The ancestor is incompetent!

Chapter 32 Meeting the Ancestor
Even Peak Master Wang Qiu who was standing by glanced at him, "This junior brother is quite young, which is rare.

What's more important is that he has a heart dedicated to the mountain and his clan, which is truly worthy of a prize.

In a few days I will report to the ancestor and ask for a reward for Junior Brother Li."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was amazed and awed. They seldom saw the ancestor, and some elders had only seen him once and only recognized his face. As for rewards, they dared not even think about it.

Li Yuan didn't expect such a good thing to happen. He bowed and said, "Thank you, Peak Master!"

Wang Qiu smiled and gestured, then looked at the crowd and said, "Zhongmai people, please stand up too."

As soon as these words were spoken, three elders, all of whom were older, walked out from the crowd.

There were six of them together now, and he said no more.

Chen Guan knew that this matter could not be borne by one peak alone, so he also said: "Elder Ding, Elder Pu, thank you for your hard work!"

The two elders whose names were called cursed in their hearts, but did not dare to show any dissatisfaction in public.

Even though Chen Guan had not been the peak master for long, he was still one of the two people with the highest status in the mountain gate.

Today, only Wang Qiu came in person to calm down these elders, otherwise there would have been a quarrel.

After the most difficult task was assigned, the remaining ones became much easier to assign one by one. Those who had connections and were favored by the peak master would naturally get good tasks, while those who did not have connections would just have to accept the tasks honestly.

After the elders' tasks were divided, it was then up to each department to do specific things. For example, the secret hall needed to recruit more staff, so the disciples who grew spiritual rice and guarded the spiritual mines, as well as all the departments and halls, were all included.

Finally, the disciples were informed that from now on they would have to do miscellaneous duties once a month. This meant they would have to do miscellaneous duties for six months a year, leaving only six months for cultivation.

Of course they knew that this move would cause complaints from their disciples, but no one could object.

Li Yuan found a job for his disciple to cut down spiritual trees. This job only took a few months and there was a lot of money to be made.

Considering that he was willing to serve the sect, Chen Guan would naturally not disagree with his request.

After the meeting, the barrier dissipated, and the elders dispersed amid the envious and awe-filled gazes of the disciples.

The lower-level disciples do not know that the elders also have their own sufferings and hardships.

Li Yuan returned to his cave, tidied up a bit, and came to the underground fire room the next day.

There were disciples waiting respectfully, and the two deacon disciples bowed and said, "Greetings, Elder."

"Are you the assigned pyrotechnic boys?"

Li Yuan glanced at the two of them and knew that they were two miserable people.

"Replying to the elder, that's right! Disciple Lou responded."

"Disciple Ai Jun!"

"Since you two are here early, follow me. I am Elder Li Yuan, you should have heard of me.

Although I am a casual person, I will not be nice to lazy people. Come with me and do your job seriously."

Li Yuan gave the two of them a few instructions and then walked ahead.

When the two heard Li Yuan's name, their eyes were a little subtle, but they didn't dare to say much. Because before this, Li Yuan was a role model in the hearts of ordinary disciples of the mountain gate, but after yesterday's incident, the evaluation of him in the hearts of the disciples plummeted, and even boldly spread rumors that he left the last place on the list of deacons of Baique Tower and became the last place on the list of elders.

But as to whether there is a so-called list of elders, they are not clear.

Li Yuan didn't care about this at all, because he was indeed the last on the list of elders again.

After entering the underground fire room, Li Yuan calculated the spiritual materials, and then said to the two of them: "Ai Jun, you go to guard the furnace as a fire boy, Lou Ying, you come to collect the scattered spiritual materials.

You are not allowed to keep spiritual objects privately. All spiritual materials you obtain must be handed over to me and returned to the mountain gate. Remember this? This is an extraordinary period, and we cannot be like before. "

Although they were dissatisfied, they still responded. This was the difference in status and power.

So after Li Yuan lit the fire and heated the furnace, he began to refine the puppets one by one.

Since he had refined dozens of puppets in the Wanmu Realm, his skills had reached perfection, so refining the two puppets, Jiamu and Yimu, was a piece of cake for him.

He even carefully saved some spiritual materials on each puppet, so cultivators who were not well versed in puppet-making would not be able to notice anything unusual.

There was a raging fire in the underground fire room, and the same was true in the eight fire rooms, where puppets were refined day and night.

The disciples from all departments on Lingfeng were all in a hurry, and the disciples of Qifeng were also busy. The entire Qiling Sect was running at high speed like a factory.

Not only that, the four forces in the entire Guangyuan Mountains, the Tongshan Wang family, the Qinghe Xu family and the Qingfeng Pavilion were also busy running around to collect the spiritual objects to pay tribute to the clan.

