Immortality begins with raising apprentices

Chapter 167 Tuanzi's Height (Xianzi, out!)
The night is dark.

The recruitment sign with the generous terms was ultimately brought back intact by him, becoming the only gain from this trip.

This was within Chen Ye's expectations.

It would be abnormal if Wei Cheng didn't make things difficult for him.

After returning to Linsong Valley, the old man took his leave and went back to the outer valley, while Chen Ye led Qingjun back to their home in the inner valley.

At this moment, two people, one big and one small, were already sitting by the stone table in the courtyard, their eyes blinking as they stared at Chen Ye, very curious about his harvest today.

He waved his hand, indicating that everyone should not be nervous, and then briefly recounted his experience in Taolin Village.

Before Li Qiuyun and Zhiwei could even speak, Qingjun, like an impatient sparrow, started chattering away like popping beans:

"Master, I told you! Those uncles and elders are all afraid of that wicked old man surnamed Wei. That's why they didn't dare to come! Master, you just wouldn't listen to me! How about that? Now you know how powerful Qingjun is!"

"Yes, yes, yes... Qingjun is the smartest."

Chen Ye's lips twitched. When did this little girl say anything beforehand?

His eyes were fixed on Lingtao, and afterwards he started showing off his intelligence.

However, recruitment cannot be rushed.

The Wei family had long held sway in Taoshanfang, so it was only natural that the fruit farmers dared not easily take sides.

What he needs is an opportunity.

“Master, this matter is not unsolvable.”

Zhiwei pondered carefully, then suddenly said softly.
"Those fruit farmers weren't unwilling, but rather afraid. What they lacked wasn't spirit stones, but a leader who dared to step forward first. Once that person stepped forward, the stalemate would be broken."

Chen Ye's eyes lit up when he heard this.

What Zhiwei said actually makes a lot of sense. Ordinary people often follow the crowd. They don't dare to be the first to step forward. Only when they see others going first do they dare to follow behind.

For example, in some riots, if there were no one secretly leading them, how would ordinary people dare to cause trouble on their own?

He nodded approvingly: "Zhiwei's words make sense."

Upon hearing this, Li Qiuyun immediately volunteered: "I understand! Uncle Chen, tomorrow I will change into the clothes of a rogue cultivator and go to the market to be the first person to sign up! Once someone takes the lead, others will surely follow!"

She looked at Chen Ye, eager to try and hoping to receive the same praise as Zhiwei.

Chen Ye looked at her and couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head: "Qiu Yun, I'm grateful for your kindness. But... this method won't work."

"It won't work?"

Li Qiuyun's smile froze, and she pursed her lips, a rare occurrence for her, as a slight sense of disappointment welled up inside her.

Why the disappointment?

She felt that she was simply echoing what Zhiwei said!
When Wei said that, Uncle Chen nodded in approval. Why, then, did he shake his head and reject it when it came to himself?
Before she could figure it out, Zhiwei spoke up again, explaining to her:
“Sister Qiuyun, how could the fruit farmers easily trust a complete stranger who appears out of nowhere? What they need is someone who already has a certain prestige among them, or rather, someone who is well-liked and trusted by everyone. This person doesn’t necessarily need to have a high level of cultivation, but must be someone they trust from the bottom of their hearts.”

Li Qiuyun slapped her forehead in frustration. Ah, so that's how it is…

Damn it, I'm not even as good as a nine-year-old girl!
Li Qiuyun glanced at the white fluffy ball and felt much more comfortable.

"Huh?"

The little girl hugged the peach and kept munching on it, then raised her little head in confusion.

Why did she feel like someone had just secretly insulted her?
Chen Ye looked at the three children, one big and two small, and smiled knowingly, his face regaining its usual calm and composed demeanor.
"No rush. There are still more than twenty days before the sect's inspection. Things will work themselves out. There's always a way."

……

After Li Qiuyun left, the remaining time was for the master and disciple to be alone.

Chen Ye summoned Qing Jun and began to examine her cultivation level.

When he emerged from seclusion, he heard Qingjun say that she had broken through to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

But at that time, I had just come out of the pass and was in a hurry to do other things, so I didn't have time to examine my little apprentice carefully.

"Qi Refining Level 5..." Chen Ye said in a low voice, utterly astonished.

The speed at which his two disciples cultivated far exceeded Chen Ye's expectations.

Look at that speed, it's about to overtake me!
Especially Qingjun, who was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining when she was in Donggou Valley, has now caught up with her senior sister's progress in just a few days!
"Master, isn't Qingjun amazing!" Qingjun puffed out her chest, looking smug. "Even my senior sister praises me as a genius!"

"Not bad, worthy of being my disciple, Chen Ye!"

Chen Ye smiled and patted Qing Jun's head. It seemed that he would soon be able to latch onto his disciple's coattails!
"Then Master, what reward should we give Qingjun?"

