A year passed in the blink of an eye, and the Xuanwu Conference was just around the corner.

During this year, Zhang Jingmo and Lu Guijiu rarely left their cave abode. Except for the times they had to personally retrieve precious spiritual herbs, Zhang Jingmo cut off all contact with others.

Yu Fen was quite tactful in not disturbing Zhang Jingmo. Instead, he cooperatively put on an act in front of the other Lingxu Sect members, saying that his friend had lost his mind and was actually sending his painstakingly cultivated disciple to his death.

This news reached Daoist Cen's ears, making him even more frantic. His disciple was twenty-three this year, yet had already reached the fifth level of Qi Refining. In previous years, Daoist Cen would have probably been assured of victory, but this year there were some changes. However, this challenge came not from Zhang Jingmo, but from two other geniuses who had entered the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Of the two new disciples at the fifth level of Qi Refining, one was the sect master's disciple, while the other was the disciple of a Nascent Soul elder of Lingxu Sect. It seemed their strength would not be lacking.

Almost everyone in Lingxu Sect felt that Zhang Jingmo's disciple probably only had one fate - at the time of the competition, he would fall into that ten-thousand-foot abyss, dying before growing up, turning into a pile of dry bones.

Since Zhang Jingmo did not go out, he naturally did not know the atmosphere within the sect. But every time the Xuanwu Conference was held, the atmosphere in Lingxu Sect would be tense for a while, so he didn't take it to heart.

Lu Guijiu continued to cultivate day and night. Three months before the Xuanwu Conference, another small change occurred.

This change was within Zhang Jingmo's expectations. Lu Guijiu's senior brother disciple, Zhang Jingmo's eldest disciple, Ji Jinglun, had returned.

Ji Jinglun was a genius. To be precise, Zhang Jingmo's previous two disciples, one male and one female, were both geniuses. They had entered the Dao earlier than Zhang Jingmo, and their later achievements were also greater than Zhang Jingmo's.

Take Ji Jinglun for example. After forming his Golden Core, he left Lingxu Sect to travel far and wide. Zhang Jingmo had no news of him for a long time. It was only long after the demon race invaded that Zhang Jingmo learned that Ji Jinglun had established his own sect on another continent and had even formed his Nascent Soul, becoming the founding patriarch of a generation.

Now that he had returned from his travels, it was to prepare for Foundation Establishment. As his master, Zhang Jingmo naturally had to do his utmost to assist.

Back then, Zhang Jingmo had racked his brains over Ji Jinglun's Foundation Establishment. He directly ignored the matter of Lu Guijiu's upcoming participation in the Xuanwu Conference, putting all his energy on Ji Jinglun.

What Lu Guijiu thought at that time, Zhang Jingmo was not clear. He only knew that after this matter, his relationship with Lu Guijiu had cooled considerably. Lu Guijiu seemed to deliberately reduce the time he met with him, until...

But now that there was a chance to choose again, Zhang Jingmo naturally would not make the same mistake.

The timing of Ji Jinglun's return to the sect did not change. As soon as he returned, he went straight to Zhang Jingmo's cave abode to pay his respects to his master.

At that time, Zhang Jingmo was sparring with Lu Guijiu when he saw a white light flashing across the sky at high speed. Where the white light landed, a black-robed cultivator in tight-fitting clothes appeared, loudly saying, "Master!"

Hearing these two words, Lu Guijiu's movements suddenly paused. He failed to dodge the wooden sword in Zhang Jingmo's hand and was heavily hit on the head.

Fortunately, Zhang Jingmo retracted his force in time and did not injure Lu Guijiu. He glared at Lu Guijiu with some displeasure and said, "Why were you distracted?"

Lu Guijiu lowered his head and admitted his mistake.

Zhang Jingmo said, "If you were fighting someone and a bystander shouted that Zhang Jingmo was about to die, would you really turn your head to look?"

Lu Guijiu didn't speak, but his lips pursed slightly, clearly showing some guilty conscience.

Zhang Jingmo said with iron-willed disappointment, "Could it be that I've become your weakness? Your senior brother calls me Master once, and you get hit on the head with a wooden sword. I'd like to see how many blades that head of yours can take."

Lu Guijiu could only sincerely admit his mistake again.

Seeing that Lu Guijiu had submitted, Zhang Jingmo put away the wooden sword in his hand and called for his eldest disciple who was waiting outside the cave.

As soon as Ji Jinglun entered the cave, he went straight to Zhang Jingmo's side. However, he did not expect to see an unfamiliar youth beside Zhang Jingmo. After a slight pause, he said, "This is...?"

Zhang Jingmo said, "This is your junior brother disciple, named Lu Guijiu. Guijiu, this is your senior brother disciple, Ji Jinglun."

Lu Guijiu politely bowed and sweetly called out, "Senior Brother."

Ji Jinglun laughed, "It's been decades. I didn't expect to have a new junior brother. Come, come, your senior brother doesn't have anything good, but I happened to encounter a Hanzhouhe crane the other day, so I'll give you its spirit feather."

