When Ji Yuan spread out his four treasures of the study and used ink to write the small characters, Zhu Yan, who had left the courtyard where Ji Yuan was, hurried to the front yard of the official residence and sent a message to the old monk named Tang.
The old immortal master, who was chatting and laughing with Li Ping in the main guest hall in the front yard, was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that Fellow Daoist Zhu, who was so excited before, was going back now, and in such a hurry.
"Uh, Master Tang, what happened?"
Li Ping saw that the old immortal beside him was suddenly stunned for a moment, so he asked with concern. The latter looked at Li Ping and smiled.
"Nothing. Fellow Daoist Zhu seems to have had some sudden realization and wants to go back to meditate. He will not attend the dinner tonight. Let me apologize to Master Li on his behalf."
"Oh, no, no, of course, it's Immortal Zhu's business that's more important. I'll make a special trip to invite Immortal Zhu to a banquet some other day. Immortal, let's continue talking about Feng'er's business."
"Well, that's good. Let's continue. Feng'er is very talented and is indeed a good candidate..."
…
On this side, Zhu Yan walked out of Liping's official residence with the respectful farewell of the gatekeeper, then quickly walked into the street and returned to the immortal master's mansion where he was temporarily staying. There were already restrictions set up there, and there were also some measures that Zhu Yan had reinforced himself.
Zhu Yan walked hurriedly, and when the servants in the Immortal Palace saw him coming back from outside, they all bowed to him.
"Master Zhu!" "Greetings, Master Zhu!"
"Um!"
Zhu Yan just nodded lightly, breathing out of his nose, and returned to his retreat room without a moment's delay. After entering, he closed the door and immediately cast several prohibitions, and then he finally couldn't hold it back.
"Puff..."
A large pool of blood burst out from Zhu Yan's neck, and his chest was stained red with blood. The red spots on his body that had originally faded immediately reappeared, and even most parts of his body showed traces of burnt brown.
“Sizzle… Sizzle…”
Waves of smoke rose from Zhu Yan's body, with a faint red-gray color in it, as if the Samadhi Fire was still burning, and the feeling of pain became more intense.
However, Zhu Yan had a blank expression on his face at this moment. He stretched out one hand to grab his neck, and the other hand actually grabbed directly into his chest and pinched his heart. Demonic energy surged throughout his body, and he used powerful magic to suppress the sword intent left in the two wounds.
Zhu Yan temporarily suppressed the sword intent in just a moment, and about twelve hours later, part of the sword intent began to be sealed. The wound in the heart finally began to heal instead of relying on forced healing by muscles. The same was true for the broken neck. The bloodstains began to slowly dissipate bit by bit.
At this moment, there was still a large amount of blood floating in the room. All of it automatically flew back to Zhu Yan as his wounds healed, and not much was lost.
However, this did not completely eliminate the sword intent. It was like a chronic disease. Taking strong medicine might seem to heal quickly, but the root cause needed to be treated slowly. The burns on Zhu Yan's body were even more difficult to deal with, and he was in a tug-of-war with his body's recovery.
Zhu Yan's skin often looks like it has healed on its own, but a certain burn will always spread on its own, and soon turn red and charred again, and also burn Zhu Yan's magic power. Although it is not an unbearable fatal injury for Zhu Yan, the feeling is very bad, especially the pain, which is simply piercing.
"Humph, this is Ji Yuan's Samadhi True Fire. It's more difficult to deal with than I imagined!"
With a cold whisper, Zhu Yan actually stretched out his hand and clawed at the spot on his body where the burn was most severe.
"Ss ...
A terrible tearing sound was heard amid the blood. Zhu Yan actually tore off a piece of his own skin, and then reached out to several other places.
During this process, new skin and flesh continued to grow out. After another half a day, Zhu Yan appeared to have recovered as before, but the intense burning pain had faded a little, but it was still lingering. Occasionally, his neck and chest would feel as if a knife was cutting his heart and flesh.
If he wants to recover completely, all he can do is slowly and steadily. Even Zhu Yan cannot recover completely in a short period of time unless Ji Yuan helps. But the possibility is too small and Zhu Yan himself is unwilling to do that.
After returning to the Immortal Master's residence, Zhu Yan did not leave the house for ten days. Naturally, no one in the residence would disturb him. Even the cultivator named Tang did not ask any questions when he returned.
It was not until ten days later that Zhu Yan finally opened the door and came out. At this time, he was confident that even if Ji Yuan was in person, he might not be able to tell that his injuries had not yet healed.
…
In the Li Mansion, Li Ping was sitting in the living room with the old man named Tang who came to visit again. On the other side of the corridor outside, Li Feng was being brought into the living room by the steward.
Entering the hall, Li Feng saw his father and the immortal sitting together. He frowned immediately, but still stepped forward and saluted obediently.
"Li Feng pays respects to father, and to the Immortal."
"No need to be so polite! Come over here to your father."
Li Ping asked his son to encourage himself, then waved for him to come to his side. After all, Li Feng was estranged from his father, and was also a little afraid of his father, so he walked to his side cautiously.
"Feng'er, Master Tang is here to see you again. Apart from the Emperor, it's not easy for ordinary royal relatives to see Master Tang..."
Li Ping wanted to say something else, but the old man stopped him with a smile and took out a small talisman shining with silver light from his sleeve and placed it on the table.
"Feng'er, you don't need to worry about what Lord Li said. I am just an ordinary cultivator. There is no need to become his disciple just because of Lord Li's words. As the saying goes, a forced melon is not sweet. We immortal cultivators believe in fate. Here, this is a gift from melon."
