IW: Chapter 267 - Bai Ye's Status in Nine Uncle's Heart, Nine Uncle's Smile Was Harder to Suppress Than an AK!
"Daoist friend, you are different. We can only pray that the revival of the spiritual meridian will bring us some minor breakthrough in our cultivation. But even if it doesn't wake up, your personal achievements will undoubtedly surpass ours by a wide margin."
Although the praise made him feel a bit pleased, Uncle Nine caught himself before he became truly carried away.
He quickly adjusted his demeanor, remaining perfectly aware of his own standing. Before crossing paths with the young master of lightning, Uncle Nine had genuinely never imagined that a practitioner of such monstrous, rule-breaking talent could actually exist in this world.
"Daoist Brother, the right cosmic timing, the ideal geographical location, and the right human connections are all indispensable factors for success."
If a standard prodigy lacks the necessary medicinal herbs and spiritual environments, they will ultimately plateau and end up entirely mediocre.
Of course, transcendent anomalies were completely exempt from that rule. Bai Ye internally admitted that he didn't technically belong to that natural elite, but his strength had grown exponentially due to the unique system interface operating behind his consciousness.
"Daoist friend, the way you spin your words..."
Even though he knew it was merely polite comfort, the phrasing still brought a genuine, warm sense of satisfaction to Uncle Nine's chest.
"Can you two please stop rubbing each other's shoulders?"
Ma Ma Di casually dug his index finger into his nostril, his eyes tracking back and forth between the two men as they traded mutual compliments.
He felt that if he didn't rudely break the momentum right now, this circular praise session would easily drag on for the rest of the afternoon.
"That's exactly right! Senior, where is my cousin, Ren Tingting?!"
Awei suddenly shoved his way forward, his eyes darting frantically around the immediate area. He had been scanning the perimeter for a long time without finding a single trace of her.
Granted, Uncle Nine hadn't explicitly promised that the young lady would accompany the group when he first announced the meeting.
But shouldn't that have been the default assumption?
He naturally figured that since the master was traveling down the mountain, he would obviously bring his primary disciples along for the journey. Furthermore, Master Ren was still residing back in the family estate. Knowing that her master was coming down to this specific region, she should have jumped at the chance to return and visit her family, right?
Not seeing her silhouette anywhere made Awei's chest tighten with genuine anxiety.
"Show some respect!"
Wencai yanked Awei back by his collar, completely displacing him before turning toward the lightning master with a strained, overly polite smile. "Senior, is Junior Sister Ren Tingting currently bedridden with an illness?!"
Awei's grip tightened in frustration, but he kept his mouth shut. Their goals were perfectly aligned right now.
If the young lady hadn't traveled down the mountain at all, then all of his current primping and posturing would be a total waste of energy. He held his breath, waiting for a definitive answer regarding her whereabouts.
"You absolute fools!!!"
Uncle Nine's temper flared instantly. Without wasting a single breath, he raised his hand and cracked a hard knuckle directly against each of their skulls.
He had literally just been hoping that these two wouldn't completely ruin his reputation in front of an esteemed guest.
Yet, in a single blink of an eye, they had completely reverted to their shameless habits.
Fantastic, simply fantastic!
Ren Tingting this, Ren Tingting that!
Was there absolutely nothing else occupying their shallow minds besides a pretty face?
The public display of idiocy left Uncle Nine feeling thoroughly humiliated. Everything had been going so smoothly just a moment prior.
"Master, we are honestly just expressing our sibling concern."
"Exactly, exactly! Purely out of concern!"
The two sidekicks whimpered in sequence, their hands instantly flying up to clutch their throbbing heads as they winced from the impact.
"Hmm?!"
Uncle Nine's eyes narrowed into sharp, dangerous slits, his gaze locking onto them with a cold intensity that immediately froze the words right in their throats.
Forget it.
Offending Nine Uncle would probably lead to trouble later.
Although they really wanted to know if Ren Tingting had come.
"Daoist friend, you must be laughing at me."
Nine Uncle was used to it, but he still couldn't stand it every time.
It was like this before, and it's still like this now.
Speaking of which, why do cultivators always get obsessed with an impossible person?
Although Nine Uncle didn't want to say it, he understood very well that ever since Ren Tingting's talent was discovered, Wencai and Awei would definitely no longer have a chance. Moreover, their main responsibility now was the Dragon Vein.
Once the Dragon Vein was restored, they would definitely focus on cultivation.
"It's fine. The seven emotions and six desires are inevitable for humans. Even immortals are moved by love, aren't they?"
In fact, Bai Ye was also quite open-minded about this matter.
The Shenxiao Sect itself doesn't forbid these things.
