“Dare to rob my pig?”

Ink Painting’s voice was clear and crisp, with a faint disdain.

The Broken Gold Sect senior brother knelt in front of him, feeling extremely humiliated. He had been hit by an array explosion, chopped by knives and axes, and poisoned. His body was covered in wounds. But after all, he was in the late stage of Foundation Building, with a strong foundation. Though his injuries were heavy, they were not fatal. Moreover, his bones were quite hard, and he still cursed, “A group of little beasts!”

Cheng Mo heard this and gave him a hard slap. The Broken Gold Sect senior brother’s mouth bled, and his gaze was resentful, but his mouth was still hard. He gritted his teeth and said, “Today the tiger is in Pingyang, fallen into the hands of you few little bastards. I admit defeat! But this account, I will definitely settle. You wait.”

Ink Painting raised an eyebrow. His bones were so hard? He asked in doubt, “Aren’t you afraid we’ll kill you?”

Teaching him a lesson was enough. Cheng Mo shook his head. If they really killed him, it would cause big trouble. It would be hard to explain to the Broken Gold Sect, Tai Xu Sect, Dao Court Division, and even their own Cheng family.

Ink Painting was somewhat speechless. “You’re treating this like playing house, still ‘despicable and shameless’? Such a big person, so childish. Cultivating the dao to become a dog body…”

The Dao Court Division would not stand by idly either.

“Kneeling is nothing, but also to be stripped naked, hung on a tree, and painted with a turtle…” Ink Painting curled his lip, his face full of disdain.

“Little brat, I’ll give you one piece of advice: you’d best not offend my Broken Gold Sect. You simply don’t know the power of my Broken Gold Sect!” The Broken Gold Sect senior brother’s chest felt stuffy, his face twitched, then he still looked arrogant and let out a gloomy cold laugh. He himself indeed couldn’t kill him.

The Broken Gold Sect senior brother was startled, and his face immediately changed greatly.

Ink Painting silently pondered. Although there were many demon beasts in Refine Demon Mountain and the environment was dangerous, it wasn’t a lawless place.

“Furthermore, if we’re talking about being despicable, we’re not as bad as your Broken Gold Sect…”

“Did you just eat and grow taller, not grow a brain?”

The Broken Gold Sect senior brother’s eyes were red. “You are despicable and shameless, launching a sneak attack. Otherwise, my Broken wouldn’t have…”

Cheng Mo was not polite. He immediately acted, stripping off the Broken Gold Sect senior brother’s dao robe, using the spirit-binding rope spirit tool to tie him up, and preparing to hang him on a tree.

Ink Painting asked, “Do you want to kill him?” Although he was reckless, he wasn’t stupid.

Ink Painting kindly said, “Then be careful next time. If you’re still so useless and fall into our hands again, I’ll make you kneel a hundred times, and then paint a hundred turtles on your body.”

Ink Painting sighed. “I admit, I somewhat overestimated the disciples of your Broken Gold Sect.”

“Relying on numbers, shamelessly robbing demon beasts from junior disciples.”

Ink Painting raised an eyebrow and decided to show him with action whether he dared or not.

Ink Painting was slightly startled, figuring things out in his heart. If it were a criminal cultivator, evil cultivator, or demon cultivator, it would be fine. But this person was from the Broken Gold Sect, a disciple of one of the twelve flow sects within the Qian Xue State boundary. He hadn’t committed any major mistakes explicitly forbidden by the dao laws. If they really killed him, the Broken Gold Sect would definitely make a fuss.

“Tie him up, hang him, paint a turtle.” Seeing the situation, the Broken Gold Sect senior brother was even more certain that Ink Painting wouldn’t kill him, and his expression became even more fearless.

Ink Painting nodded and said, “Strip him naked, hang him on a tree, and then paint a turtle bastard on his body.”

“Good!”

“Robbing is one thing, but also being counter-robbed. Being counter-robbed is one thing, but still not being able to win. Now he’s even been beaten to his knees…”

“I wasted preparing so many methods. The result is that you are not even as good as that pig I killed before…”

The Broken Gold Sect senior brother was furious to the extreme, but powerless to resist. He could only let the tall Cheng Mo act arbitrarily, feeling shame and anger mixed together. He resentfully said, “I will not let you go!”

