"Look! It's the Fifth Elder!"
"As expected, among all nine elders of our Sword Sect, only the Fifth Elder is this young! He's simply dashing, graceful, peerless in bearing, gentle and refined, incomparably handsome, with a face like jade, a true talent, of imposing appearance, brilliantly striking, and scholarly..."
"The crucial part is not just that he's handsome, but that he carries such an ethereal immortal aura!"
"Of course! Although the Fifth Elder holds a very senior status, he's actually extremely young! Only a little over five hundred years old!"
"Strange? Who is that woman following right behind the Fifth Elder?"
"How utterly shameless, and she's even dressed in tattered rags!"
"..."
Su Bei walked with his hands behind his back, strolling with an air of serene detachment beneath the sunset glow of the Sword Sect.
A gentle breeze caressed the air, scattering the long hair tied softly by Su Bei's white ribbon, as his white robes fluttered and danced in the sky.
Too handsome.
I am simply too handsome.
Su Bei was troubled.
Why do you superficial people only focus on my good looks?
My strength is super cool, alright!
Under the gaze of numerous female disciples who were practically on the verge of being mesmerized into a faint, Su Bei led Xiao Ruoqing to Bujian Peak.
Ah, Bujian Peak, which belonged exclusively to Su Bei!
"Disciple, from now on you will cultivate here on your Master's Bujian Peak."
"..."
Just as Su Bei hadn't yet managed to say his next sentence, the sound of bells echoed across all one hundred and eight peaks of the Sword Sect.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Su Bei frowned, and involuntarily, the image of sheep-suet white, soft jade lips floated into his mind...
—along with that pair of slightly alluring, plump lips.
At this thought, Su Bei shuddered, hurriedly shook his head, and instructed Xiao Ruoqing:
"Disciple! For now, just go and amuse yourself around Bujian Peak."
"Oh right, absolutely do not touch that small bottle I left inside the house!"
"Your Master is going to attend a meeting, and I'll be back shortly..."
"If you want to cultivate, well, I left a Qi Condensation cultivation method under the bed to prop it up. You can make do with that! It should suit you quite well!"
"..."
With that, Su Bei casually grabbed his sword scabbard, hung it at his waist, and hurriedly flew toward the peak from which the bell was ringing.
As he flew, he muttered to himself:
"Why are they ringing the bell at this hour?"
"Could something major have happened in the Sword Sect?"
"Well, either way, it has nothing to do with me."
"..."
Xiao Ruoqing gazed at Su Bei's retreating figure, calmly taking in everything before her.
She looked at the familiar swallow's nest, the Thatch Cottage.
Then she let out a soft, self-deprecating smile.
Bujian Peak?
She had returned here once again.
Then, at this point in time, Su Bei must have gone to a meeting.
Calculating the time, it really was right when the Sword Sect would open its mountain gates to widely recruit disciples.
Xiao Ruoqing frowned, and the image of that silver-haired, stunningly beautiful woman instantly flashed through her mind.
Recalling Junior Sister Mò Lí's fate, which had been identical to her own, she muttered to herself:
"Junior Sister Mò Lí, I will never let you become this man's disciple!"
"Yes, I must stop him!"
"In this lifetime, you can rest assured and become a disciple under Elder Xi."
"..."
In her previous life, he had expended an untold amount of effort and struggled mightily to snatch Mò Lí away from the Second Elder, Xi Qingyi.
Hmph!
Master!
A sneer appeared at the corner of Xiao Ruoqing's mouth.
Displaying a hint of smugness, she arched her dark eyebrows.
With me here, in this lifetime, you won't even get a single disciple!
Not a single one of your schemes will succeed!
Thinking of this, Xiao Ruoqing held her head high, puffed out her chest, and strode into the Thatch Cottage.
Immediately afterward, her face darkened as she looked at the so-called Qi Condensation cultivation method that Su Bei had used to prop up the bed, now covered in a thick layer of dust.
The *Sword Canon*!
At that moment, Xiao Ruoqing felt her heart ache.
An unshared secret manual of the Sword Sect was just used by Su Bei to prop up a bed?
What on earth was wrong with Master?
You had to know that in her previous life, this *Sword Canon* was more important to him than his own life!
With a cold sneer, Xiao Ruoqing pulled out the heavily worn *Sword Canon*.
Because she used a bit too much strength, she failed to check her momentum in time.
—Only to hear a sound.
Thud!
A very solid sound!
The moment she raised her head, she banged it against the corner of the wooden table.
Xiao Ruoqing felt a large bump already rising on her head.
As she stood up, wanting to give that table a fierce kick, she caught sight of a small bottle placed right on top of the table.
Instantly—
her attention was captured by the mysterious-looking liquid contained within the bottle.
In her mind, Su Bei's earlier tempting words flashed past:
"Absolutely do not touch that small bottle I left inside the house!"
"..."
...
Su Bei stepped upon a auspicious cloud, slowly descending from the sky.
He cast a casual glance around.
Well, has everyone pretty much arrived?
Why so soon?
Inside the main hall of the Sword Sect, the various elders had already arrived and were quietly seated in their chairs.
Su Bei found his own empty seat, sat down lazily, and looked at the empty seat opposite him.
Wasn't there someone who arrived even later than him?
No need to panic!
Just as Su Bei yawned for the first time, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
An indescribable sense of crisis instantly welled up in his heart.
The next moment, Su Bei sensed that something was terribly wrong!
His expression changed drastically in an instant, and he frantically channeled all his spiritual energy, trying to break out of this terrifying place that filled him with despair!
However, a wave of fragrant wind rushed toward him the next instant.
Su Bei watched in terror as a mature, stunning face drew closer and closer before him.
Apricot eyes and moth-like eyebrows, lips like cinnabar lacquer.
Then, she tackled Su Bei straight to the ground.
Su Bei rolled his eyes in utter despair, feeling the delicate texture of his own face.
He let out a muffled groan.
Ah...
Pain and joy intertwined.
"Little Beibei! You're finally back!"
"Well, how was the outside fun? Did you go to the pleasure quarters to listen to music? How was the top courtesan there?"
"..."
The woman tightly wrapped her arms around Su Bei's neck, the immense force instantly turning Su Bei's face the color of pork liver.
Su Bei swore that he would never again envy those ghosts who reportedly died under a woman's skirt...
"Eldest Senior Sister... I... am suffocating!"
Su Bei's teeth chattered as he forced the words out one by one from between his lips.
Seeing Su Bei's expression, the woman burst into hearty laughter, yet the strength in her hands didn't relax in the slightest.
Her beautiful eyes curved into crescents as she looked at Su Bei with a half-smile.
Only Su Bei could sense a trace of terrifying danger hidden within those eyes!
"Suffocating? What's so bad about suffocating?"
"Oh my, but I heard from those disciples."
"The Fifth Elder of the Sword Sect actually brought back a willow-browed, star-eyed, slender and graceful, ice-skinned and snow-flawed, fat-as-suet, intelligent and wise, moth-browed and cicada-headed, wasp-waisted and swan-necked, heartbreakingly touching... woman!"
"Tsk tsk..."
"..."
Seeing that Su Bei was being choked so tightly he was about to stick his tongue out, the woman put on an expression of utter "shock and dismay"!
She hurriedly loosened her arms and spoke with "awe-inspiring terror" and "extreme nervousness":
"Beibei, are you sick? Why is your complexion so terrible!"
"After all, you're only a little over five hundred years old, still just a child!"
"Quick, quickly take this Vajra Mighty Pill, and you'll be all better..."
"..."