Why did you provoke that old man? He's a reincarnation of a deity!

Xiao Nian neither denied nor admitted it. He simply looked at Zeng Zixuan quietly and spoke:

"Mr. Zeng, keep a close eye on your children."

He shifted his gaze from Zeng Zixuan's face to Zeng Yuanqiao, his tone flat:

"Otherwise, the next time that water ball flies over, it won't just be a simple explosion."

Cold sweat poured down Zeng Yuanqiao's forehead. He pulled Zeng Zixuan behind him and bowed deeply in apology.

"I failed to discipline my granddaughter properly, and she was young and ignorant, almost committing a serious mistake. I apologize to the master on her behalf."

Xiao Nian didn't speak, while Zeng Yuanqiao kept his back bent, cold sweat streaming down his snow-white temples.

Having lived to around fifty years old, he had seen all sorts of storms, yet now, facing this old man, he felt a sense of suffocation.

"Never mind, who would bother with a junior?" Xiao Nian finally spoke, her voice still calm.

"You old fool, what are you pretending for? Are you pretending to be your mother?" Zeng Zixuan wanted to say more, but her grandfather grabbed her hands tightly and glared at her angrily.

Xiao Nian turned around and looked at the rising sun in the east. It had fully risen, and thousands of golden rays spread across the rooftops of Mizhou City, outlining a peaceful scene in the mist.

Seeing this scene, Xiao Nian thought about how this place would become the first battlefield where the Great Xia Kingdom would collapse in a few years, and muttered to himself, "It's a pity that in a few years, this place will become a living hell."

"However, Mr. Zeng, you didn't come to Phoenix Mountain to see the scenery, did you? You came here for medical treatment, didn't you?" Xiao Nian turned around and continued.

"Hell on Earth?" Zeng Yuanqiao's heart skipped a beat when he heard Xiao Nian's mutterings. This master in front of him was unfathomable and could even predict the future? Moreover, how did this person know that I had an illness? A series of questions popped up.

Xiao Nian continued, "Although Phoenix Mountain has spiritual veins, you need to find the spiritual eye of those veins. Even if you find it, it can only suppress the poison in your body, not completely cure it. And this poison flares up every seven days at midnight. If I'm not mistaken, this poison was left from your battle with the alien magician, right?"

Zeng Yuanqiao suddenly looked up, staring at Xiao Nian in disbelief, her fingers trembling slightly as she asked, "How...how did you know?"

The person in front of him could tell at a glance that his illness was caused by a battle with a foreign magician. This person was truly unfathomable!

Xiao Nian didn't answer him, but walked to the bluestone where she had been sitting cross-legged and pointed there:

"The place where I am sitting is the most concentrated place of spiritual energy in the entire Phoenix Mountain. The place that Master Zhang Yong was just looking for with his compass may be this place."

Zhang Yong's expression changed slightly. He quickly took out his compass and examined it closely. Sure enough! The compass had been pointing to that spot all along. His previous guess was correct. This old man's skill was definitely not low.

"Master, how could you tell at a glance that I have a spiritual eye? This compass can only point in the general direction; it fails to pinpoint the exact location."

Xiao Nian smiled faintly: "A spiritual vein is like the spine of a dragon. The place where it is located is where the spiritual energy is most abundant. Your compass can only follow its shape, not its spirit. Naturally, you have chosen the wrong place."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yong was visibly shaken, and his gaze toward Xiao Nian became filled with immense respect, as if he were looking at his master, Zhang Tianshi.

"Now, I can give you this position. You can suppress the poison in your body here. But I want to tell you that this will only keep you from experiencing pain for a month. Because you are not a cultivator, suppressing it with spiritual energy will naturally become useless in the long run."

"A month?" Zeng Yuanqiao felt a slight chill. What should I do a month from now? Will I still have to endure the torment caused by the toxins?

Xiao Nian glanced at him, seemingly seeing through his thoughts. He could naturally cure this poison, and besides, he had already repaid the debt to the Zeng family after being reborn.

"If you want a complete cure, come find me at the Meng family's residence in Mizhou City a month from now."

After he finished speaking, without waiting for anyone's reaction, he leaned on his cane and walked down the mountain.

He walked further and further along the winding mountain road, and soon disappeared from everyone's sight.

The mountain wind howled, leaving the four people standing on the edge of the cliff, looking at each other in bewilderment: This old man Meng is so strong, why does he still need a cane to go down the mountain?

It's just an interest, absolutely nothing more than an interest.

