Similarly, Ji Yuan could understand Ji Yuan's dilemma about Jiufeng Mountain. On the one hand, the child's aura was very obvious, so it was normal for Jiufeng Mountain not to accept Aze as a member. But on the other hand, Aze was just a teenager who was overly sad because of the great changes in his family. After all, Jiufeng Mountain was an authentic Taoist sect and would not do anything extreme.
Ji Yuan withdrew his thoughts and looked at Aze again.
"So what are your plans?"
Aze always felt that crying in front of a stranger was a shameful thing, but just now he just couldn't stop his tears. At this moment, he quickly wiped away his tears with his sleeves. After hearing Ji Yuan's question, he didn't speak for a long time.
Ji Yuan rolled up his sleeves, crossed his legs, put his hands on his knees, and looked at Aze.
"Do you not know what to do and feel like there is no way forward?"
"Um… "
Aze turned his head to look at Ji Yuan again, and this time he finally discovered that Ji Yuan's eyes were grayish.
"Sir, your eyes..."
Ji Yuan smiled and looked at the distant mountains.
"Not everyone is born perfect. My eyes are not very useful, but fortunately I am still a little away from being completely blind, haha."
Even though Aze didn't have much experience, he felt that his eyes were probably not just not working well. Then he suddenly realized their current position and quickly stood up from the edge of the cliff to support Ji Yuan.
"Sir, get up quickly, this is the edge of a cliff!"
Ji Yuan was able to get up. With Aze's support, he stood up and walked a few steps away from the cliff.
At this time, Jin Xiu came over from afar and was about to greet Aze, when she suddenly found that there was someone standing next to Aze. Even though she had never seen Ji Yuan in person, she could guess at a glance that this was the master from Xianlai Peak.
Jin Xiu was a little afraid to speak, but Aze noticed her, smiled and waved at her.
"Sister Jin, you are here. This great gentleman is also staying in Jiufeng Mountain like me."
Ji Yuan turned his head to look at the girl who was walking towards him stiffly and nodded at her. After the latter approached, she put the tray in her hand to the side so that it floated in the air, and then saluted solemnly towards Ji Yuan.
"Hello, Mr. Ji!"
Ji Yuan was not surprised at all that the other party recognized him. After all, there were only a few outsiders in Jiufeng Mountain now. His features were so obvious, it would be strange if he didn't recognize him.
"Miss Jin, there's no need to be so polite."
When Aze saw Jin Xiu's expression, he turned to look at Ji Yuan again and immediately realized that this person was not an ordinary person at all. As if he knew what he was thinking, Ji Yuan smiled at him again.
"I just said I was from outside."
Compared to Aze's indifferent reaction, Jin Xiu was much more excited than him. After approaching Ji Yuan, he took a good look at Xianlai Peak and asked carefully.
"Master Ji, have you finished your book?"
Although she had told Aze about the master from Xianlai Peak several times before, she had not told Aze the name of the master due to certain considerations. But now that Ji Yuan was chatting with Aze, she naturally had no scruples.
Aze was not stupid either. He immediately realized that the great man in front of him was not just an ordinary person, but also the most powerful master that Jin Xiu had mentioned several times. However, apart from being surprised, he did not have any big reaction.
Ji Yuan nodded in reply.
"I finished writing and went out for a walk. I saw Aze sitting on the edge of the cliff. He didn't look like a disciple of Jiufeng Mountain, so I came to take a look."
Seeing that Ji Yuan was easy to talk to, Jin Xiu looked at Aze and spoke hesitantly.
"Master Ji, you have great reputation, can you please talk to the elders in the mountain and accept Aze into the mountain gate so that he can practice immortal magic?"
Jin Xiu still liked this sensible young man very much, and couldn't understand why he didn't accept Aze as a disciple of Jiufeng Mountain.
Ji Yuan was not in a hurry to agree and asked Aze.
"Do you want to cultivate immortality? Do you want to learn the magic of immortality?"
Perhaps because of his previous impression, Aze did not call Ji Yuan "Immortal Master" like Jin Xiu did, but continued to use the previous title.
"Sir, Sister Jin said that you are a very powerful master. I would like to ask if you have any magic that can bring people back to life?"
Ji Yuan's thoughts flowed, and he thought of the underworld and the old beggar's apprentice Yang Zong, but ghosts and living souls that have not yet become ghosts are not comparable. Some evil methods seem to be able to achieve similar purposes, but they are not true resurrection.
"Birth, aging, sickness and death are the laws of nature, and the dead have their own place to go."
There was no direct answer to this question, but the meaning was very clear. Upon hearing this, Aze looked at Jin Xiu and then at Ji Yuan, and after opening his mouth, he spoke.
"I... it's good to learn immortal arts or go back..."
Jin Xiu's face lit up with joy when she heard this. She was afraid that Aze would look hopeless and not think about anything.
Ji Yuan looked at him and then at Jin Xiu beside him. Then he seemed to feel something and looked towards the direction of Tiandao Peak. There was a brown-robed monk flying on the wind and soon landed on the cliff.
Jin Xiu was startled and quickly pulled Aze to salute together.
"Meet the Master!"
Ji Yuan also bowed.
"Master Zhao."
Zhao Yu also returned the gift to Ji Yuan and nodded to Jin Xiu and Aze.
