Chapter Five Turmoil

  Ji Ruochen slowly woke up, and as soon as he opened his eyes, a ray of sunlight fell into them.

  "Oh no! I haven't done my homework for this morning!"

  At this thought, Ji Ruochen immediately broke out in a cold sweat and hastily sat up. With this exertion, his chest suddenly felt a severe pain, then several meridians inside his body simultaneously flared up with intense pain. In comparison, the burning sensation on his face was nothing. This severe pain came suddenly, Ji Ruochen let out a cry, and fell back onto the bed.

  Yun Fengdao walked in at this moment and saw Ji Ruochen struggling to get out of bed. He immediately said, "Ruochen, you've just been injured, it's better to rest for a while. Missing a day of early class doesn't matter. Come, eat something first."

  Yunfeng Daozhang held a tray in his hand, with a bowl of clear porridge and several small dishes on it. Ji Ruochen didn't expect Yunfeng to personally do such menial tasks, so he hurriedly struggled to sit up from the bed. After thanking Yunfeng Daozhang politely, he hastily ate while asking Yunfeng about what had happened that day.

  Yun Feng stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "This matter is neither big nor small. Zhang Yin was eager to win and hastily used the wooden sword energy, but his skills were not enough, and he lost control. However, you only suffered minor injuries, and your meridians and true yuan are intact, which can be considered a blessing in disguise. The rules of our Daoist sect are strict, and originally, it is forbidden for disciples to engage in private duels. But at the time, all the disciples present said that you agreed to the sword fight, and Zhang Yin lost control of his sword and suffered serious injuries, which can be considered a lesson learned. So I took the liberty of bringing you back to treat and recover from your injuries without reporting this matter to our sect's rule-enforcing master, Purple Qing. If you want to blame someone, blame me."

  Ji Ruoxin sneered coldly in his heart, since he knew that Zhang Yinyin was the daughter of Jing Xiao Zhenren, this result was not unexpected. But on his face, he didn't reveal a hint, and hastily said: "Cloud Wind Shixiong is doing it for my own good, I naturally understand that. In the future, if they come to cause trouble again, I'll just avoid them."

  It just so happens that Cloud Wind Dao Ren smiled and said, "It's not entirely like that. My Daode Sect has many disciples, and it's inevitable that there are good and bad people mixed together. For example, among the seven vein disciples, there are quite a few who are arrogant and look down on others. Slowly but surely, they will also corrupt these new children who have just entered the path. If you always tolerate them, they will only continue to pester you. You can rest assured that my Daode Sect has strict rules, and Purple Qing Shifu is iron-faced and impartial, and won't let anyone do as they please. No matter who it is, as long as they break the sect's rules, there will be corresponding punishment."

  As soon as Yunfeng Daoren deliberately and heavily spat out the strict words of the door rule, Ji Ruochen immediately had an epiphany and already had a plan in mind. Since Yunfeng himself said that one-sided tolerance was not the best strategy, Ji Ruochen was not the kind of good man who would let someone hit his left cheek and then offer his right cheek to be hit as well. He wouldn't be foolish enough to provoke that arrogant and rude little girl, but if another unexpected disaster came knocking on his door again, he couldn't be blamed for having a plan in place.

  It was Yun Feng's words that followed that made his heart skip a beat.

  However, this is also a matter of course. You are the body of a banished immortal, so all eight true men have given you special attention. However, this is a secret within our sect, and these disciples do not know about it. Seeing that you don't put in any effort, yet having eight true men jointly teach you, this is indeed a unique blessing within our sect! They will naturally harbor dissatisfaction.

  "Degraded immortal? Isn't that referring to an immortal who has fallen to the mortal world?" Ji Ruocheng asked, bewildered. But in fact, he had already vaguely felt something was off, and it seemed that those eight powerful True Men were treating him with such favor precisely because of these two words "degraded immortal". However, since he was orphaned and had been drifting around the world since childhood, how could he possibly be a degraded immortal?

  Yunfeng Daoren chuckled and said: "It's me who spoke too much. You don't have to worry, just remember to cultivate diligently."

  Having said that, Yunfeng Dao Ren again reminded him not to indulge too much in miscellaneous studies and neglect the practice of "Taiqing Zhisheng Jue", then went out.