Moreover, Bai Ye also knew that he had no right to judge others.
Ren Tingting came with him, but as soon as they arrived in Ren Family Town, they immediately went to the Ren Mansion.
Snowflake also went with them. Bai Ye came to Yi Village alone, as he was here to discuss some matters with Nine Uncle.
"That's true..."
Nine Uncle said, a trace of recollection flashing across his face.
Looking at it this way, it seems that he couldn't escape from love either.
Lian...
"This old ghost."
Ma Ma Di glanced at Nine Uncle's reminiscent expression, muttering to himself.
He probably thought of his old lover again.
However, he didn't want to say anything provocative.
After all, Nine Uncle's life's regret was nothing more than this. Although Ma Ma Di usually spoke rather sharply, he wouldn't go so far as to bring up these matters.
"Let's go in, Nine Uncle. Don't you have something to talk about?"
"Let's go."
Nine Uncle welcomed Bai Ye into the courtyard. Seeing that Ren Tingting wasn't there, Wencai obediently went to the kitchen.
In a world without Ren Tingting, Wencai felt truly bored!
Awei watched Wencai silently walk towards the kitchen, and his mind immediately started to imagine things. This was probably Wencai wanting to cook a good meal to please Bai Ye.
Then, he would gain Bai Ye's support in pursuing Ren Tingting.
Scheming, with ulterior motives!
He also wanted to make Bai Ye look at him with new eyes.
"Why are those two going to the kitchen?"
Qiusheng glanced at their backs, then at Nine Uncle, Ma Ma Di, and Bai Ye.
If he went along, it would probably be very awkward, right?
Moreover, the matters they were going to discuss later, he didn't necessarily need to be there for, right?
"Master, I'll go to the kitchen to help too!"
Qiusheng made a snap decision and immediately decided to run off and go to the kitchen.
"Does one kitchen need three people?"
Nine Uncle raised an eyebrow, and his gaze directly stopped Qiusheng, who was about to run to the kitchen.
Indeed, that kitchen didn't need three people; one person was enough. He would be somewhat superfluous if he went.
In fact, for Nine Uncle, he mostly wanted to properly train Qiusheng. Although he knew why Qiusheng would do that.
But now was a very good opportunity, and Nine Uncle didn't want to see Qiusheng go to the kitchen.
Compared to Wencai and Awei, Nine Uncle actually saw things more clearly. Neither of them were suitable for cultivation. Although they had become disciples, Nine Uncle would try his best to teach them, but their limits were already set.
No matter how much he wanted to teach them, the outcome wouldn't be much different. Moreover, their minds were mostly not on cultivation.
"Qiusheng, it seems your recent cultivation has been quite good. You've made a lot of progress since I last saw you."
Bai Ye took a moment to look at Qiusheng. He hadn't noticed earlier, but now, Qiusheng was indeed Nine Uncle's most talented disciple. After he focused on cultivation, he was much stronger in all aspects than when Bai Ye first met him, wasn't he?
"Really? It's all thanks to Master's good guidance."
Qiusheng listened to Bai Ye's praise, and he rubbed the back of his head a little shyly, while also subtly flattering Nine Uncle.
He wasn't wrong, in fact. Nine Uncle had spent a lot of effort on him recently.
After Qiusheng finished speaking, Nine Uncle's smile, though he tried hard to suppress it, looked harder to suppress than an AK.
Nine Uncle was naturally happy that Qiusheng could say that, but he still waved his hand and said, "Can't compare to your disciples, Daoist friend!"
Although his teaching ability was not bad, Nine Uncle felt that he was still a bit lacking compared to Bai Ye.
After all, when he saw Ren Tingting back then, he was almost startled.
The improvement was so immense!!
Qiusheng had a foundation before, cultivating with him since childhood. Ren Tingting was a late bloomer.
"Daoist Brother, disciples are actually about their mindset. If they are willing to learn, and now Qiusheng is willing to learn, then he will naturally improve very quickly in the future."
"That's true."
Nine Uncle didn't refute this point.
Indeed, as long as Qiusheng was willing to learn, in Nine Uncle's opinion, that was much better than before.
"By the way, Daoist friend, some information about the Dragon Vein has been investigated. There is indeed a dead Dragon Vein under Teng Teng Town, and there are a lot of zombies there."
Because it was a chaotic era, coupled with a dead Dragon Vein beneath it.
So, it was simply an excellent breeding ground for zombies.
"Is that Dragon Vein buried underground?"
In fact, Bai Ye didn't know much about Dragon Veins.
Living ones are always moving. The Dragon Vein was found and killed by Liu Bowen's Qimen Dunjia back then. Dragon Veins don't always exist in one place.
