Central Province. Yunmeng Pavilion.
Compared to other immortal sects, which — just like the storybooks Li Yingling read — liked to hang their vast palaces high in the sky, Yunmeng Pavilion's architecture was rather unique.
Built nestled among mountains and beside water, they rarely flattened cliffs and peaks just to construct buildings.
The mountain ridges stretched on nearly unbroken. Xiao waters cascaded down with spiritual light, shimmering and rippling.
Spirit beasts darted through the air. Flying spirits chirped softly.
Forests sealed the paths. An immortal bridge connected the peaks directly.
Zheng Zhaoling sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion at the summit of Jingsi Peak. A vast wind swept over her, making her black-and-white robes flutter and snap.
Time drifted gently. Since her last encounter with Tianyan Sect and Cui Hao, her cultivation had climbed to the Integration realm.
Fifty-some years — for a core disciple that the Eighteen Immortal Sects were nurturing with all their might, this pace was no longer considered fast. But fortunately, Zheng Zhaoling's foundation was exceptionally solid.
For Yunmeng Pavilion, this was naturally acceptable. A core disciple was not a hundred-year commodity but the pillar who would stabilize Yunmeng Pavilion for a millennium.
The matter in Yunmeng Marsh of the Northern Julu Continent last time had ultimately affected her as well.
After all, the Teng Snake's true form had been revealed. No matter how the news was suppressed, those with sharp eyes would still manage to dig it up.
Yunmeng Pavilion had to dedicate even greater effort to fulfill its commitments and maintain Yunmeng Marsh. At the same time, the dramatically altered situation in the marsh required constant adjustment from the pavilion.
Though they'd pacified Chu Xingchen's accusations…
The final outcome was still something Yunmeng Pavilion couldn't easily bear.
Though Zheng Zhaoling could be considered a core disciple, she was placed under house arrest for twenty years on Jingsi Peak.
For cultivators, twenty years might not seem long. But for Zheng Zhaoling, who had only recently secured the core disciple title, it was no trivial matter to brush aside.
Those who had failed in the past naturally saw this as an opportunity to push Yunmeng Pavilion into reconsidering its core disciple.
However, Yunmeng Pavilion had its own composure.
When the twenty-year restriction ended, the higher-ups of Yunmeng Pavilion had never wavered in their decision about Zheng Zhaoling's core disciple status.
They simply made additional adjustments to her training direction.
Rather than honing her abilities, it was more about tempering her character.
Zheng Zhaoling bore no resentment toward this. After witnessing so much joy and sorrow, she actually came to enjoy occasionally sitting in quiet meditation on the cushion at Jingsi Peak in her spare time.
Quiet thought. Quiet observation. Quiet heart.
One glance could take in half of Yunmeng Pavilion.
Zheng Zhaoling sat quietly, eyes lightly closed, the aura around her circulating slowly. Then she gradually opened her eyes and heard a voice behind her — someone bowing slightly to report.
"Senior Sister Zheng." A young man in Yunmeng Pavilion's direct disciple attire bowed slightly, then reported softly, "Chu Xingchen's direct disciple, Cui Hao, says he's here to fulfill your appointment."
"Cui Hao…" Zheng Zhaoling murmured softly.
The young man hesitated for a moment, then asked: "Senior Sister doesn't know him? That fellow does speak frivolously — his mouth doesn't seem like it holds a single truth. If you don't want to see him, this disciple can report back that you're in closed-door cultivation."
Zheng Zhaoling rose to her feet: "No need. I do know him, and there was indeed an appointment. I'll go see him personally. But who's receiving him?"
The young man's expression grew slightly helpless:
"Senior Brother Pei is receiving him at the Dream Fate Pavilion. For some reason, the two of them suddenly started going at each other throat-first. You might want to be careful when you arrive."
He said "for some reason," but the reality was that Pei Liang had been harboring admiration for Zheng Zhaoling for quite some time. Once Zheng Zhaoling had seen through this senior brother's intentions, she hadn't even given him a civil face.
When forced by circumstance to meet, she'd respond with nothing but businesslike detachment.
As Yunmeng Pavilion's current core disciple, even if Pei Liang truly had some extraordinary background, the moment Zheng Zhaoling said no, Pei Liang didn't have the standing to even look twice.
