Chapter Twenty-Four: Meeting the Master

  He first arrived at Bai Jin's residence and after reporting to the servant, Bai Jin came out. As soon as he saw Shi Dong, he frowned and asked, "What brings you to see me?"

  "Reporting to Second Master, Shi Dong has just barely broken through the first layer of Qi Refining." Shi Dong replied respectfully.

  "Oh? You actually broke through?" Bai Jin was slightly surprised, and immediately let out a cold snort. "Serves you right! You clearly had doubts about your cultivation, why didn't you come ask me, but instead went to ask Hao Ren? Look at that, it's only three days until the deadline, isn't it risky? Hmph! This is your punishment!"

  Shi Dong was filled with regret, and after asking Hao Ren the previous day, he had forgotten to inform Bai Jin. To his surprise, this meticulous guy had been holding a grudge against him all along. He hastily bowed his hands in apology: "Second Brother's teachings are correct, it's all because of my own impatience that I made mistakes. Please... please Second Brother take me to see Master!"

  "Alright! I'll take you to see Master now, let's go!" With a stern glare at Shi Dong, Bai Jin led the way, with Shi Dong following behind him with his head hung low.

  Before long, they arrived at a secluded spot on Yunwu Peak. Bai Jin stood in front of a cave and respectfully said: "Master, I am your disciple Bai Jin, leading a newly promoted registered disciple who has just broken through the first layer of Qi Refining, to pay respects to you."

  As soon as the stone moved, I felt my heart racing wildly. After a moment, I heard Master's voice coming from inside, "Hmm, let him come in by himself!" The tone was neither sad nor happy, but it carried a chill that sent shivers down my spine.

  His back was pushed forward by Bai, and Shi Dong stumbled into the cave, taking a hasty glance upwards. He vaguely saw his master wearing a green robe, sitting upright in a throne-like chair one zhang away from him, with a pair of piercing eyes staring down at him.

  Shi Dong was so nervous that he couldn't even stand still, so he simply knelt down in front of his master and kowtowed three times, saying in a trembling voice: "Disciple... Shi Dong, paying respects to Master, wishing... wishing Master eternal blessings, longevity rivaling the heavens, early breakthrough to the Yuan Ying stage, achieving... the Great Dao!"

  After finishing speaking, he raised an eyebrow and quietly observed Sito Jin's reaction with his eyes. He saw that Sito Jin was slightly taken aback and asked: "Who taught you to speak to your master like this?"

  "There's no one who taught me, it all came from my heart. Not having seen Master for a year, I really... really miss him. Today, seeing Master again, his demeanor is even more impressive than before, he must have made great progress in his cultivation and won't be far from breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage! Ah, that's why I dared to say these words. If Master thinks I'm wrong, just punish me..."

  Shi Dong had lived a life of flattery, saying countless words of praise and adulation, but never once had he spoken with such trepidation, fearing that his excessive fawning would provoke his master's wrath.

  But he had thought about this before coming, others who came to see the master didn't even dare to breathe loudly, if he himself didn't flatter him to gain his favor, what if he found out there was a problem with his own cultivation, wouldn't that mean he would have no way out? That's why he took the risk and said this flattering remark.

  Situ Jin was taken aback, then suddenly burst out laughing: "Haha! Haha!" His two sword-like eyebrows kept twitching, and he laughed so hard that Shi Dong's heart was racing with anxiety, unsure if his flattery had hit the mark.

  Situ Jin laughed for a while, pointed down with his hand, and said to Shi Dong: "You this disciple is quite interesting, wanting to flatter the master but afraid of flattering to the horse's hoof. Hehe, so you use words to tease the master, saying 'If the master thinks the disciple is wrong, just punish him'. Can't the master understand emotions? Do you have to be punished for every word you say? Get up!"

  When he heard the three words "get up", Shi Dong felt a sense of relief in his heart, and hurriedly said: "Thank you, Master!" He carefully got up, standing there like a wooden stake, with his whole body tightly bound.

  "Huh? Why are you so tense? Are you afraid that I'll eat you?" Situ Jin looked at him in surprise.

  "Disciple... The disciple is afraid that the master will hum again, testing... whether the disciple has relaxed." Shi Dong replied with a concentrated expression, and indeed did not dare to relax in the slightest, but looked like he was holding back his fart.

  "Haha! You're so interesting!" Situ Jin burst out laughing, and after feeling delighted, he thought to himself: "This person is either an idiot or intentionally trying to be clever. Hmm, among my many disciples, who has ever seen me not being stern? None of them dare to even fart in front of me. But this person actually tries to be clever with me, quite a unique and eccentric personality!"

  With a pleased heart, Si Tu Jin's face couldn't help but reveal a smile as he beckoned to Shi Dong: "Shi Dong, come over here and let me take a good look at you."

  Shi Dong glanced at Si Tu Jin, whose mouth was slightly smiling, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief: "Goodness gracious, it's really not easy to flatter Master! Does Master know? I've used up all my flattering skills!" He immediately took two steps forward, bowed his head, and waited for the lecture.

  "Look up at your teacher."

  Shi Dong slowly raised his head, meeting Si Tu Jin's profound eyes. Suddenly, he felt a piercing gaze that seemed to penetrate his body, traveling along his meridians and leaving him frozen in fear.

