Cheng Qian was not interested in what he heard. He had never been interested in such boring things as competing with others because there was no need.

As he grew older, his arrogant and self-righteous heart became more and more steadfast through self-doubt. Now, in Cheng Qian's eyes, there are only two kinds of peers in the world, one is those who are not as good as him now, and the other is those who will be not as good as him in the future.

Cheng Qian's back began to hurt badly, so he no longer wanted to stay and simply said, "It's okay, I'll leave first."

"Slow down, you haven't finished your work yet, stand still," Yan Zhengming said, and then he turned to Han Yuan, "Have you finished your daily talisman homework of thirty wooden sticks?"

Han Yuan: “…”

Seeing this, Yan Zhengming raised one eyebrow and said, "What does the big competition and the small competition have to do with you? Go quickly!"

Han Yuan stuck out his tongue dejectedly and dared not say a word.

Their leader is no longer the same as before - he has changed from a conceited hot pepper who was just playing around to a conceited hot pepper with great power.

Five years ago, Sect Leader Yan, who was humiliated on the platform of the lecture hall, almost went against the opposition of everyone and made a decision that was difficult for everyone to understand - he was determined to preserve the tradition of the Fuyao Sect of chanting scriptures to get started and carving talismans to practice Qi. Even if they were forced to start practicing Zhen Yuan with everyone, they would have to spend extra time to complete these two tasks.

In response, Yan Zhengming half-mockingly explained his reasons: "I have grown up to this age, and apart from the face given by my parents, I have nothing on my body that can be shown off to be praised. What qualifications do I have to rashly change the thousand-year-old heritage of my sect? Besides, even if the sect tradition is unreasonable, it was left by my master."

The last sentence touched Cheng Qian, causing the only person who would challenge the leader to switch sides at the critical moment.

Li Yun always has opinions but no stance, and he obeys once something is said. As for Han Yuan, he doesn't even have an opinion, so the matter was decided.

Five years have passed, proving that Yan Zhengming's decision, which seemed a bit absurd at first glance, was actually correct.

After drawing the Qi into the body, the condensation of true essence is not a smooth sailing thing. Once one foot steps into the gate of immortality, there will be a bottleneck every three years. Each time is like going through a small catastrophe. If one is not careful, at best there will be no progress in cultivation for several years, at worst one will go astray.

Mortals who embark on the long journey of cultivation have to go through these trials and tribulations over and over again.

Back then, Master Mu Chun never urged his disciples to condense their true essence. If he had not died unexpectedly, the disciples in the preaching hall on Mount Fuyao would probably have continued their boring spells and scriptures day after day for many years. This process would have been long and boring, with no visible results. However, with day-to-day efforts, the meridians would have been significantly widened and strengthened through repeated flushing.

As the saying goes, "Sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood."

In this way, when you really start to condense your true essence according to the ancient method like others, your progress will not be rapid, but at least it will be much faster than others, and even the bottlenecks will be relatively smoother.

Unfortunately, there is dry firewood in front of us. Is there anyone in the world who is willing to sharpen this knife day after day for years?

After scolding Han Yuan, Yan Zhengming waved to Cheng Qian, signaling him to follow, and then walked out first.

When the girl who was squatting in the puddle in the middle of the yard saw him come out, she immediately looked at Yan Zhengming eagerly as if she had found a savior, like a bird that had been in a cage for a long time.

Every time Yan Zhengming saw her, he felt like he was seeing himself many years ago, and out of nowhere he felt a sense of internal pain, "One who does not raise a child does not know the kindness of his parents." He flicked his finger and sent out a force that hit the talisman at the foot of the puddle squarely, tearing a hole in the seamless circle of talismans, and the true energy inside immediately leaked out, and a small whirlwind blew up on the spot.

Shuikeng was freed, and he sat down on the ground, singing a wild tune that he had learned from nowhere, shaking his head and howling, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god - I'm so tired."

Yan Zhengming paused when he heard this. Shuikeng saw that the situation was not good, so he jumped up from the ground, rubbed his face with his dirty little hands that had just patted his butt, and said in a sloppy and cute way: "Hey, thank you, big brother."

Seeing her actions, Yan Zhengming's eyes twitched. Finally, he could no longer bear it and walked away, saying to Cheng Qian, "If she dares to look like Tang Wanqiu in the future, I will expel her from my sect no matter what."

"No," Cheng Qian consoled him, "After all, she is the daughter of the Demon Queen. I heard that the offspring of a cuckold are usually not too ugly."

Sect Leader Yan: “…”

He didn't feel any better.

