DDT - Chapter 157

Chapter 157: Immortal Venerable × Meow Meow Cat (12)

Immortal Venerable Qingyun returned without a sound. At the foot of Qingyun Peak, disciples from the other peaks of the Xianyuan Sect had gathered.

These disciples appeared furious, and many were muttering resentful words. On the night of the full moon, the disciples had arrived too late. The surge of spiritual energy that had attracted the spirit beasts was, in the opinion of most disciples, the kind that could only be produced by the emergence of a rare treasure. Spirit beasts were far more sensitive to spiritual energy, so it was only after noticing the beasts' strange behavior that the disciples sensed the commotion of a rare treasure appearing. The Xianyuan Sect had a rule, though not an especially strict one, that any rare treasure or immortal herb that appeared within the sect's jurisdiction had to be handed over to the management department. The sect master would then decide the use or destination of the newly emerged treasure or herb.

But the disciples had arrived too late. Aside from some fresh spirit beast bloodstains on the ground, indicating that a large number of beasts had recently gathered there, they saw nothing else.

The disciples from the other peaks of the Xianyuan Sect who had come to investigate still clung to a sliver of hope. A large group of them gathered at the foot of Qingyun Peak, hoping the rare treasure would make another move and point them in the right direction.

But they waited until dawn, and not only was there no fluctuation of spiritual energy from any rare treasure, they didn't even see a single spirit beast that should have been drawn by it.

As the sky gradually brightened, the disciples, having endured a full night of bone-chilling wind at the base of Qingyun Peak, had waited for nothing. An inexplicable feeling of being deceived welled up in their hearts. Disciples from the various peaks grumbled as they left Qingyun Peak. They started to think the treasure's appearance on the night of the full moon was just their imagination, perhaps the spirit beasts had simply grown restless, stimulated by the moon's spiritual energy.

However, just as the disciples from the various peaks returned to their respective mountains, they saw the devastation in the woods at the foot of their own peaks—a mess they had missed in their hurried departure, concealed by the night.

A jolt went through the disciples' hearts, and an ominous premonition arose. They stopped their leisurely, chattering walk and instead flew back on their swords.

The spiritual energy fluctuation on the night of the full moon was indeed not their imagination. Upon investigation, the disciples found that not only had the wild spirit beasts within the jurisdiction of the major peaks disappeared on a massive scale, but even the spirit beasts they had been raising on the mountains had gone berserk, broken through their formations, and vanished without a trace.

Those captive spirit beasts had all been captured by the disciples during their sect missions. One had to understand that capturing a wild spirit beast alive, without causing it excessive harm or fright, required immense skill and patience. After capturing them, the disciples had to painstakingly tame their wild nature and then keep them for breeding. Every single species of spirit beast was extremely important. They were categorized and raised within formations on each peak's territory, and the subsequent series of care and maintenance was a massive undertaking.

And yet, the spirit beasts that the disciples had painstakingly raised for so many years had vanished without a trace, all because of some inexplicable spiritual energy fluctuation from a rare treasure on Qingyun Peak. Not only were years of hard work gone, but the disciples responsible for refining and maintaining the formations annually had also received a scolding from their own peak masters. Even on Beast Taming Peak, which was usually meticulous in all aspects, the spirit beasts had inexplicably begun to self-mutilate, resulting in heavy casualties.

Therefore, the disciples, who had been reprimanded and had their cultivation resources penalized, couldn't stomach it. They banded together and came to Qingyun Peak to demand a reasonable explanation, or any explanation at all. It would be even better if the rare treasure could be handed over. Most importantly, they wanted to see if they could get compensation from the disciples of Qingyun Peak. After all, everyone knew that Qingyun Peak had the fewest disciples among the major peaks of the Xianyuan Sect, and that its disciples were the wealthiest in the entire sect. Yes, they were talking about the eldest disciple of Qingyun Peak, Yun Qian. Even with Immortal Venerable Qingyun taking on another personal disciple, the cultivation resources on Qingyun Peak were still innumerable. Since they had suffered heavy losses due to the fluctuations on Qingyun Peak, demanding a little compensation was not at all unreasonable.

