Master, it seems a bit...

Tianyan Sect.

The sweeping wind settled, and the cup of tea was still warm.

"Is it winter again?"

Chu Xingchen reached out to gently catch a falling snowflake, asking softly.

Li Yingling, who was playing with a spirit fruit, heard this and teased,

"Master, it doesn't snow in summer."

Chu Xingchen looked down at the snowflake that had already melted into water in his palm, and replied decisively,

"Just like how the pills your master refines wouldn't appear in your mouth for no reason, right, my caring little padded jacket?"

Hearing this, Li Yingling immediately reached out to hook her arm around Xie Lingyu beside her, complaining in an aggrieved tone,

"Mistress, look at Master! Who force-feeds their disciple pills?"

Xie Lingyu smiled and said in a peaceful tone,

"Your master is just teasing you."

Li Yingling smiled and nodded, but she shot a provocative look at her master. She had someone backing her up now, so he could forget about threatening her with pills!

Feeling quite helpless, Chu Xingchen picked up his teacup and took a sip.

This eldest disciple actually dared to claim she was a caring little padded jacket; looking at her now, she wasn't even fit to be a torn sock.

"Lord Qinghe is here!"

Outside the courtyard, Qinghe's voice drifted over from afar. Everyone looked over, and after a moment, they saw Qinghe jogging in.

With a face full of smiles, Qinghe acted completely at home. Without even a greeting, it quickly walked over, reached out for a spirit fruit on the table, and took a bite.

Chewing the spirit fruit, Qinghe mumbled somewhat indistinctly,

"You guys still have it the best. You get to eat whatever you want all day long."

Chu Xingchen raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"I am a patient, so I have to eat nourishing things. Naturally, I can't just eat whatever I want."

Hearing this, Qinghe nodded in strong agreement, then its eyes lit up as it said,

"So, Qinghe has a little proposal."

Xie Lingyu didn't even have to think. Upon hearing this, she naturally knew that whatever Qinghe was about to say wouldn't be anything sensible. She was just about to raise her hand to interrupt Qinghe's foolish buildup.

However, Chu Xingchen naturally took the bait,

"What proposal?"

Faced with the straight hook Chu Xingchen offered, Qinghe bit without hesitation,

"Qinghe is afraid of pain, and if I got hurt, what I'd get to eat definitely wouldn't be as good as yours. So let's cooperate. You get hurt, and Qinghe will eat on your behalf."

"In your words, this is called a win-win!"

Chu Xingchen didn't retort. Instead, with a smile on his lips, he nodded gently, looking at Qinghe with an amused gaze, as if preparing to watch a good show.

But Qinghe's expression remained relaxed. Before coming to this loving family's peak, it had already confirmed that Grandma Bai was busy today and couldn't come.

As the flood dragon of Zhuji Peak, looking across the entire Tianyan Sect inside and out, as long as Lingyu didn't get serious, it truly didn't know who else could discipline it.

Did Chu Xingchen really think it was still the same Qinghe of the past?

Qinghe munched on the spirit fruit, happily meeting Chu Xingchen's gaze.

"That is not called a win-win. That is called wasting the Tianyan Sect's resources."

Lu Xuan's deep voice came from behind Qinghe.

Hearing this, Qinghe froze. It timidly turned its gaze, only to see Lu Xuan staring fixedly at it.

Yanyun stood beside Lu Xuan. Sitting on her shoulder was San Dong, tightly gripping the clothes on her shoulder, still wearing a rather angry expression.

Qinghe was quite dumbfounded; it was still somewhat terrified of the Sect Master.

After all, this old man had enough prestige within the Tianyan Sect. In the past, when Qinghe first entered the Tianyan Sect and acted truly arrogantly, she was also disciplined by Lu Xuan—wandering aimlessly within the Tianyan Divine Art for nearly a hundred years, suffering quite a bit.

Even now, she still felt a lingering fear.

Only when Grandma Bai was present did Qinghe dare to act presumptuously in front of Lu Xuan.

