When the Tianyan Sect Arrives, the Blue Sky Is Restored

"It is you! You stole the old man's money!"

The man's face instantly turned pale. He violently shook off Li Mei's hand and shrieked:

"You are talking nonsense! All coins look the same, what makes you say I stole them?!"

"Exactly! Immortal Official, you cannot wrong a good person!"

"We all threw money in, why is he the thief?"

The surrounding crowd also began to discuss, and the looks they gave Li Mei held a bit more doubt.

Seeing the crowd taking his side, the man suddenly felt emboldened. He put his hands on his hips and shouted:

"Can you just falsely accuse people by relying on the power of the Tianyan Sect? If you don't give a clear explanation today, I will go to Qingyun Mountain and sue you!"

Li Mei smiled faintly. Unhurriedly pointing at the bowl, she said:

"Everyone, please look."

The crowd craned their necks to look into the bowl.

They saw that around the copper coins the man had just thrown in, a faint, glittering layer of oil was slowly floating up, exceptionally conspicuous in the sunlight.

"The old man sells piglets. His hands and body are covered in lard. He clutched his money all morning, so naturally, it is covered in lard too."

Li Mei looked at the man, her gaze as sharp as a knife:

"Out of so many people present, only your coins could produce a layer of oil. What else do you have to say?"

The blood instantly drained from the man's face. His legs gave way, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

He abruptly turned around, trying to burrow into the crowd.

"Catch him!"

Before Li Mei even finished speaking, two named disciples behind her had already lunged forward. One on the left, one on the right, they firmly pinned his arms down.

A disciple reached into his robes and, sure enough, pulled out a crumpled cloth bundle. Inside were exactly sixty-three copper coins, coated in a layer of lard.

"The evidence is irrefutable. What else can you argue?"

The man lowered his head, unable to utter another word.

"Good! Excellent!"

Thunderous applause erupted from the crowd.

"The Immortal Official is amazing!"

"So that is how it is! Why didn't I think of that!"

"Thanks to the Immortal Official of the Tianyan Sect, otherwise the old man's money would truly never be found!"

The old man tremblingly took back his recovered money. He dropped to his knees before Li Mei with a thud and kowtowed three times loudly:

"Thank you, Immortal Official! Thank you, Immortal Official! You are truly the blue-sky magistrate of us common folk!"

A white-haired old scholar excitedly raised his walking stick and shouted with all his might:

"With the Tianyan Sect here, Xinglong Town has peace!"

"With the Tianyan Sect here, we have clear skies!"

"Blue-sky magistrate! Blue-sky magistrate!"

...

On Qingyun Mountain, beneath the Dao Enlightenment Tree.

Lin Yan leaned back in his recliner, holding a fishing rod, the bobber gently swaying on the water's surface.

[Ding! The attitude of the people of Xinglong Town towards the Tianyan Sect has turned to trust. Sect Points +50]

[Suppressing Cangwu: Current Recognition 5%]

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly. Lately, the system's notification sounds had barely stopped.

At this rate, the mission would be completed in less than a year.

By then, recruiting disciples would be much easier.

Perhaps any random person who came could climb twenty or thirty floors of the Heart-Questioning Pavilion.

The fishing rod twitched.

The bobber sank into the water.

Lin Yan lifted the rod, pulling a koi fish out of the water, its tail thrashing in the air.

He looked at it, then released the fish back into the pond.

The joy of fishing did not lie in the fish, but in the act of fishing itself.

Suddenly, Lin Yan stood up abruptly.

"To think someone actually reached the eightieth floor straight away!"

...

The perspective shifted to the foot of Qingyun Mountain, going back in time by the span of an incense stick.

A long queue stretched out before the Heart-Questioning Pavilion.

Among them, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl was particularly eye-catching.

Not only because of her outstanding appearance, but more importantly, because a major event had recently occurred in Qingyun City, and it was related to this girl.

The girl's name was Murong Yanran. She was the apple of the Murong family's eye and a famous genius girl in Qingyun City.

And this major event was that a few days ago, a genius youth named Xiao Chen had come to the Murong family and publicly annulled his engagement to Murong Yanran.

It was said that Murong Yanran and Xiao Chen were betrothed as children. But for some reason, three years ago, Murong Yanran went to the Xiao family to break off the engagement.