The little girl squinted her eyes, already begging for a reward.
"Master said he would give Qingjun a reward for the 'future,' but several months have passed and we still haven't received it!"

At this point, she couldn't help but glance at the gold medal hanging around her senior's neck.

My senior sister cherishes this gold medal very much!

They wouldn't even let me touch it, as if I were going to steal it!
"This one……"

Chen Ye has no plans for future rewards; this is merely a temporary measure for him, intended to be prepared for Qing Jun in the future.

Moreover, he wanted to wait until he had at least reached the Foundation Establishment stage before making proper preparations for Qingjun.

Before Chen Ye could come up with an excuse, Zhiwei pulled out a soft ruler from somewhere. She walked up to Chen Ye, her face slightly flushed, and stammered, "Master...you...you stand still."

"Huh? What are you doing?" Chen Ye was taken aback.

Zhiwei stood on tiptoe, holding a soft measuring tape, and began to measure his figure with a serious expression.

"Senior sister, what are you doing?" Qingjun asked curiously, forgetting all about her master's reward.

Zhiwei blushed even more at her question. She hid the measuring tape behind her back and stammered, "I...I want to see...if Master has grown up yet."

"Pfft..." Chen Ye almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Qingjun laughed so hard she almost fell over: "Shame on you! Senior sister, shame on you! It's clearly Master who should be checking if we've grown up! Master is so old, how could he possibly still be growing taller! Right! Master is an old man! So old that no one even wants to look at Master anymore!"

"I...I didn't!" Zhiwei stomped her foot in embarrassment and anger, but even so, she still insisted on carefully measuring Chen Ye's body.

After initially being overjoyed, the little girl gradually realized something was wrong.

she……

Why did she have this feeling that her senior sister was about to betray her again?
It must be an illusion!

The more the little girl thought about it, the more doubts clouded her mind.

Chen Ye looked at the little girl who had suddenly fallen silent and sensed that something was wrong.

He thought to himself, "Strange, it's just measuring body size..."

After racking his brains without finding a solution, Chen Ye simply waited until Zhiwei had measured the two girls, then pulled them both into his arms and laughed:

"Alright, since that's the case, then let your master measure your figures."

He had the two nine-year-old girls stand with their backs against the old pine tree in the yard, and then took out a soft measuring tape.

After taking measurements, they were converted to the scale of the previous life.

Zhiwei is 142 centimeters tall, while Qingjun is 140 centimeters tall.

The two apprentices were about the same height, and with sufficient nutrition, they were not much shorter than other children of the same age.

As for Chen Ye, having practiced body-strengthening techniques, he grew to be nearly two meters tall.

"Senior sister is only a little bit taller than me!" Qingjun pouted unconvinced when she saw the two-centimeter difference.

Zhiwei, with a serious expression, said, "Senior sister should be taller than junior sister!"

Actually, she was a little happy inside.

Although... he is not as good as his junior sister in his master's heart, his cultivation level has been caught up by his junior sister, and he is not as likable as his junior sister.

At least, he's still taller than his junior sister...

This means she can grow up faster than her junior!

Looking at the two girls' innocent and carefree appearance, Chen Ye's heart softened.
"Actually, Master thinks... it's not bad that you two have always been little dumplings."

"Eek!"

The little girl was terrified. Sure enough, her master was Old Zhang!

I only like children!

……

Just as Chen Ye was enjoying this rare moment of "family bliss," an unexpected visitor arrived outside Linsong Valley.

A figure stood gracefully outside the archway at the valley entrance, its traces concealed by an array.

She wore a large black cloak, which completely concealed her exquisite figure and her delicate and pretty face in shadow.

Only those eyes, half-hidden beneath the brim of his hat and as clear as autumn water, revealed a complex emotion of resolute determination mixed with trepidation.

Beneath her seemingly conservative black robe, she wore a revealing dance dress that she had never worn before.

Lin Qiongyu had always thought she would never wear this dance dress in her entire life...

This was her last gamble.

Since everyone considers her a whore, she might as well be a real whore for once.

She used her only valuable asset to try and give her sister a chance at life.

Lin Qiongyu took a deep breath, preparing to step forward and knock on the invisible array light barrier, when an old voice came from behind her: "Who are you, young lady? What brings you to my Linsong Valley?"

Lin Qiongyu was startled and turned around to look.

She saw an elderly woman with white hair leaning on a cane, looking at her.

When Granny Li saw the face beneath the black robe, she was slightly taken aback, then asked uncertainly, "You...you are...the Lin family's daughter who lives next door to Deacon Chen?"

Lin Qiongyu was even more astonished; she never expected to run into her former neighbor here.

What she never expected was that this family, which she remembered as being just as poor as her own, would appear in such a blessed land of a sect!

“Grandma Li…I…I wish to pay my respects to Steward Chen. I hope Grandma Li can help me convey my request.”

