After the incident in front of Qinglongtai, without Yan Zhengming's instructions, everyone in the Fuyao sect, including the Taoist children, reduced the number of times they went out. From top to bottom, they learned what "restraint" meant without any guidance.

Cheng Qian extended his sword practice time by one hour every day, and practiced with his fellow disciples regularly. In the blink of an eye, the hundred-day fairy market came to an end, and Cheng Qian had mastered the art of "seeking knowledge from top to bottom".

Adversity forced one to work hard, even Han Yuan, who was originally unlearned, had to work hard. One day, when Li Yun woke up from a nap and was fiddling with the Nine Rings, he felt the energy for the first time. No one could tell why he entered the Tao. The master was gone, so Li Yun had to ask his eldest senior brother to teach him when he touched the talisman carving knife for the first time.

On the last day in Xian City, Han Yuan changed into an inconspicuous coarse linen shirt, went out for a while, and came back in the evening. When he came back, he had a bag of snacks in his arms, eating while walking, which attracted the attention of Shuikeng, who was playing in the yard. He followed him closely, drooling as he followed.

"No, Junior Sister," Han Yuan said irresponsibly, "They say children can't eat adult food, or they will choke to death."

Shuikeng had half a mouthful of baby teeth that were good enough to saw wood, so she didn't believe his alarmist words at all. Seeing that the bag of snacks was almost empty, Shuikeng uttered the first words in her life in a panic: "Hiss...hiss...hiss!"

Han Yuan paused and said in surprise: "Oh, you can speak now?"

As soon as Shuikeng saw the door, he clenched his fists, his face turned red and his neck became thick, and he shouted again as if risking his life: "Hiss!"

"That's great." Han Yuan praised without any sincerity, and walked forward while eating without any expression - he had been a beggar in his early years and had a problem with it. He was good at eating and drinking from others, and others could never touch the food in his mouth.

Shuikeng suddenly became anxious, and completely forgot the advice from his senior brothers not to fly around. He suddenly stretched out his wings, which were becoming more and more under control, and flapped his wings to chase after Han Yuan.

Just then, Cheng Qian and Li Yun walked in from outside.

When Cheng Qian saw the familiar big wings, his face suddenly darkened and he shouted in a low voice: "Come down!"

Shuikeng was afraid of Cheng Qian, because the trick of acting like a spoiled brat worked on other brothers except the third brother. The third brother was strict with others and even more harsh with himself. He always kept his word. Shuikeng was afraid that his dinner would fly away, so he fell down and sat on the ground with a pout, but he didn't dare to cry in front of Cheng Qian.

Cheng Qian was holding a basket of flowers in one hand and a few books in the other. He glared at the puddle with a gloomy face and felt a little worried.

What will happen to a little demon with no ability to protect itself if it is coveted by other monks with ulterior motives?

And if something really happens, no one can seek justice for her. After all, she is not a human. In the eyes of many cultivators, if she is not a human, then she is an object. Even if she is the daughter of the Demon Queen and a half-demon, there is probably no difference between her and those little pets.

Seeing Cheng Qian about to throw another tantrum, Li Yun waved her hands and said, "Forget it, Xiao Qian. She doesn't understand anything. We can't expect her to remember it. We might as well think of a way to stop her from flying again."

"I did find a talisman that can seal the demon blood a few days ago," Cheng Qian said, "but I don't know how confident I am that I can make it."

Although Li Yun had just started to use spells, he had a deeper understanding of their profoundness and said hurriedly, "Don't rashly use spells you haven't seen before."

Cheng Qian didn't answer directly, but just smiled and changed the subject, turning to Han Yuan and asking, "Where did you go today?"

"Get information," Han Yuan said vaguely while chewing his food. "I have found out everything these days. The black-faced man who caused trouble for us is named Zhang Dasen. He has also entered the Lecture Hall. The one who uses the sword is called Zhang Erlin, his younger brother. He lost the election. As soon as the Immortal Market ends tomorrow, he will have to leave Qinglong Island. I have seen clearly that these independent cultivators have no sects and like to stick together. Zhang Dasen and his group have now won over a group of people. We have to be more careful of them in the future."

Han Yuan has a skill that can be called a unique skill - he can find out everything on the streets as long as someone says something.

Li Yun asked: "Who was the person holding the fan that day?"

Han Yuan's face darkened slightly. "We can't afford to offend him. He is from Qinglong Island. His name is Zhou Hanzheng. He is the left protector of the Lecture Hall. There are two protectors in the Lecture Hall. The woman with the square face, remember? She is the right protector."

This is about Tang Wanqiu.

Li Yun frowned and said, "This left protector doesn't even know us, so why is he so dissatisfied with us?"

