Watching the Mountain

Yue Qingyu smiled gently at Xu Ran’s expression. "You really can be more confident about that, Junior Brother."

Then, her tone shifted. "With you training Jiang Nian, I’m sure everyone at Spirit Stream Peak can finally rest easy."

Xu Ran waved his hand. "I’m the one who should be thanking them for being willing to let me have a disciple as talented and upstanding as Jiang Nian."

He was speaking from the heart. In the Cultivation Realm, genius disciples were a hot commodity. Who wouldn’t want to experience what the Old Sect Leader, Taihua True Monarch, had felt? To show off to everyone they met by saying, "My disciple is Yue Qingyu."

Yue Qingyu chuckled softly. "With a Shennong like you around, Junior Brother, no one has the confidence to snatch such a disciple from your grasp. More importantly, they were worried they might hold a child like Jiang Nian back."

Xu Ran nodded slightly. ’That may be true,’ he thought, ’but it also speaks to the sense of responsibility of the Spirit Plant Masters on Spirit Stream Peak.’ They were able to put themselves in Jiang Nian’s shoes and truly consider his future. Anyone else wouldn’t have cared whether they were holding him back or not; they would have just snatched up such a talented disciple first and worried about the rest later.

In that regard, the culture of the Profound Pure Sect had always been quite good.

"Junior Brother, will you continue to walk the path of a Spirit Plant Master?" Yue Qingyu asked.

Xu Ran pondered for a moment before replying, "I expect so. However, I’m currently researching something else. It’s a rather difficult problem, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make any headway. So it might be in the distant future before I have the chance to return to the path of the Spirit Plant Master."

He had recently been researching the malady afflicting the world, but he didn’t have a single lead yet.

"What are you researching, Junior Brother?" Yue Qingyu asked, her curiosity piqued.

Xu Ran shook his head slightly and chuckled. "I’ll tell you once I have something to show for it, Senior Sister. It would be pretty embarrassing to end up with nothing to show for all my efforts."

Yue Qingyu looked at him intently, her tone serious. "In that case, I will look forward to your results, Junior Brother."

Xu Ran smiled faintly and replied in a soft voice, "I’ll do my best."

Although he had no results yet in his research on the malady, he had thought of a possible direction.

Since this malady was the result of a curse upon the world—a curse woven from the collective belief of all living beings within a Secret Realm, or rather, another world entirely—he knew he had to start his research with the power of belief itself.

However, something like belief was far too ethereal and illusory. He didn’t understand it.

But then he had an idea: perhaps he could start with the power of the mind.

And among all the people he had ever met, the one with the deepest understanding of mind-based power was, without a doubt, Teacher Qing Xuan.

The Cultivation Technique Teacher Qing Xuan had created was entirely mind-based. Strength, weakness, even one’s Cultivation Realm—it all began with the mind.

He was currently studying Teacher Qing Xuan’s Cultivation Technique, and to that end, he had specifically sought out his old teacher for guidance.

Teacher Qing Xuan’s Cultivation Technique was simply too esoteric. Whether one could grasp it depended entirely on the individual. For some, it was exceedingly simple; for others, it was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Xu Ran was clearly not suited for this Cultivation Technique. He could only try to brute-force his way through it, pestering Teacher Qing Xuan with questions tirelessly.

As a result, after several hundred years, he was once again experiencing what it felt like to be scolded by a stern-faced Teacher Qing Xuan.

And this time, Teacher Qing Xuan was even stricter than before.

Xu Ran could understand his teacher’s reaction. ’As my student, you’re actually dumber now than you were before when learning my Cultivation Technique? What is the meaning of this? Is my technique really that difficult?’

In any case, whenever Teacher Qing Xuan scolded him, Xu Ran would simply lower his head and listen obediently—just as he had done hundreds of years ago in the Instructor Hall on Spirit Stream Peak. He was quite experienced at this.

Teacher Qing Xuan was only strict on the surface; deep down, he was very gentle. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so patiently and tirelessly guiding Xu Ran, especially knowing full well that Xu Ran was unsuited for the technique and would never actually practice it.

He never even asked why.

’With a teacher like him,’ Xu Ran could only think, ’no matter how old I get, I will always be his student.’

When facing his scoldings, Xu Ran could only take them obediently, never once talking back.

*

*

*

Considering that Luo Qianxue’s Jade Radiance Immortal Sect would be relocating to Cyan Cloud County in a few decades, Li Daoyi and his friends decided to challenge the Demon Race’s Five Young Demon Saints one more time before they had to part ways with Luo Qianxue.

They had never forgotten their previous defeat.

More importantly, the Demon Court had been making more and more moves recently, causing growing concern throughout the Immortal Ancient Cultivation Realm. The Demon Court had also tightened its defenses, leaving the human cultivators no opportunity to gather intelligence.

Therefore, Li Daoyi and his friends planned to use another challenge as a pretext to venture deep into the Demon Court. Even if they couldn’t gather much intelligence, they could at least see for themselves how the Demon Race had changed over the years.

Even Xu Ran was stunned by their decision. These three young people were truly fearless, daring to even consider something as reckless as infiltrating the heart of the Demon Race’s territory.

They didn’t just think about it, either. They actually contacted the Five Young Demon Saints. After their last battle, the three of them had earned their opponents’ respect, and the saints had given them a Communication Jade Talisman.

The Demon Court’s Five Young Demon Saints agreed to the duel, but with one condition: the three of them had to break through to the Purple Mansion Stage within thirty years. If they failed to meet this deadline, they would forfeit their right to a challenge.

This was because the saints themselves were currently being taught by the Lord of the Demon Court and were certain to reach the Purple Mansion Stage within that timeframe.

Li Daoyi’s trio agreed without the slightest hesitation.

They didn’t make the matter public. After arranging the duel, they each focused on their cultivation.

The only reason Xu Ran found out about it was because the group intended to bring Lu Mingchen along again, just as they had last time.

When Lu Mingchen heard they were going into the territory of the Demon Race, he was terrified and refused to go, no matter what they said.

Xu Ran happened to be there at the time, watching them try their hardest to coax and cajole the simple, honest Lu Mingchen into going with them to the lands of the Demon Race.

Watching Lu Mingchen clutch his head, refusing for dear life, Xu Ran grew pensive. ’How can I raise my grand-disciple’s strength?’

’It won’t do for him to lag so far behind Li Daoyi and the others.’