Then, it seemed they had made some sort of three-year pact.

Now that the three years were up, Xiao Chen came to their door. Not only did he defeat Murong Yanran, but he also fought the mid-Foundation Establishment Murong Family Head to a standstill!

He publicly announced that it wasn't the Murong family breaking off the engagement; it was he, Xiao Chen, who was casting out Murong Yanran!

Qingyun City exploded!

Not just because of this juicy gossip, but more importantly, Xiao Chen was only sixteen or seventeen, yet he was already at the great perfection of the Qi Refining realm!

He could even stand his ground against a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator!

This was definitely a rising star of the empire!

A sixteen or seventeen-year-old at the great perfection of Qi Refining was something even the Four Great Families probably couldn't cultivate!

For a time, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river" almost became the catchphrase of Qingyun City.

And the Murong family became the laughingstock of the city for missing out on such a genius son-in-law.

At this moment, Murong Yanran stood in line with her head bowed.

People around her were pointing and gossiping.

"Look, isn't that Murong Yanran? She still has the face to come challenge the Heart-Questioning Pavilion?"

"Tsk tsk, back then she was crying and shouting to break off the engagement, calling Xiao Chen a piece of trash. Now look, he returns after three years at the great perfection of Qi Refining, fights her mid-Foundation Establishment father without losing ground, and turns around to cast her out!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river!"

"A genius like Young Master Xiao, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old at the great perfection of Qi Refining, even the Four Great Families would fight over him!"

"The Murong family has really lost face this time. They rejected a perfect catch and insisted on making a fuss. Now they are the joke of the whole city."

"If I were her, I would have found a hole to crawl into long ago, let alone show my face in public."

...

Murong Yanran's nails dug deeply into her palms, completely oblivious to the blood seeping out.

The scene from three days ago kept replaying in her mind.

In the main hall of the Murong family, Xiao Chen stood dressed in white, his hands clasped behind his back, looking at her with ice-cold eyes: "Three years ago, you said I wasn't worthy of you. Today, I, Xiao Chen, announce here that it is not your Murong family breaking the engagement. It is I, Xiao Chen, who is casting you out!"

She didn't regret breaking off the engagement.

She was just unwilling to accept this.

Unwilling to have her dignity trampled on like this, unwilling to let everyone think that she could only live in Xiao Chen's shadow for the rest of her life.

The Tianyan Sect was her only hope.

As long as she could join the Tianyan Sect, as long as she could learn an Earth-grade cultivation method, she would one day personally win back her dignity.

"Next!"

It was finally her turn.

Murong Yanran took a deep breath, raised her head, accepted the token handed to her by the disciple, and stepped into the Heart-Questioning Pavilion.

The people outside the pavilion were still gossiping, no one paying her any mind.

For a disgraced young miss whose engagement was annulled, reaching the twentieth floor to become a menial disciple would already be a blessing.

But the next second, the numbers on the stone stele outside the Heart-Questioning Pavilion began to jump frantically.

One floor, two floors...

Ten floors, twenty floors...

In just a few breaths of time, it surged to the twentieth floor!

"Hey? Isn't this speed a bit too fast?"

"Since when was Murong Yanran this formidable?"

The crowd looked up at the stone stele in astonishment.

The numbers were still jumping.

Thirty levels, forty levels, fifty levels, sixty levels...

"My God! Sixty levels! Is she going to become an Outer Sect disciple?!"

The crowd instantly erupted into an uproar. Those who had just been mocking Murong Yanran were now completely dumbfounded, their jaws dropped so wide you could stuff an egg inside.

But it wasn't over yet.

Seventy levels!

Seventy-five levels!

Seventy-eight levels!

Seventy-nine levels!

Eighty levels!!!

When the number "eighty" glaringly appeared on the stone stele, the entire area in front of the Heart-Questioning Pavilion fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone froze in place, staring fixedly at the stele, thinking their eyes were playing tricks on them.

A full ten breaths of time passed before someone finally took a sharp gasp of cold air.

"Hiss—!!"

"Eighty levels!! It's really eighty levels!!"

"The first! The first person to reach the eightieth level!!"

"Such terrifying power!"