I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

Suddenly gaining "freedom," she couldn't feel happy at all. It was as if she had lost a pillar of support in her heart, and she suddenly felt a little lost.

"Why would Auntie suddenly say that? Did I make her angry recently? No, she wouldn't do that even if she were angry."

Bai Qingyu understood Dong Qing, and Dong Qing understood Bai Qingyu. She had often angered her aunt since she was a child, but she had never once said to her, "I don't care about you anymore," or "I don't want you anymore." This was the first time, the first time in a real sense.

"No matter how angry my aunt is, she would never say that, unless..."

Dongqing slowly lowered the longsword in her hand and muttered to herself, "Unless, Auntie is disappointed in me, only disappointment would make her say those words."

Thinking of this, Dongqing started to panic, really panicked. She never thought it would be like this. She desperately tried to recall what she had done during this time, but the answer she got was nothing.

For the past two weeks, she has clearly stayed at home and never gone out. She hasn't gone anywhere except to cultivate at home. Why is her aunt disappointed in her? Why?

Dong Qing was getting a little frustrated. At this moment, she didn't dare to ask Bai Qingyu. She put away her longsword and looked towards Changsheng's room. Changsheng should still be cultivating in his room. She could ask him. He usually knew the most principles and always had grand theories on his lips.

She tiptoed to Changsheng's door and knocked. "Hey, Changsheng, are you there? I have something very important to discuss with you. Please note that this is very important news."

She called out softly, but no one answered from inside. She waited a while and was about to knock again when the wooden door in front of her was suddenly opened from the inside, and Dongqing stumbled and almost fell.

Dongqing glared at Changsheng with a resentful look, then gave him a push. "Come on, let's go inside and talk."

The room was dimly lit, but Changsheng had kept it clean and tidy.

Changsheng stood not far in front of Dongqing, and it was clear that he had just been cultivating.

"What is it now?"

As soon as she entered the house, Dongqing began to shake her head and sigh. When she heard Changsheng ask her a question, she was finally able to speak out what she had been holding in all morning. She poured out her heart to Changsheng and told him a lot about what had happened that morning.

"Sigh, what should I do? Auntie clearly doesn't want to take care of me anymore. I don't know if I disappointed her in some way. Maybe it's my cultivation level, or maybe it's because I'm too ugly and not as pretty as Sister Zhentian. Tell me, what's wrong?"

With another deep sigh, Dongqing's face fell. "It's not my fault I'm ugly, and I can't control it."

"Besides, I'm not ugly. It must be that Sister Zhentian is so beautiful that she raised Aunt's standards."

Changsheng sat cross-legged on the bed, slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with helplessness.

"Dongqing, my advice is to trust your aunt no matter what. If you disappoint your aunt and she abandons you, then you and I might have been abandoned long ago, and we wouldn't be saying this now."

"But."

"No buts, just let nature take its course. Your aunt is just saying that you've grown up and that she's given you the right to choose. It doesn't mean she's going to give up on you. Don't overthink it, relax, time will give you the answer."

Having confided in Changsheng, Dongqing felt much better. After receiving Changsheng's reply, he nodded without saying anything more, thanked him, and left the house, leaving Changsheng alone inside.

The room finally quieted down, and Changsheng glanced at Bai Qingyu's room through the wall.

If nothing unexpected happens, Dongqing is probably leaving, going to Tianyang Palace.

Letting her make her own choice is to respect Dongqing's opinion. Not explaining things clearly is to avoid interfering with Dongqing's decision. It's up to Dongqing to decide whether to follow her aunt or go to Tianyang Palace to become a disciple and cultivate. This choice will truly change Dongqing's life.

I couldn't help but wonder what I would choose if I were in that situation.

No, he must leave. His situation is different from Dongqing's; staying here will only increase the danger to his aunt.

·

Shimen County, the site of Tianyang Palace.

In such a small county town, there are actually not many Tianyang Palace disciples stationed there, at most only three or four. However, because they are going to fight against demons in the next two days, there are quite a few disciples stationed there, numbering in the dozens.

The disciples, whose strengths varied greatly, ranging from Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators to Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, found the camp, which should have been chaotic, unusually quiet. Regardless of their strength, the disciples stood quietly to one side, not daring to utter a single word.

Even Lin Yimiao, who is usually playful, didn't say much at this time, simply because of the old woman sitting in the pavilion in the courtyard reading a book.

At first glance, this old woman doesn't seem particularly special; you might even think she's just an ordinary old woman. Once you look away from her, you'll forget what she looks like in the blink of an eye.

Among the seven disciples of Tianyang Palace, this one ranks third and is the master of Jinxu Peak.

Unlike the other seven disciples, this one is the most serious and the most difficult to talk to. If someone commits a crime, they would rather be expelled from the sect than fall into her hands.

"Master, senior brother, when did Senior Sister Fengyuan say she was leaving? I want to go out and play with Dongqing."

Beside Li Wujiang, Lin Yimiao spoke softly.

