Above the source of Tao

The journey back to Xishanfang was unusually slow. The three of them were all preoccupied with their own thoughts. Chu Xiaoxiao, who was walking in the front, said nothing, and her steps became faster and faster, like a green leaf, moving with the wind. Lin Yuan'er, who was beside Yun Chang'an, seemed to have not recovered from her dissatisfaction just now. She would secretly glance at him from time to time. The young man she had been thinking about day and night was right in front of her.

Lin Yuan'er looked at the hidden but visible scar on Yun Chang'an's neck and stopped immediately. That was the scar left after a hundred rounds of battle with the blood toad that was used as a palace guard in the palace of Emperor Lingshi. Although the existence of yin and yang energy in Yun Chang'an's body could allow the scar to heal, the scars left by the evil energy of the evil spirits could not be easily erased, even for him, Yun Chang'an.

Fortunately, it was nothing serious, it just looked a little ugly.

Yun Chang'an had always believed that scars were a unique symbol of men. This axe mark almost cut his entire shoulder into pieces. The evil aura that had been hovering over it for a long time was wiped away by Senior Chen Kong with one hand, but the axe mark could not be completely eliminated.

Yun Changan noticed something was wrong, stopped, turned around, and saw Lin Yuan'er's tears welling up in her eyes, so he asked, "Junior Sister Yuan'er, what's wrong with you?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiaoxiao hurriedly walked up to them and asked about Lin Yuan'er's condition, but she said nothing. She lowered her head, buried it in her chest, murmured simply, quickened her pace, passed the two of them, and walked towards the restaurant not far away.

Yun Chang'an felt a little strange. Since he met Lin Yuan'er, he seemed to have never seen a smile on her face. She looked indifferent and even colder towards Qiuyue. When he introduced the two to each other, he always felt that it was because of Lin Yuan'er's practice in the past few years that she, like him, had unspeakable thoughts in her heart?

It is said that you should not try to guess a girl's mind because you will never be able to guess it. Knowing that he could not guess a girl's mind, Yun Chang'an simply stopped thinking about it. He straightened his clothes and looked at Chu Xiaoxiao. The latter glared at him fiercely, and without stopping, she caught up with the fast-walking girl.

Yun Changan felt puzzled. The scene was very different from what he had expected. After meeting again after a long separation, the two women either covered their faces and cried. He didn't know how he had offended the two women. They all looked like they would not be satisfied unless they beat him up. He was left standing there in a daze. However, he didn't care about these little things. He followed them slowly and entered the restaurant.

Until they arrived at the restaurant, outside a seemingly inconspicuous room, Yun Chang'an stood behind Chu Xiaoxiao and heard someone talking in the room. The voice was very familiar, soft but with a hint of majesty. Who else could it be but Master Xiyao.

Chu Xiaoxiao knocked on the door lightly. After a few breaths, they heard an order from inside the room for them to come in, and they pushed the door open and walked in.

Yun Chang'an had been following behind the two women. Their figures completely covered Yun Chang'an. Through the gap, Yun Chang'an saw Xiyao, who was wearing a long waist skirt. Sitting opposite her was the sect's chief elder, who had never even glanced at him when he first entered Shangyang Sect.

Yun Chang'an only remembered that the great elder's surname was Hu, and the disciples in the sect only called him Great Elder Hu. As for his real name, no one had ever mentioned it.

This sect's great elder turned out to be a hidden cultivator at the peak of the Sea of ​​Transformation Realm. He was just old and haggard in appearance, but his reserved and domineering aura could not conceal his cultivation level, and he had the aura of a man standing tall and majestic.

Xiyao stopped writing on the white book and closed the letter. "What's the matter?"

Chu Xiaoxiao stepped aside to make way, and Yun Changan stepped forward and bowed with both hands. He showed no joy on his face, but remained calm and respectful. He said solemnly, "Greetings to Master Xiyao, and to Elder Hu."

The sound of closing and closing the door was considered a greeting, but it seemed a little distant. Xiyao still did not respond. On the contrary, Elder Hu frowned and seemed to be thinking in his mind, who is this person? After thinking for a long time, he still didn't know where he had seen this young man in front of him.

