One person: I, Daoist Master, am a cultivator of immortality!

"Alas, it's not that it's been looking for a chance to escape from Tianchi all along, but recently it has had no choice but to find a chance to break out of Tianchi," Liao Huzi sighed.

"Oh? What's the reason? Since it has been well-behaved for hundreds of years, why does it have to cause trouble at this time?"

"Do you think it doesn't want to stay in the Heavenly Pool any longer? The cultivation speed in the Heavenly Pool is several times faster than outside. If it weren't for the fact that no immortals other than Liu Xian could enter the Heavenly Pool, it would have long become a sacred place for immortals to cultivate."

"Then why is it still running?"

"You must know that all living beings have a lifespan limit. A human living to a hundred years old is already considered a thousand years old, but even a dragon cannot live to a thousand years old. This dragon has reached its age, and if it does not transform into a dragon soon, it will likely die of old age. Everyone cherishes their life, even demon immortals are no exception. Even though it has lived for a thousand years, it still cannot face death calmly. Recently, it has been trying to seize an opportunity, and the Willow Fairies are afraid that it will disregard the situation, so they have been guarding the vicinity of the Heavenly Pool for many years."

"But he is, after all, a dragon. Can the willow fairies protect him?"

"So what if it's a dragon? Two fists can't fight four hands. Even if the dragon's life level is no longer on the same level as the snake, how much difference can there be in strength? According to the demon immortals, there is a bottleneck in the strength level of our world. After reaching a certain level, the strength will increase extremely slowly, and it may not even improve by 10% for more than a hundred years. Under such circumstances, even if the dragon is stronger than the snake, as long as there are enough of them, even the snake can still suppress the dragon."

Liao Huzi, tapping his pipe as he spoke, revealed some of the world's secrets to Sun Yao. It turned out that there was an upper limit to strength in this world; after reaching a certain level, increasing one's strength became extremely difficult. However, for some reason, Sun Yao hadn't felt any bottleneck in his strength growth. Was it due to his unique abilities or the special nature of his cultivation method? Sun Yao didn't know, but in any case, it was a good thing for him.

"In other words, this is a dead end. If it doesn't transform into a dragon, it will surely die. But if it does transform into a dragon, Tianchi Lake will be destroyed. Not to mention the people of the world, at least Changbai Mountain will suffer."

"That's right, so our Ma family can only have Liu Xian'er constantly suppress the riots around Changbai Mountain, but this also angered the fire dragon under Tianchi Lake."

"So the reason why the Ma family stipulates that its disciples cannot explore what lies beneath the Heavenly Pool is to protect them, lest they accidentally enter the Heavenly Pool and give the Fire Dragon an opportunity." After hearing Liao Huzi's last sentence, Sun Yao thought of a speechless conclusion.

Sure enough, after Sun Yao said that, Liao Huzi nodded frantically, "Yes, yes, yes, you've said too much. Finally, someone understands our good intentions! Sealing off Tianchi was entirely for their own good!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Yao shook his head, rubbing his forehead with his left hand. "Uncle, have you ever heard the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'? Oh, no, this is Northeast China, I should put it in a way you can understand better. Let me put it this way, what exactly caused all those roe deer scattered across the mountains to die? Now you understand, right?"

After Sun Yao finished speaking, Liao Huzi was stunned. "You mean, the more we forbid them, the more they can't help but want to find out, and our drastic measures are completely counterproductive."

"If you said that your family had fenced off a section of land on your own property and told you that you absolutely couldn't go there, wouldn't you be very curious and want to go? Uncle?"

After Sun Yao finished speaking, Liao Hu Zi was stunned, and even his ever-present pipe fell from his hand. "Oh dear! How could I be so stupid? I couldn't even understand such a simple principle!" Liao Hu Zi smacked himself on the forehead, clearly angry at his own lack of self-confidence.

"There's no need for that, Uncle. You're just worried too much. I believe they can understand your intentions, but you need to tell them everything."

"But isn't keeping it a secret a form of protection? These kids are all incredibly daring, especially Hua'er, who's the leader of the group. Ever since she started practicing martial arts, there's nothing she wouldn't dare to do. Every time she gets into trouble since she was little, it's always made me worry."

“I think you can set a goal for them, a goal that will allow them to explore Tianchi.”

"What nonsense! I allowed them to explore the Heavenly Pool? Do you know how evil the fire dragon in there is? Even if I invited my ancestor out, I might not be able to suppress it." After hearing Sun Yao say this, Liao Huzi's tone clearly rose, as if he wanted Sun Yao to give up the idea.

"Couldn't you set higher goals for them? For example, if they want to enter the Heavenly Pool, they have to defeat the Willow Immortals who guard it, and it has to be several Willow Immortals working together. And before that, there's another condition for selection: they have to be able to defeat you first. With these two guarantees, do you still think any of them can explore the Heavenly Pool? Even if they can defeat you by trickery, the Willow Immortals who guard the Heavenly Pool are not to be trifled with."

"Hmm, you've got me figured out. This is a good idea. These brats want to go to Tianchi, but they'll have to defeat me first. As long as they can get past me, they can go to Tianchi as they please. But if they want to go down to Tianchi, they'll have to defeat Liu Xian'er first." After Sun Yao's reminder, Liao Huzi suddenly understood. This was indeed a very good method. It could not only stop the brats' curiosity but also give them a goal to strive for in their cultivation.

"I imagine you must have a lot to do next, so I won't keep you here any longer. Please make yourself at home, I'll be going back to my room now."

After Sun Yao finished speaking, he took the 500-year-old ginseng given to him by Liao Huzi and walked towards the courtyard. Liao Huzi watched Sun Yao's departing figure and smiled kindly. "I didn't expect that at my age, I would need a junior to teach me such principles. However, the disciple that the Old Master and the Left Sect Leader have taken in is truly remarkable." Liao Huzi said softly, then turned and walked towards the hall. He was going to set a goal for his youngsters so they wouldn't spend their days thinking about trivial things.

Liao Huzi left, and Sun Yao returned to his room. But a shock awaited him there. When he entered his room, he saw Yue Qiluo lying on the bed.

"Ah Yao, you're back." Yue Qiluo was sitting on the bed cutting out paper figures. She greeted Sun Yao when she saw him return, and then went back to cutting out paper figures.