Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  Zhong Qinglu sneered, her chubby face revealing a few hints of cold intent. "What's the point of scolding you? You're just a little rabbit, with a fat pig of an old father who couldn't even cultivate properly. If it weren't for Sun Zhanglao, you wouldn't have gotten a spot in the sect. And now you think you can rise to the top in one step? Dream on!"

  Sun You looked at her for a moment, suddenly smiled again, and then said: "I think you look very much like my old man."

  Zhong Qinglu was momentarily stunned, and then another girl suddenly stretched out her hand from beside her, it was Zhong Qingzhu, who grabbed her arm, seemingly in a hurry. But before Zhong Qinglu could react, Sun You continued to speak with a calm expression and a hint of mockery:

  "You're just like my old man, always scolding people, and your figure is also unusual, living a particularly hard life."

  In a distant Cloud City, a certain idle fatso suddenly let out a sneeze.

  Zhong Qinglu was stunned for a moment before coming to her senses. Sun You, the old master of the Sun family, was the second son of Sun Changlao, one of the four great elders of Ling Xiao Sect. Over the years, he had held a relatively high position in the Sun family and wielded considerable power. However, his talent for cultivation was average, and he was vastly different from his older brother, who was now at the peak of the Divine Intent realm. Although Sun You had also joined the Ling Xiao Sect many years ago, decades of cultivation had not allowed him to surpass the Refining Qi stage. His stout build often made him the subject of ridicule and mockery among the subordinate families. However, it was well-known that those who cultivated to higher realms found it increasingly difficult to produce worthy successors. Despite Sun Changlao's disappointment and frequent scolding, he still looked out for his son, which was the source of the Sun family's current prosperity.

  At this moment, Sun You hasn't uttered any dirty words, but he has almost completely returned the insults that Zhong Qinglu had previously hurled at his own father. The mocking intent in his words is even more vicious than before, leaving Zhong Qinglu so angry that her face turns deathly pale and she loses all composure. As a twelve-year-old girl who loves beauty, she is particularly self-conscious about her slightly plump figure. She can't stand it when others mention this point. Not only does no one in the Zhong household dare to mention these two words in front of her, but even when she goes out and socializes with young masters from other noble families, people like Gan Ze and Hou Yuanliang, who are known for their arrogance, generally also know to avoid mentioning this sensitive topic.

  Who would have thought that today, in the Ling Xiao Sect, she was slapped in the face by Sun Youyi again and again, almost making Zhong Qinglei faint with anger. If it weren't for the person beside her holding her arm tightly at this moment, she might have already rushed over to fight Shen Shi to the death.

  Standing beside him, Shen Shi glanced at Zhong Qingzhu standing next to Zhong Qinglu and saw that the two girls' facial features had some similarities. In terms of age, Zhong Qingzhu seemed slightly younger than Zhong Qinglu, and judging from their names, they should be cousins of the same generation. Earlier on the stone steps, something unexpected happened, and in the haste and anxiety, he didn't take a closer look, only remembering to scold her. Now looking at this girl, she was elegant and refined, with skin as white as snow, a pair of bright eyes shining like water, although still young and not yet fully grown, already had a dazzling appearance.

  If it's said that Zhong Qinglu previously had a good appearance, with a few points of beauty, but was ruined by her current plump figure and became much uglier, then the girl beside her is completely and utterly a little beauty.

  However, at this moment, Zhong Qingzhu was anxious and held onto Zhong Qinglu's arm tightly, lowering his voice and saying: "Sister, don't be reckless, we're already on the island of Ling Xiao Sect."

  Zhong Qinglu looked at him, but he was used to being overbearing and tyrannical. Now that Sun You had viciously ridiculed him in front of everyone, his anger surged up, uncontrollable and furious, completely ignoring the girl's advice, struggling to charge towards Sun You and Shen Shi.