It was simply that Pei Liang was the son of Zheng Zhaoling's former peak master. He'd also inherited considerable talent and had become a main peak direct disciple on his own strength.
Moreover, that peak master had truly treated her well. He'd even rebuked Pei Liang to mind his behavior, never treated her differently because of Pei Liang, and had apologized repeatedly. Such kindness made it truly difficult for Zheng Zhaoling to completely tear off the mask.
With the two of them running into each other constantly, after Zheng Zhaoling's clear rejection, she could only resort to the cold treatment.
This so-called "going at each other throat-first" — she figured it was because Pei Liang felt threatened by Cui Hao's mention of an appointment and was getting worked up.
The path of immortal cultivation wasn't clear yet, and he was already trying to walk the road of love.
Truly foolish.
Zheng Zhaoling gave a slight nod: "Thank you, Junior Brother. Please report to Master on my behalf."
"This junior brother understands." The young disciple bowed again.
Zheng Zhaoling took a single step forward. Her figure dissolved into an afterimage and vanished in the blink of an eye.
A wisp of light ink spiraled through the air, like a sky-blue brushstroke drawn across the painting of Yunmeng Pavilion.
She touched down in the span of two breaths.
Before Zheng Zhaoling even took a step, she heard the mocking exchange inside:
"Fellow Daoist Cui — your cultivation is utterly ordinary, but your tongue does have some skill. I imagine that mostly comes from Senior Master Chu's heaven-reaching cultivation, yes?"
"My master's cultivation is naturally heaven-reaching. Not only is my master's cultivation heaven-reaching, but Senior Bai's cultivation reaches even higher than heaven. Forget about my tongue having skill — even if my toes had skill, you'd have to cup them and listen to what they had to say. After all, your background doesn't seem as solid as mine!"
"Cui Hao! Do you know where you are?!"
"Unlike you, I obviously know where I am."
"Since you know where you are, you still dare spout such nonsense?!"
"What nonsense have I spouted? Is your background stronger than mine? Want me to call Senior Bai over and clash backgrounds with you?"
"Only the incompetent rely on their backgrounds."
"Only the poor and stupid say such brainless, half-witted things. My master and Senior Bai work so hard precisely so that us juniors can say whatever we want. Looking at you, rather than struggling alone, you'd do better to urge your background to cultivate properly…"
Cui Hao paused, then exclaimed in surprise: "Why are you standing up?! Why are you glaring at me?! You're actually going to make a move?!"
Hearing this, Zheng Zhaoling could only raise her hand and use spirit energy to push open the tightly shut doors.
She saw Pei Liang standing with eyes bulging in rage, his gaze promising to beat Cui Hao black and blue.
Cui Hao sat lazily in his chair, not a trace of alarm on his face.
The doors opened, and both of their gazes naturally turned to the entrance.
Zheng Zhaoling stepped inside, her gaze first finding Cui Hao:
"Fellow Daoist Cui, it's been a while. You're as spirited as ever."
Cui Hao saw that the person he'd come to meet had arrived. The lazy expression vanished, replaced by a warm smile as he cupped his fists:
"It's been too long. Fellow Daoist Zheng, your presence far surpasses what it was last time. Since our parting, I've felt the absence of a dear friend. I've missed you terribly."
Pei Liang's eyes narrowed — this statement scraped against his ears more than a little. He glanced at Zheng Zhaoling, expecting that with her temperament, she'd surely reprimand those words.
Zheng Zhaoling's eyes lifted slightly:
"With such genuine feeling, I wonder — did Fellow Daoist Cui bring any Chunnuan?"
No matter what, Pei Liang was still a disciple of Yunmeng Pavilion. Though there was friction, within the pavilion's walls, she couldn't suppress her own sect's people.
This was a small jab to make Cui Hao slightly awkward — a point well taken, nothing more.
But who could have predicted…
Cui Hao reached into his spatial ring and produced a small jar of Chunnuan, beaming with delight:
"Truly worthy of Fellow Daoist Zheng — you knew about this too. As expected of the dear friend I've recognized."
"However, compared to Chunnuan, I'd much rather taste that cup of Yunmeng Liulu you once promised me."
"Fellow Daoist — did you bring the wine?"
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