Acknowledging the Lord

The first thing that caught the eye was a beautiful, ancient peach tree in full bloom.

Beside it stood a thatched hut, yet Yuan Qing felt the two did not clash at all; rather, they complemented each other with an indescribable charm.

By the edge of the hut was a stone tablet, on which were written three neat characters: “Lingxian Sect.”

Further behind, there was a place bearing a plaque that read “Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.”

Just as his gaze shifted to the hall, he heard Lin Xiao say to him:

“Come on, let’s first register at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall and pick up your disciple supplies.”

It was already afternoon, and in about an hour it would be dinner time. Liu Yunan had just finished his work for the day and was stretching in his seat when he saw Lin Xiao leading someone in.

He recognized this person.

Recently, whenever he went down the mountain and passed by the Heart-Questioning Path, he would always see him standing there as punishment.

Lin Xiao had already told everyone about Yuan Qing’s background, so seeing him now, Liu Yunan was not particularly surprised.

At that moment, Liao Pantu happened to emerge from the small world, descending from the floating island to look for Lin Xiao.

So Lin Xiao, who was about to say something, only managed to tell Liu Yunan:

“He’s all yours!”

Then he was pulled away by Liao Pantu.

This left Yuan Qing and Liu Yunan staring at each other.

It was Liu Yunan who first cleared his throat and spoke:

“Welcome, Daoist Yuan, to our sect. This is your sect uniform, and this is your basic cultivation supplies for the month.”

With that, he handed over a storage pouch.

There wasn’t much in it, just a set of sect uniforms, a few spirit stones, and several basic pills.

This was the standard issue of basic cultivation resources for ordinary disciples, which Lin Xiao had confirmed with them earlier.

From now on, everyone would follow this standard. If they wanted more, they could find work in the sect, and if all positions were filled, they could go to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall to take on tasks.

Currently, what Lingxian Sect lacked most was people to do work, so there was no worry about running out of tasks.

Though the supplies were scant, Yuan Qing had no complaints. Back in the Tianxuan Sect, if one had no status or rank, the treatment was hardly any better.

He followed Liu Yunan attentively as the hall master gave him a tour of the sect.

This was only because there were so few people now. Later, when more people joined, Liu Yunan could hire more underlings and wouldn’t have to handle new disciples himself.

As Liu Yunan introduced things, Yuan Qing took in the sect’s facilities one by one, and his astonishment grew rapidly.

Some things he had never even seen in the Tianxuan Sect.

His curiosity about this sect deepened with every step.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Liao Pantu pulled Lin Xiao under the ten-mile peach tree.

Lin Xiao had assumed it was about construction in the small world, but instead Liao Pantu said:

“Sect Master, are you truly not taking the Icefield Spirit?”

Hearing it was about that, Lin Xiao nodded with a smile:

“I don’t need it. Give it to Yigao.”

Liao Pantu nodded:

“That’s what I was thinking too. The sooner it bonds with a master, the sooner it can be nurtured. Keeping it like that is too wasteful.”

Earlier today, while fiddling with the flowers and plants in the small world, he had suddenly thought of Yuan Ruogu, the old ancestor of the Yuan family who had gone into qi deviation.

And then he immediately thought of the Icefield Spirit, which could prevent such an occurrence.

Although he was confident that his own disciple had a firm will and was unlikely to easily develop inner demons or fail to overcome them, since this thing existed and could be used, he naturally wanted to use it for him.

So Lin Xiao went to the sect’s storage room, retrieved the sealed Icefield Spirit, and gave it to Liao Pantu.

Once he had the Icefield Spirit, Liao Pantu rushed off eagerly to find his good disciple, Sun Yigao.

Curious about seeing a bonding with an Icefield Spirit, Lin Xiao followed along.

The two arrived outside the private school just as classes were letting out. They hid to one side, waiting until all the students had bid farewell to Master Sun and left, before walking into the school.

Sun Yigao, who was about to return to the mountain for dinner, was a little surprised to see them.

Liao Pantu did not waste words and directly took out the sealed box, handing it over gently:

“Yigao, this is an Icefield Spirit your master caught in a secret realm before. Hurry and bond it to yourself.”

Hearing this, Sun Yigao was a bit confused. But his master often did things like this so suddenly, and he had grown used to it. He glanced at Lin Xiao, who nodded at him.

So Sun Yigao took the box with both hands respectfully:

“Thank you, Master, for the gift.”

Seeing him agree, Liao Pantu was very pleased. He liked his disciple’s decisive nature, unlike some people who were always dragging their feet.

He immediately used his spiritual power to wrap the sealed box, locking down the area around them. Then he said to Sun Yigao:

“The Icefield Spirit is extremely fast. In a moment, when you open the box, it will try to forcefully break through my seal. You must immediately squeeze out a drop of heart blood and drop it onto its body, preferably on its forehead. Then use your spiritual sense to connect with it. That way, it will bond to you as its master.”

Lin Xiao, listening from the side, was a little surprised. It seemed the bonding process for the Icefield Spirit was not as complicated as he had imagined.

Sun Yigao nodded seriously, then solemnly opened the sealed box.

A flash of white light shot out instantly, but it was blocked by the surrounding seals and could not escape.

At that moment, Sun Yigao quickly forced out a drop of his heart blood and sent it to the spirit’s forehead. Then, he extended his spiritual sense and enveloped the Icefield Spirit.

A long while passed.

As the summer sky outside gradually darkened, Sun Yigao, who had been sitting with his eyes shut tightly, establishing a connection with the Icefield Spirit, finally opened his eyes.

“It’s done.”

By now, he could clearly feel his awareness of the Icefield Spirit.

The spirit, which had been coiled and ready to flee, relaxed completely at that moment. After Liao Pantu lifted the seals around them, it slipped onto Sun Yigao’s shoulder, clinging to his neck affectionately, its translucent, slender limbs winding around it like soft vines.

Tuantuan, who had been dozing on the table pretending to sleep, let out a disgruntled “meow” at the sight, then hopped onto Sun Yigao’s other shoulder and lay down.

Seeing the Icefield Spirit looking so content, Liao Pantu nodded happily and said:

“It’s very satisfied with you. Good. From now on, you must nurture it well, keep it by your side. Especially during cultivation, bring it along, so it can grow faster.”

With that, he pulled out another storage pouch and handed it to Sun Yigao, adding:

“My soul is not fully recovered yet, so I don’t have many good things on hand. Take these for now and feed it regularly, but don’t feed it too much at once. It needs time to digest.”

Looking at the pouch Liao Pantu offered, Sun Yigao gave a wry smile. But he knew his master meant well, and since he had already accepted the Icefield Spirit, he also had no idea how to feed the little thing, so he accepted it respectfully.

“Thank you, Master.”

There would be plenty of time ahead. He would cultivate diligently, and in the future, he could also join the search for his master’s soul fragments.