  "Huh? How did you train this doll? I remember when I chose you as my disciple, your talent was only mediocre at best. But I saw that you had a strong sense of determination and were born with the Four Spirit Roots body, which piqued my interest, so I took you on as my disciple. How did you manage to cultivate your meridians like this?"

  His heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself: "This is bad, this is bad. Did I practice incorrectly? Did I mess up the pulse wheel?" Suddenly, he remembered the second-hand elixir he bought from Wang Baobao, as well as that book "Nine Months to Break Through the Qi Refining Period" manual. His heart felt a chill, and he wondered if something had really gone wrong.

  "Hahaha!" Situ Jinyan burst out laughing, his short beard under his chin shaking uncontrollably, seemingly pleased with himself for teasing Shi Dong. He chuckled and said: "Your disciple is quite well-trained! Now he's already at the level of a third-rate cultivator!"

  "What? I'm now...now a third-rate?" Ishi pointed at his own nose, blurting out in surprise.

  "Indeed! Your meridian is much stronger than before, and has already been upgraded to Grade C. Quickly confess to your master, how did you cultivate?"

  Situ Jin still had a smile on his face, which made Shi Dong unclear about the situation and didn't dare to talk nonsense. He quickly confessed that at the beginning of his cultivation, he found Hao Ren, but Hao Ren couldn't help him, so he coincidentally got to know Wang Baobao and bought a secret book from him, as well as some second-hand elixirs.

  Muddled and confused, I practiced according to the routine, and as a result it ended up like this.

  Situ Jin's two swords-like eyebrows were raised high and low, his face had a somewhat strange expression. As soon as Shi Dong finished speaking, he stretched out his hand: "Bring that book and the second-hand medicine over!"

  Shi Dong hastily pulled out the small booklet "Nine Months to Break Through the Refining Qi Stage" and handed it over, saying with a bitter face: "The medicinal pills have all been consumed."

  In his heart, Shi Tu Jin was secretly observing the booklet page by page, his tension making his heart almost jump out. Just then, Shi Tu Jin finished reading and laughed loudly: "Haha, this book is not bad! Who compiled it? It's really suitable for you new disciples!" He returned the booklet to Shi Dong and asked with a smile: "Apart from this, shouldn't you have some other extraordinary experiences? Why do I see that your aura is stable, your flesh and blood strong, unlike someone who has just broken through the first layer of Qi Refining?"

  Shi Dong went "thud" and fell to his knees, hastily knocking his head on the ground: "Master's wisdom is like a shining light, I broke through two months ago... but... but..."

  "What's that?"

  "Right, but what is it? How can this be explained? Is this like Master's confession about the existence of the Ghost Scripture?" He thought for a moment: "No! Absolutely not! Just because of knowing and not reporting, I would have committed the crime of deceiving my master and destroying my ancestors, and I would be punished by being pointed at by the Soul Lantern!"

  "A sudden movement, and he said loudly: 'Disciple really dare not deceive Master, Disciple was able to break through two months ago, in fact, it was a time when I swallowed twice the amount of Nourishing Blood Pill and Cultivating Qi Pill, and then relied on the power of the medicine to force the breakthrough! However... however, this move really harmed the body, and the disciple had no choice but to cultivate and nourish his body by himself. After cultivating and nourishing until it was almost done, he came to see Master. It's not that I deceived Master, please forgive me, old Master!'"

  The little book indeed recorded the method of doubling the power of the medicine to break through the pass, but at that time, Shi Dong had enough elixir and spiritual stones, so he didn't use it. However, relying on a large amount of medicinal power to assist in his cultivation, the symptoms left in his body should be similar, so he simply gambled and said let's try it out.

  The next moment, Shi Dong's nerves were stretched taut, his heartstrings almost snapping.

  Situ Jin nodded without comment and asked, "And how did you cultivate your body on your own? Tell me."

  "Disciple, disciple remembered that the turning of the pulse wheel and the movement of the evil spirit is a dynamic work, so...so he started practicing his fists and feet wildly."

  "Give it to me and let me take a look."

  "No... I don't dare, those fists and kicks are really reckless, they can't enter Master's eyes."

  "Hmph! I let you hit me, so you hit!" Situ Jin said coldly.

  Seeing the master's face turned stern, Shi Dong was so frightened that his whole body trembled. Having no other choice, he could only shiver and shake, kicking his left foot and punching with his right fist, then awkwardly crawling up with his buttocks, his posture as ugly as it could be.

  "Just then, Situ Jin coldly said: 'A broken gong makes a loud noise, a rotten butt monkey climbs a tree, huh! You're quite capable!'"

  It was originally "Zhōng Gǔ Qí Míng" ("Bell Drum Together Ringing") and "Líng Hóu Shàng Shù" ("Spirit Monkey Climbing Tree"), but he said it was "Pò Lúo Luàn Qiāo" ("Broken Gong Randomly Striking") and "Làn Pì Gǔ Hóu Shàng Shù" ("Rotten Butt Monkey Climbing Tree"), which naturally made him the subject of ridicule.

  Shi Dong became more and more afraid of hitting, so he had to withdraw his move, standing there with a stuffy nose, his head and face covered in cold sweat, all scared out.

  "Hey! It seems you won't go all out, then let's have a fight!" Suddenly, Situ Jin waved his hand and a guy jumped out of thin air, landing with a loud thud, and punched Shi Dong fiercely.

  Shi Dong was so frightened that his soul flew away, and he cried out in his heart: "Master has seen through my deception, he...he wants to kill me!"