The Broken Gold Sect senior brother’s anger immediately rushed to his heart, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

What spirit did a person kneeling on the ground have?

“If the Broken Gold Sect is really powerful, you wouldn’t be kneeling in front of me now.” Cheng Mo couldn’t stand his arrogant manner and said, “Little senior brother, are we really not killing him?”

He was just asking. Such humiliation was more excessive than killing him!

“Little bastard, how dare you?!” the Broken Gold Sect senior brother said angrily. “This humiliation, I must return it a hundredfold!”

Indeed…

Moreover, this was still in Refine Demon Mountain.

Hao Xuan reminded, “Say no more, little senior brother. If you say more, he’ll be angered to death.”

Don’t let knives, guns, and axes not kill him, but your few words anger him to death. If the Dao Court Division investigates, we won’t be able to explain ourselves.

“Oh.”

Ink Painting looked at the Broken Gold Sect senior brother, who was hung on a tree, pale-faced, with a stuffy chest and short of breath, only inhaling but not exhaling, and then stopped talking.

But Ink Painting still kept his word, dipping a brush in spirit ink and painting a turtle on his chest. This turtle was painted very lifelike. Ink Painting was very satisfied.

The Broken Gold Sect senior brother’s eyes rolled back, and he directly fainted from anger.

“Dead?” Si Tu Jian asked.

Ink Painting sensed his breath and said, “Fortunately, not dead.”

“Not dead is good.”

“Pack up, we can withdraw.”

“Good!”

Then the few people swept through like a whirlwind, starting to search the storage bags. But halfway through the search, they suddenly realized a problem: “We can’t take the storage bags?”

“Seems so…” Si Tu Jian pondered, “Beating disciples of the Broken Gold Sect is petty on their part, and it will create a grudge, but it’s nothing. But if we take their storage bags, that’s plundering cultivators, which doesn’t sound good. Moreover, what if there’s the Broken Gold Sect’s inheritance inside their storage bags, like the Broken Gold Sword Art? If we take their storage bags, we’ll definitely be blamed by the Broken Gold Sect… By then, if the Broken Gold Sect is shameless and claims we robbed their sect’s sword art, that will be difficult to handle…”

The few people discussed.

“Right, right!” Guilty Ink Painting continuously nodded. Because he had indeed robbed the Broken Gold Sect’s sect sword art. That Broken Gold Sword Art’s jade slip was now lying in his ring… He couldn’t let the “petty sect” know.

Ink Painting said, “We are proper people, we don’t do things like robbing houses. We only take back what we should take.”

“People don’t offend me, I don’t offend people.”

“If people offend me, then strip their clothes, hang them on a tree, and paint a turtle!”

Cheng Mo and the others all nodded. “Little senior brother is right!”

After the few people collected all the pig-headed demon’s materials into their bags, they returned the Broken Gold Sect disciples’ storage bags to their original owners.

Having packed properly, while the night was not yet deep, Ink Painting and the others left Refine Demon Mountain. As for what happened afterward, whether the Broken Gold Sect disciples would be eaten by demon beasts, Ink Painting didn’t care. Anyway, he didn’t kill them, and being eaten by demon beasts was their own fault. But Ink Painting was kind-hearted after all. Before leaving, he gave each of them a healing pill to prevent them from truly dying.

After Ink Painting left, after a while, the medicine’s power spread, the Broken Gold Sect disciples’ injuries improved, and they gradually woke up. Then they saw their always admired, “wise and mighty” senior brother, stripped naked and hung on a tree, with a turtle painted on his chest, looking exactly like a clown.

All the disciples were stunned.

“Senior brother, you…”

The Broken Gold Sect senior brother also woke up and said angrily, “Hurry and put me down!”

The crowd of disciples immediately rushed to put the senior brother down.

“Senior brother, who did it?”

“Senior brother, my head was dizzy and my eyes were black, I just fainted, I didn’t see anything…”

“I just felt the shadows were heavy. Was it being surrounded by many people?”

Someone said with a grave expression, “Even Senior Brother Gold is no match and suffered such humiliation. The opposing side must have more than one cultivator in the late stage of Foundation Building…”

“Senior Brother Gold…”

“All of you mothers shut up!” the Broken Gold Sect senior brother surnamed Gold said angrily. These disciples’ words were like knives stabbing into his chest, one by one. He only felt more humiliated and hateful, and the qi in his chest felt stuffy endlessly. He couldn’t stop himself from spitting out another mouthful of blood.

