Chapter 3: Mischievous Little Monkey (Part 1)

  Hailong nodded foolishly and said, "Thank you, Master, for granting me a Dao number. From now on, I will definitely work hard."

  Dao Ming Zhen Ren waved his hand and said, "You all go back. Ling Tong! Your Dao fetus is about to condense, at that time I will personally go to protect you."

  Ling Tongzi was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked his master. It must be known that the Dao fetus is extremely important for every cultivator, and when cultivating the Dao fetus, it must not be invaded by external demons. Otherwise, once the fire enters the devil, the cultivation will be greatly reduced, and in severe cases, the primordial spirit will be destroyed.

  "Go, I'm going to meditate." After finishing speaking, Dao Ming Zhenren floated back into his own stone house, the door closed, and everything returned to calm.

  Having obtained the promise of his master, Ling Tongzi felt a great sense of relief in his heart and together with his three fellow disciples, they led Hai Long out of Moyun Cave Mansion. The shape of Moyun Mountain was very peculiar, the area at the top of the mountain was small, the mountain's terrain above the sea of clouds was extremely steep, but halfway up the mountain as well as below the sea of clouds, the terrain was gentle, even more so than Dilian Peak. Below halfway up the mountain was also where Ling Tongzi and his fellow disciples usually practiced their cultivation.

  After coming down from Moyun Peak, Hailong finally realized that he had been tricked by Dao Ming Zhenren. The feather character given to him sounded good at first, but when combined with the previous character, it was simply disgusting. Tan Yu, it was clearly a spittoon.

  "Tang Yu, what's wrong with you? Didn't Master officially accept you as a disciple already? Why do you look so unhappy?" Ling Yuzi asked with a smile. Among these fourth-generation disciples, he was the youngest, only 56 years old. He had come to the mountain at a very young age and the simple life there had kept him in a state of childlike innocence until now.

  "Hmph, if I were to give you a Daoist name like 'Phlegm Bucket', would that make you happy? I don't care, Master Eleven, can you change my Daoist name for me?"

  Ling Yu Zi and Ling Tong Zi exchanged a glance, suppressing their smiles as they said: "Want to change your Taoist name? It's not impossible. Once your cultivation improves and you become a fourth-generation disciple, you can change your Taoist name to Ling Yu. Actually, the name Tan Yu sounds good too. As long as you don't think crookedly, no one will think you're a phlegm boy." At this point, he couldn't hold back his laughter anymore and burst out laughing loudly. Even Ling Tong Zi and the other three couldn't help but smile.

  Hailong's face turned bright red with anger, "You, you..." He secretly vowed to himself that he would definitely cultivate to the level of a fourth-generation disciple as soon as possible. Otherwise, when Douyuer arrived, she would know what to think about his Dao number! The green light fell, and the five people had already returned to the mountain waist. Pointing at a row of extremely simple small wooden houses in front, he smiled slightly and said: "Except for Dashi Xiong, Ershi Xiong, and Sanshi Xiong, the remaining eight disciples of Moyun Peak live here. This place is called Moyunping, and it will also be your cultivation place in the future. Let's go, I'll take you to see your room." As he spoke, he led Hailong, who was still huffing with anger, towards a wooden house on the side.

  "Hai Long, don't mind it too much, a Dao number is just a title after all. Besides, it can be changed later on. As long as there are no seniors or other fellow disciples around, we'll still call you Hai Long, so you won't feel awkward about it. It's not difficult to advance from a fifth-generation disciple to a fourth-generation one; with effort, who knows, maybe in twenty years you'll have achieved something. You're tired today, get some rest. Tomorrow I'll formally begin teaching you our sect's heart method." Ling Tongzi tried to make his voice sound softer, and though the child in front of him looked somewhat unruly, he had unknowingly developed a paternal affection for him.

  A month later. In the forest of Moyun Peak.

