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“I have sealed a radius of thirty feet around us, even if you shout yourself hoarse, no one will come.”

The old Taoist waved his hand and drew a chair toward himself, casually sitting down and crossing his legs as he sized up Chen Jinyu.

A girl of twelve or thirteen, with a rather upright physique; judging from the way she wielded her hidden weapons, she could easily twist off a man’s heavenly lid.

Hers was an utterly ordinary appearance, yet she exuded a sharp demeanor!

Chen Jinyu frowned slightly, then her face relaxed as she bowed in greeting, “Chen Ya’er pays respects to her benefactor!”

“Has Old Bai told you everything?”

The old Taoist was none other than Zhou Yi. After returning to Divine Capital, his first act was to visit Chen Ya’er.

“My foster father once told Jin Yu that a benefactor would come to instruct me in martial arts, so he did not impart Inner Strength.”

Chen Jinyu answered, “But so many years have passed, I had almost forgotten, and just now I didn’t remember…”

“Yes, you wouldn’t understand. I wanted to leave you with a complete childhood,” Zhou Yi found an excuse on the spot, definitely not because he had forgotten this matter in his quest for treasures, “How have you been these years?”

“In peace and joy,” Chen Jinyu said. “My foster parents care for and teach me without the slightest lack, treating Jin Yu as their own daughter.”

“That’s good to hear. Old Bai is still somewhat reliable in his affairs.”

Zhou Yi suddenly didn’t know what to say. The last time he saw her, she was just a baby as big as a winter melon, and now she had grown into a person.

The two indeed did not share any deep emotions, and Zhou Yi was not of a warm temperament. After a long silence, he asked,

“That hidden-weapon technique of yours is quite ruthless. Old Bai’s martial arts tend to be more about looking cool and breezy. Did someone else teach you?”

“The technique is called ‘Lethal Needles,’ passed down to me by Auntie Hua from the household,” Chen Jinyu explained. “There are rumors that Auntie Hua was a sacred maiden of the martial fraternity who betrayed her sect for my foster father and married him five years ago. Please do not misunderstand Auntie Hua, Benefactor. She treats Jin Yu very well. The hidden-weapon technique was something I begged her to teach me.”

“…”

Zhou Yi’s expression stiffened: “Old Bai is unfilial, marrying a Commandery Princess, yet he hasn’t forgotten his old lover!”

Chen Jinyu bowed her head and dared not speak, knowing the old Taoist before her resembled the otherworldly experts and eccentrics who wandered the earth in legend, rumored to be whimsical and reckless in their ways.

“I originally came to look in on you, and seeing that you are living in peace and happiness, was ready to fulfill a promise I once made.”

Zhou Yi continued, “But seeing your behavior during the day, I realize you are not a carefree child; you move and speak with quite some method…”

Chen Jinyu, sensing a fortuitous moment, knelt on the ground and bowed her head deeply.

“Please take me as your disciple, and after I have learned, let me avenge my people!”

Zhou Yi said, “Those deserters who slaughtered the Chen family ravine are already dead by my hand. Whom do you seek to avenge?”

“First, the man who led those troops. Second, the Fengyang Royal Family!”

Chen Jinyu gritted her teeth, “Jin Yu has examined many documents and learned that Zhongzong’s jealousy towards the Duke of the Nation led to the defeat at the Northern Border, causing the Chen family to be unjustly decimated.”

“There’s some truth in that.”

Zhou Yi’s tone shifted, “Such vengeance may result in the deaths of many innocent people, especially given your capabilities.”

“Then let those innocents seek vengeance against me!” Chen Jinyu’s voice was icy cold. “Jin Yu is but a weak girl, with no concept of the greater world; all I know is that if my father was not condemned, then it’s only right for the child to seek revenge.”

“Good!”

Zhou Yi clapped in approval, “I’ve seen one who was concerned with the bigger picture. He saw his whole family perish, yet he was still unable to prevent the carnage.”

Li Wu gave his life for the stability of the National Dynasty; Zhou Yi naturally had the utmost respect for him, but to ask him to learn and imitate that path was absolutely impossible!

If Li Wu had been ruthless, had he betrayed Emperor Chongming’s gracious upbringing and led an army to seize Fengyang Country, perhaps there would have been no chaos in the Northern Border, and fewer might have died as a result.

