I'm here in the martial arts world just to find love.

There are several reasons why Master Ziyang was willing to tell the young man so many secrets of the martial arts world.

One reason is that the ultimate purpose and intention of this martial arts tournament will inevitably become known to the world after the tournament.

On the other hand, there was news brought by the young man and his companions. It concerned the ancient temple, the ghostly Buddha lamp within it, and the mad Taoist priest Wuchen who had ended up in the Valley of Villains.

Of course, the most important aspect is the two major forces in the martial arts world standing behind the young man.

The Temple of the Snow and the Palace of the Moon, both of exceptional status.

With a major upheaval imminent, everyone in the Xuanmen sect is in danger. Having more righteous allies is never a bad thing.

Who says that Taoists only focus on spiritual cultivation and are ignorant of human relationships? That's a prejudice! In fact, Taoism places the utmost importance on interpersonal relationships and is extremely courteous!

Ziyang Daoist thought to himself, and found the young man, who was still full of energy after being hit by his Purple Heaven Divine Thunder, even more pleasing to the eye.

This young man named Jiang Chao is exceptionally talented and of good character. Unlike those spoiled brats, he is a truly good young man worth befriending!

……

In short, the night at Zixu Temple felt exceptionally long.

Jiang Yunyao knew Jiang Chao's problem, so after the old Taoist priest Ziyang told her many stories from the past, she told Jiang Chao to go to sleep before dawn.

Jiang Chao learned many secrets of the martial arts world that night and was so excited that he couldn't sleep. In addition, after encountering that strange black shadow in Qingxi Town, he never had any more problems.

But I can't tell Yao Yao about these things for now, for fear of worrying her.

So, urged by Sister Yao Yao, I forced myself to fall asleep and didn't fall asleep until dawn.

When I woke up in my room at Zixu Temple, it was already past noon, past midday.

  

Jiang Chao pushed open the door, feeling refreshed, and prepared to stretch, only to find that someone was already waiting in the small courtyard.

It was a young Taoist priest. Upon seeing Jiang Chao, the priest quickly stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and his face showed reverence.

"I am a humble Taoist priest, sent by my master to guide you to the dining hall for breakfast."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chao blinked, looked up at the bright sun overhead, which he felt was warm but not scorching.

"Have breakfast?"

The young Taoist pursed his lips, gave an awkward smile, and said cautiously:

"Shall we have lunch?"

Jiang Chao smiled. This young Taoist priest looked to be about the same age as him, but he had delicate skin, pale lips and white teeth, unlike the rough skin of those who traveled the martial arts world.

It seems we must find a way to get our hands on the age-preserving technique of Zixu Temple. The sooner the better, who wouldn't want to stay eighteen years old forever and stay young forever!

Thinking this, the boy laughed and said:

"Thank you for your trouble, Taoist priest. We'll head over now."

Following the young Taoist Qingfeng, we walked around two long corridors to a vegetarian dining hall in the backyard, where people were already eating vegetarian food.

They were all acquaintances.

Su E, the witch doctor; Chu Ning, the heroine of the Chu family; Lu Jing, an apprentice at Huichuntang; and even a red-clad woman, a living dead whose origins and sects are unknown…

Upon seeing the woman in red, Jiang Chao was stunned for a long while before his voice suddenly rose:

"What is she doing here?!"

Jiang Chao pointed at the woman in red and asked the crowd.

Su E smiled and said, "Senior Ziyang brought her to the Taoist temple early this morning."

The female knight-errant pursed her lips and rolled her eyes at him.

"Jiang Qilin, just relax. Senior Ziyang is a true master who doesn't judge people with special eyes. Everyone thinks he's like you, petty and narrow-minded, hmph!"

"..."

Jiang Chao was speechless for a moment.

Let's forget what I said before.

Although that senior Ziyang didn't seem like a good person, he didn't seem like a hypocrite either.

This can be seen from the fact that his sister Jiang Yunyao and her group did not seek out other Taoist temples to rest, but specifically came to Zixu Temple.

The key is the last sentence.

What do you mean I, Jiang Chao, am petty and narrow-minded?

When has Jiang Chao ever been stingy?

However, Jiang Chao was too lazy to clear his name after such slander from Lady Chu.

The woman who owed the money was the boss, and Jiang Chao had to admit defeat.