  "Ka-chunk." A branch as thick as an arm fell to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. Hailong wiped the sweat from his forehead and tossed aside his axe, plopping down at the base of a large tree with a huff. "Damn it, what kind of crappy Cloud-Connecting Sect is this? It's no different from being back in the village, still just chopping firewood! If I'd known, I wouldn't have left Douyue behind." A month had passed, and aside from the first few days when Lingtongzi taught him a basic incantation of the Cloud-Connecting Sect, every day was spent doing chores. In the morning, he'd go up the mountain to chop firewood; at noon, he'd pick fruit for everyone's lunch; in the afternoon, he'd wash clothes for the masters and himself; and only at night could he rest. Everyone in the Cloud-Connecting Sect ate food made from natural ingredients found in the mountains, such as fruits and herbs like Huangjing and Fuliong. The purpose of chopping firewood was simply to create a fence around their living quarters. According to Lingtongzi, the area planted with flowers and grass contained many rare and precious items, and the wooden fence was mainly to keep out wild beasts. To be sure, that plot of land was enormous, covering several thousand square meters! Moreover, the ground outside the lawn was made up of extremely hard rock, so if you wanted to insert a piece of wood, you had to first chisel out a hole in the ground. A month had passed, and Hailong hadn't even finished fencing off one-tenth of the area. Every day he'd be exhausted, his waist and back aching with pain. But for some reason, after this month was over, his body seemed to have become much stronger, possibly due to the effects of that Peiyuandan pill. Sixth Master said it had been obtained from Second Master; thinking back on that red medicinal pellet, Hailong still felt a lingering fear. The taste of the Peiyuandan had been quite good, leaving his lips and teeth fragrant. However, after swallowing it, he'd had diarrhea for three whole days, feeling as weak as if he were about to ascend to heaven in a coffin. But after his body recovered from its rest, he felt much better; his body seemed lighter than before, and he also had more energy.

  "Alright, these branches should be enough for today. Let's head back. It's getting late, and we still need to tidy up these branches and pick some fruits." Hailong skillfully bundled the thick branches on the ground together and slung them over his shoulder, quickly heading towards Moyunping.

  Ling Tongzi and his fellow disciples were all in the room meditating, Hailong threw the branch aside, returned to his own room to eat a few pieces of fruit, and then started digging holes until the sun was high in the sky before he finally completed today's task. At this time, Ling Yuzi happened to walk out of her own room.

  Before Hailong arrived, those tasks of washing clothes, tidying up the room and picking fruits were almost all his. This month he was much more relaxed, with all his attention focused on cultivation, and he could clearly feel that his skills had improved somewhat. Seeing Hailong holding a bamboo basket and preparing to go out, he suddenly smiled and said: "Hailong, going to pick some fruit?"

  Hailong glared at him with a bad temper and said: "If you call me Tan Guli again, I'll go on strike today and let you drink the mountain wind."

  Ling Yu Zi had long been accustomed to Hai Long's rudeness, and chuckled, saying: "Alright, alright, you can call me Hai Long if you want. It's been a month since we came up the mountain, how's your Tian Xin practice coming along? If there's anything you don't understand, you can come ask me." Hai Long grunted, saying: "Isn't it just sitting and sleeping? What kind of feeling is that supposed to be, it's just sleepier than usual. Eleventh Shifu, won't you teach me some real skills? I'm about to suffocate from boredom."

  Ling Yu Zi shook his head and said, "Young one, the Tian Xin Jue is the foundation of our cultivation method. If you don't lay a solid foundation, how can you use the method? To cultivate the method, at the very least, you must reach the level of Fu Hu before it's possible."

  Hailong Chongling Yu Zi made a ghost face, no longer paying attention to him, carrying his own bamboo basket and walking up the mountain. Not far from where they lived, there was an orchard, which was their source of food.

  The air on the mountain was extremely pure, and after taking a deep breath, Hailong felt that his body seemed to have lightened by several points. He continued to pick various fruits into his bamboo basket as he walked deeper into the fruit forest. As he walked, he suddenly heard a rustling sound, which startled him, and he instinctively stopped in his tracks. He carefully took down his short-handled axe from his waist and looked cautiously in the direction of the sound. The rustling grew clearer, and when Hailong saw the source of the sound, he couldn't help but laugh. It turned out that it was just a small monkey, an ordinary monkey with dull gray fur and no luster, holding a peach in its hands and eating it with its red buttocks exposed.

  Out of the child's nature, Hailong picked up a stone from the ground, squinted his eyes and threw it at the monkey with force. Unfortunately, his aim was not very good, and the stone only hit the branch where the little monkey was. Although he didn't hit the monkey, he scared him, turned around, and looked at Hailong with anger.

  Hailong Chong scolded Little Monkey, making a face and laughing: "You rascal, running to our place to steal food, you really deserve a beating."

