Longevity Begins From Raising Disciples

”We’re not in a hurry to get back on the road. As the saying goes, sharpening the axe doesn’t delay the chopping of wood. Even though half of Chouyun Pass has collapsed, the remaining inns should still be able to take people in. We’ll rest up here for a while, wait for the uproar to die down a bit, and also give that Demon Cultivator time to recover from his injuries, then we’ll decide what to do.”

Hearing that they could rest, Zhiwei’s eyes instantly lit up, and her little belly cooperatively let out a thunderous ”growl.”

It nearly scared Chen Ye out of his wits.

What a loud stomach growl—nothing elegant about it at all!

This girl!

Master could be sure she made that growl on purpose!

”Master! Zhiwei’s hungry! Smashing that ugly bug just now cost Zhiwei a lot of strength!”

The little girl hugged Chen Ye’s thigh, tilting her face up and hinting like crazy.

”Hmph, all you know is eating.”

Chen Ye pinched her nose, speaking in a mock-annoyed tone.

He then cast the Qi Concealment Technique, completely masking the aura of the four master and disciples, disguising them as a perfectly ordinary band of Loose Cultivators fleeing disaster.

Half a two-hour later.

At Chouyun Pass, inside a shabby inn that had luckily survived the earthquake, though its signboard was hanging crooked by half.

”What?! Ten Lower Grade Spirit Stones for a single lower room? Shopkeeper, your heart’s blacker than the spawn down in the Celestial Abyss!”

In front of the inn counter, Chen Ye stared at the clerk before him and voiced his grief and indignation.

The Shopkeeper wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and smiled bitterly:

”Honored guest, you’ve seen it yourself. Half of Chouyun Pass is gone, and with cultivators pouring in from all directions… the room prices, well, they rise with the tide. If you don’t want it, there are plenty waiting in line behind you.”

Tsk…

Ten Spirit Stones a month—this price was sky‑high for a Loose Cultivator, and that was just for the most rundown lower room.

Chen Ye curled his lip.

He might be disguising himself as a Loose Cultivator, but there was no need to cram his disciples into some drafty lower room with all sorts of riff‑raff.

”Shopkeeper, your eye for people is really lacking.”

Chen Ye gave a cold snort and let a bit of his concealed aura leak out.

A trace of pressure belonging to a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator, not too heavy and not too light, fell onto the Shopkeeper’s shoulders.

In this current, chaotic Chouyun Pass, Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators weren’t exactly rare, but he also didn’t have to fear drawing attention.

”Oh my! A Foundation Establishment senior!”

The Shopkeeper’s expression became a touch exaggerated, then he quickly changed his tune,

”Since you’re a Foundation Establishment senior, of course you should be in an upper room. At the moment we still have three upper rooms available. How many would senior’s party like?”

”We’ll take them all. When out on the road, we can’t afford to let the children suffer.”

Chen Ye answered on the spot.

Since he wasn’t short on money, there was no need to pinch pennies like an ascetic monk.

Besides, his three disciples were growing up. Always piling them together wasn’t very convenient.

But before the Shopkeeper could agree with a beaming face, Zhiwei gently tugged on Chen Ye’s sleeve and spoke softly:

”Master, given how things are right now, we should just take two rooms.”

Chen Ye paused slightly: ”Two rooms? We’ve got four people, and an outsider as well.”

The black‑haired girl spoke in a cool tone:

”With how turbulent things are now, we’ll have to wrong Master a little. We’ll all squeeze into one big room so we can look out for one another. If anything happens, Master can protect us at the first moment. As for that person, it’s better if he has a room to himself.”

Hearing this, Chen Ye found it reasonable enough:

”We’ll do as you say then. Two rooms. Next to each other.”

The Shopkeeper, though earning one room’s fee less, still kept a broad smile for the sake of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s face as he led them all upstairs.

As soon as they entered the spacious upper room, Zhiwei let out a cheer and dove onto the soft, large bed like a little swallow returning to its nest.

”Wow! Master, this bed is so soft! Way better than those broken rocks at the bottom of the Celestial Abyss!”

The little girl rolled twice on the bed, then suddenly realized something. She sat up with a jolt, her eyes slyly fixed on Chen Ye,

”Sister Zhiwei was right! It’s best if everyone squeezes together! Zhiwei’s sleeping on Master’s left side tonight, nobody’s allowed to steal my spot!”

Jin’er covered her mouth, snickering at the side as she deliberately teased, ”Then the right side belongs to Senior Sister. Where am I supposed to sleep? Don’t tell me I’m sleeping under the bed?”

”Jin’er can sleep at Master’s feet. You’re the youngest, you have to give way to Senior Sister!”

Zhiwei planted her hands on her hips, bossily assigning spots, then tugged at Chen Ye’s sleeve again,

”Master, Master, you still haven’t bought me anything tasty! You said we’d be resting here for a while—can we go buy food now, please?”

The noise from these little girls made Chen Ye’s head ache, but the weight in his heart eased a good deal as he watched his disciples’ carefree, silly joy.