Not only that, more than a hundred sects and clans on the Nanjue Continent have begun to exploit their lower-level disciples and drive them like labor because the tribute period is approaching.

In order to gather all the spiritual objects, various forces used all means, including burning, killing, looting, and showing no mercy, which caused a bloody storm.

The Linglong Sect also had an attitude of being as still as a golden Buddha sitting in the temple. As long as no one came to the Linglong Sect to appeal for justice or to plead guilty, naturally no one would interfere.

This is because the forces that have been burned, killed, and looted are usually unable to gather the spiritual objects they need. Since they cannot provide enough spiritual objects, there is no meaning for them to exist.

In the underground fire room, Li Yuan was refining puppets at a leisurely pace. Several batches of pyrotechnic disciples came and went, and they all said that Elder Li was really devoted to the mountain sect and was refining puppets day and night.

One evening a few months later, a disciple knocked on the door of the Underground Fire Room.

"Elder Li, specially summoned by the Peak Master."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan stopped refining the puppet, instructed his pyrotechnic disciple to look after the furnace, and then got up and went to the inner hall of Lingfeng.

"I've met the Peak Master!"

Chen Guan, who was standing on the stage, smiled and said, "Junior Brother Li, you have been refining puppets for many days. You must have worked hard."

"No way. I am willing to do my part for the mountain sect." Li Yuan replied modestly.

“Hahaha, not bad.” Chen Guan laughed loudly and said, “The ancestor is waiting for you on Linchi Peak.

Go quickly. "

"What? Ancestor?" Li Yuan's heart skipped a beat. "Which ancestor is this?"

"Don't be nervous, it's Grandmaster Wang." Chen Guan said with a smile, "Grandmaster Wang likes talented people nowadays. Junior Brother Li is so young and dedicated to the sect, Grandmaster Wang will definitely like him."

"Yes! Peak Master."

Li Yuan had no choice but to rush to Linchi Peak.

Linchi Peak is located in the southwest of the mountain. It is more than two hundred feet high and there is a pond below. It is a spiritual medicine garden planted by the mountain gate. It is heavily guarded and has a strong formation. Disciples seldom come here for fear of being mistaken for thieves.

At this moment, the sky was dark, the sun had already set in the mountains, a pale white crescent moon was visible in the east, and from time to time one or two crows could be heard in the distance. The summer breeze blew Li Yuan's robe. He looked up at the top of the mountain and saw a figure sitting under a ginkgo tree on the edge of the cliff, looking at the setting sun in the west.

Li Yuan stepped forward quickly and bowed respectfully: "Disciple Li Yuan, hello to the ancestor!"

"come on."

An old voice sounded, revealing a hint of undisguised fatigue in its tone.

"How old are you now, having started practicing Taoism?"

The old Taoist did not turn his head, and Li Yuan only dared to stand three steps behind the old man. He said respectfully: "My disciple has been practicing Taoism for forty-seven years, and I am fifty-nine years old now."

"That's right. I was no more than this back then." The old Taoist turned around with a chuckle. The ancestor of the Qi Ling Sect was actually a one-eyed old man with a face full of wrinkles. If it weren't for his magical powers, he would be almost no different from an ordinary old man.

"The disciple is terrified. The disciple is nowhere near as good as the ancestor."

Li Yuan knelt down and pleaded guilty.

"Haha, don't be nervous." The old man smiled and waved his hand twice, "Sit down."

Li Yuan had no choice but to sit down obediently, not daring to disobey.

"I have heard a little bit about Ming'er's situation. You don't have to take it to heart. He is a good kid. You don't have to care about it. It's over."

"I dare not. Junior Brother Yunming is very powerful. I am inferior to him. I accept the defeat sincerely."

"Haha, is that so?" The old man asked with an interested smile, "But you have an extraordinary spiritual charm, I think you have a top-grade magic weapon. If we really fight, Yun Ming doesn't have a top-grade magic weapon, at most he can be on par with you."

"Disciple is guilty!" Li Yuan was shocked and hurried to stand up and apologize. After all, this kind of thing could be a big deal or a small one.

"Don't worry." The old man reached out and patted his shoulder, pressing him down. His only remaining eye was cloudy and wrinkled to the point of leaving only a slit. "Since you are a disciple of Qi Ling Sect, your opportunity belongs to you alone."

Li Yuan was somewhat flattered and bowed his hands and replied: "Yes, Ancestor."

"This heart-protecting mirror was given to me by an elder of the mountain sect in my early years. It has the effect of protecting the body and preventing disasters, and it is effective for those who practice true cultivation. Consider it a gift from me, your elder, to you."

The old man handed him a palm-sized bronze mirror and looked at him with a smile.

"This... I feel unworthy of this." Li Yuan didn't know whether he should accept it or not.

