Chapter 41

  The morning sunlight is always so captivating, with each ray sweeping across the mountains, refracting through the dew on the branches and shining onto a bug that seems to have just woken up. The bug jumps in surprise and scurries away. The sunlight continues its gentle pace, slowly making its way down from the mountaintop, and as the dew evaporates, not a single wisp of mist remains. The sound of a sword slicing through the air breaks the serene silence of the mountain morning, and the person on the sword seems to be in a hurry, with the sword's speed increasing rapidly, startling flocks of birds into flight.

  "Haha, it's finally my turn this time. The previous times we came to pick up the law treasures were all done by my senior sister. Humph, Lingming's cooking is so delicious, but she didn't even bring back a little for me. And what's with saying that food isn't easy to carry? Humph, can't a cultivator's storage ring hold anything? It's clear she was just making excuses.

  This person who controls the sword is Yunlei, one of Lingxu's two inner disciples. The power of good food is something even cultivators can't resist. Originally, it was both Tianhuai and Yunlei's task to come here every month to pick up a set of refined law treasures from Sunming. But after Tianhuai ate the delicious food at Sunming's place for the first time, she never let Yunlei do this task again.

  At first, Yunlei thought his senior sister was being considerate of him as her junior brother. But later on, every time Yunlei asked to go, Tianhuai would hem and haw, using some unrelated excuses to brush him off. She'd say things like 'Yunlei junior brother is the sect's hope, the sect's 7-8 o'clock sun, the sect's flower...' which left Yunlei completely confused.

  Finally, one time when Tianhuai came back from Sunming's place with a full belly and was caught by Yunlei, that led to this trip where Yunlei got to indulge in a big food fest."

  "Not letting me come? Humph, is the master sister that great? No big deal, I'll just tell Master, neither of us will have anything to eat." Yun Lei muttered to himself as he flew away.

  "Lingming, come out quickly, I'm here, Yunlei!" Yunlei shouted in front of the mountain, not that he didn't want to go in directly, but the illusion array on this rock wall was too powerful, and with his late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, he couldn't see where the array eye was.

  At last, after a moment of impulse to slash at people with his sword in Yun Lei, the rock wall in front of him flashed with a hint of spiritual light, and a stone gate appeared before him.

  "Brother Yun Lei, please come in. This flying sword is about to take shape and I couldn't go out to greet you." Sun Ming said, looking at the flying sword in front of him in the spiritual fire, while speaking to Yun Lei who was standing at the door.

  "What's going on? You're so slow this time, Lingming Shidi. Shijie said you had already refined the treasure a few days ago?" Yun Lei asked.

  "Hmm, I've refined three sets this time. For the next three months, please trouble Cloud Thunder and Ling Xiao to tell them that I will be in seclusion for three months." Sun Ming said.

  "Why? Are you going to make some breakthrough or something?" Yun Lei knew he would miss three chances of good food, and finally couldn't help but ask Sun Ming.

  "Hehe, it's just that I have some insights into the sect's kung fu methods. I always feel that my Golden Elixir initial stage cultivation is too low in this spiritual realm, even compared to when I was in seclusion." Sun Ming explained.

  "Hmm, I see. No wonder, our Ling Tian Sect has a rule that within 50 years, disciples who can't achieve Dan Shu Hua Ying won't be accepted as inner sect disciples by the elders. And most Jindan stage disciples don't have the qualifications to enter the inner sect of Ling Tian Sect. Your cultivation is indeed a bit low here." Yun Lei's words made Sun Ming's face turn red with embarrassment.

  It seemed that Yun Lei felt his words were too hurtful, so he immediately comforted Sun Mingdao; "Hehe, Lingming I was just casually saying it, don't take it to heart, besides your talent in refining equipment is very high, I think you will definitely become a great master in the future."

  "Haha, Cloud Thunder Shixiong, you're so scared. Although my cultivation is low, I still have some self-awareness. You just spoke the truth, how could I blame you? Don't flatter me, Da Zongshi, haha, what a nice name." Sun Ming said with a smile, looking at Cloud Thunder.

  Sun Ming fell silent, his expression turned serious, and the flying sword in front of him slowly took shape. Yun Lei, who was beside him, also held her breath and quietly watched Sun Ming refine the equipment.

  Along with the burning of the Hongmeng purple fire, a flying sword finally revealed its due brilliance.

  "Hmm, not bad, a mid-grade treasure device. With these materials, you can indeed refine a mid-grade treasure device. You're truly worthy of being a five-star refiner!" Yun Lei praised.

  Sun Ming just took a glance at Yun Lei and smiled. He thought to himself, "If you knew that I only used ordinary materials to refine these things, what expression would you have? Ask me where the other half is? Hehe, of course, it was secretly swallowed by me."

