Chapter 9: The Excellent Disciple with All-Round Development of Morality, Intelligence and Physique

  "Master, there's a village ahead!"

  After the clouds and fog, what appeared before the eyes of the master and servant was a village that was neither big nor small. Xiao Shu Tong was stunned for a moment, but involuntarily took a few steps back.

  Wang Lu patted his shoulder: "What's wrong? You've been complaining for a long time that you're thirsty and hungry, this is a ready-made supply point."

  The young servant furrowed his brow, a look of fear on his face: "Young master, don't you think it's strange? How can there be a village here?"

  "After walking for two hours, we're both tired and hungry. There should be a village around here somewhere; otherwise, we'll starve to death!"

  "But... it still feels really strange, look! There are still people in the village!"

  Shu Tong pointed with one hand, and on the small village path, an old woman carrying firewood was walking slowly.

  "Hey, young master, it seems like that old lady was looking at us just now!"

  "What's it to you? Did her gaze make your heart skip a beat?"

  "It's, it's a living person!"

  "Nonsense! If it's not human, then is it a ghost?!"

  "I always feel that in a place like this, it's more normal to run into ghosts than people..."

  "Then you go and greet him, saying 'old ghost' is fine."

  Wang Lu sighed: "If you're afraid, just follow me obediently. I guess this village will have a lot of stories. Let's take it slow and not rush."

  ————

  The village hidden behind the clouds and mist is not as mysterious and terrifying as Shu Tong imagined. After chatting with passing villagers, I learned that the name of the village is Taoyuan. For hundreds or even thousands of years, the villagers have lived in seclusion here, without asking about worldly affairs. The mountains are rich in products, and life has been prosperous and comfortable for thousands of years.

  The people of Taoyuan Village were warm and hospitable. On the day they arrived in Taoyuan Village, the village chief invited Wang Lu and Xiao Shu to a banquet at his home, where more than half of the villagers gathered. The scene was lively and bustling, with Wang Lu and Xiao Shu enjoying themselves immensely, drinking sweet wine made from mountain spring water and wild fruits, and their fatigue disappeared in an instant.

  At the dinner table, apart from eating and drinking, it's all about chatting and laughing. According to Wang Lu's words, this is a great opportunity to gather intelligence. However, strangely, Peach Village's closure exceeded imagination. Not to mention the Nine States Continent, people didn't even know they were in a fairy mountain. For the villagers, the surrounding green mountains and clear waters were the entire world.

  What's even stranger is that the villagers didn't show much curiosity towards the sudden appearance of outsiders. People are warm and hospitable, but they have no interest in the outside world at all.

  "What? There are immortals outside too? The Flying Immortal's sword is so powerful! Come, try some of our village's specialty yellow fish..."

  "Emperor? What's an emperor? Is he bigger than the village chief? What, you have to kneel when you see him and if you're not careful, your head will be chopped off? What a barbaric village! Let me go taste my wife's steamed buns instead..."

  Wang Lu's experience was roughly the same, even if he had the heart to guide them, there was no way to expand the topic, and the villagers' thinking was as stubborn as eating too much Guanyin soil.

  At night, the two of them stayed at the village chief's house. The old village chief had specially vacated a room in the backyard for them, and the conditions were even better than those in their own home. However, both master and servant were somewhat absent-minded.

  Shu Tong was uneasy in his heart, where on the Immortal Ascension Road would there be such big fish and meat? In stories, which poor kid didn't go through thousands of hardships to achieve their goal, yet they could walk into Xuan Mi Peak with just a road of eating, drinking, and having fun. Weren't the two blue and white ones on Xiao Yao Peak a bit too pitiful?

  As for Wang Lu, he was perplexed by the reaction of the villagers in the daytime village.

  According to the adventurer's theory, if we consider the road to immortality as an adventure, Lingxi Town is undoubtedly a novice village, and Jinqiao and Yunwu are the first long adventure. After that, Taoyuan Village is an important turning point that connects the past and the future, and it is the beginning of many main and branch lines. It's equivalent to the main city in many adventure stories. However, the villagers' closed reaction clearly eliminates all possibilities for tasks.