Yan Zhengming walked to and opened the door of his room. He raised his chin to Cheng Qian with a cold face, motioning him to come in. Cheng Qian lingered at the door for a while - although the smell of incense in Yan Zhengming's room had faded a lot after Xiaoyue left, Cheng Qian still sneezed as usual when he pushed the door open.

He rubbed his nose at the flower branch on the table that was fixed with a talisman and never faded, admired for a while the elegance that was deeply rooted in the bones of the head brother, and sighed secretly, feeling that he might not be able to get by.

Ochre stood up and said, "Master."

"There's nothing for you to do now, go ahead." Yan Zhengming said, "After the lecture hall is over tomorrow, ask Xueqing to come to my place. I have something for him to do."

Zheshi went out in response. Yan Zhengming closed the door behind him, folded his arms across his chest, leaned his back against the door, and said to Cheng Qian, "Take off your clothes."

Cheng Qian: “…”

"Hurry up," Yan Zhengming said expressionlessly, "Are you waiting for me to pick it up?"

Cheng Qian: "I didn't..."

Seeing that he refused to accept the toast, Yan Zhengming immediately kept his promise and stepped forward, intending to "execute him on the spot."

Seeing that he was determined to investigate, Cheng Qian had no choice but to undress himself reluctantly while deliberately disgusting Yan Zhengming by saying, "Big Brother, I haven't showered for three days. Aren't you afraid of polluting your eyes?"

Yan Zhengming was rarely silent. He stretched out his hand and pulled off the robe that Cheng Qian was reluctantly hanging on his body. He saw at a glance the bruise on Cheng Qian's back that stretched almost from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist. The bruise was so purple that it had turned black, and the traces of ruptured blood vessels around it spread like a spider web, which was very shocking on the young man's pale back.

In addition, Cheng Qian has many deep and shallow scars on his body, some of which are darker in color, while some are so light that they are about to fade away. Although drawing qi into the body does not mean that one can achieve fasting and transcendence, after entering the qi gate, the bones and marrow are cleansed, and the body is not as easily stained as that of ordinary people, and the wounds hardly leave scars unless they have not had time to heal completely.

Yan Zhengming took just one look and immediately looked away, unable to bear it. His chest felt as if someone had hit him hard, and his heart ached so much that it almost broke. Even his back ached slightly.

He was filled with inexplicable anger towards Cheng Qian, and his chest heaved violently several times before he was barely able to suppress it.

"Go lie down on the bed," Yan Zhengming said. After enduring for a long time, he couldn't help himself and added in hatred, "If you were two years younger, I would beat you so hard that you wouldn't even recognize your master, you bastard."

Cheng Qian tried to turn his neck a few times but couldn't get it to turn around. He had no choice but to lie down and let the senior brother apply medicine to him. At the same time, he made up an excuse for himself: "Bruises are just a bunch of them. It's nothing...ah!"

"Nothing?" Yan Zhengming's voice turned cold.

Cheng Qian didn't dare to provoke him again. He buried his face in the quilt and concentrated on enduring the pain.

The Demon Subduing Pestle naturally carries the evil spirit of the Heavenly Gang. If the person wielding the Demon Subduing Pestle was not an incompetent and could not exert even one tenth of its power, that thing would have been able to smash Cheng Qian's internal organs through his back.

Yan Zhengming had a lot of curse words pouring out of his mouth, but when he came to his mouth, he still couldn't say anything. After all this, Yan Zhengming's missing heart and lungs in the first ten years finally grew back.

Yan Zhengming, who now has all his internal organs gathered together, knows exactly where all the wounds, big and small, on Cheng Qian's body came from.

Looking back, the momentary hatred and indignation were not enough to sustain him through all these years. Yan Zhengming had to admit that it was his youngest junior fellow apprentice who forced him to this point.

Cheng Qian never blamed his senior brother, the head of the sect, for anything. His attitude was consistent throughout - if you can do it, then do it. If you can't, I will do it for you even if I die.

Every wound on Cheng Qian's body was like a slap in the face to Yan Zhengming, and he dared not stop for even a moment.

During the most difficult times, Yan Zhengming couldn't sleep for whole nights, and his nightmares were all about his junior brother.

There was a soothing scent in Yan Zhengming's quilt, which was warm and could penetrate every limb. Cheng Qian had been waiting next to the black-capped grass for the past few days, and was really exhausted. He lay prone on it and didn't want to move after a while.

