Chapter 77
Tongning City.
Inside the city stood a medical clinic overflowing with patients seeking treatment.
The reason was simple—Elder Chunfeng resided there.
No matter how severe the illness or how stubborn the chronic condition, once Elder Chunfeng personally examined someone and prescribed medicine, that person could practically be dragged back from the gates of death.
At that moment, a question-and-answer session was taking place in the clinic's rear courtyard.
The one asking the questions was an elderly man with white hair and a youthful face. The one answering was a young man standing respectfully before him.
Faced with one difficult question after another, the young man replied fluently and without hesitation, gradually easing the stern expression on the elder's face into a faint smile.
This old man was none other than the famed Elder Chunfeng himself—the legendary physician whose medical skills were unmatched.
In Tongning City, he was practically a living symbol. The city's prosperity owed no small part to him.
"Today's questions were merely foundational knowledge. Being able to answer them doesn't mean much." Elder Chunfeng's expression straightened again, instantly reverting to the severe demeanor of a strict teacher. "Do not become arrogant. And don't let success get to your head."
The young man immediately bowed.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior."
"Still calling me 'Senior'?" Elder Chunfeng glared at him. "Didn't we already agree? If you passed my test, I would accept you."
The young man lifted his head slightly, shame flickering across his face.
"Disciple..."
Elder Chunfeng raised a hand and cut him off. The old man's posture carried an effortless authority.
"I said that after you made amends, I would consider taking you in. I do not go back on my word." He snorted lightly. "You passed the test. That proves you haven't neglected your medical studies all these years. Since that's the case, why shouldn't I give you another chance?"
The young man's expression instantly turned solemn. "This disciple greets Master."
Only then did Elder Chunfeng nod in satisfaction.
After leaving the room, the young man looked up at the bright sky overhead.
Sunlight poured down warmly across the courtyard.
He slowly exhaled a breath that seemed to have been trapped in his chest for years.
For the first time in a very long while, he felt at peace.
He had finally come back.
But just as he passed through the moon gate, he ran directly into a group of people.
The man leading them wore a braid and looked him up and down with unconcealed contempt.
"Well, well. Looks like our genius has returned to his old profession." His lips curled mockingly. "What a surprise. Back then, you shattered Master's heart over a woman. And now you still have the nerve to come back?"
The others immediately burst into snide laughter.
The young man frowned in disgust at their expressions.
"That's none of your concern." His voice turned cold. "Master has already accepted me as his disciple. We'll settle matters properly from now on."
The braided man's expression stiffened instantly.
The others looked no better.
Ever since this person returned and knelt outside the clinic begging for forgiveness—and Elder Chunfeng had actually given him a chance—they had known this day would eventually come.
They just hadn't expected it to arrive so quickly.
The young man walked past them without sparing them another glance.
Elder Chunfeng had never accepted disciples his entire life. Only in his later years had he finally shown intent to take one in.
Though these people were nominally handyman disciples, in truth they were all candidates competing for that single spot.
And before his expulsion, he had been the one Elder Chunfeng valued most.
Which was precisely why he became the biggest threat in everyone else's eyes.
So they carefully orchestrated a honey trap, exploiting his emotional weakness and successfully driving him out of the clinic.
Thinking about it now, resentment surged uncontrollably through his chest.
A bunch of despicable schemers.
If he hadn't returned so suddenly, he might still have remained in the dark forever.
The woman he believed he loved had merely been a pawn they pushed forward.
Buzz—
The young man's ears twitched.
He immediately took out a communication array plate from his storage bag. The moment he saw the sender's name, the frost in his expression softened unconsciously.
It was Shen Lijun.
If he had never met Shen Lijun, he probably would have continued walking down the wrong road—resenting the wrong people, retaliating against the wrong people, even getting manipulated and framed without realizing it.
"What could be so urgent?"
He quickly cast a spell into the array plate.
White light bloomed across its surface, and Shen Lijun's voice immediately rang out from the other side.
