Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

On the summit of Wudang Tianzhu Peak, shrouded in mist, Master Zuo arrived with two disciples.

The three of them climbed to the top of the golden roof and stopped in front of the palace square.

After many years, Zuo Menzhang is in increasingly better condition.

Although he hasn't returned to his former youthful appearance, the wrinkles on his face have been smoothed out.

With a youthful face and white hair, dressed in white, he was handsome and refined. His calm eyes held a hidden brilliance, revealing no divine light, yet Zhang Zhiwei could see the primordial energy flowing within them.

Two young men followed on either side of the Left Gate Master. They were not Shuiyun and Changqing, who usually accompanied him, but Lu Jin and Li Muxuan.

When Zhang Zhiwei first met Li Muxuan, he was dressed in short, tight-fitting clothes, with a gourd at his waist, and his hair was messy, looking like an unkempt wandering swordsman.

Now, he has grown a little over an inch taller, wears a white dress, has neat hair, and still has a somewhat arrogant look in his eyes, but with a humble expression.

Her overall demeanor is completely different from before.

As for Lu Jin, since he was traveling with his master, he wasn't wearing a suit, but rather a white robe with wide sleeves, looking ethereal and otherworldly.

Over the years, he has been traveling back and forth between Sanyimen, Longhushan, and the Lu family.

With guidance from both Master Zuo and Zhang Zhiwei, he made great progress in the path of reversing life.

He has now surpassed his senior brother Shuiyun Changqing by a considerable margin, his body is full of innate Qi, and his aura is like a rainbow.

However, because he grasped the spirit of the Lu family that had stood for a thousand years, his sharp and aggressive aura gradually became more restrained and calm, like a sword being sheathed.

The three arrived hand in hand, a gentle breeze blowing, naturally blending an air of otherworldly grace, chivalry, and camaraderie.

Although the Left Gate Master abolished the status of the Sanyi Sect's Xuanmen (mysterious sect), neither the Sanyi Sect nor the Left Gate Master's prestige diminished in the slightest.

Even without the Xuanmen identity, the Sanyi Sect is still the same Sanyi Sect, and the Left Sect Leader is still the same Left Sect Leader.

The revelation of the Triple Rebirth ability has even led to an increasing number of people coming to the San Yi Sect to learn martial arts.

After all, while every cultivator yearns for the path to immortality, most people know in their hearts that they are not cut out for it.

In this chaotic world, all they sought was a means of protection to ensure their safety and survival.

…………

…………

"Master Zuo, your presence is an honor! I have failed to greet you properly!"

The red-faced old Taoist priest stepped forward to greet him.

He had thought that Master Zuo would arrive tomorrow, but to his surprise, he and the Celestial Master arrived one after the other, leaving him no time to entertain them.

"Fellow Daoist Li is too kind," Master Zuo looked up at the Golden Hall. "The altar was solemn and the Daoist energy was radiant. Master Sun is truly a sage among us. It's a pity I arrived too late and had no chance to learn anything from him."

Zuo Menzhang sighed, and this was not just a polite remark; he genuinely felt it was a pity.

He had naturally heard of the Wudang sect leader's great name and had even met him once.

At that time, Master Sun was traveling all over the martial arts world looking for people to challenge him. His reputation in the martial arts world was mixed. Those who admired him regarded him as a god, while those who hated him called him a demon, no different from Quanxing.

When he met the Wudang sect leader, he thought the sect leader would ask him to spar and give him pointers.

Unexpectedly, the Wudang sect leader only exchanged a few words with him before leaving.

They did not sit down together to discuss philosophy, nor did they exchange ideas or compete with each other.

For so many years, he has had a question in his mind, not understanding why the Wudang sect leader did this.

But this time, when he reached the summit of Wudang Mountain and saw the remaining Daoist energy at the place where the Wudang sect leader ascended to immortality, and recalled the scene of their meeting, he suddenly understood.

The former leader of Wudang Sect appeared to be a seeker of magic, always ready to challenge others and prone to fighting.

But in reality, he was a steadfast seeker of the truth.

At that time, I appeared to be a seeker of the Way, single-mindedly cultivating myself in order to attain enlightenment.

But in reality, he was a patient seeking the procedure who had racked his brains and exhausted all his efforts.

He's not like the Little Celestial Master who likes big mouths.

Those who follow different paths cannot work together; there is no need to discuss principles.

And then there's the exchange and competition...

Now, Master Zuo thinks that Master Wudang must have had this idea back then.

Zuo Menzhang has a good understanding of himself; he neither overestimates nor underestimates himself.

Back then, even if he mistook technique for the Way, his strength was undeniable, so there was no reason why there was no point in sparring with him.

As for why no action was taken...

Now that the person involved has passed away, it's difficult to say exactly what happened.

Master Zuo has always been kind to people, and he is willing to assume the best of intentions.

