Cui Hao, Who Never Tolerates Losses, Decides Not to Suffer Losses

Central Continent, Yunmeng Pavilion.

Compared to other immortal sects that liked to suspend vast palaces high in the heavens—just like the novels Li Yingling read—the architecture of Yunmeng Pavilion was quite unique.

Built against the mountains and beside the waters, they rarely leveled the cliffs and peaks just to construct buildings.

The mountain peaks were mostly continuous. The Xiaoxiang waters cascaded down, carrying a shimmering spiritual light that rippled beautifully.

Spiritual beasts darted about, and flying spirits chirped softly.

The mountain forests concealed the paths, connected directly by immortal bridges.

Zheng Zhaoling sat in meditation on a futon at the summit of the Serene Heart Peak. The vast, sweeping winds fluttered her black-and-white robes, making them snap in the air.

Time had flown by. Since her last meeting with Cui Hao of the Heavenly Derivation Sect, her cultivation base had already climbed to the Integration Realm.

Fifty years or so had passed. This speed could not actually be considered fast for a core disciple nurtured with the full effort of the Eighteen Immortal Sects. Fortunately, Zheng Zhaoling had built an exceptionally solid foundation.

This was naturally acceptable to Yunmeng Pavilion. After all, a core disciple was not a mere century-long investment, but the core foundation meant to stabilize Yunmeng Pavilion for a millennium.

Regarding the incident at the Yunmeng Marsh in the Northern Kuru Continent last time, Zheng Zhaoling had ultimately been implicated.

After all, the true body of the Soaring Serpent had been revealed. No matter how much they tried to cover up the news, they could not hide it from those who intentionally sought it out.

Yunmeng Pavilion had to exert even greater effort to fulfill their agreement and maintain the Yunmeng Marsh. At the same time, the drastically changed situation in the marsh required the Pavilion to make continuous adjustments.

Although they had pacified Chu Xingchen's questioning.

Ultimately, the final result was something Yunmeng Pavilion could hardly bear.

Even though Zheng Zhaoling was considered a core disciple, she was still grounded on the Peak of Silent Reflection for twenty years.

Twenty years might not be long for a cultivator, but for Zheng Zhaoling, who had just secured her status as a core disciple, it was not something easily glossed over.

The former losers naturally wanted to use this opportunity to see if they could make Yunmeng Pavilion choose a new core disciple.

However, Yunmeng Pavilion naturally had its own resolve.

When the twenty-year grounding ended, Zheng Zhaoling's status as a core disciple had remained entirely unshaken by the higher-ups of Yunmeng Pavilion from beginning to end.

They only made additional adjustments to the direction of her experiential learning.

Rather than honing her own skills, she was given more opportunities to temper her state of mind.

Zheng Zhaoling naturally had no complaints about this. Having witnessed much joy and sorrow, parting and reunion, she suddenly grew fond of sitting quietly on the futon on the Peak of Silent Reflection during her occasional free time.

Silent reflection, silent observation, a serene heart.

Taking in half of Yunmeng Pavilion with a single glance.

Sitting quietly with her eyes gently closed, the aura around Zheng Zhaoling flowed slowly. Then, she slowly opened her eyes and heard the sound of someone bowing slightly and reporting from behind her.

"Senior Sister Zheng," a young man wearing the attire of a Yunmeng Pavilion personal disciple bowed slightly in greeting, then reported softly, "Chu Xingchen's personal disciple, Cui Hao, says he is here for his appointment with you."

"Cui Hao..." Zheng Zhaoling murmured softly.

The young man hesitated for a moment before asking, "Does Senior Sister Zheng not know him? That person indeed speaks frivolously and doesn't seem to have a word of truth in his mouth. If you do not wish to see him, this disciple will report back that Senior Sister is in secluded cultivation."

Zheng Zhaoling stood up. "There's no need. I do know him, and there is indeed an appointment. I will go see him personally. By the way, who is receiving him right now?"

The young man replied with a slightly helpless expression:

"Senior Brother Pei is receiving him at the Dream Fate Pavilion. For some reason, their conversation suddenly became a bit confrontational. It would be best for Senior Sister to be careful when you go."

He said "for some reason," but the actual situation was that Pei Liang had admired Zheng Zhaoling for quite some time. However, once Zheng Zhaoling understood this Senior Brother Pei's intentions, she didn't even give him a polite smile anymore.

When they absolutely had to meet and she couldn't avoid it, she only responded with a strictly business-like attitude.

