyun's expense:

"Qiuyun, the last time we met was half a year ago, when you had just arrived in Yunxifang. Tsk tsk, back then you were still a naive little girl, often crying in the middle of the night wanting to go back to the sect..."

Li Qiuyun blushed and subconsciously bowed, but her tone remained as cold as ever:
“Protector Sun is joking. This disciple is on patrol as ordered and dares not slack off. Today’s matter concerns the whereabouts of the demonic cultivators. I urge the Protector to make a wise judgment.”

She skillfully steered the conversation back to the main topic, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"Hehe, you little rascal, you're still so easily teased."

Protector Sun shook his head, a hint of a smile flashing in his cloudy old eyes.

Only then did he turn his gaze to Chen Ye, who had been standing respectfully to the side.

The old man's gaze was calm, yet carried an invisible pressure: "So you are Chen Ye? Deacon Zhou said you discovered traces of demonic cultivators and wished to ask me to use the Demon-Detecting Mirror to trace them?"

Chen Ye's heart stirred, and he met the gaze of Steward Zhou, who smiled and nodded at Chen Ye.

Chen Ye immediately understood and realized Zhou's good intentions.

By cleverly transforming the disappearance of his disciple into the discovery of a demonic cultivator's trail, the sect's higher-ups would undoubtedly pay more attention.

After all, the disappearance of an ordinary girl might be insignificant in the eyes of these powerful figures.

However, if it involves demonic cultivators lurking and causing trouble, then it is a major event that will shake the foundation of the market and should not be underestimated.

Zhou Mingyuan is helping him without making a sound!
Chen Ye had been so anxious that he forgot to consider this point.

He quickly followed Protector Sun's words and respectfully replied:

"Reporting to Protector Sun! This junior has indeed discovered some suspicious traces! This junior has treated the sickly people of Donggou Valley many times. I vaguely sensed a trace of a similar aura on the corpse of a rogue cultivator. This junior dares not make a judgment, so I humbly request that Protector Sun use the precious mirror to determine its authenticity!"

After listening, Protector Sun shook his head: "Alas, you rogue cultivators are always on the lookout for trouble... If even a rogue cultivator like you can sense the aura of a demonic cultivator, then those two fiends from the Crossing Love Sect would have been dead long ago!"

Hearing the hidden dissatisfaction in the voice of a Foundation Establishment cultivator,
Chen Ye felt a chill run down his spine.

But soon,
The real person then leisurely recounted:
"But it's better to believe it exists than not! Why don't you lead the way? If we're too late, we won't be able to trace the origin of any magical treasures, let alone magic treasures!"

　This book has a light and cheerful tone.

　　I was so engrossed in coding that I started writing things out like a muscle reaction.

　　Don't worry, there's no violence or torture.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)