Watching the Mountain

Chapter 80: Chapter 72: Pure People

The moment she finished speaking, Master Xuan Zhen, who had spoken before, waved his hand. ”Ah, Fellow Daoist Ning, there’s no need to speak of guidance. As I said before, we’re here to discuss the Dao with you.”

”On the path of cultivation, mastery comes first. Although you are only a Tier Three Array Master, that is merely a limitation of your cultivation. The concepts you’ve proposed are incredibly groundbreaking and have benefited us all immensely. So please, stop calling us ’Senior.’ We are all fellow Daoists, here to exchange our understanding.”

Master Xuan Zhen, with his white hair and youthful face, was dressed very simply. He said to Little Xiyue with a beaming smile, his eyes crinkling.

The other Elders from Inference Dao Peak heard this and chimed in, ”Exactly. All this talk of ’seniors’ makes me uncomfortable. There are no seniors here, only fellow Daoists.”

”Fellow Daoist Ning, we’ve known each other for a while now. You should know what I’m like. I can’t stand all that excessive formality, so please don’t say things like you just did again.”

”That’s right. If you say it again, we might actually get angry. Hahaha.”

Hearing this, Little Xiyue’s mouth fell slightly open. With a look of resignation, she said, ”In that case, Xiyue will do as you all say.”

”Haha, that’s more like it! We’re all fellow Daoists, so why be so polite?”

”Discussing the Dao is what’s most important. Nothing else matters.”

Hearing her words, the Elders from Inference Dao Peak couldn’t help but laugh.

Watching from the side, Xu Ran wasn’t too surprised by this scene.

There was a certain type of person in the Cultivation Realm. They were often masters of a particular art and dedicated themselves to groundbreaking theoretical research. These people were a special, pure-hearted sort.

In their hearts, only the Dao existed. If they believed someone or something could benefit their studies, they would address them as a ”fellow Daoist”—regardless of whether they were a mortal with no cultivation, a common street peddler, or even an animal that couldn’t speak.

Back on Spirit Stream Peak, Xu Ran had known a Spirit Plant Master with an odd personality who always had a big yellow dog with him. Because that dog had given him flashes of inspiration for his research several times, he liked to call it ”Senior Brother Huang.”

Yes, *Senior Brother*, not *Fellow Daoist*. He felt the dog had offered him profound guidance.

Master Xuan Zhen and the others were, without a doubt, this same type of pure-hearted individual. It was no wonder they addressed Little Xiyue as an equal.

After seeing the character of Master Xuan Zhen and the others, Xu Ran felt a sense of relief. ’These people are the purest sort. I don’t have to worry about Little Xiyue being in any danger with them.’

Just then, Master Xuan Zhen turned to Xu Ran, who was standing quietly to the side, and remarked with admiration, ”Elder Xu, you’ve taken on a fine disciple.”

Hearing this, Xu Ran’s curiosity was piqued. He cupped his hands toward Master Xuan Zhen and asked:

”I’m very curious, what did Xiyue do to earn such high praise from you?”

Hearing Xu Ran’s words, Master Xuan Zhen laughed. ”Fellow Daoist Ning has done quite a lot.”

Seeing the confused expression on Xu Ran’s face, he pondered for a moment before explaining, ”Elder Xu, you must know that since Qing Xuan Peak is newly established, it certainly needs to have an Array set up.”

”Given the hard lesson we learned when the Spirit Veins of the other three main peaks were detonated, we wanted to take this opportunity with the establishment of Qing Xuan Peak to revise the layout of the entire Sect Protection Array.”

”Our plan was to have each main peak operate independently while still being encompassed by the Sect Protection Array. That way, if one peak was attacked, it wouldn’t affect the sect as a whole.”

”However, there were many problems we couldn’t solve. But just when we were stumped, Fellow Daoist Ning proposed an idea.”

”After studying her concept, we realized that arranging the Sect Protection Array according to her design would not only solve our previous problems but take things even further. It would allow each main peak to borrow strength from the others when under attack, greatly enhancing its defensive capabilities. And on top of that, there are many other improvements.”

”It’s a truly genius idea.”

Master Xuan Zhen added his praise. Then, as if he’d just remembered something, he turned to Xu Ran and asked, ”By the way, I heard from Fellow Daoist Ning that she was able to think of all this thanks to the inspiration you provided, Elder Xu. Could it be that you’re also well-versed in arrays?”

He stared at Xu Ran, his eyes gleaming with intensity.

Xu Ran was taken aback. He glanced over at Little Xiyue. ’I’ve always preferred to keep a low profile. My identity as a Spirit Plant Master was unavoidable, but this...’

’Besides, if Little Xiyue was the one praising me, I’d feel truly happy, satisfied, and accomplished. But coming from anyone else, it just feels awkward.’

So he shook his head without hesitation and replied, ”Senior, you jest. For a genius, an apple falling on their head could lead to an incredible epiphany. But they wouldn’t credit their own comprehension; they would only thank the apple for happening to hit them and allowing them to grasp that new understanding.”

”Xiyue is just like that. I said something casually, and it happened to spark these thoughts, so she thinks the credit is mine.”

’Master Xuan Zhen and his peers are pure-hearted cultivators,’ Xu Ran thought. ’I don’t have to worry that Little Xiyue being too brilliant will bring her harm. In fact, I couldn’t be happier that they appreciate her so much.’