Who taught him to practice swordsmanship like this?

A large pot of fragrant mutton simmered gently, and Su Baichen watched the heat as it cooked…

Come to think of it, this place was originally supposed to be where the alchemy furnace was placed, right? I didn't expect the furnace to be replaced by a large pot.

He roughly understood one of Xuan Yin Zhenren's little secrets... or rather, his little quirks: his love of food!

Seeing that the mutton soup was almost ready, he quickly called over Master Xuanyin: "Master, it's ready to eat."

Master Xuanyin strolled over leisurely, took the bowl of soup, tasted it, and remarked, "Not bad, not much fishy or gamey smell. As expected of a farmer's child, he matures early... Not bad cooking."

Su Baichen found it quite incongruous; he had assumed that the cultivators of Changchun Palace ate light meals.

"Bai Chen, why don't you have some too?"

Su Baichen hesitated, holding the bowl. He asked, "Master, won't this interfere with my cultivation?"

Master Xuan Yin scoffed, "I thought it was something important, but it turns out you're worried about this."

"First, you need to understand why cultivators must restrain themselves from eating and why they practice abstinence."

Su Baichen answered matter-of-factly, "If one indulges in desires, it will disturb one's mind and make it difficult to concentrate on cultivation... Under such circumstances, one may even be taken advantage of by inner demons."

The Mysterious Yin Master said noncommittally, "A very standard answer."

"But this doesn't apply to our Yin Sect."

Su Baichen was puzzled.

"Our Yin Sect cultivates using Profound Yin Spiritual Energy. This Yin Energy is refined into our bones and meridians; its frosty chill can even freeze the mind!"

"While it may make us more rational and clear-headed, it can also make us more indifferent and ruthless. If we fall into this indifference and ruthlessness without restraint, then cultivators will sooner or later completely lose their humanity and become heartless people who regard all things as straw dogs."

At this point, Master Xuanyin slowly picked up a piece of mutton, took a bite, and said, "You eat some too."

Su Baichen quickly started eating as well, and he roughly understood what Xuan Yin Zhenren meant.

"Master, do you mean we should cultivate a harmless hobby as an anchor point for us to continue being human?"

Master Xuanyin swallowed the mutton and stroked his beard: "You're right, that's exactly what I wanted to say."

"Other cultivators are afraid of having too many desires and too many thoughts, but we Yin Sect cultivators are afraid of having nothing we want to do."

"Otherwise, if we continue cultivating like this, what's the difference between a person and a piece of wood?"

"When we cultivators embark on the path of cultivation, do we ever intend to be a piece of wood?"

At this point, Master Xuanyin patted Su Baichen on the shoulder and continued, "If one day you suddenly feel that nothing is interesting, then think back to what your initial desire was when you embarked on this path of cultivation."

"Don't let this boredom continue; you must find a way to rediscover that longing."

Su Baichen nodded earnestly: "I understand, Master. I will definitely keep your teachings in mind and live a fulfilling life."

Hearing that, he started having all sorts of ideas.

This mutton soup was arguably the best meal he had since his rebirth, considering he had never had the chance to obtain so many spices before...

I didn't expect that the Yin Sect's foreign affairs office had so many good things... I heard they were all brought in as medicinal herbs?

As Xuan Yin Zhenren sipped his soup and ate his meat, he suddenly asked out of the blue, "Bai Chen, what do you think I should do with Wu Nianzi?"

Su Baichen was taken aback. Why was he being asked that?

"I also……"

He was prepared to play dumb.

But Master Xuanyin said, "Just tell us your thoughts. After all, although there is no concrete evidence, we all know that it is a hidden danger."

He seemed genuinely troubled by this.

Su Baichen considered it from Xuan Yin Zhenren's perspective and realized that it was indeed a difficult problem to solve.

It's still because there's no concrete evidence.