  The little monkey seemed to understand what he said, and suddenly chattered loudly, as if telling the sea dragon that this was his territory. Suddenly, the little monkey swung his arm at the sea dragon. Before the sea dragon could react, half a sticky peach had already hit him in the face, instantly covering it with juice. The little monkey saw the sea dragon's embarrassed appearance and burst out laughing, his body shaking back and forth on the branch, clearly overjoyed.

  "Damn it, you're also here to mock me, go die." As he spoke, Hailong picked up a handful of small stones from the ground and suddenly gave the little monkey a hail of stones. Although his accuracy wasn't great, but there were many stones, some of which hit the little monkey's body, causing him to cry out in pain. Seeing his achievement, Hailong immediately puffed out his chest proudly.

  The little monkey seemed to be in a bad mood, let out a few sharp cries, and suddenly jumped onto a branch above, stretched out its paws to pick two peaches and threw them at the dragon. The little monkey's accuracy was astonishing, and the dragon, who was still feeling proud of itself, was hit right on target, becoming even more disheveled. In anger, the dragon immediately picked up stones and started a shootout with the little monkey. The little monkey had the upper hand, taking advantage of its agile body, naturally gaining the upper hand. In just a moment, the dragon's entire body was covered in juice, while the little monkey hadn't been hit by it at all.

  Although the sea dragon was extremely competitive, he knew that today's loss was inevitable. Moreover, several masters at home were waiting for dinner and couldn't afford to linger here any longer. After intimidating the little monkey a few times, he sullenly carried the picked fruit back to Moyunping. Before he even approached, he heard the sound of people talking, and among them were some female voices that were exceptionally clear and pleasant.

  With a surprised heart, Hailong quickly returned to Moyunping, only to see his eight masters standing in front of him. There were four people standing before them, dressed almost the same as Lingtongzi and others, all wearing casual clothes, among whom three were women. However, they were still some distance away from Hailong, and these outsiders had their backs turned towards him, making it impossible for him to see clearly.

  Far away, Ling Yuzi had already seen the wretched appearance of Hailong and couldn't help but laugh: "Ah, I say, Tangyu, are you going to pick fruit for us or make jam?" Along with Ling Yuzi's voice, the four outsiders also turned around.

  Hailong was stunned, completely stunned. Among the four outsiders, the only man had nothing special about him, he was just tall and slender, looked like he was in his thirties, with ordinary looks. But the three women greatly shocked Hailong's young heart. The one on the far left was a girl who looked like she was seventeen or eighteen years old, her long hair was neatly combed back, her skin as white as jade seemed to be dripping with water, a pair of beautiful big eyes were curiously looking at him, and a long sword hilt behind her back had a long tassel hanging down, matching her delicate face. The woman in the middle was slightly older than the one on the left, looked like she was in her twenties, with a gentle expression between her eyebrows, her looks were not inferior to the girl's, but seemed more gentle. The woman on the right was the most ordinary among the three, and also the oldest, looked like she was over thirty years old, although her looks couldn't compare to the other two women, but there was a heroic spirit between her eyebrows. Hailong had grown up in a mountain village since he was young, how could he have seen such beauties? He suddenly widened his eyes, and even drooled, fortunately, his face was full of fruit juice, so no one noticed.

  Ling Tongzi looked at Hailong's stunned expression and couldn't help but furrow his brow, beckoning to Hailong and saying: "Tan Yu, come quickly, pay your respects to the masters." Hailong snapped out of his daze and hastily walked over.

  The girl on the far left covered her mouth and smiled, saying: "Are you the only fifth-generation disciple we've received this time we opened the mountain?"

  Hailong nodded and said: "Fairy sister, you are really beautiful!"

  Ling Tongzi was startled and slightly angry, saying: "Tang Yu, don't speak nonsense, quickly pay respects to a few masters." He pointed at the man and said: "This is your Master Lingmu." Then he pointed at the three women from left to right and introduced them, saying: "This is your Master Lingfei, Master Lingya, and Master Linying."

  Ling Feizi smiled and said, "Finally, there's a disciple lower than me. Tan Gu'er, I heard Ling Yuzi Shixiong mention your name earlier and didn't dare to believe it, but it turns out to be true."

  I didn't update yesterday and I'm really sorry about that. My parents dragged me to a relative's place and I couldn't come back at night, so I'll make up for it today with an 8,000-word update.