Starting with a Super Five-Star Hotel

The seven-day retreat was over.

Su Xuan stepped out of the Enlightenment Pavilion, taking a deep breath of fresh air. He felt like he'd put on quite a bit of weight during these seven days of seclusion.

His junior sister, Ying Lan, who had been waiting for him to emerge, was taken aback by his spirited appearance. She couldn't help but pause before asking, "Senior Brother, you didn't just sleep for seven days in the Enlightenment Pavilion, did you? You know Master intended for you to..."

"Not at all!" Su Xuan waved his hand. "I've been cultivating diligently day and night, mastering the basics of a new cultivation method each day!"

"Really?" Ying Lan was skeptical, as Su Xuan's healthy complexion didn't look like he had just undergone arduous cultivation at all.

"I would never lie to you," Su Xuan told Ying Lan. "Has anyone come looking for revenge these past few days?"

"Nope!" Ying Lan affectionately latched onto Su Xuan's arm, leading him toward his residence. "Forget the Fifth Elder; even the Great Elder didn't come to trouble you. The Enforcement Hall hasn't made a peep either. Hehe, you've safely weathered this storm!"

"This..." Su Xuan's mouth twitched. How could it be so calm? Could it be that Ma Beiqiu had done a lot behind the scenes? Regardless, this was not what he had expected. He had imagined that as soon as he finished his retreat, countless people would be lining up to cause him trouble. He would then offend all of them, incite public outrage, and successfully get himself expelled from the sect...

Is it really this hard to get expelled? Su Xuan couldn't help but murmur to himself.

Then, his gaze fell upon the junior sister clinging to his arm. At that moment, the young woman was hanging off him like a little monkey, even more enthusiastic than when they first met. He knew the reason. Seven days ago, he had fiercely stood up for her, and she had turned her back to secretly wipe away tears. It didn't take a genius to figure out she had been moved by him. He had read her diary jade slip and knew how lonely she was, how much she wished her aloof senior brother would treat her warmly...

"Ahem!" Su Xuan suddenly pushed Ying Lan away slightly, saying with a hint of annoyance, "Junior Sister, I'm exhausted from my time in the Enlightenment Pavilion. Let me walk by myself, will you?"

He didn't want Ying Lan to get any closer to him. If he really did get expelled from the sect in a few days, his little junior sister would be...

What a sin!

Ying Lan ignored him and simply supported his arm instead. Exhausted, are you? Fine, I won't cling to your arm. But supporting you is okay, right?

A moment later, Su Xuan returned to his residence. He bathed, changed his clothes, and then spent the rest of the day with nothing to do, which left him feeling rather disgruntled.

By evening, Ying Lan came looking for him again.

"Senior Brother, I wasn't completely honest with you," she said in a low voice the moment she saw him.

"Is someone looking to cause trouble for me?" Su Xuan's eyes lit up immediately.

"Not exactly." Ying Lan pursed her lips, gathered her thoughts, and said, "There are about four matters waiting for you."

Su Xuan's eyes shone even brighter as he waited for his gentle junior sister to continue.

"First, Senior Sister Miao Tong has also finished her retreat. She wants to have another spar with you.

"Second, Tang Heng, the Fifth Elder's Direct Disciple, also wishes to spar with you. He, too, is a great admirer of Senior Sister Miao Tong.

"Third, an old friend from Hua Shui City has come to Immortal Mountain and would like to meet you."

The reason she hadn't told Su Xuan any of this before was that she wanted him to have a peaceful day of rest.

"Now that's more like it!" Su Xuan clenched his fist and smacked it into his palm. "I was wondering why nobody was coming to bother me! It wouldn't be normal otherwise!"

"Um..." Su Xuan asked again, puzzled, "Someone from Hua Shui City is looking for me? When did they arrive? Who is it?"

"They arrived on the fifth day of your seclusion. It's the City Master of Hua Shui City, Ning Zhendao," Ying Lan said. "He told me you visited Hua Shui City once and really hit it off with him. He said he was just passing by Immortal Mountain and wanted to stop in to catch up."

"Oh." Su Xuan's mouth formed a small circle. "Clearly, he wasn't just passing by, or he wouldn't have waited two days."

"Senior Brother, would you prefer to spar first or see your old friend?" Ying Lan asked.

"Let's spar first!" Su Xuan replied without a second thought. "I'm going to find them now and beat them so badly they'll be picking their teeth up off the ground."

"This time, the spar must not result in injuries," Ying Lan suddenly interjected. "And you can't insult your opponent, like snatching their shoes."

"What?" Su Xuan, who had already absorbed the teachings of all seven floors of the Enlightenment Pavilion, widened his eyes. "What kind of spar is that?"

"It's just that Master is afraid you'll get hurt," Ying Lan pouted. "After Senior Sister Miao Tong came out of seclusion, her cultivation advanced again. She could break through the Longevity Realm to the next stage at any moment. And Senior Brother Tang Heng has long since reached the Late Stage of Longevity; his cultivation is solid, and he's known for being ruthless and decisive... Master got into another argument with someone, so he was the one who set the 'no-injury' sparring rule."

"It's no fun if I can't give them a proper beating, no matter how strong the opponent is." Su Xuan waved his hand dismissively, then asked, "Where is Ning Zhendao?"

"He's staying in a guest room at Golden Lotus Peak."

"Did he come alone?"

"No," Ying Lan shook her head. "His daughter, Ning Wan, came with him."

"Hmm..." Su Xuan pondered for a moment. "Let's go see our old friend first!" he decided.

But even as he said this, he was equally reluctant to meet Ning Zhendao. The fact that Ning Wan had come along made it difficult not to suspect that she had tricked her father into coming here, all so Su Xuan could kill him.

But then again, that seemed unlikely. There was no way Ning Wan could know he was masquerading as Feng Zhengyuan—unless the Third Elder had leaked the secret!

A short while later, with Ying Lan leading the way, he met Ning Zhendao and his daughter.

"Senior Brother, you two can chat," Ying Lan said to Su Xuan, her task complete. "I'll go prepare dinner for you." She guessed that Su Xuan would probably want to have a drink with his guests, and she liked it when he asked her to do little things for him—like leading him to places even though her Senior Brother already knew the way. But of course, she had no idea that this Senior Brother was not the same one as before.

"Brother Zhengyuan, it's been a long time!"

After Ying Lan left, Ning Zhendao immediately grew cordial, gripping Su Xuan's hand tightly as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in years.

"Indeed! What made City Master Ning think of looking me up?"

As he held Ning Zhendao's hand, Su Xuan felt an inexplicable sense of alarm, as if a man-devouring beast lay hidden within the City Master's body. He had felt this before, of course, but this time the feeling was unprecedentedly intense—as if Ning Zhendao himself could no longer suppress this terrifying aura!

"I was taking my daughter to visit an old acquaintance nearby, and since we weren't far from Immortal Mountain, we decided to drop by." As he spoke, Ning Zhendao gestured toward Ning Wan, who was seated beside him.

When Su Xuan's eyes fell on Ning Wan, he was startled once more.

The once lively and quirky Ning Wan was now sitting there in utter silence, like a corpse.