It was fine if she didn't speak, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the old woman reading in the pavilion looked up and stared at her. Her cold gaze made Lin Yimiao tremble, and she almost cried out that she was doomed.

“Yes, that’s wonderful,” the old woman said.

"I'm here!" Lin Yimiao rushed into the pavilion with a fawning smile on her face, but the smile looked awkward and forced because she was too nervous.

Feng Yuan looked at Lin Yimiao, a smile appearing on his gloomy and cold face. Because of the scar on his mouth, coupled with the face that could stop a baby from crying in the middle of the night, this smile looked more like a sneer, the kind of sneer that a villain would give before killing a hostage.

Lin Yimiao immediately gasped, almost confessing all the bad things she had done over the years, even recalling how many immortal peaches and spirit fish she had stolen.

"I've heard that a very talented little girl often comes to this area. Is that true?"

"Huh?" Lin Yimiao was stunned when she heard this. Her senior uncle Feng Yuan had given her such a smile. So it turned out that he wasn't going to cripple her cultivation because of those poor peaches and carp.

A sense of joy at surviving a calamity welled up in her heart for no reason. Before Feng Yuan could ask any more questions, Lin Yimiao told the peak master in front of her, who was terrifying in strength and even more terrifying when he smiled, about everything that had happened to Bai Dongqing recently.

After listening to Lin Yimiao's words, Feng Yuan "squeezed out" a "cold laugh". Lin Yimiao, whose mood had just eased, tensed up again, and her smile froze on her face. She thought that she had said something wrong.

“I haven’t taken on any disciples in three hundred years. Would you be willing to take me to meet this girl? If she is as you say, I will take her up the mountain.”

Feng Yuan slowly spoke. When she heard that Yun Ru had already visited the child and was considering taking him as a disciple, she knew that the child's talent and Dao heart must be excellent. She also heard that the child was clever, cheerful, and had a heart that was righteous, so she had the idea of ​​taking him as a disciple.

She has high standards; not only must a child be talented, but they must also have a pure heart for the Dao. Such children are rare, but it's not like there are none at all. When recruiting new disciples, she occasionally sees such promising talents, but for various reasons, she fails to accept them as disciples.

Either the child cries uncontrollably in fear upon seeing her, or the child, though gifted and kind, is too straightforward.

Feng Yuan's ideal disciple is someone like Lin Yimiao—sunny, cheerful, and clever. She is not very satisfied with her senior brother, Li Wujiang. It's not that he is stupid, but rather that he is too straightforward. Her previous and only disciple died because of this.

"Alright, alright, your disciple will take you there right away." Cold sweat dripped down her forehead, and Lin Yimiao silently prayed for Dongqing in her heart.

"Wait, here you go." Feng Yuan beckoned, and a jade pendant appeared in her hand, which she then handed to Lin Yimiao.

Lin Yimiao dared not refuse the jade pendant no matter what. Her senior brother's smile was too frightening. She apologized to Dongqing a hundred times in her heart. Lin Yimiao silently turned around, feeling that the jade pendant in her hand was so heavy, as if it were the "stolen money" she had obtained after betraying Dongqing.

·

Two days had passed since Bai Qingyu spoke those words to Dong Qing, and she was about to leave when she suddenly had a strange premonition. This premonition was neither good nor bad, and it seemed to be related to Dong Qing.

In the small courtyard, Dongqing wasn't practicing swordsmanship; instead, he was feeding the chickens and ducks with rice.

Over the course of two days, she realized that Bai Qingyu was still treating her the same way, and that she had probably been overthinking things that day. Gradually, she put the matter out of her mind.

She didn't go to the Tianyang Palace's residence; she planned to go down there today.

Still thinking about this matter, pondering what he should do after going down there, Dongqing had just put down the small bowl in his hand when the clapper hanging at his waist suddenly vibrated. Dongqing was puzzled, and just as he grasped the clapper in his hand, he heard Lin Yimiao's voice.

"Hey, Holly, look up there."

In the sky, Lin Yimiao, riding her flying sword, greeted Dong Qing and then slowly descended.

"Sister Lin, what brings you here?"

"Shh, it's nothing. I'm here today for something very important. Is your aunt home?" Lin Yimiao asked nervously, glancing left and right.

"No need, I'm here." With a creak, Bai Qingyu pushed the door open, ignoring Lin Yimiao and looking up at the sky.

"If you have something to say, please speak. It is said that the cultivators of Tianyang Palace are straightforward and honest, like the edge of a sword. Why be so secretive?"

The direction Bai Qingyu was looking in was precisely where Feng Yuan, the peak master of Jinxu Peak, was located. As soon as he finished speaking, a large gourd appeared in the sky, along with Feng Yuan on it.

The giant gourd disappeared, and Feng Yuan's figure appeared in the courtyard.

Having never taken on a disciple like this before, and never seen anything like it, Feng Yuan didn't know how to handle it. Her idea was simple: first, let Lin Yimiao communicate with Dong Qing's parents, namely Bai Qingyu. Once the communication was almost complete, she would reappear, reveal her identity, and offer some benefits and conditions, such as allowing Dong Qing to come down the mountain to visit once in a certain period of time.