The night was already deep, and the mountain forest was bleak, with occasional roars from demon beasts. The atmosphere between the mountains also became more and more dangerous.

“Let’s go back and report first. This account must be settled!” The Broken Gold Sect senior brother’s eyes were full of malice. The other disciples also didn’t dare to speak, supporting each other and heading down the mountain.

After they all left, on the dark mountain slope, Xun Zi You slowly walked out of the shadows, slowly letting out a breath. He didn’t need to act. A Broken Gold Sect senior brother in the late stage of Foundation Building, bringing seven disciples in the middle stage of Foundation Building, were dealt with just like this. Although the methods were a bit vicious, they were still within limits and didn’t actually kill. But where did this child learn these methods? He clearly looked fair and clean, well-behaved, yet when he did things, he was sneaky and bad, full of bad ideas…

Xun Zi You shook his head, then thought in his heart: “But this is also good. He’s not a character to be bullied. If he really suffers bullying, he doesn’t need the sect elders’ help, he can get revenge himself…”

This was rare. Doing things with a square inside and a round outside, having principles and ‘not choosing means’, speaking of rules and not being bound… Xun Zi You suddenly felt melancholic in his heart, lost in thought. “Senior Brother Xuan in that year, with exceptional talent and upright temperament, but perhaps just because he was too upright, he was overly rigid and easy to break…”

“If he hadn’t been so upright, perhaps it would have been just fine…”

Ink Painting and the group returned to the sect just like this. The next day, Ink Painting acted as if nothing had happened, cultivating and attending class as usual. Xun Zi You secretly and silently glanced at Ink Painting, seeing his expression as usual, as if nothing had happened last night… He didn’t kill a second-grade middle-stage pig demon. He wasn’t robbed by the Broken Gold Sect. Moreover, he didn’t counter-rob the Broken Gold Sect, beating their senior brother in the late stage of Foundation Building to heavy injury, stripping his clothes, hanging him on a tree, and painting a turtle…

Xun Zi You was somewhat helpless. This child had too much on his mind. Last night, if he had really killed those few Broken Gold Sect disciples, he could still come to class today without changing his expression. Having such composure, he must be someone who does great things. It’s just that he doesn’t know whether the great things he does are good things or bad things, considering the right and wrong.

Xun Zi You shook his head. He turned and left, heading directly towards the elders’ residence to visit Old Mister Xun. These sightings, he always had to report. But upon arriving at the elders’ residence, Xun Zi You unexpectedly discovered Old Mister Xun standing in place, holding a jade slip in his hand. He seemed to have discovered something shocking. Old Mister Xun’s expression trembled, and his hand was even shaking.

Xun Zi You rarely saw his old ancestor with this expression. His old ancestor had lived a long life, and his temperament was also strict. He rarely showed joy or anger on his face, and rarely was his entire face filled with shock like now. Something big must have happened… Xun Zi You didn’t dare to go in, fearing he would bring bad luck to the old ancestor. He stood at the door like a wooden stake.

And in the room, Old Mister Xun gripped the jade slip, his heart in turmoil. The disciples sent to investigate Ink Painting’s experiences had returned today and had just presented the jade slip. Inside the jade slip, every word and sentence was shocking: Tong Xian City, Ink Painting. It was rumored that once in the Qi Refining stage, he built a first-grade five elements demon-slaying great array, suppressing and killing the great demon Feng Xi, and saving the cultivators of one city. After this great array collapsed, he perished with the great demon Feng Xi. And according to market rumors, at the time the great array collapsed, the nine heavens were in upheaval, and the heaven dao tribulation thunder descended on his body, circling above his head three times and returning without injuring him at all… He had a master of unknown origin. He once went out to travel and returned at the Foundation Building stage. Now he was alone seeking learning in Qian State. All kinds of achievements were engraved on the demon suppressing stele, and cultivators within a hundred li all praised his name…

Old Mister Xun took a deep breath. In the Qi Refining realm, he set up a great array, killed a great demon, and avoided tribulation thunder! These things were like heavenly tales, sounding like immortal anecdotes fabricated by storytellers, like legends of cultivators, simply unbelievable. They simply didn’t know what level of array a great array was, and even less what it meant to build a great array during the Qi Refining period. And a great demon… That was a terrifying dao evil born from the great dao’s evil transformation, capable of dominating a state alone. Tribulation thunder descending on the body without injury was even more absurd. The origin of tribulation thunder was from the heaven dao, containing the power to erase all rules. Within the rules, gods and ghosts are killed, and dao evil is also killed, not to mention a mere small cultivator in the Qi Refining period. These words, in the eyes of powerful cultivators who truly have experience in cultivation and understand the profoundness of the great dao, seemed very absurd.

