Immortality begins with raising apprentices

Chapter 192 Disciple Eavesdropping? Master Tests!
The moonlight was cool and serene, and the croaking of frogs gradually began.

The carved window was open, letting in a cool breeze.

Chen Ye stood outside the window, his gaze falling on a strand of soft, black hair that was peeking out from under the covers, and sighed.

On the bed, his eldest disciple was wrapped in a thin blanket, facing one side of the wall, breathing evenly and deeply, clearly having been fast asleep for a long time.

"soy Mujer……"

Chen Ye muttered to himself, and seeing the little girl sleeping so soundly, he suddenly felt a little sleepy.

He was busy refining pills, taking care of Lin Jin, dealing with threats from the Wei family, and guarding against demonic cultivators...

Although he didn't show it on his face, he was actually under a lot of pressure.

"Never mind, I'll have plenty of time to sleep later..."

Chen Ye pulled the open carved window sash even tighter, leaving only a narrow gap for ventilation.

After doing all this, he took one last look at the figure on the bed before turning and disappearing into the night.

He was going to the back mountain to continue refining Qi-Nourishing Pills.

"Master...?"

Zhiwei, who seemed to be fast asleep, suddenly turned over and stared intently at the window.

However, the windows were already closed, so there was no way to see the man's back.
……

Linsong Valley, behind the mountain.

Chen Ye clutched Wei Cheng's storage bag, his heart pounding with excitement.

Since he transmigrated to the cultivation world, he has opened his storage bag many times.

But every time I open the storage bag, I still feel the same excitement as opening a blind box.

"However... Wei Cheng has a family and a home, so he might not carry his entire fortune with him like the lone wolf cultivator..."

Chen Ye rubbed his hands together, though he didn't actually expect to find many spirit stones in the storage bag.

For example, in a past life, if it weren't for cell phones, who would carry a lot of wealth with them when they went out?

As the saying goes, the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

Conversely, the lower your expectations, the bigger the surprise!

"Good guy!"

Chen Yegang probed his spiritual sense into the storage bag and couldn't help but gasp.

The resources in this storage bag far exceeded Chen Ye's expectations!

There were nearly a hundred low-grade spirit stones alone, neatly stacked.

Among these spirit stones, there were even five mid-grade spirit stones!

Besides these, there are Wei Cheng's various magical artifacts, totaling three pieces.

What's left are all sorts of odds and ends.

For example, healing pills, clothes, and some toys for children.

"Wei Cheng is in his forties or fifties, the age when he should be supporting both his elderly parents and his young children. But, if you can kill, people can kill you too..."

When Chen Ye saw the rattle drum among them, he couldn't help but feel emotional.

He then carefully searched through the pile of miscellaneous items, hoping to find clues about the Crossing Love Sect.

Unfortunately, Wei Cheng could not find any information related to the Crossing Love Sect in his storage bag.

Chen Ye frowned slightly, and when he saw the five mid-grade spirit stones, he suddenly seemed to be deep in thought.

Ordinary Qi Refining cultivators use low-grade spirit stones.

This is because normally, even if you buy a top-grade magic weapon, it only costs a few hundred spirit stones.

Not to mention everyday consumption?
The question then arises: why did Wei Cheng carry five inconvenient-to-use mid-grade spirit stones with him?

Moreover, five mid-grade spirit stones were a huge sum of money for Wei Cheng, yet he carried them around so casually.
"strangeness……"

Chen Ye shook his head; thinking about it further was pointless.

He sold the magical artifacts he had acquired yesterday and exchanged them for spirit stones.

With these spirit stones, plus Wei Cheng's assets, Chen Ye had a total of seven hundred spirit stones on him!

"Not enough! Purchasing level-two spiritual items is a long and arduous task..."

Once Chen Ye had made up his mind, he summoned the Hundred Herbs Furnace and began refining elixirs.

……

The next day.

The assassination of Wei Cheng caused a great uproar in Taoshanfang, with everyone in a state of chaos.

The Wei family was furious. Together with the law enforcement officers of the market, they turned the entire Taoshan Market upside down, but they couldn't find even a trace of the murderer.

The mysterious black-robed assassin seemed to appear out of thin air and then vanish just as suddenly, leaving behind only a trail of blood.

Finding no trace, they had no choice but to abandon the investigation.

With no success in finding the culprit, the grief-stricken Wei family turned their suspicions toward Chen Ye, who had a past grudge against Wei Cheng.

But Chen Ye was only at the eighth level of Qi Refining. Where did he get the means to quickly kill three late-stage Qi Refining cultivators? This is completely illogical.

Moreover, on the night of the incident, Chen Ye was purchasing spiritual plants at the Herbal Pavilion. There were witnesses and physical evidence, making the case airtight.

Therefore, the Wei family's accusations were seen as a suppression of Chen Ye.

Just as this farce was escalating to the point of disrupting the normal order of the market, a sect protector from the Bai family finally spoke up.

The protector simply said, "This matter will be handled by the Enforcement Hall; no one is allowed to cause trouble privately."

