Chapter 4

The four people left the main hall. Apart from Lin Fan, the other three all had a somewhat bewildered look. Lin Fan found it amusing in his heart; these three were all obedient children, probably never having left the mountain since they were young. Lin Fan was different; he had even been to Zhongzhou. At that time, the head of the Zhenyi Sect had a lifelong friend who was nearing the end of his life, and the head went to see him for the last time, taking Lin Fan along to broaden his horizons.

Everyone looked at the team leader designated by the head, Gu Yan. Gu Yan frowned for a long time before waving his hand and saying, "Let's go."

Lin Fan reminded them, "Shouldn't we pack our bags and take some money with us?"

"Money?" The other three looked at Lin Fan.

Lin Fan asked in surprise, "You've all mastered the art of abstaining from food?"

The three nodded together, simultaneously surprised. Abstaining from food and cultivating qi was common for those at the Foundation Establishment stage. Of course, their cultivation had not yet reached the point where they could completely do without food and water, but those who abstained from food generally avoided heavy meats and could get by with mountain spring water and wild vegetables.

Unfamiliar with each other, the four people felt quite awkward. Finally, Gu Yan said, "Pack your bags, take leave from the head, and meet at the Seven Mile Pavilion at the foot of the mountain tomorrow at dawn."

They nodded at each other and each used their own method to return to the sect. Gu Yan flew on his sword, the fastest. Ye Wushuang took out a scroll of spells from a bamboo tube and stepped on it, ranking second in speed. Lin Fan's Wind Control Talisman was third. Bai Mu was the slowest, using the Wind Control Technique. Lin Fan waited until the three left before he followed, gaining some basic understanding of his three teammates.

There's nothing to fear from a god-like opponent, but a pig-like teammate is a different story.

Lin Fan returned to the Zhenyi Sect. Old Zhang was playing chess alone in a side hall. Seeing Lin Fan, he said, "Lin Fan, these are the ten true words that Little Three asked me to give you before he went into seclusion."

"Learning to use secret strategies now." Lin Fan took the letter, opened it, and read, "First: The best strategy is to run. If you can't win, run; if you can win, be prepared to run. You must always be ready to run at any moment. Second: Sacrifice your fellow cultivators, not yourself. When fleeing for your life, you must give it your all. Sacrificing a companion might not give you a chance to turn the tide, but not sacrificing them definitely won't."

Old Zhang shook his head, "Keep reading."

Lin Fan read, "Third: History will not record how you honorably defeated your opponent, only that you defeated them or they defeated you. If you can defeat your opponent by stabbing them in the back, don't fight them head-on."

"Fourth: Stay away from evil people, and avoid demons."

After reading four, Lin Fan put the letter away and went to his room to pack. Six of these ten points were always emphasized by the head whenever Lin Fan left the mountain. There was also the point about being polite but not overly so. It meant that while you should be humble in manners, you shouldn't refuse gifts. First, to avoid hurting the giver's feelings, and second, free gifts are not to be refused; the Zhenyi Sect had no such foolish disciples.

Old Zhang sighed while playing chess, "What kind of head, what kind of disciples. No wonder he doesn't widely recruit disciples, he's afraid of causing harm."

...

After a hundred days of Foundation Establishment, Lin Fan's cultivation improved, and he no longer sweated profusely while traveling. Flying with the wind, he looked quite graceful. He arrived at the Seven Mile Pavilion, dispelled the Wind Control Talisman, and landed lightly like a feather outside the pavilion. Gu Yan was already there, standing straight with his hands behind his back. Lin Fan bowed, "Senior Brother!"

"Junior Brother." Gu Yan nodded slightly, acknowledging him.

The third to arrive was Ye Wushuang. Before landing, he put away the spell scroll and rolled it into the bamboo tube. After landing, he bowed, "Senior Brother, Junior Brother."

"Senior Sister."

"Junior Sister."

Lin Fan didn't like this game; every meeting required a new round of formalities. With four people, how many times would they have to do this every day? But the head had instructed to be polite, so he complied.

Soon, Bai Mu arrived, and they started another round of meaningless pleasantries. Then Gu Yan led the way, and everyone followed silently. Gu Yan ran fast, then slowed down, feeling it was too fast, which made Bai Mu slow down even more. Despite no words being exchanged, they were all being overly polite, lacking the spontaneity of young people. It was like the first meeting between in-laws, full of formalities.

This situation continued for an hour before suddenly changing.

Dongzhou was mountainous. While flying, they suddenly heard a woman's cry for help from the forest. Gu Yan looked down and saw a white-clad woman running, constantly falling, with a half-transformed mountain spirit chasing her closely. Gu Yan shouted, "Moon-Cutting Sword!" A precious sword flew out of the scabbard and shot through the air, directly attacking the mountain spirit. The mountain spirit, with considerable cultivation, flipped backward and flew a hundred steps away. With a wave of his hand, countless vines sprang from the ground, trapping the Moon-Cutting Sword tightly.

"Break!" Gu Yan made a sword gesture, and the Moon-Cutting Sword broke free from the vines.

At this moment, the mountain spirit spread its arms and flew, a black aura from its palm heading toward Gu Yan. Gu Yan calmly made another sword gesture, and two more precious swords flew out. One sword blocked the black aura, while the other drew an arc and attacked the mountain spirit from the side.

The mountain spirit cackled, landed to avoid the sword, and then fled into the dense forest. Gu Yan followed, riding his sword. Ye Wushuang and Bai Mu arrived shortly after, looked at each other, and accelerated their true qi, following Gu Yan into the forest.

Disliking the awkward atmosphere, Lin Fan was the last to arrive. He saw everything that happened but had no interest in chasing into the forest; it was clearly a trap. Lin Fan landed in front of the woman, who was sobbing softly. He sat beside her, examined her for a while, and asked, "Who are you?"

The woman bowed her head, "Thank you, Immortal, for saving me. I am..."

"Head, are you playing house?" Lin Fan asked.

The woman was startled, looked up at Lin Fan, and asked, "How could you see through my illusion?" She dispelled the spell, revealing her true form—none other than the head of the Yunqing Sect, Thousand Feather True Person.

Lin Fan said, "Because I've been here before, and there's no one within fifty miles. Also, we were flying above, and you were shouting for help on the ground, with a strong voice... a normal person fleeing would be hysterical, and a woman's cries would be incomprehensible. This place is only sixty miles from Yunqing Mountain; there's no way a demon would be cultivating here."

Thousand Feather True Person asked, "How did you know it was me?"

Lin Fan replied, "I thought about it for a while and couldn't think of anyone else who would be this bored."

Thousand Feather True Person, exasperated, asked, "Your companions have been captured, and you're not going to save them quickly?"

"Not in a hurry. Since it's a test set up by Thousand Feather True Person, the mountain spirit will definitely come for me. It's luring us deeper, so I'll use its own trick against it." Lin Fan took out a stack of yellow paper and began to draw talismans and set up an array.