  At the banquet in the evening, he had talked with most of the villagers without any sign of a task starting.

  "What kind of crappy ending is this?"

  Wang Lu was tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, until the next morning when Wang Lu was brushing his teeth by the river with a toothbrush and toothpaste, things took a turn.

  "It's really true that you can run into anyone anywhere in life."

  When he saw the person walking out of the forest outside the village, Wang Lu almost swallowed his mouthwash.

  "Little Sea!?"

  Hai Yunfan's smile suddenly became somewhat awkward: "Little Hai... just Little Hai, Brother Wang Lu, I didn't expect to run into you here."

  Wang Lu put down the toothbrush and toothpaste, looking puzzled: "I didn't expect to run into you either. I thought this was just a small side quest, but instead I encountered a random passerby like you. Or should I say, we've already formed a party without realizing it?"

  ——

  At the same time, the master of the misty peak was about to go crazy.

  "What? Where did this Peach Village come from?!"

  "......Master, even if you ask me like this, I still won't be able to answer."

  The black and white disciples, who were being interrogated by the master of the Lingfeng Peak with red eyes, were under tremendous pressure, almost having to bring out the spiritual sword they carried on their backs in order to maintain their physical form under the master's overwhelming power.

  Not long ago, the master's anger swept through the Cloud and Fog Array. Now Liu Xian seems to have a competitive heart, and under the stimulation of his anger, the power of his primordial spirit is released, causing the entire Xuanxuan Sword Hall to tremble incessantly. The surrounding cloud sea is boiling and churning, as if being grasped and torn by countless invisible hands... While within 100 meters around Liu Xian, people with insufficient cultivation below the Void Dan realm cannot stand at all.

  "Brother, calm down."

  Zhou Ming, also a senior of the sect, shook his head and patted Liu Xian's shoulder with his hand. A refreshing sword intent poured in, and Liu Xian suddenly opened his eyes: "Sorry, I lost my composure."

  Zhou Ming bitterly smiled: "Can't blame you for being angry, this Peach Blossom Village... is really laughable and tear-jerking."

  At first, Liu Xian thought that this village was just someone's prank, but when the second batch of people who walked out of Yunbo Map were also sent to Taoyuan Village, he realized that things had gotten a bit out of hand.

  Some malicious person completely altered the Ascension Path, extremely rudely adding a mysterious village between Yunbo Map and Youming Road, becoming an insurmountable obstacle. No matter what choice anyone makes in Yunbo Map, the next stop will be Taoyuan Village.

  Although it's impressive that... can modify the Ascension Great Array with Mt. Taiyi as its core single-handedly without anyone noticing, using this genius to cause trouble for fellow sect members is just too annoying.

  "......I wonder what our Master has to say about this?"

  Liu Xian coldly snorted: "Nonsense! All these years, has Shifu ever truly said anything to her?!"

  "...... Alas, I don't know what Fifth Sister is up to this time. This Peach Blossom Village, the more I look at it, the stranger it seems."

  Liu Xian felt somewhat impatient: "Probably some kind of malicious prank that no one can understand..."

  "Tsk, and you think this genius design of mine is just a prank? Brother, your taste in burning the lute and cooking the crane is truly unshakeable for a hundred years."

  "Oh my god, it's you!!!!!"

  Upon hearing the familiar voice that had appeared countless times in his nightmares, Liu Xian's calm and composed battle intent, nurtured by his ethereal fairy heart, suddenly soared to new heights. The sword light in his hand flashed, unleashing a colossal force capable of moving mountains and filling seas, which burst forth towards the rear.

  Zhou Ming's eyes lit up: "What a great strike filled with resentment! The aura of the Golden Sword has already surpassed the peak of Yuanying... It seems that Shixiong will break through to the next realm within 50 years."

  Unfortunately, such a transcendent sword aura encountered the wrong opponent.

  The dazzling and sharp aura of the Gengjin sword was quietly extinguished in front of the white figure, like snow melting away without a sound. The woman in white clothes who had walked up from the foot of the mountain shook her wrist: "Big brother, what are you doing? Are you demolishing something?"