Lin Qiongyu's slender fingers clenched the hem of her clothes, feeling a strange sense of shame.

Just finished speaking,

Granny Li's eyes were suspicious. In the dead of night, what did it mean that a beautiful woman would come looking for a strong young man?
Moreover, Lin Qiongyu did not have a good reputation in Yunxifang. She manipulated Xue Chengjun and exploited him at will.

just,

Although Granny Li looked down on this woman, she was now, in a sense, Chen Ye's follower, so she naturally couldn't make decisions on her own.

After thinking for a moment, she finally spoke up: "Miss Lin, please wait here for a moment. This old woman will... go and inform them for you. However... I can't say for sure whether Steward Chen will see you."

"Um……"

Lin Qiongyu felt the strange look in Granny Li's eyes and immediately felt ashamed. She responded in a whisper.

Qiongyu...you can do it!
No matter how much Chen Ye doesn't get close to women, he is still a man!
When the girl suddenly looked into the light screen at the spacious and bright wooden house of the Li family, which also had a separate courtyard, her emotions became even more complicated.

Inside the courtyard, the spiritual energy was abundant, the houses were tidy, and a small medicinal herb garden had even been cultivated in a corner, with several spiritual herbs growing vigorously. This environment, capable of directly cultivating spiritual plants, likely possessed spiritual energy several times higher than that of a top-tier cave dwelling in the market!
This family... they've truly risen to great heights!
All of this was simply because they had been that man's neighbors.

Why?
She was also his neighbor... When he was away, she took care of his two disciples, and she even risked her life at Yunshang Pavilion to remind him.

Isn't all of this enough to atone for Xue Chengjun's brutal beating...?

She clearly didn't hit him, and she had never been his enemy, nor had she ever taken advantage of him.

The girl in the black robe lowered her head and gripped the hem of her clothes even tighter.

A surge of emotions—bitterness, jealousy, and even resentment— welled up from the depths of her heart, causing a momentary twisting of her soul.

"Chen Ye... no matter what, I will make you... fall at my feet!"

……

"Lin Qiongyu?"

When Chen Ye heard Granny Li's report, he thought he had misheard.

How long has it been since he last saw Lin Qiongyu?
I remember this person, didn't he leave Yunxifang and return to his hometown after killing Xue Chengjun?

Unexpectedly, Lin Qiongyu's hometown was actually in Taoshanfang!

"Could this guy be trying to curry favor with me, the new manager of Rin-Matsuya?"

Chen Ye pondered to himself.

He didn't have a good impression of Lin Qiongyu. In Yunxifang, he was extremely cold to her and even refused to help her when she was in danger.

This kind of woman relies on her looks to seduce male cultivators and swindle them out of spirit stones.

In their previous lives, they were all known as "gold diggers".

"I just didn't expect that when I treated her coldly, she would actually try to be nice to me... Is this the charm of spirit stones?"

Chen Ye chuckled and shook his head.
"Please, Granny Li, drive this person out of Linsong Valley. I have no past relationship with her, so there is no need to treat her with courtesy."

Grandma Li nodded with satisfaction upon hearing this.

She knew that Chen Ye was a man of strong will and would never be swayed by beauty.

It should be noted that from Yunxifang to now, Chen Ye has gradually risen to the position of manager of Linsong Valley, but there has never been any other woman by his side.

Apart from Li Qiuyun, but Li Qiuyun was a bodyguard assigned by the sect, so naturally he was not included in the scope.

"Oh? Sister Qiongyu!"

At this moment, his two disciples were sitting obediently beside Chen Ye, listening to their master explain the methods of cultivation.

The little girl was immediately delighted when she heard Lin Qiongyu's name:
"Master, Master, why won't you let Sister Qiongyu in! I really want to come in!"

Mimi is a black cat owned by Lin Qiongyu.

Perhaps due to her bloodline, Qingjun has always had a deep affection for small animals, such as Yuanyuan, and this Miwu.

"Ah this..."

Chen Ye hesitated for a moment. Whether he saw Lin Qiongyu or not was not important.

But making Qingjun happy is very important.

"Qingjun..."

Seeing this, Zhiwei tugged at Qingjun's sleeve.

She pursed her lips, a rare hint of displeasure on her face.
"Master says he won't see Lin Qiongyu, and that means he won't see Lin Qiongyu! Don't interfere with Master's decision..."

"Woo?"

The little girl was sullen. She didn't understand why her senior sister and Qiongyu used to get along so well.

Why does my senior sister seem a little unhappy when she hears the name of Sister Qiongyu?
"Alright, if Master doesn't want to see me, then I won't see him..."

　Take a day off, and see if I can continue reading 10,000 words a day tomorrow. Quickly get through this part of the plot.
　　Um, do you have any monthly passes...?

　　We're about to break 2,000 monthly votes, which means we can participate in two prize draws! qaq
　　
　
(End of this chapter)