Zhang Ze wasn't refined but was simply lifted up by Pavilion Master Chen.
Zhang Ze was of a well-proportioned build and quite tall.
Yet being picked up by Chen Mushi, he still looked like a cat.
"Zhang Ze?"
"Uh, it's disciple Zhang Ze. Greetings, Pavilion Master Chen."
Seeing Chen Mushi's odd expression, Zhang Ze couldn't figure out how he had offended him.
After some thought, though he had been careless with his words the last meeting at the beginning, the later conversation was quite pleasant, wasn't it?
Pavilion Mast...
Zhang Ze shivered a bit, looking even more like a cat.
He suddenly realized that Pavilion Master Chen bore the surname Chen.
Among the Sword Sect's seven pavilions, three pavilion masters had the surname Chen; they were not only the direct disciples of the Sect Leader but also his biological sons.
"Uh-oh, Old Ascender came to catch Yellow Hair for Old Old Ascender."
"Am I really going to be refined in an instant?"
"Whatever, if refined then refined, anyways I've decided to pursue this junior sister."
Just as Zhang Ze was straightening up, ready to have a sincere talk with his future brother-in-law.
Chen Qin lightly tugged on Chen Mushi's sleeve.
"Big brother, put senior brother down."
This one word 'big brother' immediately made Chen Mushi's old face bloom into a smile.
He put Zhang Ze down, turned, and asked, "Little sister remembers me."
Chen Qin shook her head, "No, I don't remember."
Chen Mushi's smile froze.
"Then how did you recognize him?", Lily suddenly interrupted with a teasing tone.
"Among all my brothers and sisters, the only one I haven't seen is my big brother."
"But I know big brother is the Pavilion Master of the Third Sword Pavilion, so big brother is big brother, right?"
Alright, the process of elimination.
Zhang Ze wanted to laugh but held it in.
But Zhengyi wasn't afraid of Chen Mushi; the elderly man was very happy.
With such an interruption, Chen Mushi lost interest in questioning further, threw Zhang Ze to the ground, and turned back to assume the demeanor of a sage.
Fuji also laughed, but it was because the little sphere belonging to Zhang Ze had somehow slipped out and was rolling back and forth on Fuji, back and forth.
It rolled over all the sensitive spots.
"Hahaha, stop it... hahaha."
"Everyone else is sleeping..."
"Why did you come out?"
Zhang Ze felt something was off hearing this.
Retracting the little sphere, Zhang Ze waited for Fuji's filaments to settle before he asked, "Sister, do you mean there are many of these small spheres?"
"Yeah, there are lots and lots."
"That black dog also came out from one of the small spheres."
"Back in the day..."
The 'back in the day' Fuji referred to was naturally two hundred years ago.
At that time, she was digging and digging underground, somehow digging her way into the domain of the Celestial Driver Valley of the Sword Pavilion.
Because she was underground and never leaked demon qi, not a single person discovered her.
In a deep underground cavern, Fuji found many of such small spheres, not knowing what they were.
But she found sleeping in the cave quite comfortable and decided to stay.
Just as she settled down, she saw a small sphere shatter and transform into a Dog Demon.
Hearing this, Zhang Ze didn't know what to say.
In some sense, Fuji allowed Brother Gou to live an extra two hundred years.
If the black dog had emerged directly, it might have been cut to pieces by the Sword Pavilion's senior brothers the moment it crawled out of the ground.
"Can you take us to have a look?", Zhengyi asked Fuji amiably.
"Please follow me."
The cave was deep; Fuji led the way in front, and as none of them used divine techniques, they walked a bit slower.
The two pavilion masters seemed to be in a good mood and began talking about their past experiences when they first joined the Sword Pavilion.
Chen Qin wasn't particularly interested; back at the Main Pavilion, she'd already heard enough about these matters.
Parents told, brothers told, sisters told, but no matter how much was told, they were always just hearsay.