After a long while, Zeng Zixuan pouted and muttered, "It's just hitting a water balloon, what's the big deal? So what if he's in the True Qi Realm? My great-grandfather..."

Before she could finish speaking, Zeng Yuanqiao turned around, his face full of anger, and interrupted her:

"Shut up! Do you even know who you've messed with today?"

"Grandpa, you're being mean to me. You've never been mean to me before. This time, you're being mean to me for the sake of an outsider. He was just pretending to deceive you." Zhang Zixuan's eyes reddened with grievance.

"You're still too young to be pretentious. Some qualities can't be faked. You can't imitate his eyes at all. That's something you've been forged in the shadows of a high position for a long time, amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood."

Zeng Yuanqiao was trembling with anger. He realized that he had spoiled his granddaughter too much and was reluctant to scold or beat her, which had led to her becoming arrogant and ignorant.

Zhang Zixuan had never seen her grandfather so furious, and tears streamed down her face.

The burly man named Xiao Fei finally spoke slowly, his voice low and solemn:

"Miss, the master is right this time. The moment that old man turned to look at you, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I was terrified that he would kill you on the spot. I've only ever seen that look on the old general's face."

The old general he mentioned was Zeng Zixuan's grandfather and Zeng Yuanqiao's father. More than twenty years ago, Zeng Gunfa was the Great General of the Great Xia Kingdom who had fought against the rebels. He was a man who had experienced countless wars, big and small, and had emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Now he had retired to the west of the lake.

"Brother Xiaofei, you should speak up for him too." Zeng Zixuan stomped her feet in anger.

"Miss, you're really wrong this time," Xiao Fei said honestly, shaking his head.

Zeng Zixuan finally fell silent. She knew that there was no point in arguing any further. She would expose the fraudster's pretense in public another time when she had the chance.

Zhang Yong put away the compass, walked to Zeng Yuanqiao's side, and whispered, "Old Zeng, I've been thinking about this carefully for a long time."

"Master Zhang, please speak."

"True Qi Realm? I'm afraid it's more than that." Zhang Yong's expression was solemn.

"Although martial arts internal energy can also release internal energy and form a protective shield, it can never reach the level just now. He didn't even move, and the water ball just a foot away naturally dissipated without leaving a trace on his clothes. That's not something that martial arts internal energy can do; that's true spiritual energy protecting the body. I've seen this level before at my master's place."

Zeng Yuanqiao's pupils contracted: "You mean, Daoist Master?"

"Drawing Qi into the body and transforming spiritual energy into Qi is at least the cultivation level of the late stage of Qi Refining." Zhang Yong said word by word, "In my Longhu Mountain lineage, which has been passed down for thousands of years, there are only about ten disciples who can draw Qi into the body. Before drawing Qi, they all first temper their bodies to lay a foundation. Later, only four senior brothers broke through to the mid stage of Qi Refining. The fastest one took twenty-three years, and he looks over eighty years old, but his body has no trace of body tempering."

"No signs of body tempering? In other words, he is a pure cultivator?" Zeng Yuanqiao murmured.

Zhang Yong looked down at the compass in his hand and said:

"According to the current theories of cultivation, the further one goes in martial arts, the more solid one's foundation becomes. My master, Zhang Tianshi, spent twenty years entering the True Qi Realm before receiving the Celestial Master's inheritance and cultivating his current unparalleled strength. But that old man gave me the feeling of being superficial yet powerful, which is very strange."

Zeng Yuanqiao chimed in, "How many Zhang Tianshi are there in this world? Today we've probably met a truly great master, and not just any ordinary one."

Zeng Zixuan kept making faces behind him: If this swindler is a master, then I'm a savior.

"Let's go back and prepare a generous gift!" Zeng Yuanqiao said.

"To Mizhou Prefecture?" Xiao Fei asked.

Zeng Yuanqiao nodded.

"Master, should I go and investigate his background again?" Xiao Fei continued to ask.

"There's no need. You can't find out anything about this kind of person. All we can do is go along with what he wants," Zeng Yuanqiao said, shaking his head.

Zhang Yong laughed heartily: "How interesting! I have been cultivating for over 30 years, and I thought that the path of cultivation in this world had long since declined. Your master also said that he could not cure your poison unless you stayed in the Celestial Master's Mansion for a long time. I did not expect that now an old man would appear and say that he can cure this poison. If this master can really cure the poison in your body, I would like to learn more from him."

Zeng Yuanqiao also clasped his hands and smiled, "Then Master, please rest at my residence for a few days."

He glanced back one last time at the bluestone where Xiao Nianceng had sat cross-legged, then turned and gestured to descend the mountain.