Perhaps it was because he had been away from the sect for a long time and had grown a lot, his face had changed, and he had grown much taller. When Elder Hu first met Yun Chang'an, it was only a one-time encounter and he didn't even look at him straight in the eye. Naturally, he didn't know his identity now.

He turned his head and asked in a low voice, "Who are you?"

Yun Changan couldn't help but frown, feeling a little sad. It turned out that they really didn't care about a little guy with poor talent and no background. It was not the fault of these sect leaders. After all, since entering the Shangyang Sect, Yun Changan had no chance to meet these high-ranking monks. Elder Hu was busy with the affairs of the sect every day, so how could he care about a little disciple of the sect?

Over the years, since he had taken on the role of instructor for the disciples who had attended the Hundred Sects Conference, he had come to see that Yun Chang'an was not among those disciples who had been training hard for the sect, so it was understandable that they would not remember him.

On the other hand, Xiyao remained silent, which surprised Yun Changan. If Elder Hu didn't remember him, he wouldn't care. But Yun Changan became Xiyao's disciple, and although he didn't stay long enough, he wouldn't have forgotten her, right?

Everyone was silent for a long time. How could the disciples dare to interrupt if the two elders of the sect did not speak?

Xiyao handed the letter on the table to Elder Hu, and then slowly said, "The disciple who reached the top of the secret realm of Denglou, the disciple who came from the outer sect, was stuffed to Yaoguang Mountain by Yihong. Because of some things, he left the sect for several years. Now he is back, probably to participate in the Hundred Sects Conference."

Chu Xiaoxiao was surprised. How could her master say such a thing? "Master..."

Before Chu Xiaoxiao could speak, the voice of the great elder Hu came quietly, shouting loudly: "Who did I think you were? So you are the girl who begged the sect master to keep a seat for you, and deliberately let you not rely on the internal competition to try to get in?"

Yun Chang'an was somewhat moved. He looked deeply at Lin Yuan'er beside him, but in the end he said nothing.

Elder Hu said again: "If you come back now and want us to reserve a seat for you so that you can attend the Hundred Sects Conference, don't even think about it. You'd better return to the sect as soon as possible. There is no place for you here!"

The Shangyang Sect took this Hundred Sects Conference very seriously and carefully developed many training plans for the sect's disciples, so that they could break through themselves in this extremely short period of time and make further progress in their cultivation. The several inner sect competitions were just a test after these trainings.

For this purpose, the Great Elder was specially asked to formulate a very detailed plan, which was carried out in an orderly manner every day, and finally the ten strongest people were selected based on the ranking.

Among them are Chu Xiaoxiao and Lin Yuaner.

Yun Chang'an neither participated in the practice nor took part in the competition for rankings. In the eyes of Elder Hu, he was just a disciple who wanted to rely on his relationship with Lin Yuan'er and go through the back door. How could this be possible?

Elder Hu is upright in his conduct and what he hates most are those who want to gain something for nothing. Especially for Yun Chang'an, a disciple about whom he has no impression, he appears here just to take up a spot, which he will never allow.

Yun Changan straightened his clothes, strode forward, bowed with both hands and said: "Great Elder Hu, I don't have such thoughts. I just came to see Master Xiyao and then I will leave."

Elder Hu snorted coldly, "It's better this way."

Xiyao said to Elder Hu with a blank expression, "I'll leave this matter to you. It's getting late, so you'd better leave quickly, lest they think that Shangyang Sect is a sect that doesn't follow the rules."

Elder Hu put away the pages of letter paper, put them in his arms, looked at Yun Changan deeply, and reminded Xiyao, "Although you are the sect master's senior sister, I still have to say that if you do anything out of line during my absence, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

He left in a huff, leaving everyone looking at the departing figure of Elder Hu with different expressions. As Lin Yuan'er was the sect master's disciple, it was inevitable that she could not say more good words in front of Elder Hu. She had asked her master more than once, but still no response. The last time, Yi Hong got very angry and threw Lin Yuan'er into the Ju Yuan Formation in a fit of rage. He did not release her until the invitation letter was delivered.

