Chapter 1040 Master and Disciple Who Act Like Enemies
"If there are no surprises, I believe the First Disciple from the third-generation will be Fangge." Li Xingfei said.
She was talking about her Successive Disciple, Chen Fangge. Although he did not join the sect early, he possessed considerable influence. Among the third-generation disciples, he had some reputation.
With regards to this guy, Wang Lin knew him. He nodded his head, "He needs to be tested and polished more."
Li Xingfei nodded her head in acknowledgement, "Yes, I understand."
Wang Lin said, "During the next internal competition, if he displays an exceptional performance, give him the position of the First Disciple of the third generation disciples in the Forest Abode. You can then pass the Crimson Scarf Sword to him."
Chen Fangge was already in the Advanced Foundation Establishment Stage. After he became the First Disciple, the Crimson Scarf Sword would be handed over to him.
And when he formed the Aurous Core, the Rope Curse Stone would also be handed over to him. At the same, the magic items prepared as accessories to the First Disciple would also be given to him ahead of schedule.
Even though Li Xingfei had just obtained these magic items, she was about to pass them down soon. This was rather depressing too, but Li Xingfei did not seemed to be bothered by it. She was calm and so was Wang Lin.
Li Xingfei followed behind Wang Lin and did not break through void space. The both of them walked towards Mount Yujing through the rainbow bridge that connected the Forest Abode and the main mountain peak of Mount Yujing.
As they walked, a dim yellow path appeared beneath the feet of the Great Satanic Avatar. It was the Road to River Styx.
As Wang Lin walked one step, the path beneath his feet regained normalcy. But as Li Xingfei stepped forward, the path became the Road to River Styx again.
Li Xingfei remained calm, but she was trying to understand the way concept within. Although she followed Wang Lin the longest among all the disciples, she rarely encountered such situations. Thus, she had to grab hold of the opportunity to learn.
After the both of them ascended Mount Yujing, the Road to River Styx and Biliang Slope disappeared. The both of them then headed towards the Tripitaka Block.
As they walked, they met with a thin and tanned youth. This youth had the characteristics of a person who lived in a prairie. He was the disciple of Zhu Yi, Ying Luozha.
Behind Ying Luozha, there was another lady. She looked charming, but there was a hint of indifference in her expression as well as a sense of resilience to her.
This lady’s cultivation had reached the Beginner Aurous Core Stage.
Ying Luozha’s voice could be heard, "Within 7 days, go and gather one stalk of the Nine Revolutions Morning Butterfly Orchid, ten of the Tail-less Red Fishes and a hundred of the Duyuan Worm. If you don’t complete this, don’t bother returning."
That lady replied indifferently, "I don’t even need 7 days."
Li Xingfei heard it and sighed. If no one mentioned anything, no one would have known that they were a pair of Master and disciple.
They were like enemies. And as the Master, Ying Luozha always tried to make it difficult for his disciple. In the Celestial Sect of Wonders, they were one of the few with a strained relationship.
The Nine Revolutions Morning Butterfly Orchid was a spiritual herb in Mount Kunlun which was very rare. It also bloomed in areas that were more difficult to find.
Ying Luozha did not make it too difficult though. Right now, it was the flower blooming period. But for a Beginner Aurous Core Stage cultivator to find this flower in the huge mountains, it would take some effort.
Finding it would not be difficult. But doing it within 7 days was quite a task.
Especially since Ying Luozha’s task was not just about finding the orchid.
The Tail-less Red Fishes and Duyuan Worms were also not easy to find.
Finding one or two of them was easy, but finding ten and a hundred respectively provided some difficulty.
The most annoying thing was that they could be found in the Celestial Sect of Wonders. Ying Luozha did not have to appoint her to find them.
But the indifferent lady did not seem to object.
She was the Immediate Disciple of Ying Luozha and was called Meng Honglou. She joined the sect during the Third Sect-Opening Ceremony 7 years ago in the Greater World. After she passed the test of the Successive Disciple, she became a Successive Disciple of the Heavenly Temple. Her Master was Ying Luozha.
She did not become a second-generation Successive Disciple but a third-generation Successive Disciple. She once said that if she knew, she would have chosen Yang Qing’s Nirvana World.
That was because the strongest Successive Disciple in the second generation came from there. He was Zhou Yuncong.
This was just her personal complaint that she muttered to herself. That time, Ying Luozha was in the Advanced Foundation Establishment Stage and was about to form the Aurous Core, but she had no cultivation to herself. Thus, even if she muttered to herself, Ying Luozha could hear her.
After Ying Luozha heard her, he was not enraged, but called her out to interrogate her.
Meng Honglou was silent for a moment and said to Ying Luozha directly that she would like the strongest person to be her Master.
After Ying Luozha heard her, he did not turn angry but laughed instead, "A disciple can choose her Master, but the Master can also choose the disciple. Since you are not the most outstanding, why do you need a Master who is the most outstanding?"
