A hundred years ago, at the Snow Region Heavenly Lake.
...
In a bookshop, Qin Suihan, clad in a gray and white scholar's robe, sat solemnly, his scholarly demeanor undiminished. Across from him sat a woman in red, none other than the Nine-Tailed Fox.
Between them lay a chessboard. The game was complex and full of stratagems, but ultimately, Qin Suihan emerged superior.
"Mister Qin,"
The Nine-Tailed Fox smiled faintly, "You won this game after all."
"Hmph!"
Qin Suihan rose, flicking his sleeve. Immediately, streams of golden imperial decrees formed by Confucian Sages flowed past his eyes. He frowned and said, "Nine-Tails, your trickery in the five-match agreement was futile. Yan Beichen had his own Fourteenth Realm path waiting for him. Lin Zhao's grand scheme, from the moment he became commander of the three armies, sealed your demon race's defeat. You should have accepted your fate, so why, after a hundred years, would you resort to such cunning schemes to harm Lin Zhao's life?!"
The Nine-Tailed Fox stood, her posture incredibly graceful, and chuckled, "Oh, Mister Qin, what are you talking about? How could this little lady understand?"
"Don't understand?"
Qin Suihan picked up a willow twig, smiled, and asked, "Do you understand now?"
"You…"
The Nine-Tailed Fox gritted her teeth, "Qin Suihan, your divination skills have actually…"
Just then, a knock came from the door, followed by the voice of young Lin Zhao calling out, "Boss Qin, it's me!"
"Oh?"
Qin Suihan smiled, opened the courtyard gate with a flick of his sleeve, and said, "Come in."
"Alright!"
The young man rushed in like a gust of wind, hanging a pile of dried salted fish on the scholar's windowsill. He said, "A soak in water and it can be fried. Add some chili and green garlic, it's amazing. A great accompaniment for Boss Qin's wine!"
As he spoke, he secretly glanced at the woman opposite Boss Qin. What an unparalleled beauty!
Qin Suihan's gaze softened as he looked at the young man, finding it difficult to distinguish between the boy before him and the boy of that past time. He let out a gentle sigh, and instantly, everything around him froze in time. He raised a finger, gently pressing it against the Nine-Tailed Fox's forehead. Through her temporal divination techniques, he momentarily stepped into the state of mind of a hundred years later.
"Swish!"
In the woods, Liu Sheng, who was manipulating dozens of willow branches to whip the young boy, suddenly froze. A faint golden ripple appeared in the forest. Immediately, a middle-aged scholar in a gray and white long gown appeared before him. He looked at the boy, whose skin was ripped and bleeding, with heartache. Then, he turned to Liu Sheng and said calmly, "Must it really be this way?"
"I must!"
The Willow Tree Spirit let out a fierce roar. Instantly, the tips of the willow branches turned into sharp points, all directed at Qin Suihan.
Qin Suihan frowned and shattered them all with a sweep of his sleeve. "It's all just an illusion of divination, why go to such great lengths?"
The Willow Tree Spirit was shocked and quickly transformed into a clear breeze, retreating. Qin Suihan did not stop him, for this was a tribulation that Lin Zhao would face in a hundred years, alongside Wei Zhangjiao, the Grandmaster of the Daoist Ancestral Court. He could only offer support, not completely resolve it for them.
"Boss Qin!?"
The young boy slowly got up from the grass, his face contorted in pain. The willow branches had whipped him until his skin was torn and bleeding. However, seeing Qin Suihan, the boy was still very happy, a smile appearing on his face. "Boss Qin, it's been a long time… How did you get here, and where is this place? Can sir take me home? I miss mother…"
"Not this time."
Qin Suihan smiled. "I have to go."
"Ah?!"
A ripple of emotion suddenly surged in Lin Zhao's heart, as if by divine inspiration, some memories of Qin Suihan resurfaced. He vaguely recalled apprenticing under Qin Suihan and the time his master sacrificed himself for the world. Tears welled up in the boy's eyes. He cried, "Master, I've missed you all these years… When will we meet again?"
Qin Suihan gently stroked the top of the boy's head and said softly, "Wait, we will meet again."
As he spoke, Qin Suihan's figure dispersed with the wind. Lin Zhao did not know that as Qin Suihan stroked his head, a fiery red mark on his arm flashed and disappeared.
...
"Cun'er…"
Lin Zhao stood alone in the mountains for a long time. Suddenly, he remembered that Wei Huairou in the Broken Daoist Temple must be in grave danger. He immediately scrambled up the mountain.
By the time he entered the Daoist Temple, it was already bright daylight. He saw Wei Huairou sweeping fallen leaves in the courtyard.
"Cun'er!"
"Lin Zhao?"
Wei Huairou looked at Lin Zhao, surprised. Seeing his body covered in wounds, she knew he had been bullied. She frowned, "What happened? Who bullied you? I'll tell Master!"
"No!"
Lin Zhao gritted his teeth, "Cun'er, I'll say it again, your master is not a good person. Leave here with me immediately, or your situation will be very dangerous, do you understand?"
"Ah?"
Wei Huairou was astonished, "But… Master just told me that morning class is about to begin!"
Just then, Liu Sheng, dressed in elegant attire, walked out of the main hall. He looked at Lin Zhao and couldn't help but chuckle, "Where did you go gallivanting last night? Why are you back all injured? Here's some excellent wound medicine, apply it yourself."
Saying that, he tossed a medicine bottle.