Perhaps the Wudang sect leader saw that he was dragging his injured body and that if he were to get into a high-intensity competition, it would further deplete his already depleted mind and innate Qi. Therefore, he did not propose a sparring match.

Thinking of this, Master Zuo sighed again.

He wasn't lamenting that he hadn't sparred with the Wudang sect leader back then; he wasn't a person who liked to fight.

He lamented that after correcting his mistakes and transitioning from technique to Tao, he had never been able to visit Wudang Mountain to pay a visit to this pioneer.

Seeing the left sect leader's sighing expression, the red-faced Taoist, though unaware of his inner thoughts, could guess a thing or two, and said:
"It is indeed a pity. Speaking of which, since the sect leader and the little celestial master discussed the Dao last time, they have already laid the foundation for attaining the Dao."

"At that time, the old Taoist knew that his time as sect leader would not last long."

"I originally thought he would wait until this generation of Wudang disciples became successful before leaving, but I never expected him to leave so suddenly."

Master Zuo said, "The young celestial master is indeed extraordinary, and I have benefited from his guidance."

As he spoke, he followed the gaze of his two apprentices beside him.

In an instant, the eyes of the three masters and disciples all focused on Zhang Zhiwei.

Zhang Zhiwei also looked over, and the four of them locked eyes.

"Excuse me!"

Master Zuo nodded to the red-faced old Taoist priest and walked over to Zhang Zhiwei.

As soon as their master moved, Li Muxuan and Lu Jin, who were standing on the left and right, quickly followed.

They saw Zhang Zhiwei as soon as they reached the top of the mountain; they had long wanted to pay him a visit.

"Young friend Zhiwei, it's been a long time," Master Zuo said with a smile.

Li Muxuan opened his mouth, about to greet her, but Lu Jin stopped him. "Master and Senior Brother Zhang are talking, what are we juniors doing interrupting?"

"How have you been, Master Zuo?" Zhang Zhiwei asked with a smile, arms crossed.

Master Zuo said, "I am grateful for your concern, young friend. In the past, when we discussed the Dao, you enlightened me, and I still benefit from it today."

Zhang Zhiwei laughed and said, "In my master's words, I'm just a natural big mouth. In the end, it's because Master Zuo has enough virtue." This was not a compliment. Seeing the changes in Master Zuo now and feeling the Qi flowing in his body, he was truly impressed.

Zhang Zhiwei knew that guiding the Left Gate Master to comprehend the Sage Thief was a wise decision.

For an ordinary person to cultivate the skill of the Saint Thief is no different from a starving ghost who has been hungry for decades and has never eaten a proper meal, suddenly entering a buffet restaurant full of delicacies.

It's hard for anyone to resist this desire, this instinct, that has been suppressed for decades.

They often transform into gluttons, devouring all the vital energy around them.

Being able to restrain oneself from eating people already demonstrates great willpower.

As for Master Zuo, he forcibly maintained his reverse-life state for decades, which made his own deficit even more severe, to the point that he was starving to death.

Even so, when he entered a buffet restaurant full of delicacies, he was able to restrain his desires and not touch the foods that he had never tasted before but that were extremely tempting to him.

Instead, they painstakingly selected the most nutritious, but least delicious, and limited-quantity food from a pile of delicacies.

Just like Zhang Zhiwei's choice of the Three Powers Qi.

Of course, different individuals require different nutrients, and what Master Zuo takes in is not the Qi of the Three Powers.

Because of years of maintaining his reversed life force, Zuo Menchang's inner world was severely depleted.

The foundation of the human body's microcosm is the innate Qi of the Five Elements.

Therefore, over the years, Master Zuo has been absorbing the essence of the five elements from heaven and earth.

He would not touch any other essences of heaven and earth, no matter how tempting they might be.

Even if it is used, it will only be for temporary use and will not be absorbed into itself.

As for the innate five elements of Qi... although this essence of heaven and earth is inexhaustible, that is the total amount. If it is distributed to every place, it will not be concentrated.

Limited by individual breathing abilities, even less can be absorbed.

In addition, when breathing in the innate five elements, one must be careful not to disrupt the balance of the five elements within the microcosm of the human body, thus making it even less efficient.

Even so, Zuo Menchang was able to endure the loneliness and slowly recover himself little by little.

This is why Master Zuo didn't immediately rejuvenate, but instead appeared to be in better condition each time they met.

Now, Zuo Menzhang has basically recovered to his best condition.

It is unlikely that he will be able to reverse his aging process and return to the youthful appearance he maintained during his previous period of reverse aging.

"You're too kind, Zhiwei. Even now, I still benefit greatly from our discussions back then."

Master Zuo said, "Over the years, I have often thought about the teachings of 'harmonizing with the world' that I gave to my young friend Zhiwei when we discussed the Dao. I have gained a lot of enlightenment from them."

