Chapter 4: The Ten True Words

  The four of them walked out of the grand hall, and except for Lin Fan, the other three had a somewhat bewildered look on their faces. Lin Fan couldn't help but feel amused in his heart - these three were all naive and innocent, probably never having left the mountain since they were young. Lin Fan was different; he had even been to Zhongzhou before. At that time, one of the sect's masters had passed away, and the sect master had gone to pay his last respects, bringing Lin Fan along to broaden his horizons.

  Everyone's gaze turned to Gu Yan, the team captain appointed by the sect leader. Gu Yan furrowed his brow for a long time before waving his hand: "Let's set off."

  Lin Fan reminded: "Is it time to pack up and get ready to leave, and also bring some money with us?"

  "Money?" The other three looked at Lin Fan.

  Lin Fan was shocked and asked: "Have you all been avoiding food?"

  The three of them nodded in unison, simultaneously surprised. In the foundation-building period, they had practiced fasting and refined their Qi, which was a common practice. Of course, the three of them had not yet reached the level where they could completely abstain from food and water, but those who fasted would generally avoid meat and drink mountain spring water, dig up some wild vegetables, and be able to get by.

  The four of them were somewhat awkward with each other, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Finally, Gu Yan said, "Pack up your bags and bid farewell to the sect master. Let's meet at Qi Li Pavilion at the foot of the mountain tomorrow at Chen time."

  They nodded to each other, and everyone showed their skills. Gu Yan rode his sword and moved the fastest. Ye Wushuang took out a scroll of spells from a bamboo tube and stepped on it to move, ranking second in speed. The third place was Lin Fan's Wind Chasing Symbol. Bai Mu was the slowest, using the Wind Chasing Technique. After watching the three leave, Lin Fan followed, having gained some understanding of his teammates.

  Not afraid of an opponent like a god, just afraid of teammates like pigs.

  Lin Fan returned to Zhengyi Sect. Zhang Lao was playing chess alone in the side hall, seeing Lin Fan: "Lin Fan, these are the ten true sayings that Xiao San asked me to give you before he closed his door."

  Also learned to play clever tricks. Lin Fan took over the letter and read it out loud: "First article: The thirty-sixth trick is to run away as the best plan, if you can't beat them, you should run, even if you can beat them, you should prepare to run, you must be prepared to run at any time, think about running and be able to run. Second article: If a friend dies, don't die for poverty, when escaping with your life, you must go all out, don't abandon your companions, two lives are not necessarily without the opportunity to turn over... The Sect Master wrote this on black paper with white ink, is it really okay?"

  Zhang Lao shook his head: "Continue watching."

  "The third, the literature will not record how you win over your opponent in a fair and square manner, but only record that you defeated your opponent or your opponent defeated you. If you can defeat your opponent by stabbing them in the back, then don't fight with them head-on."

  "The fourth article: Keep away from evil people and do not approach wicked people."

  After reading the four lines, Lin Fan put away the letter and returned to his own room to pack his bags. Among these ten lines, six of them were what the sect leader must hand over to him every time he went out. There's also "Li Ke Qian, Li You Bu Ke Qian". It means that on the surface, one should be humble, but if someone wants to give you a gift, don't decline it. Firstly, it's afraid of hurting the giver's feelings, and secondly, don't refuse something that's given for free. The Righteous Path doesn't have such foolish disciples.

  "There's a master for every apprentice. No wonder he doesn't take in many disciples, it turns out he's afraid of bringing disaster to everyone."

  ……

  After a hundred days of foundation-building, Lin Fan's cultivation had improved, and he no longer sweated profusely when traveling. He flew with the wind, his movements light and effortless. The Seventh Mile Pavilion was already in sight, and he scattered the Wind Chasing Symbol, which gently floated down outside the pavilion like a feather. Gu Yan had arrived, standing tall with his hands behind his back. Lin Fan bowed: "Senior Brother!"

  "Junior brother." Gu Yan nodded slightly, which was equivalent to a greeting.

  The third one to arrive was Ye Wushuang. Before landing, she put away the scroll and placed a volume of it into a bamboo tube. After landing, she bowed: "Senior Brother, Junior Brother."

  "Older sister."

  "Junior sister."

  Lin Fan didn't like this game, every time they met, he had to be called once, and there were four people on this side. How many times did he have to do it every day? However, the master ordered him to be humble, so he humbled himself.

  Bai Mu arrived soon after, and everyone started another round of insincere pleasantries. Gu Yan led the way, with everyone following silently behind him. Gu Yan ran quickly at first, but then slowed down, feeling that it was not right. However, he slowed down too much, causing Bai Mu to also slow down his pace. Although no one said a word, they were all being overly polite, without any of the impulsiveness of youth. It was completely like a formal meeting between relatives for the first time, with everyone being excessively courteous.

  The situation suddenly reversed after an hour.

  The eastern continent is mountainous, and four people are flying in mid-air when a woman suddenly calls out from the mountains: "Save me!"

  An ancient rock lowered its head to look, a white-clothed woman was running, constantly falling down. A half-humanized mountain goblin was closely chasing after her. The ancient rock shouted: "Moon-cutting sword." A precious sword flew out of the scabbard and broke through the air, directly attacking the mountain goblin. The mountain goblin had some magical powers, it flipped over and flew out more than a hundred feet away. With a single wave of its hand, countless vines sprouted from the ground, trapping the moon-cutting sword tightly.

  "Break!" Gu Yan's hand formed a sword seal, and the Cutting Moon Sword burst out of the rattan.

  At this time, the mountain goblin spread its arms and flew with the wind. A black air palm shot towards the ancient rock, who calmly pressed a sword key, and two more treasure swords flew out. One sword blocked the black air, and one drew an arc, attacking the mountain goblin from the side.

  Shan Wai burst out laughing, dodged the incoming sword and fled into the dense forest. Gu Yan pressed down on his sword light and chased after him. Ye Wu Shuang and Bai Mu arrived shortly after, exchanged a glance, urged their true energy, accelerated to follow Gu Yan, and charged into the dense forest.

  Because he disliked this awkward environment, Lin Fan was the last to arrive. He had seen everything from the front, but he had no interest in pursuing them into the dense forest, which was clearly a trap. Lin Fan sat down beside the woman who was being chased and asked, "Who are you?"

  The girl bowed her head and said: "Thank you, immortal elder, for saving my life. I am but a humble maiden..."

  "Head of the family, you're playing house?" Lin Fan asked.

  The woman was startled and looked up at Lin Fan: "How can you see through my obstacle method?" Dispersing the spell, revealing her true form, wasn't she Qian Yu, the leader of Yun Qing Men?

  Lin Fan said, "Because I've been here before, there's no human habitation within fifty miles. Moreover, we flew above, you shouted for help on the ground with a full breath... Normally, when someone escapes and shouts for help, they're hysterical, and most women's cries are unclear about what they're shouting. This place is only sixty miles away from Yun Qing Mountain, how could there be any demonic cultivators practicing here?"

  "How did you know it was me?"

  Lin Fan replied: "I thought for a long time and didn't expect there would be others who are so bored."

  "Your companions have been captured, why don't you hurry up and rescue them?"

  "No rush, since it's a trial set up by you, Senya, the mountain goblin will definitely come after me. It lures the enemy in deep, and I'll learn as I go, let's invite him into the urn." Lin Fan pulled out a yellow paper and began to draw talismans and arrange an array.