When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

Master Zhiyue nimbly jumped down from the tree.

She was dressed in a simple dark blue cloth shirt and trousers, with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, and she landed without making a sound.

"Suck, suck, suck." Master Zhiyue squatted down and pouted at Chu Xianlan.

Chu Xianlan: "..."

Undeterred by her failure to flirt with her grand-disciple, she turned her attention to her disciple.

"Hiss hiss hiss." Master Zhiyue stood up and waved to Yi Chen in the distance.

Yi Chen: "…………"

Master Zhiyue clicked his tongue and muttered loudly, "This indifferent sect is truly disheartening; they don't welcome me back at all."

Chu Xianlan realized what was happening, knelt on one knee, and greeted him respectfully.

"Welcome, Grandmaster."

Speechless as I may be, I still can't neglect my manners.

Even if Master Zhiyue appears to be approachable on the surface, he possesses absolutely terrifying strength at the late Mahayana stage, just one step away from the Tribulation stage.

The few moves he made during his exchange with Yi Chen just now were clearly just for fun.

If she were to get serious, a single, casual strike of her sword would be enough to slice the entire mountain peak where the Jade Capital Pavilion is located in two.

The true sect leader of the Taiyi Sect travels around all year round, and her whereabouts are unpredictable. She has returned to the Taiyi Sect only a handful of times in recent years. Unless she takes the initiative to return, she is completely unknown.

Looking around at the ruined courtyard, Chu Xianlan felt a pang of desolation and asked with a headache, "Grandmaster, Master, why...why did you...why did you start fighting?"

"Well, I'm sparring with your master."

Master Zhiyue smiled guiltily and looked at Yi Chen, who still had a cold face.

She was really annoyed. She had finally managed to come back, only to find that there wasn't a single living person in the Jade Capital Pavilion. On a whim, she decided to give her disciple a surprise. So, on a second whim, she concealed her presence, and finally, on a third whim, she unleashed two bolts of lightning to blow up the place.

The apprentice seemed to be in a bad mood, and surprisingly, he silently retaliated by striking back.

After all, it had been a long time since the master and disciple had sparred, and Master Zhiyue was itching to get his hands dirty, so he casually exchanged a few moves.

Who knew that once the fight started, it would get out of control...

Well, the scene got a little bit more intense.

Perhaps Chu Xianlan's bitter face was too obvious, so Master Zhiyue coughed, took out his storage pouch, and poured it out with a clatter.

Colorful refining materials were scattered all over the ground.

Frosty Ice Soul, Crimson Fire Refined Gold, Seven-Colored Fluorite, Jadeite... each one is brimming with spiritual energy and priceless.

Chu Xianlan's eyes lit up, and instantly her headache and backache disappeared, and she felt energetic all over.

However, one should still maintain a certain level of composure on the surface.

As he reached into his robes with his paws, he turned his head shyly and said, "Grandmaster, these are too precious, isn't this inappropriate..."

"To be honest, Grandmaster loves seeing your money-grubbing slyness, just like me," Master Zhiyue smiled slightly, taking Chu Xianlan's wrist with satisfaction to check her cultivation level. "Almost at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm? Not bad, hmm? Wait a minute..."

Master Zhiyue looked at Chu Xianlan with surprise.

"...You've found a cultivation partner? Why are you bound with a wicked dual cultivation Gu?"

Chu Xianlan was startled.

"Little Orchid, while this thing may be beneficial for cultivation, the risks are far greater! You young people should be careful when choosing a partner! Don't just tie yourself to this deadly thing!"

Chu Xianlan felt a chill run down her spine.

"Who is this person? What is their cultivation level? What is their character like? Did you discuss this properly before binding them with the Gu? What if your relationship breaks down later? Removing the Gu is a very troublesome matter!"

Chu Xianlan completely lost her composure: Grandmaster, what are you saying?!

Master is still listening in the background!

"No, please listen to me..."