  Zhong Qing was so anxious that he couldn't move, and suddenly remembered that his elders at home had warned him many times before. Ling Xiao Sect was a large sect with strict rules, and they must not be careless. If they broke the rules, they would offend the person who introduced them, and if things went wrong, they might even be expelled from the sect, cutting off their connection to this cultivation fate. At this moment, he desperately pulled Zhong Qingluo, lowered his voice to persuade her, and turned back to see Sun You, who seemed to want to speak again. Suddenly, he hastily said to Sun You:

  "Hey brother, you'd better shut up, or else something bad will happen!"

  Sun You was taken aback for a moment, looked at her, smiled slightly and nodded in agreement, then took a step back to return to Shen Shi's side.

  Shen Shi looked at him with some helplessness and said in a low voice, "Forget it."

  Sun You pouted and sighed, saying: "It's not like I wanted to quarrel with her, you saw it too, she wouldn't let go, and even dragged my father into the conversation."

  He took a step back, but Qīng Lù looked even angrier, struggling on the other side. After a few attempts to break free from Zhōng Qīngzhú, she slapped her hand towards the girl's face in anger, almost hitting her with a loud "hū". Just as her palm was about to make contact, it brushed against Zhōng Qīngzhú's cheek and flashed past, not actually hitting her face. However, this still startled Zhōng Qīngzhú, causing her to take a step back, covering her cheek with her hand. When she looked up again, her eyes were filled with a hint of grievance.

  Zhong Qinglu didn't know why, but at this moment, she had just managed to break free from Zhong Qingzhu's grasp, yet instead of going back to reason with Sun You, she was glaring at Zhong Qingzhu with a face full of anger, like a spoiled and unreasonable woman who was venting her anger on someone else. Her angry expression was evident as she said: "Zhong Qingzhu, what are you pretending to be so virtuous for?"

  The beautiful girl's body trembled slightly, her teeth lightly biting her lip, slowly lowering her head, as if in front of this sister, she was used to being bullied and had no intention of resisting, even if she felt wronged, she endured it silently.

  At this moment, Shen Shi also looked at the scene with a frown, and his heart felt a few points of sympathy for the girl named Zhong Qingzhu. Along with it, the anger that was almost killed by her on the stone steps of Bai Xianyan earlier was also diluted a lot. Just listening to the name, Zhong Qingzhu should also be from the Zhong family, slightly younger than Zhong Qinglu but considered to be of the same generation. However, according to Sun You's previous words, she is a child born out of wedlock from a small branch of the Zhong family. Presumably because of her good natural talent, she was looked up to by people and thus got this opportunity to enter the sect for cultivation.

  Zhong Qinglu glared at Zhong Qingzhu and scolded him a few words, then suddenly remembered that there was another "arch-nemesis" behind her. She quickly turned around, stared at Sun You, and said with hatred: "You stinky brat, today is not your lucky day. Wait until I settle down later, see if I don't make you pay with your life."

  Sun You lost his smile, gazing at her, "Tsk tsk" twice, and said: "This is a scary thing to say, but I didn't think you were so stupid before. If it was Gan Ze of the Gan family who said this, I would be afraid because of their old qualifications and many old friends in the sect; or if it was Hou Yuanliang of the Hou family who said this, I would also be wary, as they have a powerful ancestor in the sect now; but if it's you who said this..."

  At this point, Sun You casually pressed his fingers and said lightly: "What does the Zhong family have? In previous years, it was just a vassal family that specialized in finding spiritual grass for the sect. Now, with the Divine Assembly spreading all over the place, the sect's daily transactions are more than what your Zhong family can gain in a month; as for relying on the mountain, your Zhong family has had zero talented people for a hundred years. If I'm not mistaken, there hasn't been even one divine intention realm cultivator coming out of your family in this whole generation? The words are harsh, but unfortunately, they're not intimidating enough."

  Zhong Qing's face turned red and then white, her body even trembling slightly, for a moment she couldn't say a word. Instead, Zhong Qingzhu, who was standing beside her, gritted his teeth and took a step forward, looking at Sun You: "This big brother, I don't know which great family you come from, but no matter how declined our Zhong family is now, as long as our descendants work hard to cultivate themselves, there will be a day when we rise again. You...you can't bully people too much..."

