Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Three Years of Closed-Door Cultivation
Already cold-hearted toward everyone on Lone Moon Peak, Yu Zhao naturally did not want to listen to Cui Jue’s fake gentle words anymore. She simply shut off her five senses and began to recall the whole process of how she had been injured just now.

The plan had been a bit rushed, but luckily, nothing had gone wrong in the middle.

Her original plan was to enter closed-door cultivation for three years. When Senior Sister Zhou’s life-and-death crisis was about to come, she would end her seclusion at once, whether she had succeeded in Foundation Establishment or not, and help Senior Sister Zhou undergo tribulation.

But since Quan Ye had not wanted to let her off easily, she could only turn his scheme back on him, letting him take the blame while she paid him back for the years of physical suffering.

Master Qing Yan had already been dissatisfied with the unruly and unrestrained Quan Ye. Now that he had committed such a serious mistake, he would surely be heavily punished.

And Yu Zhao could take this time to rest her body and mind and close her doors to visitors.

Two birds with one stone.

Later, things indeed developed just as Yu Zhao had expected.

When Master Qing Yan learned about what had happened, she flew into a rage. She sentenced Quan Ye to ten lashes and five years of facing the wall at the Cliff of Reflection.

The Cliff of Reflection was the place where the Five Elements Dao Sect punished disciples and made them reflect on their mistakes. There was no spiritual energy there, only gang wind and lightning. Every day, a person would be struck by lightning and feel the gang wind scraping their bones.

For ordinary disciples, it was an ominous place. But for Quan Ye, who cultivated body training arts, it was actually an excellent training ground. He just could not avoid a lot of pain.

This punishment was something Master Qing Yan had thought over very carefully.

To comfort the victim of this fellow disciples’ incident, Master Qing Yan even bestowed on Yu Zhao a fourth-grade Spirit Recovery Pill to help her rebuild her Foundation.

Led by Fang Cheng Lang, several Senior Brothers, along with Ye Cong Xin, also sent over many nourishing pills and spirit stones.

Yu Zhao rejected none of it. She accepted everything, then turned around, sealed her cave residence door, and began her long closed-door cultivation.

…

Three years later.

“First Senior Brother.”

A girl’s voice rang out, clear and soft. Fang Cheng Lang’s spirit lifted.

He turned his head. Ye Cong Xin was skipping toward him like a lively little deer.

A flash of disappointment crossed Fang Cheng Lang’s eyes, but he still smiled and called out: “Junior Sister.”

Ye Cong Xin did not seem to notice the change in his expression. She walked up and tugged on his sleeve, saying softly: “First Senior Brother, for the trip to Dragon Roar Valley in three days, can you take me along? I promise I won’t cause trouble or drag anyone down.”

Ye Cong Xin’s eyelashes fluttered, her eyes full of pleading.

Fang Cheng Lang frowned slightly.

Lately, a rumor had been spreading through the cultivation world. Someone had personally seen, in Dragon Roar Valley, an immature third-rank demon beast, a Seven-Colored Deer.

Most importantly, it was a stag!

Everyone knew that, on a deer-shaped demon beast, the most valuable part was the antler velvet, followed by the tendons, and finally the blood.

But not every deer demon had antler velvet. Only an immature stag whose young antlers had not yet turned to bone and were still covered in fur could be called antler velvet.

And the Seven-Colored Deer was an extremely rare kind of deer demon. Its antler velvet and its blood were top-grade materials for alchemy, while its tendons and bones could be used for artifact forging. One could say that every part of it was treasure.

So once the news spread, it drew many cultivators to head to Dragon Roar Valley on their own.

The Five Elements Dao Sect was rich and powerful. Naturally, they would not care too much about a single Seven-Colored Deer.

The reasons they sent a team were, first, to give their disciples a chance to train, and second, to show off the strength of the Five Elements Dao Sect.

As the leading sect of the cultivation world, the Five Elements Dao Sect could not be too low-key. From time to time, they needed to show themselves and act as a deterrent.