After all this was done, we took Dongqing away for the time being. It just so happened that the day for Tianyang Palace to recruit disciples was approaching. We would have Dongqing go through the formalities and then formally become a disciple, and that would be the end of it.

Knowing that Bai Qingyu was a demon before she arrived, Feng Yuan didn't react much. In comparison, she was more surprised that Bai Qingyu was able to discover her whereabouts.

"Feng Yuan, Peak Master of Jinxu Peak, Tianyang Palace." Upon first meeting Bai Qingyu, seeing that she had no karmic obstacles and considering that she was, after all, the aunt of her future disciple, Feng Yuan controlled herself and tried her best to show a "polite" smile.

When Feng Yuan appeared, her attire and especially her cold and serious face made Bai Qing feel as if she were facing a formidable enemy.

If she hadn't been told this was a big shot from Tianyang Palace, she would have thought some old demon had come to snatch someone away.

Everyone else has white hair and a youthful face, but Feng Yuan is different. Although there are not many wrinkles on her face, it is as if a layer of shadow filter has been added. There are also several very obvious scars on her gloomy old face, especially the one on the corner of her mouth and chin.

Her sparse, graying hair revealed her scalp, and her long, narrow eyes, with pupils like needles, appeared incredibly sharp even when she didn't squint. Her figure was slightly hunched, yet her aura was powerful; standing before her was like facing an immovable mountain.

Her attire was ordinary, with nothing particularly special about it.

However, Feng Yuan didn't smile. Just as Bai Qingyu was about to speak, he saw this big shot in the cultivation world reveal what he considered to be a "kind and polite" smile.

It's fine if he doesn't smile, but when he does, the wrinkles and scars on his face seem to squeeze together. His eyes are already sharp, but when he smiles, his eyes are half-closed, making him look like a hunter contemplating how to deal with his prey, which is chilling.

The moment that smile appeared, it not only sent chills down Bai Qingyu's spine, but almost made her lose her temper.

I really don't understand. Aren't the Taoists of Tianyang Palace usually very concerned about their image? They always have to shout "Bold demon, surrender!" when they appear. How come this big shot is different? This smile would fit the Demonic Sect perfectly.

"This young friend, I've come to take on a disciple."

Bai Qingyu was embarrassed, and Feng Yuan was also embarrassed. They didn't know what to call Bai Qingyu. She was a demon, so they couldn't just call her "fellow Daoist".

Bai Qingyu was still in a tense state when this sentence brought her back to her senses.

"You wish to take my child as your apprentice?"

"To be honest, that's exactly right."

Having a top master of Tianyang Palace personally come to accept a disciple is something many people dream of, but when it came to Bai Qingyu, she hesitated.

Volume 1: Chapter 68 The Demon King's Dream and Holly's Choice (4K)

It wasn't that Bai Qingyu was having second thoughts and wanted to make a decision for Dong Qing again; it was mainly because this powerful figure was truly frightening. She wasn't one to judge people by their appearance, but the person in front of her was simply too terrifying. Let alone stopping a child from crying in the middle of the night, she wouldn't dare to cry even if a vengeful ghost appeared in front of her.

Bai Qingyu was certain that the person she had seen a couple of days ago was indeed him. She hadn't been able to see him clearly because he was too far away at the time. If she had seen him clearly, she wouldn't have deliberately stayed here to wait. She would have already taken Zhen Tian and the two kids and run away with their books.

"My esteemed immortal, my child indeed does not yet have a master. I am currently personally teaching him martial arts and cultivation. As for the matter of him going up the mountain to become a disciple, I'm afraid I cannot give you a definite answer." Bai Qingyu suppressed the myriad thoughts in his mind and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Feng Yuan.

“I found her in the mountains when she was still an infant and adopted her. I have raised her to this day and have always made choices for her. Today is a big matter, and I want her to make her own decision. If she does not agree, then I can only apologize to the immortal.”

These words were transmitted by Bai Qingyu to Feng Yuan. As she spoke, the tension in her eyes was replaced by worry.

These past two days have been sleepless and restless, her mind filled with all sorts of possibilities. Now that this day has truly arrived, it would be a lie to say she felt no reluctance, after all, it was the child she had raised. However, even if Dongqing chooses to go up the mountain to cultivate, Bai Qingyu won't say much, much less try to kill herself.

As she always comforted herself with, once the child is grown up and has developed enough wings, it's time to let go.

These words reached Feng Yuan's ears, and her eyes widened in admiration. She found it hard to believe that a demon had made such a decision, and her impression of Bai Qingyu instantly rose significantly. After all, she was a demon beast in human form, and she was the peak master of Tianyang Palace.

"Then so be it. If the child does not agree, I will still give her a chance, as fate would have it. If she agrees, then I will certainly not treat her unfairly. After she passes the disciple recruitment test, I will take her as my last disciple."

This was already a very polite statement, because of Bai Qingyu's attitude and Dong Qing's talent.