  Sun You coughed and looked at Zhong Qingzhu's face, which was already quite elegant despite her young age. He shrugged and said, "You were standing right there just now, didn't you see everything? I didn't take the initiative to provoke this sister of yours. It was she who scolded me and my old man first, and only then did I retort a few words back. Are you saying I should be like you, not fighting back or talking back?"

  Zhong Qing's words were stuck in her throat, and subconsciously she lightly bit her lip, this unconscious action seemed to add a hint of charm to her already pitiful state.

  In the end, Zhong Qingzhu finally managed to drag Zhong Qinglu away with a mix of persuasion and coercion. As they were leaving, Zhong Qinglu couldn't help but glare at this side with resentment, even giving Shen Shi, who was standing next to Sun You, a dirty look.

  Shen Shi stood aside, silent for a moment, let out a sigh, but in his heart was a silent shake of the head, thinking that this day had been full of inexplicable things. He turned to look at Sun You, who suddenly felt a little guilty, spread his hands and said:

  "Big brother, this is that crazy girl causing trouble again, she really has nothing much to do with me."

  Shen Shi suddenly opened his mouth and asked, "By the way, from what was said earlier, is your father a fat man?"

  Sun You nodded and said, "Big Fatty, being fat is not good, just walking a few steps makes you pant, every time my grandfather sees your appearance, he will scold you."

  Shen Shi fell silent for a moment, Sun You looked at him with some curiosity and said: "What's the point of asking this out of the blue?"

  Shen Shi's mind flashed back to his old father, who had gone missing, and was once the boss of Tianyi Building in Xilu City, Yin Province. He looked at Sun You beside him and suddenly felt a sense of closeness to this guy, although the feeling seemed strange to him. He reached out and patted Sun You's shoulder lightly, saying:

  "I think we two have a good fate."

  "Huh?" Sun You was perplexed and scratched his head with a hint of doubt.

  More than 400 new disciples were divided into groups of ten, with a total of 43 small teams. Each team had an older brother to lead them, and they set off in different directions towards the depths of the island.

  Shen Shi and Sun You were also in this group of ten, and unfortunately, due to their previous argument, the Zhong sisters were also randomly assigned to be with them. Apart from these four, there were six others, but none of them were young masters from aristocratic families.

  Among the ten people, seven were men and three were women. Apart from Zhong Qinglu and Zhong Qingzhu, there was another girl named He Xiaomei. She looked ordinary but had a lively personality. As they followed the lead of the senior brother at the front, she had already chatted with most of them and became familiar faces.

  As for the senior brother who led the team to supervise these ten people, his name was Su He. Looking at his age, he was not very old, and he seemed to be under twenty years old. His demeanor was elegant and refined, with a smile on his face all the time, looking like someone who wasn't too difficult to get along with. Along the way, He Xiao Mei plucked up her courage and asked him a few questions, Su He answered them one by one with a smile, quickly getting along well with everyone, which made these new disciples feel much more at ease.

  As they walked, Shen Shi gradually discovered that the island was actually much larger than he had imagined. Su He led them to leave from the leftmost path on that sandy beach, and they walked a long way along the road, with trees lining both sides of the road. The sea breeze blew, causing the leaves to rustle and make a soft sound, filling their bodies with a refreshing feeling.

  Soon in front of the forest is slightly sparse, and several blocks of white sandy beach are exposed. The tide rises gently and slowly, and then recedes, tens of meters inside, it is under the foot of a mountain at the foot of a hill.

  A long row of houses with flat faces facing the sea and caves were built in an orderly manner.

  Su He turned his head and smiled at Shen Shi and others: "Alright, in the next few years, you will be living here."

  A long time ago, I had a dream that was unlikely to come true - a seaside villa! Have you guys ever thought about it? ^_^