The bells rang, the zither and flute chimed, and monsters ran between mountains throughout the wilderness. The surroundings were full of vitality. Even the stubborn weeds that pushed aside rocks and stood quietly at the foot of Spirit Sect’s mountain also gained sentience. This was the most glorious and prosperous era in the entire Nine Lands’ cultivation world. The so-called Profound Realm cultivators were no better than dogs, and Earth Realm experts were everywhere. Every single powerhouse who was capable of establishing a sect must be at least Sky Realm.
A young man dressed in a green robe wore a conical bamboo hat over his head. He held a sword with one hand while his other hand pulled along a small child whose face was clean but whose clothes seemed a little dirty. They were walking happily and leisurely towards Spirit Sect when a group of demons blocked their path, wanting to take away the child who had escaped from the dark abyss.
The man stretched out his index finger and thumb, and gently twisted the edge of his hat. A face that made people not dare to take a second glance was revealed, just like that.
He was very good-looking. His eyebrows and eyes were rounded, his lips seemed like they were painted red, and his cheeks were white and full. His eyes, however, were as cold as the snow of a frosty mountain. His gaze was so piercing that people dared not stare directly at him, so much so that everyone overlooked his beautiful face.
“I’ll give you a single chance to live. Get lost,” The man’s voice was like both a flowing spring and a still pond; it was very pleasant to the ears.
The group of demons still bared their teeth and claws at the man and wanted to tear him to pieces. Since he took this child out of the Seventh Region’s dark abyss, it meant that he also released the most terrifying monsters in the demon realm.
The child nervously squeezed his big hand that was holding his small hand, and the hairs all over his body were raising up. Not only was there wariness in his eyes, but there was also a deep fear.
He didn’t want to go back to the dark abyss and live out his days in that gloomy place where no light could be seen. But he didn’t know whether the man in front of him would throw him away or not.
The man lightly swept his eyes over the group of demons whose cultivation levels weren’t low. “Just attack.”
He never made the first move. This was his habit.
And once the opponent made a move, no matter how powerful their first attack was, he would always kill them in one move.
The demons fell down. Before the child even had time to witness the man’s unrestrained and elegant moves, the demons pursuing him were already dead.
The child looked at the man in admiration and unconsciously put his finger between his teeth and chewed it.
“What kind of bad habit is this? Change it.” The man looked at the child’s dirty hands and frowned with a bit of disdain. “After we return, I’ll have Chang Sheng wash you. Too dirty.”
The child quickly put his hand down and lowered his head, feeling a little ashamed. He didn’t want this person to dislike him.
And he didn’t want to be abandoned.
However, although the man’s words were disdainful, he still picked up the child in his arms. “Our whereabouts have been discovered. We need to speed up.”
After speaking, the man flew on his sword, pointing it in the direction of Spirit Sect. This man was the original Dao Zu and the little demon that later became Youshan Lingyu.
Yan Tianhen pouted. “Look, Master actually disliked me and wouldn’t let me chew my fingers.”
Lin Xuanzhi gave Yan Tianhen a glance. “You really had a lot of bad habits back then.”
Lin Xuanzhi glanced at him. “Because I don’t chew my fingers.”
Yan Tianhen: “…..”
At first, the two were worried about whether they could keep up with Dao Zu’s speed after they turned into a butterfly and a bee, but they soon discovered that the world of the evil spirit array seemed to allow them to see all this from Dao Zu’s perspective. Therefore, in a blink of an eye, they arrived at Dao Zu’s side again.
At this time, Dao Zu had already arrived at Spirit Sect with the little demon.
Lin Xuanzhi saw his past self.
Wearing white clothes, and holding a snowy-teal sword, he walked towards Dao Zu and the little demon.
“He will be your junior martial brother from now on.” Dao Zu said, “I brought him out from the Seventh Region’s dark abyss. He will join Spirit Sect as my apprentice. In the future, you will teach him Daoist techniques, alchemy, crafting, and teach him the rules of Spirit Sect.”
Chang Sheng looked at the child who was still staring unblinkingly at him with a pair of big clear eyes as he hid behind Dao Zu. Chang Sheng involuntarily softened his voice a little bit, “Yes, Master.”
Dao Zu somewhat disdainfully let go of the little demon’s hand. “Wash him first. That kind of place is dirty and filthy.”
The little demon flattened his mouth, a little wronged, and secretly hid his hand behind him.
He felt rejected.
Although Dao Zu didn’t deliberately show his dislike of him physically along the way, he could feel that Dao Zu was actually a little unhappy with him.
It wasn’t like he wanted to be dirty either, but who let the dark abyss be such a filthy place?
Yan Tianhen felt that he really was a pitiful little thing at that time. He felt sad when he saw this. “If Dao Zu disliked me, then why did he still bring me back? Who knows when his mysophobia will be cured?”
Lin Xuanzhi frowned. “Dao Zu never disdained you. It should be because the demonic Qi on your body is too strong.”
Yan Tianhen felt wronged. “Even you’re disdaining me.”
Lin Xuanzhi: “….”
After seeing Chang Sheng leave with the little demon, Dao Zu breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly turned to fly towards his mountain peak. Dao Zu left so quickly that there was a sense of haste, which seemed to be inconsistent with Dao Zu’s normally extremely dependable behavior.
Lin Xuanzi and Yan Tianhen hurriedly followed.