Lin Zhao didn't catch it. His eyes glared at Liu Sheng, wanting to lash out, but fearing he might endanger Wei Huairou.
"Rou'er, let's go. We're going to the back mountain for morning class."
"Yes, Master!"
...
In the back mountain, there was a secret chamber cave dwelling.
Wei Huairou followed Liu Sheng, while Lin Zhao trailed far behind Wei Huairou. Wei Huairou kept looking back at Lin Zhao. In truth, she didn't want to leave Lin Zhao behind, but she couldn't help it. The Dao was difficult to attain, and she couldn't possibly give up this rare opportunity.
The moment the two stepped into the secret chamber, the stone door of the chamber shut tightly.
Lin Zhao sat outside the stone door, waiting until noon, but Wei Huairou still did not emerge.
Inside the secret chamber, all sounds and breaths were sealed off.
At this moment, Wei Huairou was bound to a stone pillar by willow branches. The branches had sharp thorns, and these thorn tips pierced Wei Huairou's body, drinking her vital energy. Wei Huairou cried out Lin Zhao's name, but her voice could not escape the secret chamber. Her face was filled with terror and despair, and she was on the verge of fainting from the pain.
Not far away, Liu Sheng, still in his elegant long gown, had willow branches extending from beneath it, continuously drawing Wei Huairou's vitality. He smiled and said, "Wei Huairou, your naturally affinity for the Great Dao, your root and bloodline, are truly delicious. After refining your bloodline, I might very well leap from the Third Realm to the Eleventh Realm! Tsk tsk, I should thank you, thank your greed, thank your distrust of Lin Zhao. If you had believed him and gone down the mountain earlier, I might not have succeeded so easily."
Wei Huairou's face was tear-streaked. She looked towards the outside of the secret chamber and cried, "Lin Zhao, I'm sorry… How could I have been bewitched and not believed you? I was wrong, I'm sorry, Lin Zhao…"
"Hmph!"
Liu Sheng sneered, "Time and fate. You, Wei Huairou, with your exceptional talent for the Great Dao, actually had a high chance of ascending to the highest realm of Daoism. What a pity, what a pity. You ultimately lack the fortune and can only be a stepping stone for others."
...
Outside the secret chamber cave dwelling.
Lin Zhao was long gone. He carried a woodcutting axe and went to the mountain range above the secret chamber cave dwelling, searching everywhere for an entrance. He peered into various mountain crevices. Finally, he used a rotten vine that could break at any moment to descend onto a rocky surface. Ahead was a crevice. As he looked down through the crevice, he felt like he was about to explode. He saw the miserable state of Wei Huairou imprisoned in the secret chamber, and even more so, the cruel scene of Liu Sheng absorbing and refining Wei Huairou's bloodline.
For a moment, the boy could barely contain himself. His heart was filled with rage. Without a second thought, he leaped down through the mountain crevice with his woodcutting axe.
"Boom!"
The instant the boy landed, the woodcutting axe swept across, shattering a large number of willow branches with a crackling sound. Liu Sheng was merely a Third Realm Willow Tree Spirit. Apart from some cunning methods, he was not much stronger than an ordinary person. Where the willow branches were cut, blood gushed out, a gruesome sight. Liu Sheng let out a series of pained roars, his Dao root injured.
Lin Zhao quickly got up and swung his woodcutting axe, chopping the vines binding Wei Huairou. As he was chopping, willow branches suddenly entwined and wrapped around Lin Zhao's body tightly. But at this moment, he found strength from somewhere, and in his rage, he violently stomped his feet, forcefully crashing into Liu Sheng's body.
"Lin Zhao!"
The thorn tips on Wei Huairou's body fell off one by one. She struggled desperately, her heart filled with anxiety as she watched Lin Zhao fight for her.
"You're seeking death!"
Liu Sheng, in a fit of rage, endured the severe pain and slammed his palm down from the air.
Lin Zhao suddenly twisted his body to dodge. At this very moment, a familiar burning sensation appeared on his right arm. He even lowered his head and saw wisps of blazing flames rising. It was the Qilin Fire Seal from before. For some reason, it had suddenly erupted. And as the Qilin Fire Seal erupted, Lin Zhao felt himself begin to gain cultivation, and his cultivation rapidly increased by leaps and bounds, instantly reaching the level of a Fourth Realm martial artist!
This perfectly matched Lin Zhao's external cultivation.
"Boom!"
He suddenly shattered all the willow branches binding him and then descended from the air, unleashing a powerful "Qi Tun Meng Ze Style" on Liu Sheng from above.
Wei Huairou stared, dumbfounded. Had Lin Zhao suddenly become so powerful?
With a great roar, Liu Sheng, the Third Realm Willow Tree Spirit, after taking a punch from Lin Zhao, a Fourth Realm martial artist, had his body shatter, and he perished instantly.
...
"Pfft…"
On the lake surface, Nine-Tails, caught in frozen time, spat out a mouthful of blood. She had believed her innate vital bone and temporal divination techniques were foolproof, even having a chance to destroy the Dao root of Wei Huairou, one of the Grandmasters of the Daoist Ancestral Court. However, she had underestimated her opponent from the chessboard. Qin Suihan was so powerful that he could see through the causal threads in her divination techniques with a single glance from a hundred years ago, and then intervene a hundred years ago to dismantle this scheme?!
By stroking Lin Zhao's head, he had reawakened the Qilin Fire Seal.
The legendary… "Immortal pats my head"?
Was the Confucian Sage, bestowed by heaven and earth, truly that formidable?