”Alright, alright, you won’t be left out.”

He turned his head to look at the black‑haired girl standing by the screen, who was currently taking all sorts of furniture and bedding out of her Storage Ring and rearranging the room.

This eldest disciple had a meticulous mind; that speech she gave just now sounded entirely like she was thinking for the greater good,

but the faint, almost imperceptible curve at the corner of her lips when she saw Qing Jun fooling around on the bed always made Chen Ye feel… this girl seemed to have some little schemes of her own.

”Zhiwei, you keep an eye on the two of them first. I’ll go next door and settle Tuoba You in, and set up a Restriction while I’m at it.”

Chen Ye grabbed the half‑dead Tuoba You and headed to the next room. Before going out the door he still didn’t forget to turn back and remind,

”Qing Jun, after your senior sister tidies up the bed again, you’re not allowed to fool around on it. At least take a bath first!”

”Got it, Master! Master, hurry back—buy four! No, eight roast chickens!”

The door closed, and from next door soon came the fluctuation of Spiritual Power from Chen Ye setting up Restrictions.

Meanwhile, on this side,

Zhiwei quietly sat down at the table and unhurriedly poured herself a cup of warm tea.

She looked at the two Demon Pills still rolling around on the bed—yes, in the eldest senior sister’s eyes, Jin’er was actually also a Demon Pill today. It was just that Jin’er’s thoughts were always hidden in her heart, unlike Qing Jun who didn’t conceal anything.

The girl took a sip of tea.

Squeezing in a bit was indeed quite nice.

As for wronging Master… at worst, in the coming days, this eldest senior sister would just think of more ways to make it up to Master.

Next door.

Spiritual Light flickered at Chen Ye’s fingertips as he laid down layer after layer of Restrictions.

He casually stuffed a few top‑quality Pills into Tuoba You’s mouth, lest the man suddenly drop dead without knowing, then turned and left the room.

He had promised the little glutton; naturally he had to see it done.

Though half of Chouyun Pass had collapsed, as a place where Cultivators gathered, as long as there were Spirit Stones, there was no shortage of restaurants and shops to satisfy one’s appetite.

Chen Ye took a turn around the street and not only bought several roast chickens made from spirit birds, but also picked up a large amount of specialty pastries from Qi Kingdom.

Though they were pastries from Demon Land, they looked quite decent; not much different from the Spirit Food of Yan Kingdom. After all, whether of the righteous path or the Demon Path, everyone liked dishes that were pleasing in color, aroma, and taste.

”Hm? There are also Cultivators from Huayue.”

While shopping, Chen Ye didn’t forget to probe the current situation at Chouyun Pass.

What surprised him was that

besides Cultivators of the Li Family at Chaos Lake, there were also Cultivators from Huayue.

On second thought, it was only natural. Such a commotion would definitely draw all the powers in Ruins Country, especially the people of Huayue Mansion.

”Strictly speaking, the people of Huayue Mansion should have been able to arrive first. They were just in Yan Kingdom attending the Luoxiao Conference not long ago.”

Chen Ye thought to himself.

Chances were, on this trip in Qi Kingdom, he might run into Gu Tangyin and the others.

After roughly scouting things out, Chen Ye didn’t linger and went straight back to the inn.

As soon as he opened the door, a billowing wave of warm steam rushed at him.

From behind the inner screen came the faint sounds of his disciples’ playful giggles and splashing water.

”Don’t splash water, be careful not to get the freshly changed bedding wet.” This was Zhiwei’s helpless voice.

”Heehee, Jin’er, what are you hiding for? Come bathe together!” Qing Jun was overjoyed.

Standing in the outer room, Chen Ye set the food he’d bought one by one on the table and called out loudly:

”Are you all done washing? If you’re done, hurry out. It won’t taste good once it gets cold.”

”Wow! Roast chicken!”

At once, there was a great splashing commotion from the inner room.

Before long, the three disciples came out from behind the screen. They had all washed off the mud and blood stench they’d picked up in the Celestial Abyss and changed into clean, fresh everyday clothes.

Qing Jun had two little buns tied atop her head; her fair, rosy little face was full of impatient greed as she rushed straight toward the table:

”Roast chicken! Master brought roast chicken back!”

”Eat, eat, just slow down. No one’s fighting you for it.” Master sighed.

Qing Jun took a big chomp with an ”awooh”, grease running down her mouth as she mumbled indistinctly, ”So good! What Master buys is the best!”

”If you eat like this every day, sooner or later you’ll turn into a chubby‑headed dragon.”

Chen Ye couldn’t help laughing. He could accept it if she said what he cooked was delicious, but in Qing Jun’s eyes, even what he bought was also the best?

Jin’er ate slowly and delicately, taking small bites, and still found time to add fuel to the fire: ”Exactly. By then you won’t even be able to fly, you’ll just roll along the ground.”

”You’re the one rolling on the ground! Qing Jun is a True Dragon!”

The little girl glared, but her greasy little face really had no deterrent power at all.