"I want to be the most outstanding." Meng Honglou answered him.
Ying Luozha laughed, "Anyone can say that."
Meng Honglou pursed her lips and did not speak. Ying Luozha stared at her, "Say anything you want boldly. There’s nothing you can’t say in front of me."
"People may think that you are being disrespectful and may think that you don’t think before speaking. Or they may even think that you have become an eyesore of your Master on the first day you became a disciple."
"But I won’t. I will only see if you are being boastful. I will only see if you can live up to your words."
Meng Honglou heard this and took in a deep breath. After that, she repeated, "I want to be the most outstanding one."
Ying Luozha stared at her before nodding his head, "I shall wait and see. Since you are my disciple, I will pass everything I know to you. But how much you can learn will depend on you."
After this, Meng Honglou concentrated on learning under Ying Luozha.
But what person was Ying Luozha like? Meng Honglou suffered greatly under him and experienced a lot of torment. She was probably the one who suffered the most among all the third-generation disciples.
But Meng Honglou was a tough cookie. No matter how much Ying Luozha made it difficult for her, she gritted her teeth and carried on. Not only did she want to attain her target, she wanted to become even better than what Ying Luozha expected of her.
And Ying Luozha was not selfish either. He passed everything he know to her. He even went to Zhu Yi to request to test Meng Honglou earlier and passed on to her the Heavenly Classic of the Way’s Virtue.
As the earliest Successive Disciple in the third-generation, Meng Honglou did not disappoint Ying Luozha. She became the earliest among the third-generation Successive Disciples to form the Aurous Core. Her powers were exceptional too.
This pair of Master and disciple then interacted like this for many years.
At the start, Yang Tie, Tan Yunqing, Zhuge Wanqiu and even Li Xingfei were slightly concerned about Ying Luozha’s teaching style. But as Zhu Yi did not interfere, Ying Luozha continued with his style. Meng Honglou also did not make any noise or object to his style. She just followed his instructions.
At this point, Li Xingfei was already used to them already. If there was one day they started to become friendly towards each other, she would feel that this world was no longer real.
Ying Luozha set a new mission for Meng Honglou. As he heard Meng Honglou’s reply, he did not even look back and only said indifferently, "Oh, that’s good. Then you shall bring them back in 6.5 days."
Meng Honglou’s expression did not change and she said, "Okay."
Ying Luozha continued to walk forward with Meng Honglou. After he saw Wang Lin and Li Xingfei, he greeted them, "Third Junior Uncle."
Meng Honglou bowed too, "Greetings to Third Junior Granduncle and Elder Aunty Li."
"Spare the formalities." Wang Lin looked at them, "Are the both of you proceeding towards the Tripitaka Block?"
Ying Luozha nodded his back, "I picked a manual for her to cultivate to improve her powers. I decided to choose the Nine Heavens Formless Squall."
In the sect, Wang Lin was in charge of the Tripitaka Block. But Ying Luozha did not have to report to him specifically. He was only so specific because he wanted the advice of Wang Lin.
Wang Lin looked at Meng Honglou before nodding his head, "You are very sharp, let’s go."
Ying Luozha and Meng Honglou gave way to Wang Lin and Li Xingfei as they walked in the direction of the Tripitaka Block. Wang Lin went first as Li Xingfei followed behind him.
After seeing Meng Honglou, Li Xingfei communicated with Ying Luozha, "She is outstanding. Your hard work these years are not wasted after all."
Ying Luozha laughed, "I love dealing with difficult people like her. But she is quite tough. It is not easy to make her quit. But the more she is like that, the more interested I am."
"If she was some soft person, I won’t even bother with her."
All these years, Ying Luozha only had Meng Honglou as his Immediate Disciple. On one hand, his teaching style made a lot of junior disciples back away from choosing him. On another hand, he was not to the liking of many of the disciples who entered the Heavenly Temple.
"You..." Li Xingfei shook her head without speaking. Among the second-generation disciples, Ying Luozha was probably the most difficult to handle.
Han Yang’s rebellious attitude was hidden underneath his slyness, thus no one could really deal with him.
Huang Zhenting was no longer like he was in his younger self as he grew up, even if he still remained as a direct person.
Only Ying Luozha remained as he was. He could listen to the elders, but deep in his bones, he was still a troublesome person.
Li Xingfei was suddenly reminded, "Oh right, how’s Miaoying? I retreated all this while and have not seen her ever since I exited my retreat."
This person she was talking about was Xu Yunsheng’s sister, Xu Miaoying. After she followed Zhu Yi and Xu Yunsheng back to the mountain, she also joined the sect.
But in the sect, she became her own brother’s niece. Eventually, she became a third-generation Successive Disciple and came under Yang Tie in the Heavenly Temple.
"We all know how good Yang Tie is at teaching disciples. Her progress is good so far." Ying Luozha creased his brows as he said, "But Xu Yunsheng still has not contacted her. We still don’t know where he is."