He saw the woman in red sitting upright on the bench beside everyone, motionless, with even a bowl and chopsticks placed in front of her, and he immediately felt relieved.

It seems that she was not treated specially.

The boy was puzzled as to why she was so obedient and followed the Taoist priest to this Taoist temple, which clearly had something she feared.

However, these issues are no longer important. Now that she has arrived, what she fears is probably no longer a threat to her.

Looking around, Jiang Chao found that the dining hall, which could easily accommodate twenty or thirty people, only contained Su E and her group. His sister Jiang Yunyao and the two elders of the Moon Goddess Palace were nowhere to be seen. Jiang Chao couldn't help but ask:

"Where are my sisters?"

"You still dare to say that?"

"They've already gone down the mountain!"

The female knight-errant Chu replied irritably:

"We've been waiting for you to come down the mountain since early this morning, but Sister Yao said you've had a problem since you were little—you don't sleep well at night and you're listless the next day. So she told us not to disturb you and to let you get a good night's sleep. We've been traveling all this way, enduring wind and rain, and we haven't seen you have this problem before!"

Jiang Chao thought to himself, "Wouldn't some of my quirks scare you? Eating live sheep, drinking raw meat and eating blood, wouldn't you all see me as a monster?"

Jiang Chao twitched the corner of his mouth, but instead of responding to that, he questioned Lady Chu with a half-smile:

"Tsk tsk, you've only known my sister for a short time, and you're already calling her 'Sister Yao Yao' so affectionately?"

The heroine Chu blushed and said reproachfully:

"Jiang Qilin, you're meddling in other people's business. Yao Yao and I hit it off immediately and get along very well, is that not allowed?"

"Who was that who gave me that pleading look when my sister dragged me away last night?"

"Jiang! Qi! Lin!"

Seeing that Lady Chu was enraged, Jiang Qilin... Jiang Chao quickly changed the subject:

"By the way, is today the first day of the martial arts tournament?"

At this moment, Qingfeng Daoist, who was having lunch in the dining hall, whispered to himself:

"Today is indeed the day of the martial arts tournament, but the formal competition will not begin until tomorrow. Master said that Young Hero Jiang can simply stay here and go down the mountain tomorrow."

Jiang Chao nodded and said no more. He sat down on the bench next to Chu the Heroine, picked up a white steamed bun, and began to eat.

The vegetarian meals at the Taoist temple were simple and refreshing: white steamed buns with pickled vegetables, and a bowl of bright green wild vegetable porridge.

Jiang Chao was used to eating delicacies, but he still enjoyed the vegetarian food at the Taoist temple.

On the way to Yunmeng Mountain, we ate too much dry food, and even Jiang Chao was a little overwhelmed. It wasn't that his stomach couldn't handle it, but his taste buds weren't cooperating.

After finishing three steamed buns and a bowl of unidentified wild vegetable porridge, followed by a few bites of pickled vegetables, Jiang Chao let out a satisfied burp.

Then he looked at Qingfeng Daoist and said, "Thank you for your hospitality, Daoist. We've finished eating, so we won't bother you any longer. We're about to head down the mountain."

He then looked at Su E and the others, "You should have finished eating by now, right?"

There were no bowls or chopsticks in front of them, so they must have already eaten and the food had been taken away.

Su E nodded.

"Then let's go."

Jiang Chao stood up and looked at the woman in red who was two wooden tables away from him. "Would you like something to eat?"

The woman in red had been staring at him ever since he entered, and she remained silent and unblinking upon hearing his words.

Jiang Chao smiled, knowing that the ingredients on the other party's menu were not available in this vegetarian hall, so he said no more.

With Qingfeng Daoren seeing them off, the group arrived at the entrance of the Taoist temple. It was too dark last night to see the temple in its entirety.

Taking advantage of the bright sunshine and the high sun, Jiang Chao turned around and carefully examined the Zixu Temple, one of the seventy-two Taoist temples of Yunmeng Mountain. He found that although the temple was not very grand, it had a certain quiet and ancient charm.

Goodbye.

Jiang Chao withdrew his gaze, cupped his hands in greeting to Daoist Qingfeng, and strode down the mountain.

"Please take care, everyone."

Qingfeng Daoist returned the bow and watched Jiang Chao and the others descend the mountain.