Sect Leader! Please strengthen our Dao Sect!

"Remember what I told you."

"Your talent is your greatest asset, but it will also be your greatest calamity in the future."

Especially given your personality, your future path is destined to be anything but peaceful; you can't expect someone to protect you forever.

Shen Shanshui earnestly advised Tang Yan, knowing he couldn't change the boy's nature and could only offer him more advice.

Tang Yan's initial excitement gradually faded, and he looked at his master with great solemnity.

In this world, perhaps only Tang Xiao and Shen Shanshui truly cared for him. Therefore, Tang Yan respected Shen Shanshui from the bottom of his heart.

"One day, it won't be my master protecting me again! It will be me, Tang Yan, protecting my master and the Heavenly Dao Sect!"

The voice was firm and powerful, without the slightest hint of affectation; it was Tang Yan's true feeling at that moment.

"Oh……"

"Hahaha……"

Shen Shanshui first gave a soft hum, and then felt a strange sense of joy and clarity in his heart!

Shen Shanshui had said something similar to his master, but unfortunately Shen Qingfeng didn't live to see him break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

"I believe in you!"

With just that one sentence left behind, Shen Shanshui disappeared from Tang Yan's sight.

……

……

The winter snow melts, and another year of beautiful scenery begins.

"Little fatty, are you slacking off again?"

Shen Lingxi and Qian Duoduo, who were forced into seclusion by Shen Shanshui, have finally seen the light of day again.

Shen Lingxi has successfully broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, and is now only one step away from reaching the Foundation Establishment stage after Qi Refining is perfected.

Qian Duoduo also unleashed tremendous potential, unexpectedly reaching the peak of the second level of Refining Myself, far ahead of his fellow disciples of the same period.

This year of arduous training even transformed Qian Duoduo from a chubby man weighing over 200 pounds into a handsome young man with a proper physique.

"Junior Uncle, I'm not fat anymore."

Qian Duoduo felt very wronged. He was quite satisfied with his current figure, but he was also particularly bothered by his past as an obese person.

"Moreover, this body-strengthening technique can only improve muscles and bones, and it is not very effective for geniuses like me."

Qian Duoduo's words struck a nerve with the other disciples who were practicing body tempering techniques.

Among them, apart from Li Qinggang who is at the second level of Qi Refining, the others are still hovering at the first level of Qi Refining.

Who knew that Qian Duoduo would go into seclusion for a year and emerge far ahead of them?

Is so-called "secluded retreat and ascetic practice" really that effective? Shouldn't they also apply for such a retreat?

"Tch, back then, my senior brother..."

Before Shen Lingxi could even speak, everyone knew what their junior uncle was about to say.

They had seen through this ridiculously young junior uncle. He was nothing but a braggart to become the sect leader!

However, the sect leader and junior uncle's cultivation speed is indeed heaven-defying, and they really can't refute it.

"Alright, Junior Uncle, I'll practice, okay?"

Qian Duoduo sighed and had no choice but to continue practicing the incredibly difficult body-tempering technique.

"That's more like it! Diligence is the ladder to a cultivator's progress!"

Shen Lingxi shook his head and taught his junior disciples in the tone of his senior brother.

Having been forced into rigorous cultivation for two and a half years, Shen Lingxi was incredibly bored and now, after emerging from seclusion, she was looking for fun everywhere.

After acting as an elder for a while, Shen Lingxi immediately leaped towards the mountaintop.

Shen Shanshui, who was cultivating, sensed his junior sister's arrival and opened his eyes early.

In a short while, a soft, delicate body rushed into his arms.

Smelling the girl's faint fragrance, Shen Shanshui, annoyed, subconsciously wanted to gently pat Shen Lingxi's round, perky buttocks.

But he stopped halfway through the swing and instead tapped the other person on the head.

"You're all grown up now, how can you still be so ill-mannered?"

Shen Shanshui scolded him irritably, but his eyes were full of tenderness and doting.

In the blink of an eye, the little girl who used to follow him around like a sticky rice dumpling, impossible to shake off, and who would only call him "senior brother," has now grown into a graceful young lady.

"whee."

Shen Lingxi chuckled foolishly, lingering in the warmth of her senior brother's embrace, and even squeezed herself closer.

"Nonsense!"

Seeing that Lingxi was going too far, Shen Shanshui finally became a little angry!

Shen Lingxi didn't dare to push her luck too much, so she reluctantly stood up and lowered her head to fidget with her fingers.

"Senior brother, I've reached the ninth level of Qi Refining..."

"Well, so what? Isn't this what should be done?"

Shen Shanshui glanced at his junior sister with annoyance. Even though he was happy for her breakthrough again, he resolutely refused to give her a kind look.

This kind of strictness is necessary to deal with this girl; otherwise, she'll become arrogant and overconfident if given even a little bit of sunshine.

Seeing her senior brother's indifference, Shen Lingxi raised her head and said defiantly, "I... I'll be able to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage soon too!"

"So what? With your talent, isn't this what you should be doing?"

Shen Shanshui rolled her eyes at the other person, then slowly got up and walked out of the hall.

Seeing this, Shen Lingxi stomped her feet in anger. Her senior brother was getting more and more annoying. They hadn't seen each other for so long, yet he didn't say he missed her.

Standing atop the mountain, gazing at the swirling clouds on the horizon, Shen Shanshui's Taoist robe fluttered slightly, and a gentle breeze ruffled his hair.

Just in the direction of his gaze, a figure strolled down from the clouds, cupping his hands in greeting from afar, saying, "Fellow Daoist, it's time to set off!"

……

……

On the Cangnan River, aboard the treasure ship.

For the past two weeks, numerous treasure ships have been traveling back and forth on the Cangnan River, carrying cultivators dressed in uniform attire of various colors, along with their young disciples.

The various immortal sects came in response to the summons. For this competition of the Immortal Treasure Tournament, Jiangnan Prefecture specially dispatched a batch of treasure ships to transport the disciples of the immortal sects, and the expenses were all paid by the prefecture.

"Master, the security in Qingyang County is surprisingly good, unlike other counties where you can always see troublemaking rogue cultivators at the ferry crossings."

The disciples of the immortal sects who came from downstream on the treasure ship couldn't help but sigh when they saw that the vendors and pedestrians at the Qingyang County ferry were all in good order and strictly followed the rules.

In places like ferry crossings, where all sorts of people mingle and there's a high volume of traffic, petty theft is common.

Some rogue cultivators, relying on their cultivation level, act with even greater impunity. They even bully vendors and extort protection money from them.

In contrast, Qingyang County is orderly and a breath of fresh air.

"Hehe, you juniors only cultivate in the immortal sects and don't go out in the mortal world, so of course you don't know."

The older, middle-aged cultivator chuckled and began to recount the illustrious reputation of the magistrate of Qingyang County to his younger disciples.

"Among the twenty-one counties of Jiangnan Prefecture, Qingyang County is not well-known because it lacks registered immortal sects and few young cultivators of this generation come here."

"When I was young, I accepted a bounty from the government for a wanted man. That madman was extremely cunning. I chased him all the way to Qingyang County, but I was tricked and nearly killed by him."

As the middle-aged cultivator spoke, his heart pounded a little harder, likely because he was recalling that life-or-death crisis and couldn't help but feel anxious.

……