Su Baichen guessed that, given Xuan Yin Zhenren's style of doing things, he would never deliberately scheme against his disciple in order to implement that so-called "evidence".

Even knowing all this, he still wanted to ask clearly: "Master, is Fourth Senior Brother reliable?"

Master Xuanyin laughed and said, "You are all the same; you have all been by my side since you were young."

The implication is that Master Xuanyin is willing to believe in Wunianzi.

Su Baichen thought for a moment, but didn't mention Wu Nianzi again. Instead, he asked, "Master, when can I go down the mountain?"

The Mysterious Yin Immortal asked in surprise, "What are you going down the mountain for?"

Su Baichen replied, "Of course, it's about finding joy in life. Although our Yinfeng Gorge has magnificent scenery, you'll eventually get tired of it after a while. Didn't Master tell me to find joy in life? I think I should participate more in the mundane world to continuously find the joy in life."

Master Xuanyin sighed helplessly, "You child, how come your thinking is so unconventional..."

However, he hadn't expected to get any good advice from Su Baichen, so he simply went along with him and said, "Like your senior brother, once you reach the Qi Refining Realm, you can leave the sect and travel around."

"After all, apart from the middle stage where the furnace is moved and one must return to meditate, the other two stages of Qi Refining are all about slow and steady progress."

"My senior brother spent ten years opening all his meridians during the Great Circulation. He then spent another five years preparing and experimenting during the Qi Refining stage, finally succeeding in moving the Qi storage point to the Tanzhong acupoint. Now, within the Five Qi Gathering Realm, he has cultivated for another twenty years to barely complete the 'Three Qi Gathering.' When you reach the Qi Refining Realm, you mustn't be impatient..."

The master started lecturing again.

Su Baichen suddenly felt that Xuan Yin Zhenren's usual aloofness was just an act, and that he was actually quite talkative.

But these were his master's teachings, so he could only listen attentively.

Well, I'll just listen while I drink my soup and eat my meat. Anyway, Master talks while he eats...

"Alright, let the rest simmer. We can have another meal tomorrow."

"It's getting late, you should go back and rest."

Master Xuan Yin finally started to drive people away.

Su Baichen immediately got up and conscientiously cleared away the dishes.

Unexpectedly, Xuan Yin Zhenren took the bowl and chopsticks and threw them outside into the water.

Su Baichen looked over in astonishment and realized that the bowl had turned into a clam shell in the water, and the chopsticks had turned into pebbles.

This is clearly the illusion created by the Xuan Yin Zhenren's magic that makes reality appear!

"Isn't this...so convenient?"

Su Baichen was extremely envious.

Xuan Yin Zhenren was slightly taken aback. He thought Su Baichen would say "That's amazing"... But after thinking about it carefully, "convenient" was more in line with Xuan Yin Zhenren's wishes.

He said, "Alright, go ahead."

Su Baichen then took his leave and returned to his room.

He went inside and lit the charcoal stove.

I stretched lazily... then suddenly remembered something and quickly opened the window to look outside...

To his astonishment, he discovered that there was a line of water slowly rising in front of him!

This is the tide coming in.

Half of his house will be below the tide level.

However, the water did not flood his room, and even the simple walkway along the mountainside below his room was not submerged.

All the seawater was blocked outside the barrier.

……

On the other side, Xuan Yin Zhenren was about to meditate in his room when he remembered Su Baichen asking him when he could go out to travel. He chuckled to himself, thinking that this child was still just a child, with nothing but playfulness in his heart.

however……

He suddenly froze.

Because he remembered the question he had asked Su Baichen earlier: How should we deal with Wu Nianzi?

Looking back now, Su Baichen clearly gave the answer in his own way!

Since there is no concrete evidence, and we don't want to devise a plan to capture him, and we are worried that keeping him within the sect might pose a threat... why not send him out?

The reasons are readily available: to find an anchor point in life and not let negative energy influence or engulf one's mind!

"This child, how come he's so cunning?"