From a Zhengyi Taoist Child to a Master of All Laws

Chapter 630 White Cloud Immortal
It was already evening, and the cold moon hung high, illuminating every detail of the flowers, plants, branches, and leaves in the courtyard.

Erniu stood in front of Li Yang, clutching her trouser legs, and placed the money bag on the stone table next to him, her face seemingly burying itself in his non-existent chest.

Why do you want to become my disciple?

Li Yang looked at Erniu and spoke first.
"I want revenge, I want revenge for the village, for the village chief, and for Wang Yue and the others."

Although her voice still trembled, the girl's eyes were incredibly firm as she raised her head and looked resolutely at Li Yang.

Li Yang looked at Erniu and smiled: "If you want revenge, do you have to come and become my disciple?"

"Yes, because you are the most powerful, Immortal Baiyun. Only by learning from you can I kill the person in red."

"Who told you that?"

"Anyway, it must be!"

Erniu clenched her fists, unable to explain why, but she had this inexplicable belief in her heart.

Li Yang frowned, scrutinizing the cowherd girl from Lanling Village for the first time.

He wouldn't spout nonsense like saying that those with murderous intent and obsessions in their hearts cannot cultivate the true meaning of the Dao. Those guys from the Nine Upper Sect are all ruthless killers with countless karmic burdens, yet they still claim to be Daoists and ancestors, and live long lives.
He wouldn't laugh at the girl's ignorance and arrogance, that a mortal dared to dream of defeating the supreme Nine Immortals.

Even he himself was cultivating with an obsession, and he also vainly thought that he could fight against the giants of the Nine Sects Heavenly Immortals with the hope of defeating them.

Li Yang looked at Erniu, his thoughts racing, but eventually calmed down.

If it were a different time and place, he might actually have considered taking on a disciple, but not now.

“My lineage is secretive and its origins are unknown. Once exposed, it means certain death. Moreover, according to the timing and circumstances, I already have disciples who have inherited all five of my techniques, so it is difficult to open another lineage and accept you as my disciple.”

Li Yang spoke calmly. Although Er Niu couldn't understand the words about timing and destiny, she could tell from Li Yang's expression that he was politely refusing her, and she lowered her head dejectedly.

Li Yang looked at Erniu and spoke again with a complicated expression.

"I ask you, do you know what spiritual practice is?"

"It's about making yourself powerful, so that you can be like a god and eat all the colorful things in the world..."

After a moment's thought, Erniu added, "Then it became very, very powerful; it could fly and breathe fire."

"Do you know that you have already entered the path of cultivation?"

Seeing the changes in Erniu's expression, and confirming that Erniu was completely unaware of the changes in her body, Li Yang spoke up to point it out.

"Huh? Immortal, do you mean I'm an immortal too? But clearly..."

Erniu was stunned. She looked at her hands and feet, and then examined her features by the moonlight by the pool. She was still the same ordinary, dark-skinned little black charcoal.

Li Yang shook his head and patiently explained:
"Do you think that only those who can fly, escape into the earth, breathe fire, and control swords are gods? Gods are originally mortals who have transformed. The path of cultivation is gradual and cannot be achieved overnight. But indeed, compared to many others, you have already embarked on this path."

How could a mere mortal girl with no cultivation possibly travel for two months, traversing half of the Great Li territory, to reach Jianruo City? And how could she have been brutally beaten and tortured while on the verge of death, and then be able to jump around in front of Li Yang so quickly?
Perhaps Erniu herself didn't know that she already possessed cultivation, and in Li Yang's eyes, her cultivation was extremely pure, not just a simple entry into the realm, but a step away from entering the innate realm.

Because of malnutrition and depleted blood energy, she still looked like an ordinary cowherd. Li Yang couldn't determine what had happened to Erniu. Perhaps her body was modified when Luo Wuji captured her with the Demonic Joyful Union Fan three months ago, or perhaps something happened when she was slaughtered by the Immortal Fire Crow Daoist of Purgatory Valley, allowing her to survive and cultivate to the Spirit Awakening stage in a short period of time.

"Although I don't know why, you have already developed cultivation. Once you recover, you will feel the changes in your body. Since you have already entered the path of cultivation, there is even less reason for me to take you as my disciple."

"Given your current state, as long as you don't provoke cultivators, no ordinary person can bully you."

Erniu was still delighted that Li Yang had told her she had embarked on the path of cultivation, but the next second, upon hearing Li Yang's rejection once again, her face immediately fell.

"I understand, thank you, Immortal Baiyun..."

She bowed deeply, then stood there, looking up at the vast starry sky. The sky was high and the earth was vast, but there was no place for her to belong. Her heart ached, and tears streamed down her face.

Lanling Village has been reduced to ruins, and there are no more old friends left. Jianruo City is also no longer a place to stay. The princess has been making both overt and covert statements that her presence would only pose a safety hazard to Baiyun Shenxian and that she must stay away from the capital.

This time, she had to bite the bullet and try to become Li Yang's apprentice. It took all her courage and a lot of persuasion to convince the princess not to stop her.

Wiping away her tears, Erniu reached for the money bag on the table, knowing that this was no longer a place for her.

Then, as she reached for the purse and was about to apply force, another fair, slender finger pressed down on it, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't budge it an inch.

"I will not accept you as my disciple, and these coins will not make an exception for me."

"However, I live alone in this courtyard, and I need someone to sweep the water, water the flowers, do the laundry, and add firewood. If you'd like, you can stay."

Li Yang weighed the money pouch in his hand, then smiled calmly at Erniu:
"But let me make this clear first: I only provide room and board in this facility, there is no salary, and you have to pay to come and work."

Erniu's eyes widened instantly, like copper bells, and two streams of tears flowed uncontrollably down her face. With a thud, she knelt directly on the bluestone slab, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Erniu thanks the White Cloud Immortal!!"

"Since you're working as a maid here, your original name 'Erniu' is already a bit too vulgar..."

Looking at the girl, who was as dark as charcoal, Li Yang hesitated for a moment, then put the money pouch into his pocket, and then smiled and spoke.
“Since you are going to clean my yard, I will name you ‘Qing’. From now on, I will call you ‘Li Qing’.”

Erniu was stunned for a moment, then immediately and cleverly kowtowed again:
"Li Qing thanks the Immortal Baiyun!"
-
Late at night, outside Jianruo City, in a magnificent Taoist temple, a fat Taoist priest with a face full of fat listened to the report from his disciples below, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"You mean, that guy might not be a member of the Nine Sects?"

"You heard the soldiers of the Dali Chongxuan Army mention his name... Bai Moro?"

The Taoist priest below, under immense pressure, trembled as he bowed and reported, swearing oaths and confirming once again.

The fat Taoist priest narrowed his eyes, made a fist with his right hand, and a disciple kneeling on the ground flew into his palm with a look of terror on his face.

Under the soul-searching technique of a local immortal, the struggling disciple soon bled from all seven orifices and was carelessly tossed aside by the fat Taoist like trash.
"Luo Wuji, Lanling Village, Huoya Daozi, and... Bai Moluo..."

"Things are getting interesting..."

The next moment, the fat Taoist priest's expression suddenly relaxed. He wiped his right hand with a silk cloth handed to him by his disciple, his beady eyes filled with coldness.

(End of this chapter)