With the protector's words, the Wei family, no matter how unwilling, dared not continue to cause trouble openly.

In the end, the matter was left unresolved.

"So that's how it is. Humph, the Wei family is still determined to destroy me! They've even dared to openly slander me!"

After hearing Wang Hao's explanation of the whole story, Chen Ye was furious and slammed his hand on the table.

Wang Hao, startled, trembled violently, filled with righteous indignation:
“Exactly! We saw Steward Chen in the Herbal Pavilion with our own eyes that day. How could it have been Steward Chen who did it? What’s even more ridiculous is that the Wei family claims that Steward Chen hired someone to kill him. How laughable! There’s no evidence, just baseless slander. Why don’t they say that I, Wang Hao, hired someone to kill him?”

Chen Ye chuckled inwardly, but his anger gradually subsided.

He slowly sat down, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at the obsequious disciple before him.

Wang Hao felt uneasy under his gaze, unsure of what this Deacon Chen was up to. He could only stand there awkwardly, forcing a smile, completely at a loss.

"Wang Hao," Chen Ye finally spoke after a long silence, "what do you think of Linsong Valley?"

"Huh?" Wang Hao was taken aback, then immediately began to flatter without thinking, "Good! Of course, it's excellent! Especially under your leadership, Steward Chen, Lin Song Valley is now thriving and far more prosperous than before!"

“In that case,” Chen Ye put down his teacup and looked at him, “I have something more important to entrust to you.”

"Please speak, sir! I would gladly face any danger, even death!" Wang Hao immediately pledged his loyalty.

Chen Ye nodded in satisfaction: "Very good. From today onwards, you no longer need to stay in the valley."

"Huh?" Wang Hao's smile froze instantly.

"Since you are a disciple of a sect, you probably don't want to see Lin Song Valley destroyed by villains, right? The Wei family is targeting us so much that I have to take precautions," Chen Ye said with a smile.

"What Deacon Chen means is..."

"It's nothing major, but I need to trouble you to travel between the Three Thousand Mountains, Yunxi Village, and Taoshan Village for me, keeping an eye on the outside world, such as what the Wei family is up to, what powerful figures have come to the market, and what changes have occurred in the Three Thousand Mountains."

Chen Ye didn't trust Wang Hao, such a despicable person, to be employed in Linsong Valley.

But it's fine to use it to find out what's going on outside on a regular basis.

Besides, he wasn't being used as a spy; he was just a gofer.

With Wang Hao's cultivation level of the sixth level of Qi Refining, he should be able to travel easily between these three places.

Wang Hao opened his mouth, then cautiously said, "But... Steward, I am nominally a member of Lin Song Valley. If I don't take care of the spiritual plants in the valley, I'm afraid... it will be difficult to explain to the sect, won't it?"

Serving as a spy certainly meant gaining the steward's trust.

But this job is hard work, how can it compare to the ease and comfort of tending to the spiritual plants in Linsong Valley? He went through all the trouble to come back, not for this.

Seeing his little scheme, Chen Ye chuckled, "When you compete in the outer sect competition next time, I'll definitely give you a big reward in Lin Song Valley so you can pass the outer sect assessment smoothly. Besides, at most half a year of hard work is nothing compared to the path to enlightenment." Hearing this, Wang Hao's dissatisfaction vanished instantly.

The reason he wanted to give up was because he felt he was too old and had not yet broken through his cultivation level, so he thought it would be difficult for him to enter the inner sect.

But if there is hope for the future, why would he continue to slack off?
"Yes! This disciple will certainly live up to your expectations!" Wang Hao said with great joy.

"I'll give you this jade pendant. With it, I'll be able to get news about you immediately."

Chen Ye took out a jade pendant from his storage bag.

This jade pendant was obtained from Wei Cheng. It can transmit sound in one direction and is a common model mass-produced by the Lingbao Sect, so it can be used with confidence.

Even if they are thousands of miles apart, as long as there is no array to block them, cultivators can hear the sounds near this sound transmission jade pendant.

In addition,

Although this jade pendant can only transmit sound in one direction, it has the advantage that others cannot use it to track the aura of its owner.

When Chen Ye learned of the jade pendant, he almost broke out in a cold sweat.

Luckily fortunately!

He didn't show off in front of Wei Cheng, and it was Qing Zhi, dressed in black robes, who killed Wei Cheng without revealing a single clue.

Otherwise, his killing of Wei Cheng would have already been exposed!

This incident served as another wake-up call for Chen Ye.

In the future, if you want to assassinate cultivators from sects or families, you need to be extremely careful! These cultivators are far more difficult to deal with than rootless, independent cultivators.

At that time, after Qingzhi killed Wei Cheng, he immediately ordered Qingzhi to search him, destroy evidence, and check for potential dangers.

During this period, the jade pendant was discovered and refined to prevent any future troubles.

Wang Hao accepted it as instructed, and then heard Chen Ye say leisurely, "By the way, don't take off this jade pendant on ordinary days. I can use it to monitor your movements... If you are not happy, you can refuse now."