However, the protagonist of these things… was Ink Painting. Old Mister Xun’s heart trembled at the bottom. He knew that this child Ink Painting’s divine sense was super grade. With super grade divine sense, theoretically speaking, it was possible in the Qi Refining realm to rely on powerful divine sense to learn and build a great array… Being able to build a great array, then he could confront a great demon. The great array collapsing and perishing with the great demon was also possible. And the heaven dao tribulation thunder erases everything within the rules. But super grade divine sense means being outside the rules. So… tribulation thunder descending on his body and being unharmed was also not impossible. Thinking like this, these absurd rumors… were actually reasonable? Old Mister Xun’s pupils slightly shook. He suddenly realized that from his lifelong cultivation cognition, he had deduced a kind of “fact” that obviously did not conform to his cultivation cognition but seemed reasonable? For a time, Old Mister Xun found it hard to believe. He looked at this jade slip again, word by word, sentence by sentence. Every time he looked at a word, his eyelids jumped.

Afterward, he noticed a line: “Has a master, origin unknown…” What kind of “master” could teach such a disciple? Old Mister Xun suddenly had a guess that made his scalp numb: This unknown origin, unknown identity, mysterious “master”, could it be…

A figure suddenly floated in his mind. One dressed in white, with an exceptionally handsome face, between his eyebrows, with three parts ease, three parts arrogance, three parts uninhibitedness, and one part natural, dao law natural immortal aura. A name deeply etched in his mind but almost never mentioned to people, emerged again: Zhuang Dao Ling!

Old Mister Xun took a cool breath, his heart slightly trembling at the bottom. Ink Painting… was that person’s disciple?! Old Mister Xun only felt cold sweat seeping from his back. He had not been without such a guess before. Not long after Ink Painting entered the sect, he had a vague feeling. Although the appearances of the two people were obviously different, and their temperaments were also vastly different, one was arrogant and extraordinary, the other was clear and lovely, obviously not the same. But that kind of transparent comprehension, understanding of the essence of arrays, and affinity with the great dao, were almost as if from the same source. A loose cultivator from a small immortal city, without guidance, would absolutely not have this natural temperament of heaven and man as one.

But… how was this possible? Old Mister Xun frowned. That person’s vision was unusually high, and his disciples were all of exceptional talent. How could he accept this middle to lower grade spirit root small cultivator as a disciple? Moreover, after this period of contact, Old Mister Xun could affirm that this child did not know the Immortal Heaven Array Flow. This didn’t make sense… As for the understanding of arrays, and the comprehension of the “dao”, this child had learned very well. These were absolutely not ordinary guidance. To spend effort teaching these things proved that that person wanted to impart all his skills to this child. But why, the most important Immortal Heaven Array Flow, was not taught at all? Without learning the Immortal Heaven Array Flow, he would not enter the Immortal Heaven Array Dao. How could he be considered to have received the true Immortal Heaven inheritance? Had the time not yet come… Old Mister Xun’s pale eyebrows wrinkled, then he deeply sighed. No matter what, if Ink Painting was truly that person’s disciple, this might be a tremendous karma…

Old Mister Xun’s heart was heavy for a time, even feeling slightly palpitations. Until he came back to his senses, he was slightly startled to discover a “wooden stake” standing at the door.

“Come in.” Old Mister Xun composed his expression and said indifferently.

Xun Zi You outside the door, seeing the old ancestor’s state calm down, and the oppressive aura around also gone, then slowly relaxed his breath, respectfully stepped forward, and walked into the room. The dao boy came up to offer tea. Xun Zi You drank a mouthful of tea with some restraint, then opened his mouth and said in a low voice, “Old ancestor, you…” He wanted to ask what had happened that had caused such a violent change in the old ancestor’s heart… But when the words reached his mouth, he sensibly swallowed them back. Disaster comes from the mouth, speaking less makes fewer mistakes.