On any other day, these low-ranking disciples would never have dared to come to Qingyun Peak and cause a ruckus. But now, the master of Qingyun Peak, Immortal Venerable Qingyun, was away on business and likely wouldn't be back for some time. As for the eldest disciple, Yun Qian, he had almost never appeared in public within the Xianyuan Sect. The disciples of the other peaks knew nothing about this Senior Brother Yun Qian. If he were a capable fighter, he would have made a name for himself in the annual inner sect competitions years ago. But this Senior Brother Yun Qian had never participated. They figured his cultivation level must be low or his talent lacking, so he was too embarrassed to make a fool of himself. As for the new junior sister on Qingyun Peak, in just a few short days, she probably hadn't even stepped through the gate of Qi Refining. She was no cause for concern. Thus, the disciples from the various peaks gradually grew bolder.

From being cautious on the first day, blockading Qingyun Peak to demand an explanation, to being brazen on the second day, and finally to being utterly insolent today—it was all because Qingyun Peak had shown no reaction. The disciples from the other peaks of the Xianyuan Sect were convinced that Qingyun Peak felt guilty and was too weak to show its face, so they became increasingly audacious.

Immortal Venerable Qingyun was always fiercely protective of her own. Chi Junluo had no interest whatsoever in the disciples of the Xianyuan Sect; in her eyes, the crowd of disciples at the foot of the mountain was less appealing than the black iron training posts on the summit's training ground. As for Yun Qian, he was so shocked by his junior sister that his head was about to fly off, so he had even less inclination to bother with the small fry at the foot of the mountain who couldn't even break the mountain-protecting formation to get up.

The crowd at the foot of the mountain grew larger. An old saying has been passed down among the human race: there is safety in numbers. As more and more disciples caused trouble, the peak masters of the various peaks actually ignored it. At least for some peak masters who already held a grudge against Qingyun Peak, this was a welcome sight. With this tacit, unspoken "indulgence," some bold and "indignant" disciples at the foot of Qingyun Peak even began to jointly attack the mountain-protecting formation. Even though they all knew the formation was personally set up by Immortal Venerable Qingyun, they were fearless. Relying on their large numbers, they were just venting their frustration. After all, they knew with their toes that actually breaking through it was impossible.

The two disciples on Qingyun Peak were immersed in their cultivation, unable to pull themselves away. But now that Immortal Venerable Qingyun had returned, she could not possibly stand by and watch her two precious disciples continue to be "bullied."

"The sect's inner competition is in three months. Instead of going back to cultivate, you are here wasting time on meaningless things. Is this how your masters taught you?"

The Immortal Venerable's cold, majestic voice echoed throughout Qingyun Peak. An invisible pressure instantly descended upon the troublemaking disciples. "If you have any grievances, you will earn the right to speak of them after you win the competition."

Under the pressure of an absolute, crushing power, even the most dissatisfied disciples felt their legs go weak with fear, not daring to act out any longer.

The few disciples who were about to continue attacking the mountain-protecting formation were pressed to the ground by a particularly targeted wave of pressure.

After a long while, the pressure slowly dissipated. The disciples from the various peaks scrambled away, their faces pale.

To be blunt, most of the troublemakers this time were inner sect disciples and the low-ranking outer sect disciples they usually associated with. The true personal disciples of the major peaks would never do something so classless. They couldn't care less about the missing spirit beasts; as the disciples with the highest status in the Xianyuan Sect, they already possessed countless cultivation resources. Not to mention, their masters' teachings often included cultivating one's state of mind. Thus, the personal disciples felt little empathy for this absurd event and were not easily angered. At most, they were just a little curious about the new personal disciple on Qingyun Peak, and had no other thoughts.

News of Immortal Venerable Qingyun's return quickly spread throughout the Xianyuan Sect. Some of the peak masters who had been waiting to watch the drama unfold could only sigh in secret.

Now that her master had returned, Chi Junluo no longer lingered on the summit's training ground. How could cultivation be more important than the company of her heroine?

Immortal Venerable Qingyun had already returned to the small wooden cabin on the mountainside.

For the past few days, Chi Junluo had been completely absorbed in the wondrous experience of the cultivation world, so she naturally hadn't returned to the cabin to rest. When she was exhausted, she would fall asleep on the training ground, and the Chaos Beast would carry her to the cave where they had rested before to recuperate.