At the top of the Heavy Snow Peak, where Dao Zu lived, one could see silver lotus flowers everywhere; they were always in bloom. The snow was the flesh and the ice was the soul. The spiritual Qi in the air was extremely rich, and all the living beings possessed spirits.
Spirit Sect’s Heavy Snow Peak was covered with snow all year round, and the temperature was very low, like a world wrapped in silver.
Yan Tianhen commented, “I disliked Heavy Snow Peak the most. Every time I came here, I felt like I was about to freeze into an icicle.”
Lin Xuanzhi patted Yan Tianhen’s head with his wings. “Otherwise, where do you think Master gets his cold aura from all day?”
Yan Tianhen thought that this joke sounded a little cold.
Dao Zu knocked the door open, and a ‘bang’ pulled back Yan Tianhen’s wandering thoughts. He saw Dao Zu, who was still standing tall just seconds ago, suddenly stagger and almost kneel on the ground. He suddenly raised his hand and grabbed the door frame as he spat out a mouthful of dirty blood.
Yan Tianhen’s heart trembled and he hurriedly flew towards Dao Zu. “Master! Master! What’s wrong with you?”
However, in Dao Zu’s eyes, there was only a bee whining in his ear. Dao Zu coughed a few times, then raised his eyes and looked at the little golden and black bee circling around him. “Don’t make noise. It hurts this Venerable’s head.”
Then he raised his hand and flicked the bee away.
Yan Tianhen: “…..”
Damn it, it’s really a waste of my kindness!
However, before he had time to return to his senses, Yan Tianhen was pulled out by a strong force, and ice had already condensed around Dao Zu’s original spot.
Dao Zu showed some fragility that no one had ever seen before. He leaned on the door, his hands involuntarily trembling a little. Fresh blood kept flowing out of the corners of his mouth. Wherever the blood went, flowers of ice formed and exploded, and the spiritual plants growing in the crevices of the door withered in an instant.
Yan Tianhen was dumbfounded.
He had never seen this kind of Dao Zu before.
In his memory, this was supposed to be Dao Zu’s heyday.
With the strength of one person, he could venture deep into the dark abyss of the Seventh Region of the demon realm, which was called Hell on Earth. He could freely enter and leave such a place and even rescued Lingyu from a demon powerful enough to shake mountains, slaughtering his way out of the demon realm and taking Lingyu back to Spirit Sect. Just how frightening was his cultivation level?
Even in the peak of Youshan Lingyu’s power, he still didn’t dare to compare himself to Dao Zu. However, he never would’ve thought that during that time, Dao Zu was actually already this weak.
Yan Tianhen was speechless.
Lin Xuanzhi was also affected.
After a while, Dao Zu lightly pursed his pale blue lips, leaned against the threshold, and sighed.
“What were you doing in the dark abyss again?” A voice came. A young man in a black robe hurried over, squatted next to Dao Zu, and felt the pulse on his wrist.
His face became extremely ugly, he gnashed his teeth and said, “Don’t you know what state your body is in right now? The demon realm itself will erode your Dantian Qi Sea and veins. If you don’t want to live anymore, just explode and die. Why torture yourself like this!?”
Dao Zu swept him a feather-light glance and said expressionlessly, “Why are you angry? I’m still far from death. Close your mouth; stop jinxing me.”
“You–” Sheng Ren clenched his fist. “You even brought a demon back? And you touched him?”
Dao Zu asked. “What’s wrong with touching him? He’s so soft and lovely.”
Sheng Ren couldn’t bear it and roared, “He’s a demon ah! And he’s even a demon from the dark abyss. His entire body is filled with demonic Qi that can cause a backlash to your cultivation. Can’t you stay away from him!?”
Dao Zu disagreed, “What are you so worried about? Aren’t I fine?”
Sheng Ren: “This is fine? Right now, the cold Qi in your body is eroding your heart and veins.”
“Calm down, I won’t die. Don’t make such a big fuss. Just how old are you?”
“But you have to endure the pain from the icy Qi invading your body every day!”
“It’s just a little pain; it’s not like it’s unbearable.”
Sheng Ren was completely infuriated by Dao Zu’s indifferent attitude. He smashed his fist on the door frame and glared at him. “You are courting death! In order to repair those nine Pillars of Heaven, you’ve long lost years from your lifespan and much of your cultivation. To put it bluntly, your body is simply struggling at death’s door right now, yet you always act like it’s nothing. Do those beloved disciples of yours even know this–”
“Shut up.” Dao Zu’s expression stiffened. He stood up and scolded, “You talk too much.”
Sheng Ren’s eyes were red as he watched Dao Zu expel the demonic Qi from his body.
After a while, Dao Zu slowly opened his eyes. “Ah Man, I have a very bad premonition that the crumbling of the Pillars of Heaven is merely the first step. Although I repaired them for the time being, when I divined into the Heavens, I found that the stars were showing a hopeless situation.”
Sheng Ren looked at Dao Zu in a daze. “Does this have anything to do with you going deep into the Demon Realm’s abyss and bringing back that little demon?”
“Not really, but when I went to the demon realm to look for opportunities to change the situation, I happened to meet this child. I always felt that I had some fate with him, so I brought him back in passing.
Sheng Ren’s face darkened. “The demons’ demonic Qi is in opposition to your attributes. You are making trouble for yourself.”
Dao Zu said, “But he’s so well-behaved and looked at me so eagerly. I couldn’t bear to leave him in that place.”