Seeing San Dong's somewhat huffy expression, Chu Xingchen slightly raised his hand, using his spiritual energy to bring it over from Yanyun's shoulder. He picked up a fresh teacup from the side, poured a cup of tea for San Dong first, and gently rubbed San Dong's head.

Only then did he raise his own teacup and ask with a smile,

"Sect Master Lu is a rare visitor. How do you have the free time to come drink tea with me today?"

Lu Xuan ignored Qinghe's delusions. If Chu Xingchen was still injured, then there would probably be a terrible disaster impending.

He shook his head rather helplessly and said, "I hadn't planned on coming, but while passing by, I found that San Dong had somehow ended up outside another peak. After asking around, I brought it over on my way."

Hearing this, Chu Xingchen cast a strange look at San Dong, who was gulping down tea.

"What happened?"

San Dong took a big gulp of tea, looking a bit aggrieved, but slightly shook its head, indicating that it was nothing.

Xie Lingyu's gaze naturally turned to Qinghe at the side, her expression questioning.

"Wow! Why are you looking at Qinghe? Do you think Qinghe did it?" Qinghe looked as if she was about to jump straight up. "Is Qinghe the kind of flood dragon who would bully the weak?"

Seeing Qinghe's dramatic reaction, Xie Lingyu knew that this matter most likely had nothing to do with Qinghe.

Naturally, this had nothing to do with Qinghe claiming she wouldn't bully the weak; after all, bullying the weak was definitely one of the things Qinghe enjoyed doing.

It was just that when Qinghe was in the wrong, she would only feel guilty and wouldn't act this tough.

Chu Xingchen didn't continue to press the issue. Instead, he refilled San Dong's tea, then picked up a piece of fruit and tossed it to Qinghe.

With food in hand, Qinghe dropped her dissatisfied expression and opened her mouth to gnaw on the fruit.

"Then I must thank you," Chu Xingchen said with a light chuckle. "There shouldn't have been any major events lately, right?"

Lu Xuan shook his head slightly. "There haven't been any major events lately, but how are your injuries?"

Chu Xingchen replied, "They've healed quite a bit, and the impact is far smaller than initially expected."

By now, Chu Xingchen's cultivation base had already climbed from the Nascent Soul Realm to the Soul Formation Realm.

Much of his lost True Essence had also been replenished.

After some more time, or perhaps when Li Yingling and Li Xingtian broke through the Nascent Soul Realm and reached the Soul Formation Realm, his lost True Essence would largely be fully restored.

The advancement of his cultivation was also faster than expected. After all, with the feedback from the arduous cultivation of so many geniuses, his losses were indeed far smaller than Chu Xingchen had anticipated.

"That is good, though there is indeed some news related to you that I need to pass on." Lu Xuan nodded slightly, then continued, "I've received word that Chen Baiqing and Cui Hao are already on their way back, and the matter at Yunmeng Marsh has settled."

"Zheng Zhaoling was most likely coaxed into going by you."

"There is some unconfirmed news blocked by the Yunmeng Pavilion claiming that there is a Tengshe in Yunmeng Marsh."

"They say it's unclear, but rumors and hearsay in this world always have some inexplicable underlying causes."

"You'd better be prepared for Zheng Zhaoling to come to the Tianyan Sect to demand an explanation from you."

Hearing this, Chu Xingchen gave a slight nod:

"Thank you for the reminder, Sect Leader, but this matter is easy to handle. Later, I'll have Xu Jin come over and kowtow to Zheng Zhaoling to apologize. They are both heaven-chosen geniuses. Once he kneels down and admits his mistake, I imagine Zheng Zhaoling will have no choice but to forgive him."

Hearing this, Lu Xuan laughed out of exasperation.

"You can't just bully Xu Jin because he's an honest guy. You have to treat honest people like actual human beings!"

"What are you saying? How could I not treat my own brother like a human being?"

Hearing this, San Dong looked up at his Sect Leader. With a somewhat conflicted expression, he finally spoke up.

"Sect Leader, doing that really does seem a bit inhumane."

As soon as he said this, everyone else, except for San Dong and Chu Xingchen, burst into laughter.

Even Yan Yun was laughing so hard that tears almost came to her eyes.