Of course, that’s with the benefit of hindsight!

Zhou Yi said, “When I saved you back then, I already used mana to test your aptitude. Today I will impart to you a Cultivation Technique.”

“Thank you, Master…”

Chen Jinyu felt an overwhelming force sealing her completely, she couldn’t utter the last word no matter how much she tried.

“I do not take disciples,”

Zhou Yi saved Chen Jinyu purely out of a desire to protect a human child; it had nothing to do with disdain for the Fengyang Royal Family, nor with lamenting the hardships of the world, nor any other reason whatsoever!

Only by not imposing causality can one move towards immortality!

Therefore, there could be no master-disciple title.

“This cultivation technique is called the Guiyuan Technique…”

Zhou Yi recited the Guiyuan Technique once, and Chen Jinyu had already memorized it without missing a single word.

Chen Jinyu bowed deeply and said, “I will eternally remember the kindness of transmitting the technique to me!”

Zhou Yi said, “Cultivate diligently before you turn twenty. I will protect you in Divine Capital. After that, our karma is complete, and even if you die on the path of revenge, do not think to seek me for rescue!”

Chen Jinyu bowed again, “For such a great kindness, I dare not ask for more. In the future, should my benefactor require anything, I will not hesitate even if it means death!”

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow, “That sounds somewhat familiar…”

The voice was ethereal and elusive, and when Chen Jinyu looked up, there was no one in the room.

Just as she was about to stand up, she heard a voice beside her ear.

“Little girl, the plum blossoms in your courtyard are so thriving because there are many corpses buried beneath the trees. Such methods are to my taste, I shall give you another piece of advice!”

“Go to Desolate City, seek General Zhou!”

…

The courtyard.

Ten years since his last visit, the door lock was rusted.

Zhou Yi casually snapped the iron lock and pushed the door open, only to find a skeleton lying in the courtyard.

With its homespun clothes and delicate bones, its dress did not appear like that of a burglar, and there were no signs of a martial artist’s physique developed in life.

“Is this a commoner?”

Zhou Yi frowned slightly; he had purposely removed the traps in the courtyard before leaving, to avoid harming innocent civilians.

The mechanisms and traps set up in the courtyard came from a master in the heavenly prison, with blades and sword edges smeared with deadly poison; ordinary martial arts masters entering would also be doomed.

Civilians who coveted the empty house and succumbed to greed deserved punishment for theft, but they didn’t deserve death.

Zhou Yi enveloped his hand with mana and turned the corpse over to examine it; there were no wounds and no traces of poison.

“Normally, even after dying for ten years and being dried by the wind, one wouldn’t be reduced to mere bones!”

Zhou Yi suddenly revealed a cold smile, took out the Peaceful Home Talisman from his chest and used it to sweep the courtyard with an air of repelling evil spirits and securing a house.

Woo woo woo—

A mournful wind howled, and a fierce ghost materialized out of thin air, squatting on the branch of a jujube tree, staring at Zhou Yi.

This ghost was different from those seen before, ghastly and deformed beyond recognition as human; it had seven or eight red eyes randomly placed on its face, and its mouth was filled with serrated sharp teeth.

It had four arms grasping the jujube branches, while its lower half resembled a bulging spider abdomen, which also bore several eerie human faces.

“Hiss Hiss Hiss!”

The ghost’s tongue was forked, flickering in and out like a venomous snake’s.

Zhou Yi sensed the ghost’s energy, which was even lower than that of the first Qi Refinement stage, and spoke arrogantly, “A mere stray soul and wild ghost dares to cause harm; it must be executed!”

Enraged by these words, the ghost leaped from the tree to pounce on him, spewing a stench of black fog from its spider-like abdomen.

Hum!

A bronze cauldron suddenly appeared out of nowhere, emitting a sound like the ringing of bells and drumming in the evening, almost shattering the ghost’s spirit, followed by oberwhelming suppression from above.

Boom!

The loud crash could be heard from miles away, and in an instant, the ghost was reduced to ash.

Zhou Yi summoned back the Mountain and River Cauldron, looking at the earth of the courtyard, beneath which lay numerous white bones.

“If any thieves come in again, they should be cremated to prevent the disturbance of this house,” he muttered.