Moving mountains, filling seas, slaying demons, eliminating devils, or the hidden Tao Scripture, all were things unrelated to herself, and they thought she should follow the same path as them.
So, these things were spoken of in detail and in abundance.
Either because of pretension or some inherent traits, these things seemed far less real to Chen Qin compared to the experiences Zhang Ze brought her, which were more tangible and real.
She actually always wanted to pave her own way.
But Zhang Ze and Liu Lili listened intently.
Zhang Ze furrowed his brows, pondering deeply, confirming a few 'bragging' stories his Grandpa Wang had told him before.
After confirming, he found that Grandpa Wang's artistic embellishments seemed a bit excessive.
As for Lily, she was just there for the amusement.
She took out a small notebook, licked the pen, and jotted down notes as she listened; Zhang Ze glanced over and saw the first line on the first page.
"Sword Sect's Past"
"We're here."
Fuji stopped and moved her gigantic body aside, revealing the cavern ahead.
The cave entrance was square; two petrified ancient trees with intertwined roots formed a door lintel shape, with flying eaves and elaborate ornamentation all naturally formed.
Beside the two pavilion masters, everyone else's mouths gaped open.
In the cavern, Stone Pills, thousands of them.
The little sphere in Zhang Ze's pocket also rolled out, then hopped a few times, and no longer jumped.
It seemed to be startled by the scene before it.
So it jumped back into Zhang Ze's pocket again.
"Old bastard, why do you have these things hidden in your house?", Chen Mushi stroked his beard.
"It's not me who hid them."
Zhengyi closed his eyes, after a moment he spoke, "This place is somewhat special, Mushi, close your eyes and probe again."
Upon hearing this, Chen Mushi closed his eyes and found all the Stone Pills before him vanished.
Even the cavern disappeared with them.
At their level of cultivation, many times there's no difference between opening and closing the eyes, every inch of space being the domain of Divine Thought.
Given such close proximity, even with eyes closed, it should not be possible not to perceive the existence of these Stone Pills.
"Can we enter inside?", Chen Mushi asked.
"It's fine, they are all quiet now.", Fuji answered.
Chen Mushi stepped out, entering the cave, and upon closing his eyes again, felt only the weight of hallucinations around his ears, all murmurs of dreams.
The cave accumulated Yin Qi, yet without an evil feel, likely due to Fuji's two hundred years of slumber here, purifying the resentment within these Stone Pills.
If Fuji had arrived here a few days earlier, perhaps even the black dog wouldn't have ended up in such a state.
Chen Mushi stepped out of the cavern once more.
"This is an Innate Land, shrouded and gathering qi, the most concealed."
Innate Land is a collective term used by cultivators for naturally formed secret realms from the Ancient Primordial times.
Each Innate Land is different, fundamentally without pattern to follow.
This Innate Land can conceal all celestial auras, containing Yin Qi within.
Cultivation of Yin Attribute Techniques here yields twice the result with half the effort. Yet it is unclear who used it as a place to store Stone Pills.
And to know when that person stored these Stone Pills here remains unknowable.
If it was before the establishment of the Seventh Sword Pavilion, then it would be okay to say.
If it were afterward…
Zhengyi, after a moment of silence, finally said, "Zhang Ze, you take them away first, Pavilion Master Chen and I have some matters to discuss."
"Also, keep the affair of Pavilion Master Chen and the Stone Pills in this place to yourself."
Liu Lili was still cheeky, but before she could ask, Zhang Ze stepped on her foot.
"Disciple obeys, you two pavilion masters take your time chatting."
There are topics for the big shots, and Zhang Ze has topics of his own.
After walking for a long time, Zhang Ze looked up at the figure crawling up sometimes, down other times, leading their way, the gigantic sister.
[Innate Land discovered, Thousand Mechanism City hidden condition fulfilled (1/10)]
[Celestial Driver Valley fully unlocked, reward issued]
[Fuji, character unlock progress 10%]
He once again had another bold idea.