"Mr. Ji, I thought it would take you several years to deduce the book, but I didn't expect it to be so fast. I would like to congratulate you in advance!"
"Thank you, Master Zhao. This matter was a natural outcome. It was not that difficult. It was all thanks to the precious land of Xianlai Peak."
The two of them smiled at each other, which was a little bit of complimenting each other.
It seemed that the arrival of Zhao Yu, the head of Jiufeng Mountain, made Aze feel reserved and somewhat resistant. Zhao Yu obviously noticed this, so he did not stand too close to Aze.
Ji Yuan glanced at the tray that was still floating, and said to Jin Xiu and Aze.
"You guys eat first. I want to talk to Master Zhao. Master Zhao, please!"
"Mr. Ji, please!"
The two of them withdrew their gaze from Jinxiu and Aze, left the edge of the cliff, and walked towards the mountain on one side.
After they were some distance away, Ji Yuan said to Zhao Yu.
"Master Zhao, what is Jiufeng Mountain going to do with this young man Zhuang Ze?"
Zhao Yu looked back at the small courtyard and house on the edge of the cliff, then looked at Ji Yuan and answered.
"I believe Mr. Ji also knows the peculiarities of this young man. It is inconvenient to send him down the mountain. Perhaps he can be admitted to the mountain gate, cast a spell to protect his mind, and then teach him the method of purifying his mind. If it succeeds, it will be a good thing. If not, he can just spend the rest of his life in Jiufeng Mountain."
This can indeed be regarded as taking in Aze, but Ji Yuan is not sure how much effect it will have. After all, this is not an ordinary interference from external demons or possession by demons.
"I've spent my life in the mountains..."
Ji Yuan sighed. This was very cruel for a child, but this might also be a good result. After all, when he looked at Aze in the Dharma form some time ago, he still had a deep impression of the lingering feeling. He just didn't know what would happen if Aze strongly opposed this matter one day.
"Or, Mr. Ji, do you have any good ideas?"
After hearing this, Ji Yuan thought about it and shook his head.
"It's not a brilliant idea, but I would like to take this boy to the Nine Peaks Cave Heaven to have a look. It's sad for an ordinary boy to have such a big change in his family, but it's also unusual for him to develop a sign of self-destruction."
No matter how rational and calm the demons are, they often act more extreme than monsters, and like to lead people to depravity so as to transform them into demonic bodies. They are also more feared than monsters and other evil creatures.
Zhao Yu nodded in agreement.
"In fact, I have already ordered people to go down the mountain to take a look. There is nothing special about it. Jiufeng Cave Heaven is controlled by Jiufeng Mountain. There is no possibility of external demons. Apart from some gods and spirits conferred by Jiufeng Mountain, there are no monsters. It would be great if Mr. Ji could go and take a look."
Ji Yuan had heard the general idea of this matter from the old beggar, and now he had just received confirmation from the headmaster of Jiufeng Mountain, so he didn't think much about it.
"Then I will take Zhuang Ze down the mountain. By the way, I will ask Master Zhao to issue a decree from the Nine Peaks Mountain, so that the underworld over there can open a door for Zhuang Ze to see his relatives?"
"Of course you can. Sir, just take this with you."
As he spoke, Zhao Yu took out a token from his sleeve and handed it to Ji Yuan. The latter took the token and saw that it was completely black and he didn't know what it was made of, but there were several golden seal characters in the middle, which meant: "Five Thunders obey orders."
"Thank you in advance, Ji."
"You're welcome, sir."
The two of them were strolling in the mountains and began chatting about Ji Yuan's book. They didn't talk about the details of the content, but just talked about how the book's development to a certain extent caused changes in Xianlai Peak. Zhao Yu used this to guess the possible changes that might be included in the "Miaohua Tianshu" and asked Ji Yuan to judge whether his guess was correct.
When Aze finished his meal, he saw only Ji Yuan coming back. Looking behind him, they didn't see the head of Jiufeng Mountain. Jin Xiu and Aze seemed to be relieved.
"Aze, let's go to your hometown. Aren't there a few friends of yours who have gone to other places? How about we go and see them too?"
Aze's face lit up.
“Can I go down the mountain now?”
As soon as Ji Yuan heard it, he knew that Aze was not completely unaware of his situation. He could vaguely feel Jiufeng Mountain's attitude towards him. Unfortunately, he had to come back, so Ji Yuan had to add a sentence.
"We can go down the mountain, but we have to come back. We'll go visit your hometown, your friends, and your family in the underworld."
Jin Xiu, who was standing nearby, immediately became excited when she heard this. Our Jiufeng Mountain has long had a ban that forbids interfering in the affairs of the gods and the mortal world. If she could go with us, she would have the opportunity to see the colorful world and even meet the ghosts and gods of the underworld.
"Master Ji, Master Ji, can you take me with you? I want to go too!"
Ji Yuan glanced at her, then looked at Aze, and nodded.
"That's fine. Go tell your teacher. If he agrees, you can go with us."
"Hahaha! Grandpa will definitely agree! I'll go right away!"
Jin Xiu carried the tray with the dishes and chopsticks and ran towards the back mountain. After running for a while, she stopped and turned back to shout something.
"Master Ji, you must wait for me!"
"Go ahead."
Ji Yuan smiled and turned to look at Aze. He saw that the young man was completely immersed in the joy of "visiting his family" and had no emotion at all about having to go back to Jiufeng Mountain.