Dragon Veins actually follow around those with great destiny, which are emperors.
Dead Dragon Veins cannot move.
"That's right, it's buried underground, but it's sealed by a formation. However, I'm not very good at formations."
Nine Uncle said, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face. If they wanted to find the Dragon Vein, they would need to find someone skilled in formations. Otherwise, even if they found it, they wouldn't be able to obtain the Dragon Vein if they couldn't break the formation.
"Speaking of which, this Dragon Vein should be common knowledge, right?"
Ma Ma Di had also heard about the Dragon Vein buried beneath.
"Are you talking about the evil path?"
Nine Uncle reacted and quickly knew what Ma Ma Di wanted to say.
Since everyone knew, and the evil path's goal was also the Dragon Vein, shouldn't they have gone there already?
"That's right, those evil path guys can even get some zombies there, right?"
"Because of the Zombie King, that guy is very strong. Even I wouldn't dare to approach him easily. But with you, Daoist friend, I feel like we have a great chance!"
Ultimately, it was due to the huge disparity in strength.
The evil path indeed had many unorthodox methods, and they also had many ways to control zombies.
But the Zombie King was too strong. Was it that simple to control him?
Moreover, there were so many zombies in Teng Teng Town. A group of evil path cultivators going there would probably die without knowing how.
If Bai Ye wasn't here, Nine Uncle wouldn't even dare to go there to find the Dragon Vein; that would be purely seeking death.
You might not die if you go in, but if you dare to touch that Dragon Vein, the Zombie King will definitely not let you go.
That thing was the zombies' treasure.
"Thunder?"
Bai Ye mumbled. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit might not be particularly good in the world of pirates, but one thing was certain: its versatility made it an invincible existence in his world.
Few evil demons and heretics weren't afraid of thunder; even normal people were afraid of thunder.
"Yes, thunder magic is the best way to counter zombies. And you, Daoist friend, also know fire magic. I don't know how we could lose!"
He felt that with Bai Ye's participation, he only wanted to say one thing: 'We're really amazing!'
Although Nine Uncle's Maoshan arts included thunder and fire magic, he wasn't proficient in either. His senior brother was good at thunder magic, but his relationship with his senior brother had never been very good.
Back when their teacher went to the underworld, one matter lay before their fellow disciples: the matter of printing Ghost Banknotes (hell money). This was a lucrative position.
Firstly, the matter of the Heaven and Earth Bank required dealing with ghost officers. If you took this on, ghost officers would curry favor with you in the future. The saying 'money makes the ghost mill' wasn't said for nothing.
So, when this lucrative position fell to Nine Uncle before their master left, his relationship with his senior brother plummeted.
As for Four-Eyes and the others, they knew their own capabilities, so they naturally didn't hope for this matter.
But Shi Jian was different. He had always thought that after their master left, this matter would fall to him, as he was the strongest. However, what he didn't expect was that their master would actually entrust this matter to Nine Uncle.
This also made him very resentful.
So, their relationship was very, very bad now. Unless absolutely necessary, Nine Uncle didn't really want to meet this senior brother.
"In that case, how about we set off tomorrow?"
To avoid prolonged delays, Bai Ye decided to set off earlier.
"Alright."
Nine Uncle had originally wanted to go earlier; he was just waiting for Bai Ye.
"I'll go too. I don't have anything to do recently anyway."
Ma Ma Di also had no work now. He might as well stay there.
"Master, what about me?"
Qiusheng pointed to himself. Hearing them say there were many zombies here, he felt he might not be of much help.
However, since he had now embarked on the path of cultivation and also strengthened his Dao heart, he naturally decided to go along.
Seeing Qiusheng's eager look, Nine Uncle pondered for a moment, then agreed.
"Daoist friend, if we go tomorrow, I might need your help tonight."
Nine Uncle hesitated. He had originally wanted to leave Qiusheng here to watch over things.
But since Qiusheng wanted to go along, and leaving Wencai and Awei here, he clearly wasn't at ease.
So, if they all went together, there was one more thing here that needed Bai Ye's help.
"Please speak."
Bai Ye nodded, signaling Nine Uncle to continue.
Help?
This was truly unexpected. Nine Uncle would actually ask him for help. He knew very well that Nine Uncle was the most concerned about his reputation in this regard.
"It's like this, I've been offering sacrifices to some spirit infants here. If I leave, it's possible... you also know Wencai and Awei, the two of them. They definitely can't watch over it. There are three very fierce little ghosts inside."
This was what Nine Uncle was most worried about.
If he left, those two might not be able to hold down the place.
So, before leaving, he could only ask Bai Ye for help.