"Wait, you don't have a Daoist partner contract on you at all! Oh dear, you usually seem quite clever, how could you make such a mistake on such an important matter! Can you just tie a Gu gu tether like that? How deep and unwavering must the feelings be to dare to do this? Could it be that you've been deceived by an old fox? Talk to your master, your master will stand up for you—"

"Grandmaster!!"

Chu Xianlan finally found an opening and interrupted her, her face flushed, "That's not how it is! This Gu was just an accident!"

The Master Zhiyue, being fiercely protective of his own, immediately darkened his face, and small lightning bolts crackled from his palms.

"An accident? Let's see who dares to say that! Which bastard is it?!"

"it's me."

Yi Chen walked over at some point and stood beside the two of them, speaking calmly.

The air was quiet.

"Smack."

The spark in Master Zhiyue's hand exploded briefly before going out.

She is stupid.

Chu Xianlan was also shocked. Her master just admitted it like that? Wasn't it supposed to be best to keep it a secret from the outside world?

However, with the Grandmaster's cultivation level, which allows him to see through everything with a mere touch... concealing it wouldn't be effective.

"you……"

Master Zhiyue frowned, swallowed hard, his expression blank for a moment, then pressed his hand to his temple to calm himself down.

"Forget it, I'm too old to understand you young people... It's not that it's impossible," she murmured, then immediately shook her head. "No, no, it's not really possible, after all, Yi Chen... sigh, but two men can't cause any real death, so do as you please..."

Now, Chu Xianlan knew without even having to guess.

There's been another misunderstanding.

Perhaps because there were so many people spreading rumors about him and his master these days, Chu Xianlan had developed some immunity and was not very surprised. Instead, she felt a sense of sorrow welling up from the bottom of her heart.

By now.

He has a clear understanding of his own position: from afar, he is a great traitor; up close, he is a great traitor; upon closer inspection, he is a great traitor; and upon further inspection, he is a great traitor.

It was impossible to expect his master to explain, so Chu Xianlan braced herself and roughly recounted the cause and effect.

Only when talking about Xie Qingying did he gloss over the details, omitting some unspeakable aspects.

"In short, please don't misunderstand, Grandmaster! My relationship with Master is not like that, and it's impossible for it to develop into that kind of situation. We will always just be ordinary master and disciple," Chu Xianlan said in one breath, emphasizing seriously, "Once the Gu is removed, everything will return to normal."

The Master Pointing at the Moon blinked.

"oh."

She responded with a sound of agreement, her expression unreadable, and asked Yi Chen, "Really?"

Yi Chen: "Mm."

Zhiyue Zhenren: Why does this little snake look so grumpy, and why is it answering so reluctantly?

But she was too lazy to investigate that much; she just needed to know that her grand-disciple hadn't been deceived.

Later, Chu Xianlan took Hua Ling to the back mountain to find a place to settle down and clean up the mess in the courtyard. Yi Chen noticed that his master hadn't left and asked, "Why did you suddenly come back?"

Master Zhiyue sighed, the relaxed expression on his face fading away. "The world is probably going to be in turmoil."

Yi Chen's eyes flashed, and he poured her a cup of tea.

Master Zhiyue glanced at the cup of tea, pursed his lips, casually tossed it out the window, and pulled out a flask of wine from his sleeve, filling his own cup.

"The palace has developed a new method for dealing with half-demon, and it is said to be very effective."

Yi Chen said, "Thousand-Condensed Cold Iron."

"Hmm, you already know that," Master Zhiyue yawned and continued, "Ever since the last half-demon chaos, the human race and the demon race have made an agreement that every ten years, they will hold a meeting to discuss those trivial matters, and also to let the disciples of various sects broaden their horizons and hold an exchange meeting."

"Normally, the demon race would send at most a few envoys to the meeting, but this time is different," Master Zhiyue took a sip of wine, his tone becoming serious, "The demon lord of the Northern Underworld will come in person."