  After finishing a delicious meal and sending away Yun Lei, Sun Ming couldn't wait to ask Yun Zhongzi.

  "Master, are we going to start refining the Bundled Immortal Rope?"

  "Hmm, it's possible, but as your master, I'm still worried that someone will come to disturb you during your seclusion." Yun Zhongzi said.

  "Master, didn't I do as you instructed? Although it's true that I refined those 300 items within the first three months after arriving, I still gave them one set per month. You said this was to avoid arousing their suspicion, but a year has passed now, shouldn't we start?" Sun Ming thought for a moment and mentioned the effect of binding the Xian rope on YD.

  "Alright, alright, look at how anxious you are. But remember, this dragon tendon is hard to come by, there's only one of them, and it must be successful in one try. Otherwise, if nothing unexpected happens, you'll have to wait until you ascend to the heavenly realm before you can refine another bundle of immortal rope." Yun Zhongzi said.

  "Uh-huh, Master, I'll definitely succeed this time. Besides, you're still watching from the side, aren't you?" Sun Ming said with a smile.

  "Haha, you little scamp." Yun Zhongzi laughed and scolded.

  "Master, this is the Lingming's refined treasure for this month. Hehe, this time it's a whole three sets! And there's another set that's all medium-grade treasures." Yun Lei returned to the sect and reported to Ling Xiu Elder while burping contentedly.

  "Hmm, it seems that Lingming has made a significant breakthrough this time. He can actually refine nine precious artifacts in just one month and still maintain that one-third of them are mid-grade. This talent is truly admirable." Ling Xiao praised.

  "It's not that Master, Lingming has prepared so much this time for the three months of closed cultivation." Yunlei immediately explained when he heard Lingxu misunderstood.

  "This kid, couldn't he just come and tell me directly? Why must he work so hard on his own? If he were to exhaust himself to the point of collapse, that Tianyi would still be at odds with me." Ling Xiao said with a smile.

  "Hehe, yes indeed, Junior Brother Lingming is too polite." Yun Lei thought of the delicious food that Lingming had made and naturally praised him. However, he didn't notice that his distance from Master Ling Xiao was now only a few steps away.

  "Heh heh, Yun Lei, I'm going to ask you a few questions. You must answer carefully and truthfully!" Ling Xiao asked with a suddenly gloomy face.

  "Yes, Master, please ask. I will tell you everything I know." Yun Lei saw that Ling Xiao's face was gloomy and his voice trembled slightly when he spoke.

  "Yun Lei, how long have you and Tian Kui been under my tutelage?" Upon hearing Ling Xiao's question, Yun Lei was taken aback for a moment before responding as usual.

  "Ah, it's been almost fifty years now."

  "Hmm, it's been fifty years in the blink of an eye. Time really flies." Ling Xū sighed.

  "Uh-huh, it's really quick, Master." Just like that, Yun Lei and Ling Xiao started reminiscing about the past. In less than a cup of tea time, Yun Lei completely forgot about his sneaky eating habits and began chatting enthusiastically with Ling Xiao.

  "Do you still remember the year when all of you broke through to the Infant Transformation stage? Tian Kui was just a few days earlier than you, and yet this little kid didn't want to call her 'Shi Jie', so much so that he still held a grudge against that little girl." Ling Xiao laughed.

  "Of course I remember, otherwise why would my senior sister always be hitting me now?" Yun Lei replied without thinking.

  "Haha, Yunlei, was Lingming's cooking delicious today?" Lingxu asked with an unchanged expression.

  "It's delicious, of course it's delicious. I've never had anything so delicious before. It's even better than the places Master took us to try good food." Yun Lei blurted out without thinking, but as soon as she finished speaking, her face turned green. Tian Kui walked out from behind the screen with a mournful expression on his face.

  "Master, are you kidding me?!!" Yun Lei said with a mournful face.

  "Hmph, you actually dare to hide and not report to me, your two guts are getting bigger and bigger!!" Ling Xiao angrily said.

  "Master, spare us two, didn't you also say that everyone is equal in front of delicious food?" Tiankui said with a smile to Lingxu.

  "Hmph, everyone is equal in front of delicious food, but you are apprentices and I am the master, understand? From now on, don't bother with matters concerning Ling Ming." said Lin Xiao.

  "We don't care who's in charge! Master, it's just us two apprentices." Yun Lei asked, still not giving up.

  "Of course I went myself, I wouldn't be at ease if I let someone else go." Ling Xū suddenly changed his usual dignified appearance and smiled mischievously to Tian Kuí and Yún Léi.

  "It's over." Tiankui and Yunlei looked at each other with wry smiles, saying in unison.

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