"Seeing your increasingly ethereal and profound appearance today proves that you have achieved great success in your profound arts!"

When Zhang Zhiwei is in a state of inner peace and harmony with nature, ordinary people cannot sense any Qi aura from him; they feel as if he doesn't exist in the world.

But the Left Gatekeeper was different; when he saw Zhang Zhiwei, it was as if he had seen the whole world.

This is a manifestation of the near-perfection of the microcosm within the human body, which is why he said that Zhang Zhiwei's Daoist practice was empty and vigorous, and that his profound skills had been accomplished.

As Master Zuo and Zhang Zhiwei reminisced, all the eyes of the Wudang Taoists were drawn to them.

The two stood at the edge of the square, their figures bathed in sunlight, looking from afar like celestial beings and gods.

However, despite their admiration, the crowd did not rush forward to pay their respects. The seniors were still talking, and how could they, as juniors, presume to overstep their bounds?

Zhang Zhiwei spoke with the Left Sect Master for a while, then stepped aside when he saw his master approaching.

When two old friends meet, they inevitably exchange pleasantries.

Zhang Zhiwei then began talking with Lu Jin and Li Muxuan.

Lu Jin said happily, "Senior Brother Zhang, I was just about to go to Longhu Mountain when this happened."

"Before I came, I was wondering if you would come. I never expected that we would actually meet."

As he spoke, he glanced around and continued:
"Hey, where's Erbi? Didn't he come along?"

"When we met, we were like enemies, wishing we could fight each other," Zhang Zhiwei laughed. "How come you miss me so much after just a short time apart?"

Lu Jin quickly denied it: "How could that be? Senior Brother Zhang only said that he was strange and bad, I'm not missing him at all."

"I...I want to teach him a lesson. If this guy comes, I can give him a good beating."

“Then you will get what you want,” Zhang Zhiwei said. “Although Erbi didn’t come with me, he will come with Patriarch Lü and Dabi.”

"I see!" Lu Jin nodded and continued:
"Actually, our Lu family also planned to come, but as Senior Brother Zhang is probably aware, there has been an upheaval in our area recently, and things are quite chaotic."

“Our Lu family has deep ties with some local forces, and we can’t leave at this critical juncture, so I will represent them.”

Zhang Zhiwei nodded. He understood that when Lu Jin said he represented the Lu family, it was just a formality.

The relationship between the Lu family and Wudang is not deep. When the old master of the Lu family celebrated his 80th birthday, Wudang did not send anyone. There is no reason why the Lu family would travel thousands of miles to come when the Wudang sect leader passed away.

Lu Jin's trip was solely on behalf of the Trinity Sect.

Seeing a pause in Zhang Zhiwei and Lu Jin's conversation, Li Muxuan quickly spoke up:

"Li Muxuan pays respects to the Little Celestial Master!"

Zhang Zhiwei looked at Li Muxuan and said, "Clothes really do make the man. A change of clothes really makes a difference. You have the air of a transcendent master now."

"This is all thanks to the Little Celestial Master. Without his help, I wouldn't have been able to enter the Sanyi Sect!" Li Muxuan said with a smile.

In front of others, he appears arrogant and unruly. Even though he has joined the Trinity Sect in recent years and his personality has become somewhat restrained, his true nature remains the same.

But in front of Zhang Zhiwei, he had no temper at all, only reverence.

"By the way, I remember, didn't Master Zuo only accept you as a disciple for three years?"

Zhang Zhiwei asked, "The three-year period has long since passed, why are you still following Master Zuo?"

When this matter was mentioned, Li Muxuan's expression darkened, and after a while, he explained:

"When the three-year period was up, even though I was reluctant, I did indeed go down the mountain."

"After descending the mountain, I went to look for my..."

He paused, then continued, "Another mentor of mine, Wang Yaozu, waited for me at the foot of the mountain for those three years."

"After reuniting with him, I went to see some old friends. I wanted to cut ties with them, but some things were impossible, so I could only advise them to repent and stop doing evil."

“During that time, I also advised my master to establish a small sect and pass on his skills. I know that his greatest wish was to establish a sect and let his skills be passed down.”

“But he refused. He said that he was a member of Quanxing, and if he established a sect, he would be at odds with both the righteous and the evil, and he would not be able to survive. Only I can do this kind of thing.”

"Later on... the old man suddenly fell seriously ill, suffering from the five signs of decay. Even after finding a famous doctor, he could not be saved."

"After burying him, I wandered around and eventually returned to Sanyi Gate. Even though I had no identity, I still stayed there and wouldn't leave."

Li Muxuan scratched his head and laughed, "My master didn't send me away, so I've been staying here. This time, when I came to Wudang, my master didn't invite me; I came on my own initiative." (End of Chapter)