"So what exactly should I call you?"
A pause.
"Senior Chunfeng? Or Elder Chunfeng's handyman disciple?"
With every sentence, the young man's expression stiffened further until he looked almost petrified.
"Say something!" Shen Lijun snapped coldly. "The spirit stones consumed by this array plate are expensive. I don't have time to sit here waiting for you. If you don't want to talk, then our friendship ends today. Don't contact me again. And don't bother with excuses—I'm not listening."
The young man silently let out a breath of relief instead.
At least Shen Lijun was willing to confront him.
If the other party had simply gone silent and ignored him completely, then there truly would have been no room left to salvage things.
He didn't want to lose this friend.
"What do you want to know?" he asked quietly.
"It's not about what I want to know." Shen Lijun's tone sharpened immediately. "It's about what you lied to me about! If I hadn't found out myself, were you planning to keep fooling me forever? Treating me like an idiot?"
This was serious.
The young man hurriedly explained, "No! I didn't deliberately hide it from you. There were reasons back then. I impersonated Master at first, and later..."
He hesitated. "Later I wanted to tell you the truth, but I couldn't bring myself to do it."
Shen Lijun listened in silence.
He knew the other party was probably sincere.
But deception was still deception.
"Explain everything first," Shen Lijun said coldly. "Then I'll decide whether you deserve forgiveness."
The young man's nerves tightened again.
"My name is Xia Youfang," he began. "I used to be Elder Chunfeng's handyman disciple. Because Master valued me highly, the others ostracized me and plotted to drive me out of the clinic."
His voice carried obvious bitterness, as though recalling a painful wound.
Shen Lijun might not have realized it consciously, but hearing this still made him instinctively indignant on Xia Youfang's behalf.
As Xia Youfang continued explaining, Shen Lijun occasionally nodded.
None of it contradicted what he already knew.
"...It wasn't until I met you that I finally woke up, Brother Lijun." Xia Youfang's tone turned sincere. "I should thank you. Otherwise, I never would've escaped the shadow of heartbreak."
Shen Lijun blinked in confusion. "What are you thanking me for?"
They had never really discussed their respective failed romances in detail before. Comfort each other?
If anything, it was usually him venting while the other party listened.
A bad feeling suddenly crept up Shen Lijun's spine.
Then Xia Youfang spoke again. "Brother Lijun, I used to be just like you—loving someone I could never have. I was even forced to leave the clinic because of it. For years, I couldn't let that woman go."
"But later, after seeing your relentless pursuit of your beloved..." Xia Youfang sighed emotionally. "I started asking myself whether I could ever be as shamelessly persistent as you are. Gradually, I finally let it go."
Shen Lijun: "..."
That was absolutely an insult.
Their friendship was over.
Wendao Sect, Cangtian Peak.
After receiving a telepathic summons from her master, Lou Yuqing hurried to the palace hall.
The moment she entered, she spotted two figures inside.
"Master, your disciple has arrived!"
Zixiao Immortal Venerable nodded calmly.
Lou Yuqing glanced at the other person beside him.
The man wore a black mask that covered his entire face. The mask resembled a dragon's head, complete with two upward-curving horns, radiating a domineering and arrogant aura.
But that wasn't the important part.
For some reason, the figure looked strangely familiar.
Lou Yuqing tilted her head, studying him carefully.
Then realization struck.
"Senior Brother Gu?" she blurted out. "Is that you?"
"It's me." Gu Buqi nodded.
Lou Yuqing hesitated.
"Your old injury still hasn't healed?" she asked cautiously. "Why are you wearing a mask? I almost didn't recognize you."
Gu Bugai: "..."
He could tell what his junior sister was thinking.
She was obviously worried his face might split open again at any second.
"It's fine now," he said helplessly.
He reached up and removed the dragon-head mask, revealing an entirely intact handsome face beneath it.
Even more surprising—his expression wasn't as cold and stiff as usual anymore.
Lou Yuqing stared at him for a while before finally relaxing.