The uniquely shaped wooden cabin had been devoid of life for several days.

The small cabin in the mountains was built by Immortal Venerable Qingyun herself a thousand years ago when she first joined Qingyun Peak. She had felled the trees log by log, then used what little spiritual energy she had at the time to painstakingly shape the timber into her ideal planks and pillars. However, once the materials for the cabin were ready, the peak master of Qingyun Peak at the time—now Immortal Venerable Qingyun's master—forbade her from building it in the manner of ordinary humans. She had to use formations as connection points to assemble the various parts of the cabin. If she didn't build her own cabin, she would have no place to rest.

Back then, Immortal Venerable Qingyun, who had just entered Qi Refining, endured the wind and slept in the open. She began studying formations much earlier than the other true disciples. By virtue of her status as a true disciple, she gained early access to the various ancient cultivation texts in the Xianyuan Sect's library. To become a true disciple naturally meant possessing extraordinary talent. Although her lack of spiritual energy often caused her to faint from overexertion, cultivating under high pressure also made her progress by leaps and bounds. In the end, the young Immortal Venerable Qingyun spent a mere two months to roughly assemble the wooden cabin using formations, finally giving herself a place to stay.

After another month of repairs, she finally built the cabin to perfection.

The cabin back then was quite exquisite, with a very beautiful appearance.

Later, as Immortal Venerable Qingyun's cultivation soared, she inevitably had to go out for training and seek opportunities. She was gone for over three hundred years. She encountered a great opportunity, but she also missed her master's ascension.

When she returned to the Xianyuan Sect over three hundred years later, everything had changed.

The sole master of Qingyun Peak had ascended to the God Realm. No one could break the mountain-protecting formation left by the former peak master, so no Xianyuan Sect disciple had gone up the mountain to clean, nor could any elder take over Qingyun Peak. The sect had no choice but to give up the idea of carving up this prime piece of land, waiting for the new master of Qingyun Peak—who could have perished outside at any moment—to return and manage it once more.

During the hundred years Qingyun Peak was without a master, the territory under the mountain-protecting formation became a forbidden area in the Xianyuan Sect at the time, which no disciple could approach without permission.

By the time Immortal Venerable Qingyun returned to the Xianyuan Sect after seizing her great opportunity and went back to that same Qingyun Peak, her perpetually cold-faced, iceberg of a master had already broken through his realm, passed the lightning tribulation, and successfully ascended to the God Realm. He was also the last human cultivator to successfully ascend in the last several thousand years.

As for the exquisite little wooden cabin from when she left, the formations maintaining it had failed one by one due to a lack of diligent maintenance. Spiritual energy dissipated over the years, and eventually, the formations collapsed. Without the support of the formations, the cabin gradually fell apart. What was left for Immortal Venerable Qingyun was a dilapidated wooden house, mostly collapsed, barely held up by a few weak, remaining formations.

By then, Immortal Venerable Qingyun's state of mind had already changed drastically. She merely cleaned up the collapsed ruins, then used new, advanced formations to reinforce and modify the remaining ones, preserving the cabin's final appearance. It was just a special way for Immortal Venerable Qingyun to commemorate her ascended master, and to remember her own days of cultivation on Qingyun Peak.

This was the origin of the uniquely styled wooden cabin that Chi Junluo saw when she woke up.

After intimidating the foolish disciples from the other peaks who were acting insolently at the foot of her mountain, Immortal Venerable Qingyun sat composedly at the only round table in the center of the cabin. This table had only been dug out from a corner of her storage bag after Chi Junluo's arrival. When she lived alone, a simple bed was enough; what need was there for a table for eating and drinking tea?

Immortal Venerable Qingyun took out a small jug of wine from her storage bag, placed it on the round table, and sipped it slowly. A thought crossed her mind: ever since this little disciple of hers had appeared, her small wooden cabin seemed to have gained a breath of life.

Thinking that she would soon see her cute, fluffy little disciple, she found herself feeling a faint sense of anticipation.

Immortal Venerable Qingyun reached out and stroked the small silver bracelet hidden in her sleeve—a local specialty she had specifically brought back from the mortal realm. In her mind, she could already picture the smile on her little disciple's face upon receiving a gift personally brought back by her master who had been away.

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