Old Mister Xun was somewhat displeased. “If you have something to say, say it. You are all elders, yet you are still hesitant…”

Xun Zi You felt bitter in his heart, then said in a low voice, “It’s about Ink Painting…” Who knew that these two words would come out, and Old Mister Xun’s expression suddenly changed, and the powerful aura of the Cave Void realm, which had not been completely revealed, returned. Xun Zi You’s heart trembled at the bottom, and he hurriedly said, “Old ancestor…”

Old Mister Xun was slightly startled, then restrained his aura and calmly asked, “How is Ink Painting?”

Xun Zi You sighed. “Nothing, it’s just that matter you told me to look after. This child’s methods are a bit… unusual?”

Old Mister Xun slightly frowned. Xun Zi You then told him everything he saw inside Refine Demon Mountain.

“The arrays are painted extremely well, and among his fellow disciples, he has prestige…”

“Last night, he brought four of his fellow disciples to kill a second-grade middle-rank pig demon. The array he used seemed to be a kind of special array that ‘amplifies spiritual power’. I have never seen it…”

“Later, there was a conflict with the disciples of the Broken Gold Sect.”

“Broken Gold Sect, a total of eight people, including one in the late stage of Foundation Building, were fundamentally no match.”

“And the method he used to set up the array was also somewhat inconceivable, seeming to use thought as a brush and the ground as a medium…”

Old Mister Xun was startled. An array that amplifies spiritual power, setting up an array by painting on the ground… These inconceivable methods were very much like that person’s handwriting. Thus, Old Mister Xun could almost confirm now that this child Ink Painting must be a personal disciple of Zhuang Dao Ling! Old Mister Xun was somewhat dazed for a time, still finding it hard to believe in his heart, and at the same time, he had deep doubts. Why would that person’s personal disciple fall into my Tai Xu Sect? Why not Qian Dao Sect?

Xun Zi You didn’t know Old Mister Xun’s thoughts and asked his doubts from the side: “These arrays, and the method of setting up arrays, I have never seen. Could it be… that you taught him, Old ancestor?”

Old Mister Xun frowned, just about to deny, when his thoughts suddenly turned. Old Mister Xun’s gaze moved, looking at Xun Zi You for a glance, and said meaningfully, “This matter, don’t mention it to anyone.” He didn’t say yes, nor did he say no. But Xun Zi You understood, or rather, thought he understood. These array methods were indeed taught privately by the old ancestor. This kind of matter indeed couldn’t be known by others, to prevent people from feeling that the old ancestor was showing favoritism. Although everyone knew the old ancestor was showing favoritism.

Xun Zi You nodded. “Old ancestor, rest assured, I will absolutely keep my mouth shut!”

Old Mister Xun slightly nodded.

“Just…” Xun Zi You was still a little doubtful. “These things, can you do them yourself, Old ancestor?” Whether it was the array that amplified spiritual power, or the method of setting up an array with divine sense, he had never seen the old ancestor use them. If the old ancestor couldn’t do them, how could he teach them?

Old Mister Xun silently glanced at Xun Zi You. Xun Zi You’s heart tightened, and he immediately flattered, “Old ancestor’s knowledge is profound, there is nothing you are not refined in. It is I who have shallow knowledge…”

Old Mister Xun heard this and remained expressionless. Xun Zi You was looked at by Old Mister Xun and for a time felt like sitting on pins and needles. He didn’t know how long passed before Old Mister Xun waved his hand. “Go busy yourself with your own matters.”

Xun Zi You felt as if he had received a great amnesty and immediately said, “Then I will not disturb Old ancestor. Junior bids farewell.” After finishing, Xun Zi You didn’t want to stay for a moment and immediately got up and left.

Inside the elders’ residence, only Old Mister Xun sat alone. Old Mister Xun was still pondering, his expression changing several times. If it really involved that person, then the heavenly secrets within were simply profound and immeasurable. The water was too deep, and the karma involved was also too great… Old Mister Xun frowned, then was startled, his gaze gradually becoming profound.

Or, there was another possibility: This “opportunity” was too terrifying…

(The chapter ends)