The Hanzhouhe crane was a rare spirit beast. It had a spirit feather growing at its vital point. This spirit feather had no other use except that it could make the things it carried float. Those things could even be a small island.

If a cultivator wanted to build a floating island, this Hanzhouhe crane's spirit feather was an indispensable item.

Lu Guijiu didn't stand on ceremony. After receiving Ji Jinglun's gift, he thanked him.

Zhang Jingmo looked Ji Jinglun over and said, "Jinglun, have you returned this time for your Foundation Establishment?"

Ji Jinglun said, "That's right, Master. I've already gathered seven or eight out of ten of the materials for my Foundation Establishment Pill. I only ask Master to refine a pill for me and to protect me during the process."

Zhang Jingmo slightly nodded and said, "No problem. However, your Foundation Establishment will have to wait until after the Xuanwu Conference."

Ji Jinglun paused, glanced at Lu Guijiu standing beside him, and said, "Is Junior Brother going to participate in the Xuanwu Conference?"

Zhang Jingmo said, "That's right."

Ji Jinglun pondered for a moment, looked at Lu Guijiu again, and after some hesitation, said, "Master, although I've just returned to the sect, I've heard that in this year's Xuanwu Conference, there are already three new disciples at the fifth level of Qi Refining..."

Zhang Jingmo said, "You don't need to worry about this matter."

Hearing this, Ji Jinglun nodded and didn't say anything more. Since it was something Zhang Jingmo had decided, there must be a reason. Based on his understanding of his master, Zhang Jingmo would not be impulsive and let Lu Guijiu go to his death for nothing.

Zhang Jingmo said, "Guijiu, go and cultivate on your own. I have some things I want to discuss with your senior brother."

In front of Ji Jinglun, Lu Guijiu behaved exceptionally obediently. He responded in a low voice and then retreated.

Seeing that Lu Guijiu had left, Zhang Jingmo asked Ji Jinglun to talk about the gains from his recent travels.

Ji Jinglun recounted everything he encountered one by one. After listening, Zhang Jingmo suddenly asked, "How well did the lotus flowers in Jinze bloom this year?"

Ji Jinglun casually said, "How does Master know that the lotus flowers in Jinze bloomed well? Two years ago, I happened to go there and heard that in the Jinze lotus pond, twelve lotus flowers bloomed in full."

Although it was within Zhang Jingmo's expectations, his face still became slightly gloomy.

Ji Jinglun continued, "With the lotus flowers in Jinze blooming so well, who knows how many geniuses will emerge from Kuchan Valley in the next few years."

Who knows? Others might not know, but Zhang Jingmo certainly knew. The twelve lotus flowers in Jinze, each in full bloom, only gave rise to one genius, a peerless talent named Tianlu.

Back when Zhang Jingmo obtained Zhu Yan, he had schemed to destroy the physical body of Tianlu's younger brother, Tianfeng, hoping that this matter could slightly hinder Tianlu's progress.

But now it seems... this move doesn't seem to have much effect.

Having received this news, Zhang Jingmo asked, "How confident are you in forming your foundation this time?"

Ji Jinglun confidently said, "This disciple is confident in forming a top-grade eighth-rank Foundation."

When forming a foundation, the Foundation is divided into three grades, with three and seven as the boundaries. Below rank three is a low-grade Foundation, ranks three to seven constitute a mid-grade Foundation, and ranks eight to ten are a top-grade Foundation.

The vastness of the formed Foundation determines one's future limit. With a low-grade Foundation, even the chance of forming a Golden Core is extremely slim.

Zhang Jingmo said, "That would be good." He remembered that Ji Jinglun did indeed form an eighth-rank Foundation.

Ji Jinglun asked, "Why did Master suddenly think of accepting a young junior disciple?" He remembered that Zhang Jingmo loved tranquility the most, and only reluctantly accepted him and his junior sister after being urged by the sect leader several times.

Zhang Jingmo laughed, "Isn't it because I'm getting old and fear loneliness?"

However, Ji Jinglun didn't believe it. He said, "Master is joking."

Zhang Jingmo shook his head, skipping over this topic. He said, "Prepare well again. After the Xuanwu Conference passes, I will refine pills for you."

Ji Jinglun naturally agreed.

Zhang Jingmo chatted with Ji Jinglun about some trivial matters before bidding farewell. After Ji Jinglun left, Zhang Jingmo felt as if a large stone was hanging in his heart.

Lu Guijiu didn't know what Zhang Jingmo was thinking. When he heard Ji Jinglun call Zhang Jingmo "Master," he felt displeased in his heart, but he couldn't say it out loud, so he could only pretend to be understanding and obedient.

When Zhang Jingmo told him to go cultivate on his own, Lu Guijiu, in his frustration, actually had his spiritual fire leak out, melting a patch of green land in the cave residence into lava. After he calmed down, although the lava also cooled, the ground had turned into bare, black rock without a blade of grass.