  Ji Ruo stood still in the room, muttering to himself: "Demoted immortal, demoted immortal... how could I possibly be a demoted immortal?" He repeated this dozens of times, then suddenly let out a low cry and snatched off the blue stone pendant from his neck, holding it up for close examination. His hands trembled and sweat poured down like rain.

  Ji Ruocheng's heart was racing faster and faster, as if it was going to jump out of his chest. His body gradually became cold, and he thought: "Demoted immortal, demoted immortal... Could it be him? That fat sheep? It must be! When I first entered the sect, Ziwei Palm Teach still sent Qing Shi to take a look at this stone. This stone is not mine! Could it be that I killed an immortal? What should I do? Will I be directly struck down to the 18th level of hell or be killed by heavenly thunder?... But if he was really an immortal, how could I have killed him?"

  With a thud, Ji Ruochen felt dizzy and lightheaded, his whole body weak, and he fell back into the chair, for a moment, his mind was completely blank.

  After a long time, Ji Ruochen's frightened soul had just calmed down, and he could carefully recall the situation that day. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the fat sheep was extraordinary and seemed to have an otherworldly aura, which was really not right at all. Not to mention anything else, just from walking through the vast wind and sand, its body was spotless, without a speck of dust, which could be seen as an unusual place for this fat sheep. As he thought about it, Ji Ruochen's cold sweat slowly seeped out again.

  He mustered up his spirits and racked his brains to find evidence that the fat sheep was not an immortal: "However, if he were really an immortal, he should have had some magic power to protect himself from being killed by me. It can be seen that he is not a banished immortal... Wait, magic power!?"

  Ji Ruochen suddenly jumped up, and with a wave of his hand, he slapped the agarwood paperweight on the table. As soon as his mind moved, the separation technique naturally emerged from the bottom of his heart. The agarwood paperweight suddenly burst into light, splitting into countless tiny wood fibers, which then exploded into a faint blue mist with a loud bang. In an instant, the room was filled with flying brushes and inkstones, scattered papers, and even the extremely hard huanghuali wooden desk was cracked open in several places.

  Ji Ruochen was shocked by the wooden energy, and he retreated several steps, fell to the ground, and couldn't get up for a while. He didn't suffer much injury, but his heart was extremely shocked, causing his hands to feel numb and weak.

  "Isn't this the secret of immortality?" He fell to the ground with a thud.

  Ji Ruochen had learned how to draw talismans, cast spells, and perform rituals. He was even taught by the renowned Taiewei Zhenren, who was known as the number one in the Taoist sect for his mastery of internal alchemy. According to legend, he could even summon the divine lightning of the nine heavens! However, using these techniques was extremely troublesome. Most required a strong foundation of true energy, and had to be supplemented with magical tools, talismans, and other things. Some special techniques even required setting up an altar and array, and preparing for several days before they could be performed. The incantations and methods used in the techniques were also incredibly complex. A tiny mistake could result in no effect at all, or worse, trigger a backlash of the technique that could have unpredictable consequences. For example, when Zhang Yin tried to use the "Wooden Sword Technique", he lost control of it and almost pierced Ji Ruochen with a single sword strike.

  At this moment, even with the Lingfu in hand, it is impossible to trigger the Taoist techniques attached above. But as soon as the Jieyun notion moves, the Xiangmu Zhentian will be separated into pure wood energy in an instant. The way of getting it is also mysterious and unpredictable. How can the subtlety of this place be described in words? Is this not a fairy trick, what is it?

  This trick was actually from the green stone, and this green stone was originally worn on that fat sheep's body. As soon as he thought of this, Ji Ruocheng's face suddenly looked even more ugly.

  At this moment, Ji Rufeng suddenly understood that the true immortals treated themselves and ordinary disciples differently, precisely because of his banished immortal identity. He suddenly floated out a somewhat disrespectful thought, the moral sect has high-ranking people, this time they are afraid of finding the wrong person.

