The Unruly Immortals

"Oh, oh, oh~~!" With the crowing of the rooster, the once-asleep Niuxin Village gradually woke up.

After washing up, it was time for breakfast, which ordinary folks usually couldn't afford except during the autumn harvest when they ate three meals a day to ensure energy for harvesting. On normal days, they just had two meals a day.

But in Niuxin Village, this wasn't the case. Everyone had breakfast, which was one of the reasons why so many were so grateful to Bai Lingmiao.

To be fed well, given books to read, and even to get a share of the grains harvested from the fields—where else could you find such a generous boss?

"Hurry up! Rise and shine, make the porridge thicker at the beginning, and even eating you're not brisk! What on earth could you ever do briskly in your lifetime!" Top Scholar Lv kept slapping his eldest son's door with his hand.

"Dad, we have money now, let's just cook at home." Luo Juannhua, the wife of Lv Elevated Man, felt extremely dissatisfied with having to wake up early every time.

"Do you think money grows on your body for you to burn it like that? There are free meals you don't eat and you even spend money to buy food! You're ruining the family, get up!"

After scolding his daughter-in-law thoroughly while clutching his tobacco pipe, he turned around with his hands behind his back to bang on the doors of his apprentices.

He certainly wasn't considerately shouting for these apprentices to rush for breakfast but was getting them up to practice basic skills.

Top Scholar Lv taught them exactly as his master had taught him—strictly but simply. If they didn't practice enough or well, they weren't allowed to eat.

Indeed, to train in singing opera, one must start from a young age; at their age of over ten years, they had to be even more diligent if they wanted to stand out.

Amid the mixed and uneven sound of the apprentices' vocal exercises, Top Scholar Lv led his family grandly toward the Bai Family Courtyard.

Just as they entered the courtyard, they happened to see Yang's kid directing two men carrying a pot of hot porridge into the hall.

His face had just lit up with a smile as he walked in, but when he saw his wayward son, Scholar Lv, the smile immediately dropped from his face. "Hmph!"

When it came to this youngest son, beating and scolding had done no good; the stubborn boy wouldn't listen to reason.

In the face of his own father's hostility, Scholar Lv muttered and cursed, occasionally saying things like "You old bastard, just you wait, there'll come a day," and so on.

While his bought wife, Tao'er, watched her father-in-law and husband in silence, seemingly pondering something in her heart.

"Hey hey, everyone's here." As Doggy's grating voice sounded, everyone saw him supporting his heavily pregnant wife as they walked in.

"Yes, she's about to give birth, already at full term, probably in these few days. My son will be born soon," Doggy said to Scholar Lv with a beaming smile.

Scholar Lv showed a hint of disdain. "Did I ask you? What are you showing off for?"

"Hehehe." With a dance of his eyebrows, Doggy helped his wife to sit down, walked over to Scholar Lv, and whispered, "Scholar, how's your learning of the Divine Skills coming along?"

"Still the same, progress is slow when you're illiterate. Why, you want to learn?"

Doggy laughed, "I wouldn't bother with that stuff, it's too tiring. I'll take a walk after breakfast, just waiting for lunchtime."

"I've let others farm my four acres of land, just waiting to collect the grains, nothing to do, always have food every year, so comfortable. I've gone through so much hardship; it's time for me to take a good rest."

Having traveled with Brother Li to the south and north for so long, Doggy might not have honed any skills, but he gained experience. Not many things in this world come without a cost, especially various Divine Skills which are very dangerous if not practiced well.

In fact, his real thought was to wait a few months and see if Scholar Lv faces no problems, then he would learn it himself—a lesson he picked up from Brother Li.

"Hmph, all he does is eat and sleep, utterly ambitionless!" Scholar Lv spoke with utter disdain as he looked at the dog.

"Hey, I might lack ambition, but I have a son, do you?"

As they were speaking, Li Huowang came down the stairs with Bai Lingmiao, and everyone else fell silent, waiting for them to take their seats.

Although Li Huowang was skinless and his appearance somewhat horrifying, those present had grown accustomed to it, having seen even more frightening things.

It wasn't until Li Huowang sat down at the head of the table and picked up his chopsticks that the others began to eat.

Li Huowang ate his mantou with pickles and salted eggs, and drank his porridge, his movements large and his appetite hearty.

"Eat slower, no one is racing you to the grave," Bai Lingmiao complained.

Li Huowang, however, did not pay attention to Bai Lingmiao's complaints and continued with his breakfast.

Once he began his cultivation, a whole day could pass by, and now, if he didn't eat his fill, there would be nothing to eat by noon.

"Hey, there are no bad people in Niuxin Village to hurt you, so how come you're covered in blood?" Bai Lingmiao picked at the dried blood on his body.

"Better safe than sorry, don't worry, I won't die."

"Not dying doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, or have you become addicted to pain? Sleeping next to you at night, I get a shock every time I get up."

Under Bai Lingmiao's relentless nagging, Li Huowang quickly finished his breakfast and left the Bai Family Courtyard, with Li Sui already waiting for him outside.

The tall and the short figure followed the rugged path, heading up towards Niuxin Mountain.

But just as he stepped out of the village, a white mist began to permeate the surrounding forest. Li Huowang furrowed his brow and immediately grasped the Purple Tassel Sword, drawing it partway out. "Who's there! Come out!"

As the surging evil Qi propelled the thin fog violently around it, it quickly dissipated, and the face of someone wearing a wooden mask emerged from the mist.

"Well, if it isn't 'a family doesn't recognize its own family when a flood strikes the Dragon King Temple,' it's you, Er Jiu!"

"Liu Zongyuan?" Li Huowang looked at the man with the wooden mask with a hint of surprise. He remembered him; back when he and Record of Appearance, along with Tuoba Danqing, were searching for Heart Turbidity, this man was one of them.

The world is unpredictable; of the five people who had ventured together, Record of Appearance had died, Xin Chi Monk had died, Tuoba Danqing was trapped within Heart Turbidity and couldn't come out, leaving just the two of them.

Meeting again, the two shared a moment of melancholy tinged with a sense of closeness.

Since Liu Zongyuan was here, there was naturally no chance of cultivating truth now. Li Huowang immediately took the man to the guest room for tea.

After taking a sip of tea, Li Huowang asked curiously, "Brother Liu, you made a special trip here today, did the Astrological Bureau give you a task?"

Although Liu Zongyuan was also from the Astrological Bureau, Li Huowang didn't think he came because of that major event in the Capital City, especially since at that time, he was using Bei Feng's female body, so it couldn't possibly be traced back to him.

Liu Zongyuan's response soon confirmed Li Huowang's guess.

"Ah, it's just that I heard someone had moved in here again, and I thought maybe the White Lotus Cult had shown up, so I came to check. Unexpectedly, I bumped into you."