  Liu Xian's anger had subsided a bit after he sheathed his sword, but the indignation in his heart did not decrease: "Look at the good deed you've done! The Ascension Conference has turned into a complete mess!"

  "How did this conversation start? I was trying to make the Ascension Conference more efficient, and I even used my own high-quality spirit stones to decorate Peach Blossom Village. That was my own money, and just now, my application for overtime pay was rejected by my senior brother..."

  Liu Xian angrily said: "Who wants to pay for your nonsense!? You make it clear, although the Ling Jian Sect has not held an ascension conference for many years, all procedures were determined hundreds of years ago, and every step is the result of countless refinement..."

  The words were cut off mercilessly: "Even if a mediocre program is hammered out countless times, it's still just a mediocre program. Yunbo Tu determines the direction, Chijishan and Youming Dao decide the height, thinking that's not bad, and indeed can determine a person's various qualities. But you've all been cultivating for hundreds of years, and are also famous Yuan Ying old monsters, don't you understand that the most important part of cultivation isn't innate talent or spiritual roots, nor is it temperament or opportunity?"

  Confronted with such a straightforward and confident rebuttal, Liu Xian's momentum weakened slightly: "Then what do you say it is?"

  "Of course it's EQ!"

  “……”

  "It's no longer a war between immortals and demons. The main theme of the Nine States Continent today is peace and development. Bravery and ferocity are outdated, making friends is the foundation for standing in the immortal world! I designed this Peach Garden Village to test newcomers' interpersonal skills. If you can't even get along with the simple villagers here, let alone the ruthless world of immortals. You must all know the story of the unmatched military god on Junhuang Mountain a hundred years ago? Tsk tsk, his cultivation was only half a step into the Great Vehicle stage, yet he was destroyed in an instant by heavenly tribulation because he had too many enemies... Without sufficient emotional intelligence, how can you survive?"

  Liu Xian and Zhou Ming were dumbfounded on one side.

  What emotional intelligence? Making lots of friends? You... you're just a street rat and you dare to say this?!

  "Moreover, my Peach Village isn't that simple. The village accepts the Cloud Wave Chart's results, and the trial-takers will get different starting points. Then, according to their personalities and fortunes, they'll trigger different task chains in the village. Depending on the completion of these tasks, they'll receive different rewards. For example, if you max out the Village Chief's favorability, when entering the Red Ridge Mountain route, you'll get a reward that reduces physical consumption by half... Hmm, are you guys listening seriously?"

  ————

  Taoyuan Village, Ha Yunfan is very envious of Wang Lu's encounter.

  Like Yunbo Tu, Haiyun Fan came out of the fog and into the village as part of the second wave. As a result, his treatment was far inferior to that of Wang Lu. Although he also received warm hospitality from the villagers, there was no banquet in his honor, and he stayed in an ordinary civilian house.

  Especially when walking with Wang Lu, the gap is particularly obvious. The villagers' smiles are all given to Wang Lu without exception, and Hai Yunfan is like a transparent person.

  "But thinking about how people after me will be treated even worse than I am makes it a bit more bearable."

  Wang Lu Ze's face was filled with disgust: "Is there still more behind?"

  Hai Yunfan smiled and said, "Those who can leave the Cloud Wave Map should be around 50 or 60 people. However, it seems that the longer they stay here, the harder it is to blend in... It's strange, what's going on with this village? I've never heard of it before."

  Upon hearing this, Wang Lu furrowed his brow - Hai Yunfan's commentary on the Immortal Ascension Path was too familiar: "You know about the Immortal Ascension Path?"

  "including the whole Ascension Conference, I have a little understanding... Wang Lu brother, are you interested in listening?"

  "No."

  Hai Yunfan wasn't surprised: "So, what's your impression of this village?"

  "There was no lead before, but now there is a clue... however, we need to wait a bit longer to confirm."

  Hai Yun Fan nodded: "Then I'll have to rely on you, this village, I really don't have confidence that I can get a good result."

  "Wait, what did I just say? I didn't mean to support you!"

  "Haha, we're friends, aren't we!"

  "Haha, we'll be friends for life."

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