  But what's next? Should he reveal to these true immortals that he is not some banished immortal, but just a small servant running errands at an inn, and they have actually found the wrong person? Ji Ruochen smiled wryly and shook his head. He was not someone who didn't understand human emotions and worldly affairs, and he knew that the leader of the Dao De Sect valued face extremely highly. On that day when the Dragon Gate Inn was besieged, the three true immortals of the Dao De Sect had effortlessly suppressed all the heroes with just a few words, without even needing to draw their swords - what kind of prestige was that? What kind of aura was that? If it were to be made known throughout the land that the Dao De Sect had gone to such great lengths only to snatch the wrong person, it's likely that even hundreds of years later, this matter would still be a laughingstock among cultivators over tea and dinner.

  After spending some time together, Ji Ruochen observed that there were a few true people whose hearts and lungs could not be said to be very broad. If they knew that such a big joke had occurred on their own body, although it was not their fault, they would randomly shift the blame, and the consequences would be unbearable. Heavenly Thunder, Prison Fire, Thorny Vines, Wheel Blades, and Whirlwind, these things are not only used in Taoist techniques to attack enemies, but also work well when used as private punishment. On that day, Ji Ruochen was surrounded and beaten by a crowd of people, and he had already personally experienced the taste of the Five Elements Qi, the Four Symbolic Powers, and the various divine powers born from the rotation of the True Origin on his skin. This kind of good thing, he didn't want to experience it many more times.

  Even if the true people don't take private revenge, he's just a small servant in an inn, what virtue or ability does he have to be listed on the wall of the Daoist sect? The other true people don't need to do anything to him, they can just throw him into the Western Mystic Mountain. With his meager dao achievements, in the vast and endless Western Mystic Mountain, he'll either die at the hands of demons or beasts, or starve to death in the desolate mountains.

  Moreover, Ji Ruochen shivered and recalled the 180,000-mile runaway thoughts, having to face the most feared fact in her heart. If the Dao Zong True People knew that the real master was killed by him...

  What's going on? What's happening?

  Ji Ruochen felt his whole body go soft, his hands and feet weak, unable to even stand up. Cold sweat poured out in waves, soaking through both his inner and outer robes. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, forcing himself to struggle to his feet, climb onto a bamboo bed on one side of the house, sit down cross-legged, take deep slow breaths, silently recite incantations, hoping to use this to calm his mind, quietly think of a plan.

  Just as Ji Ruochen's shock was gradually subsiding, his six senses were calming down, and his inner pulse was just beginning to clear up, he suddenly remembered that the stone cushion under him was taken from the bottom of the North Pole Ice Pool, which had the great effect of calming the mind and driving away evil spirits. It was exactly what Yu Xuanzhen gave him not long ago. So he was in a flurry again, almost falling off the couch headfirst.

  Ji Ruochen finally calmed down and slowly entered the profound and mysterious realm where all sounds ceased. At this time, he vaguely saw a faint yellow glow flowing through his body. However, there was a slight stinging sensation wherever the true yuan passed, which was very different from his usual feeling. Ji Ruochen was startled and quickly calmed himself to take a closer look, only to discover that his true yuan was entwined with a strand of indistinct green gas. It was unclear whether it was due to his possession of the Separation Key, but at this moment, Ji Ruochen was extremely sensitive to the aura of various true yuans, as if he could see through fire. After calming himself for a moment, he had already discovered that the strand of green gas was actually pure wood energy, which came from the piece of agarwood paper that he had separated earlier. The wood energy entwined around his true yuan and accompanied it, gradually being absorbed into his meridians and becoming part of his true yuan.

  Ji Ruochen also discovered that his true yuan was much stronger than the day before, but all the meridians he passed through had a hidden burning pain. He concentrated and thought back, knowing that most of it was the wood energy produced by Zhang Yinyin's wooden sword being absorbed by himself, which turned into his own true yuan after a night of hard work.

  Ji Ruocheng's heart was both shocked and delighted, delighted that the separation technique was indeed extraordinary, unlike ordinary Taoist techniques, it was wonderfully mysterious and had endless uses. What shocked him was that if this separation technique was so magical, then that fat sheep must be a banished immortal, which further confirmed his own speculation.

  What if he has an elixir of life, or maybe he's not dead at all...