Li Feng curiously reached out to touch the talisman on the table. With a poke of his finger, layers of silver light suddenly rippled on the surface of the talisman like water waves.
“Hahahaha… This is a Heart-Clearing Talisman that I refined. It can help you calm your mind and also has a small effect in exorcising evil spirits. Although it’s not a great treasure, I won’t give it away easily. Please accept it.”
Li Feng wanted it but didn't dare to take it, and seemed very hesitant, so the old man laughed again.
"Don't worry, I don't mean you have to become my disciple just because I accept it. It's just a gift I brought to you when I came to visit you."
Li Feng then felt relieved. He took the talisman in his hand and expressed his gratitude to the old immortal.
"Thank you, Immortal. Li Feng likes it very much!"
Li Ping on the side just sighed. This Immortal Tang really loved his son. How many people envied such an opportunity. The royal relatives all wanted to worship the immortal masters in the court as their teachers but had no way to do so. However, his silly son did not know how to appreciate his blessings.
The old immortal was very patient with Li Feng. He was confident that the child would definitely become his disciple.
"Feng'er, can you tell me why you are not willing to become my disciple?"
"I… "
Li Feng was a little hesitant. He was not stupid and knew that Mr. Ji might not accept him as his disciple. He also heard from Hero Zuo that there were countless people in the world who wanted to become Mr. Ji's disciple, but Mr. Ji seemed to have no disciples at all. Yet this thought had always remained in his mind.
Moreover, Mr. Ji had warned Li Feng not to practice spiritual techniques before his physique became strong enough. Maybe once he was able to come into contact with spiritual techniques, he might be accepted as a disciple by Mr. Ji. Even if Mr. Ji really did not accept disciples, Li Feng liked Zuo Wuji better by comparison.
Seeing Li Feng hesitating, Li Ping on the side spoke.
"Hey, this rebellious son has been practicing martial arts with a martial arts master who came with him every day recently. I think he is obsessed with martial arts."
"Martial arts?"
The old man surnamed Tang was slightly surprised, and then he laughed.
"Feng'er, martial arts are just minor techniques in the mortal world. Not only are they useless, but they also cannot transcend birth, old age, sickness and death. They are simply not comparable to the cultivation of immortals."
Li Feng frowned after hearing this. This was different from what Mr. Ji said, and it was also very different from the lofty ambitions and heroic spirit of Hero Zuo. Li Feng was obviously more willing to believe Ji Yuan and Zuo Wuji.
"Is that so, Immortal? But now there are Confucian and Martial Arts Temples being built everywhere. Is martial arts really useless?"
Li Feng was asking about martial arts, which was also what Ji Yuan and Zuo Wuji often talked about. But the old immortal cultivator certainly didn't think that a child understood what "Tao" was. He smiled and shook his head slightly.
"Martial arts are not worthy of being mentioned in the upper class. Nowadays, martial arts temples are being built everywhere, but they are only to stabilize the fortune of the Xia Yong Dynasty. Of course, there are some people in this world whose martial arts are so high that they are shocking, but there are too few of them to play any decisive role. I even think that they are no longer mortal figures and should not be confused with mortal tricks."
Li Feng felt that the old immortal master's next words were fallacious. Because some warriors were too strong, they were not practicing martial arts
"Yes, Feng'er, how can earthly tricks compare to immortal skills? Your martial arts master will be sent away by your father tomorrow. He can only do some basic moves. He teaches you martial arts just for money."
The steward who had been standing at the door opened his mouth and wanted to say something to his master, but when he thought of the instructions he received when he met Ji Yuan before the dinner that day, he finally did not speak.
But Li Feng couldn't help it. Even if Zuo Wuji didn't want him to say anything nonsense before, he couldn't bear to see the Martial Saint in his heart being slandered by his own father.
"Dad, what you said is too much! This little worldly trick has been talked about for hundreds or thousands of years. It may have been like this in the past, but it may not be like this now. Others may be like this, but what if the person who taught me is called Zuo Wuji?"
Seeing Li Feng's rather intense reaction, Li Ping was the first to become angry.
"Feng'er, you even dare to contradict your father?"
"I don't dare!"
Then Liping came to his senses again.
"Zuo Wuji? I seem to have heard of this somewhere..."
The old man named Tang on the side was a little dazed, then came back to his senses and asked.
"Zuo Wuji? Which Zuo Wuji? But the Martial Saint Zuo Wuji?"
"Exactly."
Li Feng looked at his father and then at the old immortal master and answered affirmatively, which made the old immortal master look deep in thought and his eyes flicker.
"He is teaching you martial arts? In this mansion?"
"Yes, Master Zuo originally didn't let me tell you, but my father was about to chase him away, so I told him."
After all, Li Ping had been an official for many years, and his ability to read people's expressions was no joke. When he saw the change in the old immortal master's face, he immediately realized that this Martial Saint was not just a name. However, in his heart, he inherently expected more from immortal arts than martial arts, so he said something in a soothing tone.
"Even if it is really the Martial Saint who is teaching you martial arts, compared to the immortal arts, martial arts are still ordinary..."
The old immortal master raised his hand to stop Li Ping from speaking any further.
"Lord Li, you are the Martial Saint, so we should still respect you. However, you cannot use a title to suppress me in accepting you as a disciple."
As he spoke, Immortal Master Tang stood up.
"Feng'er, I will come to see you another day. Lord Li, I have something else to do, so I'll take my leave now!"
"Uh, I'll see the Immortal Master off!"
"No!"
After paying his respects to Li Ping and Li Feng, Master Tang left the guest hall at the farewell of the two. He did not go to visit Zuo Wuji and just left the Li Mansion directly.