"Then why wear the mask?" Her eyes darted around mischievously before she grinned. "Don't tell me... it's just because you think it looks cool?"
Gu Buqi sighed.
There were certain things he simply couldn't explain.
A few days ago, after gathering the necessary materials, he began refining his avatar body. Three sleepless days and nights later, he finally fixed the problem of the distorted face and even eliminated the facial paralysis.
Unfortunately...
A brand-new issue appeared.
For absolutely no reason whatsoever, the avatar's face would randomly start crying.
Completely out of nowhere.
The mask was purely a defensive measure to stop people from mistaking him for some mentally unstable cultivator.
Zixiao Immortal Venerable gave a light cough, smoothly redirecting the topic.
"Disciple."
Lou Yuqing immediately straightened.
"Master, please instruct me."
"There's no need to be nervous." Zixiao Immortal Venerable smiled gently. "I called you here today because I intend for you to participate in the Seven Sects Joint Competition."
He looked at her with clear satisfaction. "Your cultivation has advanced rapidly. I'm very pleased."
Lou Yuqing froze.
"But... the disciples participating are all at least Foundation Establishment cultivators," she said honestly. "I'm only at the eighth level of Qi Refining right now. I'm still short of a breakthrough."
"That isn't a problem." Zixiao Immortal Venerable casually produced a bottle of spiritual liquid. "I prepared this for you long ago. With your Immaculate Body, the absorption efficiency will be twice that of ordinary cultivators. Reaching Foundation Establishment won't take long."
Then he added earnestly, "You lack practical experience. The Seven Sects Joint Competition is the perfect opportunity for training. Talented juniors from all seven sects will gather there. A little tempering now will greatly benefit you later."
After disciples of the Wendao Sect reached Foundation Establishment, the sect enforced a strict rule—at minimum, they had to complete one mission every two years.
If they failed to accept a mission in time, the sect would assign one forcibly.
Lou Yuqing knew this rule well.
Obediently, she accepted the spiritual liquid.
Then she sat cross-legged inside the spirit-gathering array her master had prepared and drank the entire bottle in one gulp.
Boom—
Spiritual energy flooded into her body like a raging ocean tide, surging through every meridian and cleansing her entire body.
Pain instantly flashed across the girl's face.
Zixiao Immortal Venerable subconsciously lifted his hand—then paused midway.
A soft sigh escaped him.
He abandoned the impulse to suppress the evil energy on behalf of his little disciple.
He continuously reminded himself that she was under his protection and nothing could possibly happen to her.
Even so, his heart refused to settle for even a moment.
Inside her consciousness, Lou Yuqing felt like a tiny boat trapped in a violent storm at sea.
The waves roared endlessly.
Dark clouds swallowed the sky.
Rain crashed down in torrents.
Water flooded the boat faster than she could scoop it away. Eventually, the fragile vessel could no longer bear the burden and was completely swallowed by the boundless ocean.
Then—a slender figure suddenly shot into the heavens.
Like a streak of light, she tore through the violent storm and pierced the thick clouds overhead.
Golden sunlight instantly poured down from above, illuminating the entire sea.
Bathed in the radiant light, the girl's resolute face shone brilliantly.
Lou Yuqing abruptly opened her eyes.
A long cry burst from her lips as the aura of the Foundation Establishment Realm exploded outward.
Breakthrough successful.
"Tomorrow is the Seven Sects Joint Competition. Thankfully, you didn't miss it." Zixiao Immortal Venerable smiled warmly.
He had planned the timing carefully from the very beginning.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, his little disciple would definitely make it in time for the competition.
"Your disciple has not failed Master's expectations," Lou Yuqing replied, feeling slightly excited herself.
Disciples from seven different sects...
that sounded incredibly lively.
Just then, Zixiao Immortal Venerable suddenly looked toward the void, as though sensing something.
"The people from the Hundred Spirits Sect," he said calmly, "have arrived ahead of schedule."