After applying the medicine, Yan Zhengming looked at the boy's increasingly thin waistline and couldn't help thinking, "The seal of the headmaster is hanging on my neck. Even if I'm not here, there's still Li Yun—even Han Yuan is older than you. You're just like a puddle. Isn't it good to think about nothing and understand nothing every day? Why do you act so stubbornly? Where do you put your brothers?"

But he could say these words to anyone except Cheng Qian's face, which looked a little tired because of relaxation.

Because they had been dependent on each other for so many years, even saying "thank you" to him seemed corny to Yan Zhengming, let alone such a long speech.

His mood went up and down several times. In the end, Yan Zhengming just said sternly: "Zhou Hanzheng is back, but he won't stay for long. No matter what, you have to be patient and don't get involved. Do you hear me?"

Cheng Qian responded drowsily, but it was obvious that he ignored him.

Yan Zhengming looked down and found that the little bastard's eyes were closed. Cheng Qian's face was slightly tilted, and his eyelashes were trembling from time to time. There was a circle of light blue-black under his eyes, and even the childishness that had not yet faded away was covered by the fatigue.

Yan Zhengming sighed, put away the medicine, and stopped talking. He gently untied Cheng Qian's hair, pulled up his clothes, and pulled a thin quilt to cover him, while he sat aside and meditated.

But after sitting for a while, Yan Zhengming finally couldn't help it. He felt that he couldn't concentrate on meditation without asking this key question, so he pushed Cheng Qian decisively: "Hey, you really haven't taken a shower for three days?"

Cheng Qian gave him a murderous slap on the back of his head.

Today, Yan Zhengming is no longer as restless as he was in the past, and it is common for him to meditate instead of sleep. But before dawn, he suddenly felt upset and opened his eyes.

It was still late at night, and Cheng Qian had passed away without anyone noticing - since the day Yan Zhengming met Cheng Qian, he had never slept until dawn, and there was still warmth in the quilt.

Yan Zhengming sat quietly for a moment, concentrating on thinking carefully. He did not find any bottleneck, but he could not calm down... It was as if something was about to happen.

He waved his hand to turn on the light, paced back and forth in the room several times, and took out three copper coins from under the lampshade.

Yan Zhengming was not familiar with divination. He had seen his master do this before, but whenever he asked, his master would not teach him. He only said, "Preliminary knowledge is the flower of the Way but the beginning of ignorance. This is a side door to the left path. There is no need to understand it in detail."

Is something big going to happen on Qinglong Island?

Three copper coins flew up and down on his nimble fingertips. Yan Zhengming played with them for a while, cleared his mind, and then sat down and began to recite the Pure and Tranquil Sutra silently.

As expected, Zhou Han is a jinx. Nothing good happens when he comes back.

Han Yuan's message stood the test. The next day, the news of the competition was announced in the lecture hall. The elusive Left Protector and the always-demanding Right Protector both showed up. They announced that all those who could draw Qi into their bodies had to participate. Those who didn't want to fight with others could voluntarily give up and admit defeat, otherwise they would have to go on stage. The winner could enter the inner hall to read classics and listen to the teachings of the inner hall disciples without having to become a disciple of the Azure Dragon Island Master.

The rules were endlessly discussed above, while Cheng Qian, without even looking up, was carving a palm-sized wooden sign with a carving knife below.

Yan Zhengming glanced at it and explained to Han Yuan beside him, "That's called the 'Puppet Talisman'. Wearing it on your body can protect people from disasters. It is one of the seven famous talismans in Ming Fu. There are a total of 108 swords, and each sword is connected. No stroke can be broken, and no sword can be wrong... You see, if it is a little off, it will be useless."

Cheng Qian's knife tip was hit by something, and his spiritual energy suddenly leaked out. Han Yuan, who was sitting next to him, felt a cold and moist breath coming towards him, and then it dissipated into the air and disappeared. He widened his eyes in amazement.

Yan Zhengming lazily leaned to one side, patted Cheng Qian on the shoulder, and said with emotion: "It's only been six or seven years since you started to draw Qi into your body, and you dare to touch the seven great talismans - you are really pushing me too far, copper coin."

Cheng Qian put the discarded wooden sign and carving knife aside and sat upright to regulate his breathing.

Yan Zhengming then said to Han Yuan: "The knife was cut wrong. Sometimes it's because of lack of skill, and sometimes it's because of lack of strength... Your third brother just ran out of strength. Little copper coin, why did you want to carve this?"

Cheng Qian said perfunctorily: "Just give it a try."

Soon, Yan Zhengming knew why he was trying it.

When everyone was discussing the Qinglong Island competition with great interest, Yan Zhengming sent Xue Qing to the Qinglong Island ferry.