"If you are dissatisfied, let's skip the examination and go directly to the lecture hall," Han Yuan said, "I don't know. I heard that this person is very evil and a bit moody. I'd better try not to provoke him in the future. Oh, I got some good stuff today."

As he spoke, Han Yuan patted the snack crumbs on his hands, fished out a small oil-paper bag from his bosom, and handed it to his fellow brothers mysteriously.

There were actually three strange-shaped needles in the paper package, with unclear talismans engraved on the tails and blue tips.

"This is..." Li Yun's eyes widened, "Xiao Qian, don't touch it! This is a soul-searching needle, it's poisonous... Where did you get it from?"

Han Yuan said with a playful smile: "I picked it up at the Immortal Market, hehe."

"I know this thing, it's very powerful." Li Yun didn't bother to criticize Han Yuan's sneaky behavior, and excitedly held the needle in his hand through the paper bag. "It's not easy to get it. The reason why it's called the 'Soul Searching Needle' is that as long as you tell it who the enemy is, it will go forward and kill the enemy on its own. With this thing, it's easy to take the head of a general among 100,000 people!"

Cheng Qian had no interest in these unorthodox methods. Even if he really wanted to grind someone to ashes, he would do it with his sword. He was too lazy to even listen to anything about needle and thread. He walked past Li Yun and Han Yuan, holding the strange big flower basket in his hand, and kicked open Yan Zhengming's door.

He slammed the flower basket heavily on the table amid the tittering of several maids, and said unhappily, "You want the withered flowers and withered willows."

At this time, there were maids surrounding the door, and the scenery outside was beautiful, but their eldest brother, who had been nursing a one-and-a-half-inch long wound for three months, was not having fun. On the small table where he placed his piano, there was a long wooden stick, and he was holding a carving knife in his hand, concentrating on the talisman under his palm.

When Cheng Qian kicked the door, a corner of the line under Yan Zhengming's hand broke, and the carving knife poked a drop of blood on his finger.

Yan Zhengming frowned at first, but then he smiled when he found out that the person who kicked the door was Cheng Qian. Because of this "serious injury" of a drop of blood, Cheng Qian was not only ordered by him to be a flower thief during the day, but also had to endure the nitpicking of his senior brother at night and personally put those inexplicable flower branches into the vase.

The next day, the lecture hall opened.

The so-called "lecture hall" is actually just a hillside, very noisy. Looking around, there are people of all shapes and sizes, young and old, men and women. Some are standing, some are sitting, and some are even climbing trees. There is literally no place to put their feet.

Fortunately, under Li Yun's instructions, the people of Fuyao faction arrived early, found a small and inconspicuous corner in the front, and settled down in advance.

There were noisy casual cultivators everywhere, most of whom had low cultivation levels, far from being able to avoid dust and dirt. Some of them had been wandering around for years, living a very slovenly life, with only a little flesh and blood on their bodies, and their fragrance could be smelled from ten miles away. Some of them carried strange and bizarre spiritual pets, dogs, birds, foxes, etc. It was ok, but there was also a fat gray rat that shuttled through the crowd to make its way, which was really disgusting.

Even Cheng Qian couldn't help but frown at such a Feng Shui treasure land, let alone their eldest brother who was obsessed with mysophobia.

But Yan Zhengming didn't say a word - he had nothing to say, it was his own decision to stay, could he really slap himself in public?

Yan Zhengming waved his hands, refusing the cushion given to him by the Taoist boy. He looked into the distance with empty eyes, feeling an unspeakable loneliness in his heart.

He couldn't help but think of the missionary hall on Fuyao Mountain, where there were pavilions and courtyards, smoke curling up, and Taoist children quietly handed over cakes and hot or cold tea. However, they didn't know how to cherish it, and they competed with each other to make trouble all day long.

He always slept soundly, and when he opened his eyes it was always noon. Li Yun would fiddle with his pile of disgusting reptiles, Han Yuan would always eat secretly, and only Cheng Qian would force himself to sleep and listen to his master chanting...

By now, everything has changed.

"Hey, Junior Brother, what's wrong?" Han Yuan's voice pulled Yan Zhengming back to his memories.

Yan Zhengming tilted his head and saw that Cheng Qian was about to fall on Li Yun. His face did not look like he had not slept well, but rather as if he had been seriously ill, with even his lips being gray.

Cheng Qian half-closed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't say anything, not knowing whether he had no strength or didn't want to say more.

Yan Zhengming was shocked. The last time he saw Cheng Qian with such an expression was when that kid touched the talisman for the first time and exhausted himself without any caution.