“The future of Qi Ling Sect belongs to you. It is the duty of every disciple of Qi Ling Sect to protect this Taoist tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years.

If you recognize that you are a disciple of Qi Ling Sect, then I will accept it."

The old man only said one sentence, and Li Yuan had to take it carefully and put it away.

"Look, the place where the sun sets is the Great Western Origin." The old man stood up with a smile, pointing at the last rays of the setting sun, with a few strands of messy white hair fluttering in his temples, "To the west of Nanjue Island is the burial place of the illusory ruins of the Tianzong.

My child, if you become successful one day, please go and see that place for me."

Li Yuan was shocked, but he was not sure whether the ancestor was joking or sincerely entrusting him. However, he agreed without hesitation: "Yes, if I have the opportunity one day, I will definitely go to see the Great Western Source."

"Very good." The old man nodded, "There is a shortage of spiritual resources in the mountain gate, so I'm afraid I can't give you much help.

Since you have chosen to walk alone, as your elder, I will give you a few words of advice.

When insulted, do not show any emotion. When observing others’ mistakes, do not publicize them. When aware of others’ deception, do not get angry at them. Keep your ability hidden and wait for the right time to act. If you want to be a big tree, do not compete with grass. A general has a sword, but does not kill flies. If you want to be a hawk, do not compete with birds.

When Li Yuan heard this, he felt as if he had been seen through, but he remained calm and said, "I will keep in mind what the ancestor said."

"Go."

The one-eyed old man smiled and waved for him to leave.

Li Yuan hurriedly bowed and responded, then took his leave.

Halfway through the journey, he could not help but look back. The sky over the mountain had already darkened, the ginkgo trees were rustling in the wind, there was no one around, and night had fallen.

He felt a little gloomy in his heart. No matter what the old ancestor had in mind when advising him, everything at the moment showed that it was not a good sign.

Something is bound to happen eventually, and the only way to live longer is to be cautious.

Thinking of this, he took out the small bronze mirror from his storage bag, and saw four large characters appearing on the slightly blurry and dim mirror surface.

"Do not disobey your orders"

"Order? Which order?"

Li Yuan felt heavy-hearted and returned to the underground fire room to continue his puppet refining task.

The fire evil in the underground fire room is extremely harmful to cultivators who stay in it for a long time. However, for Li Yuan, the magic power in his body can just dissolve the evil of the underground fire, so he is not afraid of this fire evil affecting his cultivation.

He took on this tiring job for many reasons. The first was naturally a safe place where he didn't have to deal with many people.

The second benefit is that the discarded spiritual materials accumulated here are enough for him to refine hundreds of puppets.

The third is to hone magical powers and lay a solid foundation.

The fourth is to prevent trouble before it happens. It doesn't matter if he is a little tired now. He took on this difficult task. If there is any dangerous place to be assigned next time, Li Yuan will have the confidence and reason to refuse.

For an elder who is good at refining puppets but has weak strength, the place where he can play the greatest role is definitely the Earth Fire Room, not the battlefield.

Of course, this was just his own guess. Because not long ago, Li Yuan saw the list of disciples registered by Elder Gu. Qi Feng had not accepted many more disciples in recent years. After all, he only selected disciples from the same clan and surname, and the number of disciples recruited each time was fixed.

But Lingfeng now has more than 300 people, approaching the 400-person mark. You have to know that Qifeng only has a little over 200 people, but now it has become a large sect with nearly 600 people.

Recruiting more disciples is not necessarily better, so for a sect like the Qi Ling Sect that adheres to ancient laws, the spiritual funds spent for each additional disciple are much more than other sects.

If too many disciples are recruited, it will become a burden on the spiritual resources and foundation of the sect, and will hinder the development of the sect.

But Qi Lingmen still has no intention of stopping recruiting disciples. He has heard many elders complain that the spiritual rice and spiritual stones are consumed too much.

This shows that maintaining an army is necessary for preparing for war.

Of course, Li Yuan hoped that his guess was wrong. After all, once a war broke out in the world of immortal cultivation, the scope of impact would be very large, which would inevitably affect Li Yuan's stable practice environment.

Winter came and summer passed, and more than three years passed in the blink of an eye. The Qi Ling Sect was finally freed from this high-pressure state and resumed its bimonthly routine of general affairs. The disciples were overjoyed.

Li Yuan also left the underground fire room with a lot of harvest and returned to his own courtyard to practice.

One night, Li Yuan, who was practicing in a quiet room, suddenly stopped practicing and looked outside the light curtain of the formation with vigilance.

Under the cold moon, a dark shadow sneaked up to the courtyard where Li Yuan was, then put down a piece of paper. The letter was thrown into the stone box in front of the door, and he turned around and disappeared.

(End of this chapter)