"Try to go and come back as quickly as possible," Yan Zhengming said, "Go back to Fuyao Mountain first, then go home and see if there is anything you are short of on the mountain. Just take it from my allotment."

Xueqing has now grown into a young man and has become more stable. He wrote down everything and nodded in agreement.

"Well, go ahead..."

"Brother Xueqing, wait a minute!"

As he was speaking, a flying horse came flying in the air close to the ground. Before it could come to a complete stop, Cheng Qian jumped off from it. He looked a little embarrassed, and it was not known whether it was because of the sea breeze or something else, but he was actually a little out of breath when he landed.

Xue Qing is usually gentle and taciturn, but he was very careful and considerate when taking care of Cheng Qian when they were young. Compared with Yan Zhengming, the legitimate senior brother who often behaves in a disobedient manner, Xue Qing is more like a reliable elder brother, and the two have always had a good relationship.

Xue Qing looked at him and smiled, "I will be back soon, Third Master, please take care of yourself."

"Okay, I know," Cheng Qian nodded, took out a brocade bag from his arms and handed it to him, "I thought I would miss it, take this with you, and be careful on the road."

Yan Zhengming, who was standing aside in the sun, glanced sideways and asked, "What are you rushing all the way here to deliver?"

Xue Qing opened the small brocade bag as she was told, only to see a small wooden token inside. When Yan Zhengming took it out and looked at it, his eyes widened - it turned out to be a completed puppet talisman.

Cheng Qian said with some shame: "I don't have enough strength, so I have not succeeded. I have only managed to make this after many days. You can take it with you, but you still have to be more careful on the road. After all, this thing is from my hand. If I meet someone with a higher level of cultivation than me, it will be a useless piece of broken wood."

Xue Qing said hurriedly: "Yes, thank you Third Uncle."

Yan Zhengming felt very upset, thinking: "I don't have it - I worked so hard to raise this ungrateful little wolf, and he didn't even give me a whistle. I worked so hard to make a puppet talisman, but he gave it to someone else first. This is really unreasonable!"

However, as the head of the sect, it was not right for him to act unreasonably with the Taoist boy and his fellow apprentice in broad daylight. Yan Zhengming had no choice but to put on a stern face and solemnly told Xue Qing to go and come back quickly. After sending him away, he turned around and left angrily without even looking at Cheng Qian.

But after walking two steps, he found that Cheng Qian was still looking in the direction of the boat. He didn't know what he was thinking about and didn't notice that he was angry at all. So Sect Master Yan deliberately stepped back and waited for a while. When Cheng Qian turned around with a heavy heart, he seized the opportunity, hummed loudly for Cheng Qian to hear, and then turned around and walked away under the puzzled gaze of his junior brother.

Cheng Qian looked around and found that there was no one else here, so he was just humming to himself.

He asked in confusion: "Big Brother, what's wrong with you?"

Yan Zhengming ignored him and just kept walking forward. Cheng Qian had no idea what was wrong with him and wanted to let him go wherever he wanted, but the head brother was very uncontrollable when he got angry. In order not to become a Taoist boy combing the hair of the head brother, Cheng Qian had to chase after him.

The two of them chased each other, even leaving their flying horses behind, and kept walking awkwardly all the way to their residence. In the end, Cheng Qian no longer cared what was wrong with his senior brother, he just followed helplessly.

Yan Zhengming slammed the door and locked him outside.

She was reading the Jingjing Sutra in the yard out of boredom and was not surprised by the puddle. Usually, when the eldest brother and the second brother were together, they would discuss things with each other and were more like normal adults. The fourth brother was not much better than her and seldom dared to disobey the eldest brother. Only the third brother always looked like "I didn't do anything" and made the eldest brother so angry that he lost all his composure.

The puddle hummed a little tune leisurely and sang: "Ah, what evil do you think that little villain has done——"

Cheng Qian walked over, touched her head, leaned over and drew a circle of talismans at her feet, and said gently: "After reciting the sutra thirty times, it will dissipate on its own. Be good and stop looking at it. Even the 'little enemy' can't save you."

Shuikeng felt as if he had brought disaster upon himself.

Cheng Qian strolled back to his room. As soon as he opened the door, the smile on his face froze. Cheng Qian suddenly turned around and scanned the courtyard, but there was no one else in the yard except a puddle where people were chanting sutras.

Cheng Qian paused, put one hand on the wooden sword at his waist, walked in cautiously and closed the door - someone had been in his room and left something behind.

That was a sword, not a wooden sword, but a real sword.

The brilliance is contained within, as if it has a soul.