"What did you do last night?" Yan Zhengming reached out and tapped the dark spot under his eye. "Are you a thief?"

Li Yun suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Cheng Qian the day before, and turned to ask, "I went to see my junior sister before I left this morning, and I saw her crying in the room. What happened?"

If Shuikeng cries, it will shake down the house. Therefore, after she understood a little, she usually doesn't cry in the house. She would cry a little occasionally, and when the house shook, she would basically shut up.

The half-dead Cheng Qian finally gave him a response: "Is the house okay?"

"You did this again," Li Yun said angrily, grabbing Cheng Qian by the collar, "You carved the spell privately again, don't you want to die?"

"Hush--" Han Yuan pulled Li Yun, and the noisy hillside suddenly became quiet. Suddenly, a man fell from the sky in the middle of the lecture hall, and the wild flowers on the hillside seemed to have collectively received nectar from heaven and bloomed in competition.

And the man on the platform was Zhou Hanzheng.

Zhou Han was holding his Sansi fan, and he raised his sleeves and proudly clasped his fists towards the four people: "Sorry to have kept you waiting."

Yan Zhengming raised his hand to pull Cheng Qian over, and then helplessly whispered to Li Yun and Han Yuan: "It turned out to be him. If I had known, I wouldn't have come today... Listen carefully, we should come early and leave early today, so as not to attract attention. Do you hear me?"

Li Yun didn't say anything, his pale face turned even paler. Han Yuan gritted his teeth, his face full of anger.

Yan Zhengming pretended not to notice his fellow apprentices' reactions. He felt Cheng Qian leaning softly against him, his breath so weak.

Although he did not ask directly, Li Yun's few words were enough for him to know that in order to cover up the evil aura on Shuikeng, Cheng Qian must have done something dangerous again.

"Oh, this is really troublesome." Yan Zhengming thought, and pinched Cheng Qian hard to vent his anger.

Zhou Hanzheng on the stage had already started talking, nothing more than something like the lecture hall was open once every ten days, and the rest of the time the disciples went back to study on their own.

"We on Qinglong Island do not forbid disciples from sparring with each other, but you must be careful not to hurt the harmony. If you really hurt someone, you will be punished according to the sect rules." Zhou Hanzheng said, looking down with a meaningful look. I don't know how he did it, but his wandering eyes actually found the people of Fuyao Sect accurately and stopped for a moment on Yan Zhengming. Then, Zhou Hanzheng smiled and said, "Okay, today I will tell you about drawing qi into the body and storing qi in the dantian."

"Let's go back," Yan Zhengming listened with one ear and thought absentmindedly, "Even if I don't go home, I have to go back to Fuyao Mountain. We have the Nine-story Sutra Tower. Even if we explore on our own, it's better than living here with our tail between our legs. At worst, I can just retreat like my master and not see outsiders. I'll go back and pack my luggage today!"

At this time, Zhou Hanzheng suddenly said: "I know that everyone's progress is different. How about this, I will find a disciple to come up with me to demonstrate."

As he spoke, the sinister look in his slender eyes once again headed towards the direction of Fuyao Faction. When his eyes met Yan Zhengming's, Yan Zhengming almost had the illusion that he was being stared at by a poisonous snake.

"Ah, Sect Master Yan," Zhou Hanzheng said with a smile, "I heard from the island master that your sect is quite old and your family knowledge is very profound. Sect Master Yan must have already passed the stage of drawing Qi into the body. Why don't you come on stage and let us all open our eyes?"

Cheng Qian hadn't slept the previous night, and had used up all his energy because of the spell. He was now completely exhausted, and it felt as if there were a bunch of clamps on both sides of his temples, clamping them tightly, making his ears buzz. It was already a struggle to walk all the way to the lecture hall. If he was a bit squeamish, he really wouldn't be able to get up in the morning. But when he heard this, his whole body immediately tensed up instinctively, and he wanted to stand up.

His slight struggle startled Yan Zhengming, who was feeling annoyed. It would have been fine if he hadn't gone looking for trouble, but trouble always found him.

Yan Zhengming pushed Cheng Qian aside and said unhappily, "Just sit still, kid, and stop making trouble. Who asked you to step forward?"

After saying that, he took a deep breath and walked forward with his sword in hand. With every step he took, his determination to leave became stronger. When he was ten steps away from Zhou Hanzheng, Yan Zhengming stopped, put his sword upright on the ground, and said to Zhou Hanzheng, "Master, please give me some advice."

Yan Zhengming's sword was really eye-catching. Not to mention the sword itself, the scabbard alone was priceless, inlaid with gems. The Queen's phoenix crown probably didn't have so many treasures.