Chen Ye secretly regretted that he had no other means but to use the jade pendant to control Wang Hao.

Wang Hao felt a chill run down his spine, but how could he harbor any dissatisfaction?

He understood what Deacon Chen meant; he was simply worried about his betrayal. He understood and quickly accepted the jade pendant, saying, "Satisfied, disciple is satisfied!"

Chen Ye nodded, and waited for Wang Hao to leave.

He seemed to be deep in thought.
Is Wei Cheng wearing this jade pendant because, like Wang Hao, he is being monitored by someone?
Chen Ye is increasingly suspicious that the Wei family has connections with demonic cultivators.

"It's strange, but this sound transmission jade pendant has a similar aura to my disciple's jade pendant."

Chen Ye couldn't resist taking out Zhiwei's jade pendant and playing with it in his palm.

Something is wrong!
The more I handle it, the more it feels like a jade pendant for transmitting sound.
but,

This jade pendant was obtained from Mao Qingzhu, who then gave it to Zhiwei. He later exchanged it for a gold medal from Zhiwei.

Before exchanging it, Zhiwei had already refined the gold medal, so how could it possibly be a communication jade pendant?
If it were a communication jade pendant, my disciple would definitely tell me!

Chen Ye felt relieved and put the jade pendant away.

But after a while, he couldn't help but take out the jade pendant again and mutter to himself:

"How could I doubt my disciple? I only wanted to see the structure of this jade pendant..."

He extended his divine sense, and his face stiffened.

This really is a sound-transmitting jade pendant!

It wasn't that Chen Ye was careless, but rather that he obtained the jade pendant from Zhiwei!
Although he knew it was a magical artifact, he only borrowed it to calm his mind. Seeing that his disciple had refined it, he did not refine it himself.

If he received it from someone else, Chen Ye would definitely examine it carefully.

but……

Chen Ye had no defenses against Zhiwei.

Zhiwei often brings him tea and water, but she can't possibly check everything, can she?

"How could this be... how could this be... my disciple actually gave me a jade pendant for listening in..."

Chen Ye's mind went completely blank for a moment.

He couldn't believe it,
His usually obedient and polite eldest disciple was secretly eavesdropping on him.

Does she... still want revenge?

Chen Ye took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

impossible!
So... was Zhiwei unaware of the situation?
Zhiwei is simple-minded and may not be familiar with these unorthodox methods.

She refined this item, perhaps simply treating it as an ordinary calming artifact.

"Yes, that must be it." Chen Ye paced back and forth.

Once the seed of doubt is planted, it will take root and sprout wildly.

One moment he thought he was just being paranoid, and the next he felt there must be something fishy going on.

Finally, he suppressed the turmoil in his heart.

You will know whether it is true or not after trying it!
……

Chen Ye quietly returned to the courtyard.

In his quiet room,
Zhiwei's long, black hair cascaded down to her waist and swayed gracefully.

Her delicate little face was extremely serious as she focused intently on her cultivation.

Upon seeing her master, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she looked at Chen Ye with a somewhat bewildered expression.

"My disciple is so adorable... How could this be!"

Chen Ye gritted his teeth, thinking to himself.

Then, he coughed again, feigning guilt, and lowered his voice, saying:

"Um... Zhiwei, your master... has some personal business to attend to and needs to go to the back mountain. You should cultivate diligently, and if you need anything, then... then come to the back mountain to find me."

He spoke vaguely, his expression shifty, looking exactly like someone about to do something bad.

Zhiwei clenched her little hands as she looked at her master's strange appearance, which was completely different from usual.

Yesterday... Master went to Lin Qiongyu's courtyard and returned the spirit stones to her...

But she didn't ask any more questions, and simply nodded obediently: "Yes, Master."

"Okay, okay..."

Chen Ye coughed twice more, as if to cover up his guilty conscience, then turned around and walked hurriedly toward the back mountain.

Linsong Valley, behind the mountain.

Chen Ye sat cross-legged by the pool where he usually practiced.

He touched the jade pendant, but didn't probe it yet.
Time passed by minute by minute.

After a while, he couldn't hold back any longer and murmured to himself:
"Sigh... I should have brought Zhiwei with me. That girl is always smart. With her help and advice, we might be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"However, Zhiwei is very observant. She must have noticed that I haven't eaten all day, and she'll probably come to bring me food later..."

"Speaking of which, Zhiwei is getting more and more beautiful, especially in that little white dress..."

Chen Ye had mixed feelings.

If... it really is Zhiwei listening to him, what should he do?

He stroked the bone-scraping whip at his waist and sighed slowly.

the other side.

A certain traitor was holding the jade pendant, eavesdropping intently.

"Master... Master is talking nonsense again..."

"Why are you so guilty? Going to the back mountain... and you keep mentioning Zhiwei... What is Master doing?"

She lowered her head silently and couldn't help but hug the jade pendant tightly.

Then she hurriedly stood up, happily tiptoed, and rummaged through the closet for that little white dress.

(End of this chapter)