This time, the leader of the Dragon Roar Valley expedition was the Sect Master of the Five Elements Dao Sect’s first disciple, Zhou Jin Yue.

Fang Cheng Lang was the deputy leader of the team.

The disciples chosen to take part in this training trip had already been decided by the Sect Master and the elders. There were twenty people in total, most of them Golden Core stage disciples.

From Lone Moon Peak, besides Fang Cheng Lang, Lan Zi Yu was also among them.

Fang Cheng Lang’s worry was that Ye Cong Xin’s cultivation level was far lower than that of the other disciples joining the trip.

On top of that, Ye Cong Xin had been frail and sickly since she was young, and she did not have much real combat experience.

If he brought her along, Fang Cheng Lang would surely have to spend most of his energy looking after her and would not be able to properly carry out his duty as deputy leader.

After thinking it over again and again, Fang Cheng Lang still decided to refuse her.

“Junior Sister, for this trip to Dragon Roar Valley, Senior Brother is serving as deputy leader and must be responsible for the other disciples, so…”

“First Senior Brother, I can take care of myself! And Second Senior Brother will be there too, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

Ye Cong Xin hurriedly cut him off before Fang Cheng Lang could finish.

“But…” Fang Cheng Lang still could not make up his mind.

Since Junior Sister had joined Lone Moon Peak, she had never left the Five Elements Dao Sect. This trip would be a long journey through mountains and wilderness. He really could not feel at ease.

Ye Cong Xin kept begging in a small voice: “First Senior Brother, I really want to go. I’ve never been to any place outside the Five Elements Dao Sect. Can you really bear to see me trapped here forever?”

The more she spoke, the more worked up Ye Cong Xin became. In the end, her voice even choked.

“I…I really want to see the outside world. I don’t want to spend my whole life guarding this tiny patch of land until I die. First Senior Brother, I beg you.”

In the end, Ye Cong Xin’s tears still moved Fang Cheng Lang.

He gave in: “As long as Master agrees, Senior Brother will take you along.”

“Thank you, First Senior Brother! I’ll go report to Master right now. Master will definitely agree!”

Ye Cong Xin broke into a smile through her tears. She quickly gave him a bow, then turned and rushed toward the summit of Lone Moon Peak, where Master Qing Yan lived.

When she had gotten far enough away from Fang Cheng Lang, the smile in Ye Cong Xin’s eyes turned into a dark shadow.

Even though Fang Cheng Lang had finally agreed to her request, she did not feel happy at all.

Ever since Yu Zhao was injured three years ago, she had sharply sensed that something about Fang Cheng Lang had changed.

Even though Fang Cheng Lang still treated her with the same gentle manner as before, she could no longer feel that close, seamless bond between them. There was now a faint, invisible distance.

It was as if Fang Cheng Lang had put up a barrier deep in his heart, shutting her out.

This gave Ye Cong Xin a sense of crisis she had never felt before.

Among the five Senior Brothers, Fang Cheng Lang’s fortune was currently the strongest and also the easiest for her to get close to. If she wanted to absorb fortune and raise her cultivation level, she still had to start with him.

And this training trip was the perfect chance to draw closer to him.

As long as she could get Fang Cheng Lang to open his heart to her, her cultivation in the days to come would be smooth for a long time.

The Dragon Roar Valley trip was something she had to join!

Ye Cong Xin hurried all the way and finally reached the outside of Master Qing Yan’s cave residence.

Because she had walked too fast, her breathing felt a little tight, so she paused at the door to catch her breath.

Right then, a voice came from inside. It sounded both unfamiliar and familiar to her.

“Master, this disciple requests to go to Dragon Roar Valley together with the other fellow disciples. Please grant your approval.”

This was… Yu Zhao?!

It was Yu Zhao’s voice!

She had come out of seclusion!

Why would she come out at this exact moment?

Why did she also want to go to Dragon Roar Valley?

Was it a coincidence?

Or was it on purpose?

All kinds of guesses circled in Ye Cong Xin’s heart, throwing her breathing into chaos. A strong sense of suffocation suddenly swept over her.

She clutched her chest at once, letting out a low, pained sob.