My Master is Afraid of Heights.

After the Grand Dao Convention ended, each of the peaks and veins went about arranging themselves. The three veins of Sword Peak, Qi Peak, and Master Peak had over a dozen new disciples plus the attending chief elders and elders from each vein, and they came and went noisily.

In fact, this was also Qin Ran's first time attending the Grand Dao Convention, and he didn't really know the process. At least he didn't understand whether they were supposed to leave directly or follow a procedure after the Sect Leader announced the end of the convention. So as he hesitated, the various peaks and veins either unleashed flying techniques, or flying magical artifacts, and swiftly left the Dao Questioning Grand Hall. In the blink of an eye, in the spacious grand hall, only he and his new little disciple behind him remained. Only then did he react - oh, they just leave directly.

He looked back at the little disciple. The new little disciple stood behind him expressionlessly, as if shrouded in an icy domain. This was also his first time, and he didn't know how to handle this kind of situation. He could only clear his throat, squeeze out what he felt was a friendly smile, and ask, "What's your name?"

Yes, it was only now that he asked for the other's name...and he felt a humble sense of wanting to ask a girl for her WeChat.

"Li Shiyin," Li Shiyin said coldly. She was completely disappointed with this master, with Dan Peak.

Why? Why could he be so shabby?! Forget about elders or senior brothers or anything, why didn't he even have a single servant?!

"Oh! Li Shiyin," Qin Ran nodded. Li Shiyin's appearance made him feel like he should say something, like emphasizing how powerful he actually was, or how freeing it was to have fewer people, at least to ease the atmosphere. But he really didn't know what to say. After hesitating a moment, he still said, "Let's go."

After speaking, he headed towards the grand hall exit.

"Go...go?!" Li Shiyin was unable to react. She was stunned. "We're walking?"

Looking out from the grand hall entrance, one could still see the new disciples of Sword Peak sitting happily on their cloud boats.

"This master..." she muttered under her breath, extremely reluctant as she followed along.

The Dao Sword Sect was a small sect, with very little land area. Compared to those major sects that had small worlds within the sect, the Dao Sword Sect with its five or six mountain peaks was truly the stinky little brother among stinky little brothers.

But for some cultivators who couldn't fly, traversing between these five or six mountain peaks was still enough to give them a headache.

Like a certain Dan Peak chief who refused to reveal his name.

The Dao Questioning Grand Hall where the Grand Dao Convention was held was at Master Peak, while Dan Peak's location was to the left of Master Peak. That meant if they were walking, they would first need to go down the left side of Master Peak, then climb up Dan Peak from the right side. Ah, it wasn't very far, just calculating the time to go down this side, about two hours or so.

In front of the grand hall was a huge square used for gatherings. Because the Grand Dao Convention was being held today, the square was empty of people.

When Li Shiyin came out from the grand hall, she looked up and saw her master's lonesome figure walking across the massive square. He was neither handsome nor tall, giving her neither aesthetic appreciation nor a sense of security. On this enormous square, that lonesome figure didn't seem like a lively, handsome immortal cultivator, only like a shabby, impoverished old Daoist.

In the short few moments after taking him as master, all of her romantic imagination about cultivating immortality was thoroughly shattered. At this time, she once again had the thought of asking for a refund: "Why not just slip away? My brother is right outside anyway."

"Come quickly," but just then, seemingly noticing she had fallen too far behind, her master turned back and urged her. His delicate face carried a smile, and his voice was also very gentle.

"At least he's a good person," she sighed to herself, and still followed along. This was probably the silver lining to her misfortune.

The cultivation levels of most inner sect disciples was quite low, so there were even more people who didn't know flying techniques. Thus, the paths within the sect made for walking were built very smoothly. Not like those huge sects where people were always zipping around flying; inside their sects were like primal jungles, where people even had to speak while floating in the air during normal times.

From the bottom of Master Peak to the top of Dan Peak, there were neat stone roads the entire way, making the walking not as uncomfortable...if the sun today wasn't so blistering hot.

Halfway down Master Peak, Li Shiyin really couldn't take the heat anymore. She looked at the steady, old dog-like figure walking ahead, and finally couldn't help asking, "Master, what is your cultivation level?"

"Foundation Establishment late stage. If all goes smoothly, I'll be able to form a dan within fifty," Qin Ran replied. He turned back to look at this pretty little disciple and saw her blushing red from the heat, her entire face drenched in sweat. Only then did he react that his disciple was a girl, an ordinary person whose physical endurance might not be that good, so he kindly asked, "Would you like to rest for a bit?"

"No need." Li Shiyin declined. She silently calculated in her heart - forming a dan within fifty, it seemed this master's aptitude was still decent, it was just that his cultivation was too low... No, she suddenly realized, fifty years old? Could he really be that young?

"Master, how old are you?" She couldn't help asking.

Qin Ran felt the disdain in his disciple's tone. His face flushed slightly and he cleared his throat. Turning his body away, he lowered his voice and answered, "This seat is only twenty-five years old!"

"Twenty-five?!!!" Li Shiyin was shocked. He really was that young?

A chief at twenty-five with such low cultivation. What about the rest of Dan Peak? Where were the others?

"Dan Peak?" she hesitantly asked. "There's no one else left?"

At these words, her master who had been walking steadily and answering every question suddenly stopped and fell silent for a while. He sighed, "Ever since my master failed his tribulation five years ago, I've been the only one left at Dan Peak."

He paused, then smiled and said, "Today there's you too."

"A single person managing an entire peak?" Li Shiyin despaired. This was probably the worst peak in the world, wasn't it? For a time, she felt the road ahead was dark.

"My condolences, Master!" She hurried to offer her sympathies, not knowing if it was to comfort the master or herself.

"It's nothing!" Qin Ran laughed and shook his head. "Although my master died under the lightning of the tribulation, you needn't worry. I've done a lot of research on the heavenly tribulation. You have good aptitude; in the future you can casually increase your cultivation. I guarantee I can get you through the tribulation easily."

"Oh!" Li Shiyin responded indifferently. She didn't believe him one bit.

After walking a while longer, she suddenly recalled the question she had wanted to ask initially, and hurriedly asked again, "Master, don't you know techniques for riding clouds?"

"Ah?" This question seemed to touch a sore spot for Qin Ran. He was clearly somewhat flustered, forcibly calming himself and answering, "Of course I do! How could I not..."

"Then why don't we ride a cloud back?" Li Shiyin coldly cut in.

"Ah, well..." Qin Ran didn't know how to bluff his way through...ah no, explain this. All kinds of strange words swirled in his mouth, saying things like "walking is good exercise for the body and mind", "zipping around damages our image", "the high altitude is too dangerous, what if we fall", and so on. In short, he evaded the question of "why don't we ride a cloud back?"

As Li Shiyin listened, intelligent as she was, she picked up on the key words "the high altitude is too dangerous, what if we fall?" She looked at the young master in front of her with a strange expression. As a cultivator, could he really be afraid of heights?

Her disciple's gaze made Qin Ran extremely uncomfortable. He lowered his head and repeatedly said, "Let's hurry, let's hurry. It's getting late, there are still things to do when we get back!"

Li Shiyin lifted her head to look at the sun still high in the sky, feeling this master was adorably strange for some reason... No, this master was a bit special.