  Ji Ruoxin felt a chill in her heart and didn't dare to think about it anymore. But things have their own order of importance, and although the matter of the banished immortal was a big deal, the most pressing task at hand was to deceive the true immortals of the Dao De Zong. As for why the banished immortal with the celestial key was knocked down by him with just one blow, that's something to be thought about in more detail when there's free time later.

  After calming down, Ji Ruochen began to carefully recall the entire incident. Escaping was not possible, and confessing would not be a wise move either. The only way out was to continue pretending as if nothing had happened.

  The shopkeeper had also said that there is no gain without getting up early. These true men of the Dao De Zong have not yet become immortals and have not reached the state of having no desires or demands, so they get up very early, naturally with something in mind. It seems that the key to the problem lies in figuring out what these true men want to gain from the banished immortal, only then can we grasp the initiative. And learning Daoist techniques is not only indispensable but also requires even more diligence, this is the capital for escaping and fleeing.

  Ji Ruocheng's side was as anxious as ants on a hot pot, while the Tianxuan Peak opposite Taichang Peak was also in an uproar.

  "Dad, Ji Ruochen is so hateful, you must help me get revenge!" Zhang Yin's small face turned bright red, with two teardrops rolling in her eyes, ready to fall at any moment. She raised her right sleeve high and stretched out a white as snow arm in front of Jing Xuan Zhenren. On that slender arm were several purple bruises, quite shocking to behold.

  Jing Xiao Zhenren's secular surname was Zhang, and his wife Lan also had a great reputation in the Daoist sect. Jing Xiao Zhenren didn't have this daughter until he was over 40 years old, and Zhang Yin was extremely intelligent and talented, so naturally, she was extremely spoiled. As time passed, she developed an extremely arrogant and willful temperament. After last night's conflict, she suffered some minor injuries from the wooden energy, and after returning to Tian Xuan Peak, she was afraid of being scolded by her parents, so she endured the pain silently for a whole night. It wasn't until dawn that Lan discovered that she was having some difficulty moving, and only after repeated questioning did she roughly understand what had happened the previous day.

  But Zhang Yin couldn't clearly explain how she got hurt. She just said that she stabbed out with her sword, and the wooden sword suddenly disappeared, then a green light flashed, and she was injured. As she spoke, her small mouth pouted again, and she began to demand that her parents take revenge for her.

  Although Zhang Yin added a lot of details to her story, Lan He and Jing Xiao Zhenren still understood that this was because she had provoked the situation first and bullied others with her power. Jing Xiao Zhenren has always been very protective of his daughter, if he usually saw his beloved daughter get hurt, even if he didn't punish the disciple who caused it, at least he would comfort Zhang Yin a lot.

  However, Jing Xiao's reaction this time was far beyond Zhang Yin's expectations. He gently wiped his finger on the wound on Zhang Yin's arm, sniffed it at the tip of his nose, and actually praised: "Good pure wood energy! Not a bit of impure energy, really rare!"

  Lan Yan said: "If Dust can control such pure wood energy as soon as he starts practicing, it seems that his talent should be in Wood-type Dao techniques."

  Jing Xiao nodded and said, "Most likely! Xing Lan, take a look at our Tianxuan Peak to see if there's any treasure that can enhance Mu Qi's cultivation. Send one over to Ruochen later."

  Lan didn't stay for long and immediately headed out, saying as he walked: "Things shouldn't be delayed, I remember there's still a piece of Thousand-Year Old Dragon Wood Plaque, let's go find it and have a disciple deliver it to Ruochuan."

  Jing Xiao, the true person, clapped his hands and said: "This is great! Good job, virtuous wife!"

  He absent-mindedly comforted Zhang Yin for a few sentences, then hastily left, muttering to himself that he still had to go through the treasure vault to see if there were any other suitable treasures to give away.

  In the room, Zhang Yin was left alone, stunned and motionless like a wooden chicken. She had never expected her parents to react this way, and it wasn't until after a while that she came back to her senses, suddenly bursting into loud sobs! After crying out several times, Zhang Yin suddenly jumped up again, wildly smashing and throwing everything in sight within the room, shouting loudly: "Ji Ruochen! You wait for me! Miss will not rest until this debt is repaid! I...I'm not done with you yet!"