At the back mountain of the Azure Cloud Sect, in a secluded pavilion, a dozen or so outer disciples around ten years old sat in a circle, staring eagerly at the white-clad girl in the center.
The girl was seventeen or eighteen, with jet-black hair loosely pinned up by a wooden hairpin, a few strands falling beside her cheeks.
She sat cross-legged on a stone stool, holding a handful of golden—popcorn.
“Elder Lu, Elder Lu, please continue! What does ‘The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao’ really mean?” a little girl with double-bun hairstyle asked impatiently.
Lu Zhu tossed a kernel of popcorn into her mouth, crunching it loudly, and tried to put on a profound expression: “Well… it’s a long story…”
She cleared her throat, trying to recall the pretentious drivel she’d heard from her boss at the company annual party in her past life.
Back then, she’d just focused on eating and hadn’t listened at all.
Now she had to make it up on the spot.
“‘The Tao’ is… um… the principle of heaven and earth’s operation. You can think of it as the rules of cultivation. But the real ‘Tao’ cannot be spoken. If it can be spoken, it’s not the eternal ‘Tao.'”
A male disciple raised his hand: “Then if it can’t be spoken, what were you just talking about?”
Lu Zhu choked.
Another male disciple quickly followed up: “Elder, Elder, does this ‘Tao’ you speak of have anything to do with the cultivation techniques we practice? Can it help us break through to higher realms?”
“Uh…”
“And also, ‘wu wei’—what does that mean? Is it really doing nothing? Then wouldn’t we stop cultivating?”
“Well…”
Lu Zhu started sweating on her forehead.
The little brats stared at her with burning curiosity, like a flock of hungry baby birds.
And she, a dignified Nascent Soul elder, had a blank mind, wishing she could dig a hole and hide right then and there.
‘If only I hadn’t tried to show off this morning!’
This morning, passing by the training ground with nothing to do, she saw these outer disciples doing horse stances, their faces red from exhaustion.
She couldn’t help but open her mouth and say, “Do you know that on Earth… ahem, I mean, in ancient times, a sage once said, ‘Rule by non-action.’ Training also requires a balance of tension and relaxation.”
Those kids took her seriously, surrounded her, and insisted on hearing the “sage’s preaching.”
Lu Zhu had no choice but to bring them to this back mountain pavilion, racking her brain for the only lines she remembered from the Tao Te Ching.
She thought she could just bluff her way through, but these kids asked even more questions than the clients from her past life!
“Alright, that’s enough preaching for today!”
Lu Zhu decisively decided to escape.
“Go home and digest what you’ve learned. I’ll continue next time!”
“But Elder, we still have so many questions…”
the double-bun girl said pitifully.
Lu Zhu pretended not to hear, stood up, brushed off her skirt, and shoved another handful of popcorn into her mouth—this stuff was made by frying spirit rice in secret, the only snack she knew how to make from her past life.
“Elder!”
a round-faced little disciple who had been silent suddenly spoke up.
“Shouldn’t you be attending the elders’ meeting? I remember you mentioned before the lecture that you needed to be at the Main Peak Meeting Hall by Si hour.”
Lu Zhu was startled, then her expression changed drastically.
She had just felt like she’d forgotten something important.
She quickly asked, “What time is it now?”
“Si hour, 5 ke…”
Before the round-faced kid could finish, he saw their beloved Elder Lu jump up like a cat with its tail stepped on.
“Damn! I’m late!”
Her popcorn scattered all over the ground, but she didn’t bother to pick it up.
Flustered, she formed a hand seal to summon her sword.
A wooden sword, as ordinary as can be, flew through the air.
Lu Zhu leaped onto it and shot outward, leaving behind a string of windblown instructions: “Play by yourselves! Don’t say I was here!”
The young disciples stared dumbfounded at the retreating figure.
“Elder Lu… seems really anxious,” said the double-bun girl.
“No kidding. Being late for the elders’ meeting means being scolded by the Second Elder,”
sighed the round-faced kid with surprising maturity.
“Last time Fourth Elder was late, he was punished by copying the sect rules a hundred times. His hands were swollen.”
“So will Elder Lu be late?”
“Definitely.”
The disciples exchanged glances, then all looked at the popcorn scattered on the ground.
“Well, since Elder Lu is gone anyway, these…”
“Let’s share them!”
The little brats, once full of thirst for knowledge, instantly turned into snack-grabbing little bandits.
Meanwhile, in the Main Peak Meeting Hall of the Azure Cloud Sect, six elders and one sect leader had already arrived in order, seated according to rank.
The meeting hall was built on the main peak’s summit, open on all sides, with abundant spiritual energy.
The sect leader’s seat was in the center, with the elders’ seats arranged on both sides.
Right now, the seat at the very end was empty.
“Ahem.”
The sect leader, Xuan Zhen, sitting at the head, cleared his throat, his gaze inadvertently drifting to the empty seat.
The first seat on the sect leader’s left was occupied by Second Elder Xuan Qing.
He had a stern, square face with two vertical lines between his eyebrows, clearly the result of years of frowning.
He was also staring at the empty seat, his expression not pleasant.
“Sect Leader Brother, what time is it now? Seventh Elder hasn’t arrived yet.”
Xuan Qing’s tone was displeased.
“I know she’s your closed-door disciple and the youngest, but she’s still the Seventh Elder of our sect. This kind of laxity—what kind of image does it present?”
Xuan Zhen smiled awkwardly: “Probably lost track of time while cultivating. Young people, you know…”
“Cultivating?”
Xuan Qing snorted coldly.
“Yesterday I still saw her running to the back mountain, hanging around with those outer disciples, laughing and chatting. Does that look like an elder?!”
Fifth Elder Yun Qingqian, sitting across from Xuan Qing, covered her mouth with a light laugh: “Second Senior Brother, don’t be so strict. Xiao Qi is still young. When you were seventeen, weren’t you running outside all day too?”
Xuan Qing was choked, his beard trembling, but ultimately didn’t retort.
Seeing the usually stern Second Elder Xuan Qing suppress his anger, the other elders couldn’t help but want to laugh, but they held it in when faced with his serious expression.
‘No one handles Second Elder better than Fifth Elder Yun Qingqian.’
As the senior sister who had the best relationship with Lu Zhu, Yun Qingqian naturally had to speak for her little junior sister.
She had a beautiful face, a gentle temperament, and apricot-shaped eyes full of smiles that made people feel like a spring breeze.
“Look, here she comes,” said Third Elder, sitting by the window, with a smile.
Everyone followed his gaze and saw a streak of white sword light hurtling toward the main peak at lightning speed.
The sword light flew extremely fast—so fast that it was a bit… unsteady.
“Aiya—”
A cry came from far away.
The sword light wobbled in the air, almost doing a somersault, then swayed and landed at the entrance of the meeting hall.
Lu Zhu jumped off the flying sword, her legs weak, nearly falling.
She grabbed the doorframe, panting, with fine beads of sweat on her forehead.
A few strands of hair were blown into a mess, sticking to her cheeks.
The hem of her white robe was stained with some mud, and her sleeve had a suspicious oily spot—from accidentally wiping her mouth after eating popcorn.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.