Xiyao walked to the door, gently closed the door that Elder Hu had slammed and left, turned around and said, "Have you finished what Junior Sister Chen asked you to do?"

Yun Changan was still respectful, "Replying to Master Xiyao, the matter that Miss Chen asked me to do, the things in the secret realm, have been completed."

Xiyao took out a storage bag from her bosom and threw it on the table. "Now that things have been settled, take these travel expenses and return to the sect as soon as possible. You cannot participate in this Hundred Sects Conference. This is also the unanimous decision of the sect. After all, the selected disciples all passed the inner sect competition and got the quota. If you come in at this time, it will cause opinions from other elders. Are you clear about this?"

Lin Yuan'er was a little unhappy, "Master Xiyao, can't you add another spot..."

Xiyao rarely spoke loudly, "Nonsense, there are only so many places. If we let him in, who will leave? Are you going to give up this place? Or is it another elder's disciple?"

Lin Yuan'er grabbed the hem of her clothes and hesitated for a while before saying, "I can..."

Xiyao slammed her hand on the table, furious. Just because Yun Changan was her disciple, even if he was her own son, she couldn't do anything presumptuous. "This is simply nonsense. Do you know how important the Hundred Sects Conference is to you? Shangyang Sect is just a small sect. For your cultivation, it has consumed a lot of sect resources and almost emptied its family funds. You said you would quit and quit. How are you going to face your master?"

Lin Yuan'er was somewhat unwilling, but helpless. After all, what Master Xiyao said was the truth. The sect almost emptied the treasure house for them. She saw it all and knew that the efforts of the master and the elders were all put into this Hundred Sects Conference, also to seek opportunities for them. If they could perform well in the conference, many powerful sects would compete for them. From then on, they would no longer take on useless tasks just for a little bit of cultivation resources.

Yun Chang'an had a blank expression on his face, and there seemed to be more sorrow in his heart. This was the helpless situation of the small sect. He felt a little lost in the awkward situation, and became a useless abandoned child. However, he still smiled softly and patted Lin Yuan'er's shoulder to comfort her, "I understand Junior Sister Yuan'er's feelings."

Then he bowed and said, "Master Xiyao, Junior Sister Yuan'er is ignorant and has caused you trouble. This time, I did not come here to compete for a place to participate in the Hundred Sects Conference. I just wanted to see Master. Not being able to participate in the sect competition was my choice at the beginning, and I don't regret it."

Xiyao felt relieved and softened her tone. "Since you are sensible, don't blame me for not speaking up for you. You can choose to return to the sect. If you want to stay and watch the conference, that's not impossible. Wait until the conference is over and then go back with us."

Xiyao never had any good feelings towards this disciple who was forced to come in, and she even had some hatred in her heart. If he had not picked the Netherworld Flower in the Secret Realm of Denglou, Zhao Xian, her junior brother, would not have left the sect to look for the Netherworld that did not exist, and his whereabouts are still unknown.

She would not break the rules for such a disciple.

Yun Changan knew it very well, and then shook his head and said, "No need, I will leave soon, I hope Master Xiyao will take care of yourself."

Lin Yuan'er scowled as an ominous premonition suddenly came to her mind. It felt like she was meeting someone she hadn't seen for a long time in a hurry, and then the person was about to disappear from her world.

Standing in front of Yun Chang'an, he wanted to make a final effort, "Master Xiyao, is there really no room for negotiation on this matter?"

Xiyao frowned, having known that such a thing would happen. She said sternly, "Yuan'er, I know what you are thinking. Your master handed you over to me, and I will definitely take responsibility to the end. Don't think about pleading for him. Even if he became my disciple, it was Yihong who acted so abruptly. He broke the sect rules for him. You want to use your place in exchange for his participation in the Hundred Sects Conference, but it's not worth it. We all see your talent, which is much better than his. In the future, you will far surpass cultivators of our generation and move towards the great path. Don't be confused for a moment and ruin your future."