As the current core disciple of Yunmeng Pavilion, even if Pei Liang really had some incredible background, as long as Zheng Zhaoling said no, Pei Liang wouldn't even have the ability to take a second look at her.

It was just that Pei Liang was the biological son of Zheng Zhaoling's former Peak Master. He had also inherited impressive talent and had become a personal disciple of the main peak through his own strength.

Furthermore, the Peak Master had treated her extremely well back then. He had scolded Pei Liang to mind himself and had not treated her any differently because of Pei Liang's matters. He had even apologized repeatedly. Such kindness made it truly difficult for Zheng Zhaoling to completely tear up all face with them.

Since they saw each other all the time, Zheng Zhaoling could only give him the cold shoulder after explicitly rejecting him.

This so-called confrontation was presumably because Pei Liang felt triggered by Cui Hao's claim of "having an appointment."

His immortal path was not yet clear, yet he wanted to walk into the endless path of romance.

Truly foolish.

Zheng Zhaoling nodded slightly. "Thank you, Junior Brother. Please report back to my Master on my behalf."

"Understood," the young disciple bowed again.

Zheng Zhaoling took a step forward, her original figure turning into a wisp of an afterimage, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

A streak of faint ink swirled, like a stroke of azure blue landing on the painting that was Yunmeng Pavilion.

Her figure landed in a mere two breaths of time.

Before Zheng Zhaoling could even step forward, she heard a mocking conversation from inside.

"Fellow Daoist Cui, your cultivation is utterly mediocre, yet your lips are quite sharp. I suppose this relies heavily on Martial Uncle Chu's world-shaking cultivation, doesn't it?"

"My Master's cultivation is naturally world-shaking. Not only is my Master's cultivation world-shaking, but my Martial Uncle Bai's cultivation is higher than the heavens. Let alone my sharp lips, even if my toes had something to say, wouldn't you have to hold them up and listen to what they had to say? After all, it seems your background isn't as solid as mine!"

"Cui Hao! Do you know where you are?!"

"I'm not like you; of course I know where I am."

"Since you know where you are, you still dare to spout such nonsense here!"

"Where did I spout nonsense? Could it be that your background is stronger than mine? How about I call Martial Uncle Bai over to clash with your background?"

"Only incompetent fools rely on their backgrounds."

"Only poor, low-intelligence folks would say such brainless, incompetent things. My Master and Martial Uncle Bai worked so hard precisely so that a junior like me could say whatever I want. Looking at your state, rather than working hard alone, it'd be more reliable to urge your background to cultivate properly..."

Cui Hao paused, his tone then turning surprised. "What are you standing up for?! Why are you glaring at me?! Are you really going to make a move?!"

Hearing this, Zheng Zhaoling could only raise her hand slightly, using spiritual energy to push open the tightly shut doors.

She saw Pei Liang glaring furiously, his eyes looking as if he wanted to beat Cui Hao to a pulp.

Cui Hao was sitting lazily in his chair, not a hint of panic on his face.

As the doors opened, their gazes naturally turned toward the entrance first.

Zheng Zhaoling stepped inside, her eyes first falling on Cui Hao as she spoke:

"Fellow Daoist Cui, it has been a long time. You are as charming as ever."

Seeing that the person he came for had arrived, Cui Hao put away his lazy expression, revealing a gentle smile. He cupped his hands toward Zheng Zhaoling and said:

"It has been a long time. Fellow Daoist Zheng's elegance far surpasses the past. Since we last parted, I have felt the absence of a close friend and missed you dearly."

Pei Liang's eyes widened, feeling that these words were somewhat grating to his ears. He turned to look at Zheng Zhaoling; given her temper, she would surely reprimand him for such words.

Zheng Zhaoling raised her eyes slightly:

"With such genuine feelings, I suppose Fellow Daoist Cui has brought Chunnuan along."

No matter how you looked at it, Pei Liang was still a disciple of the Cloud Dream Pavilion. Even if there was some friction, one could not suppress their own sect members within the Pavilion's territory.

These words were intended to make Cui Hao slightly embarrassed, a subtle hint meant to leave the matter at that.

But who could have expected his reaction?

Cui Hao simply raised his hand and retrieved a small jar of Spring Warmth from his spatial ring. With a beaming face, he said,

"As expected of Fellow Daoist Zheng, to think you even knew about this. You truly are the close friend I have recognized."

"However, compared to Spring Warmth, I would much rather savor the cup of Cloud Dream Tassel you promised me in the past."

"Fellow Daoist, did you bring your wine?"