Zhou Hanzheng looked him over and said, "Those of you who are able to draw Qi into the body know that the initial sense of Qi is generated by fate. I wonder why Master Yan entered the Dao?"

Yan Zhengming was now considering whether he should say goodbye to the owner of Qinglong Island if he was about to leave. He knew that the owner had done the most for them by helping them find people and providing them with shelter. However, he had experienced all the grievances he had never suffered in his life on Qinglong Island, and Yan Zhengming could not help but feel some resentment and anger towards the owner of the island.

When asked, he didn't want to waste words, and just said briefly: "Sword."

Zhou Hanzheng nodded and smiled: "Yes, I guessed it. It can be seen that Master Yan takes good care of his sword."

As soon as these words were spoken, even the three words "Master Yan" seemed extremely ironic. Some of the people were there to watch the fun, while others were trying to curry favor with the powerful Left Protector, and they all burst into laughter.

The veins on Cheng Qian's forehead jumped. Li Yun knew that he couldn't hold back. When he saw him move, he immediately rushed over and pinned him down, warning him in a low voice: "Are you causing trouble again?"

Cheng Qian clenched his fists until they turned white. Everyone has a limit that they cannot tolerate. It may seem unreasonable to others, but the person concerned cannot swallow it no matter what. If someone insulted him in person, Cheng Qian might not be willing to have a conflict with others for the sake of the overall situation, so he would just endure it.

But when it came to his master and fellow disciples, he couldn't bear it no matter what.

Li Yun held his shoulder tightly with one hand and whispered in Cheng Qian's ear: "Don't make trouble. I'm afraid that Senior Brother wants to go back."

Cheng Qian paused.

Li Yun whispered, "Xiao Qian, think about it carefully. If you can't stand it, how can the eldest brother stand it? I'm afraid that when he saw the big hillside of the lecture hall this morning, he wanted to go back."

Zhou Hanzheng first put Yan Zhengming aside and talked about the various ways he knew to draw Qi into the body. After listing them, he said, "Drawing Qi into the body is the first step to communicate with heaven and earth. Those who have passed this level have officially entered the door. The next step is the practice. As for what this practice is, each sect has its own unique secret book, but the actual content is mostly the same. They all teach you how to draw the essence of heaven and earth into the body and form your own true essence."

"The so-called profound skills, in addition to the exquisiteness of swordsmanship, also depend on whether your true energy is pure." Zhou Hanzheng turned to Yan Zhengming and asked, "I wonder how long has Master Yan been drawing energy into his body?"

Yan Zhengming was silent for a moment.

The Fuyao sect never emphasizes any techniques. The first thing disciples do after becoming disciples is always to carve talismans and exercise their meridians endlessly. Occasionally, they may enter a state of meditation or gain some enlightenment by chance. Master Mu Chun has never asked them to meditate to concentrate their true energy like other sects do.

Zhou Han seemed to have expected that Yan Zhengming was an uneducated and unskilled dandy, so he asked with a smile: "Master Yan, what's the matter?"

Yan Zhengming: “…three years.”

Zhou Hanzheng clapped his hands and smiled, "After three years of drawing Qi into the body, your skills should have improved a little. Let's see it for ourselves."

As soon as he finished speaking, a strange wind suddenly blew on the stage, sweeping towards Yan Zhengming. Yan Zhengming instinctively held his sword in front of him, and his Qi sense instantly mobilized, forming an invisible shield under his feet, protecting him.

Zhou Han said to the crowd below the stage who were craning their necks to look up at him, "This set of skills is called Fake Mountains and Rivers. It was created by my sect specifically to test the skills of our disciples. I'm sure some of you have seen it in the Qinglong Trial. This move is called Flying Sand and Running Stones. It is for beginners. After three years of making some progress in internal skills, those who are diligent or outstanding can persist in the flying sand and running stones for several days. The next best can persist for several hours, and the next best can also persist for an hour and a quarter. As for..."

Yan Zhengming only felt a buzzing in his ears - he had never practiced true energy and had no idea how to regulate his breathing in a regular way. Soon, his limbs had almost no feeling. Before Zhou Han could finish his words, the air membrane protecting his side had shattered, and an irresistible force slammed into Yan Zhengming's chest. Then a hurricane of force hit him hard like a whip. His feet felt light, and the next moment, he was thrown off the platform.

Zhou Han was watching Yan Zhengming fall out indifferently, and finished the second half of his sarcastic remark calmly: "As for those who are not talented enough and use pills to forcibly improve their realms and enter the Tao by 'taking medicine', I thought they might be able to hold on for a cup of tea and a stick of incense, but now it seems that I overestimated... Is the head of the 'medicine-taking school' Yan okay?"