When Lu Guijiu woke up, he found that his master Zhang Jingmo still had his eyes closed. He stretched out his chubby little fists to rub his sleepy eyes, wanting to see the person lying beside him more clearly.

Zhang Jingmo was not the best-looking person Lu Guijiu had ever seen, but he was the person he had seen who most resembled an immortal.

Lu Guijiu's father held a high position, and everything he ate, wore, and used was of the best quality. Even the servants around him were quite eye-catching if sent out.

As the most beloved youngest son, almost all of Lu Guijiu's wishes had been fulfilled since he was a child.

However, perhaps because he had memories from a young age, Lu Guijiu was not spoiled. His innate keen intuition vaguely told him that this was not the place he should stay.

It was not until his father invited a highly paid immortal master who revealed the mystery that he was sent to the Lingxu Sect and met his master... Zhang Jingmo.

At home, his father was the sky to the four-year-old Lu Guijiu. When he came to the Lingxu Sect, this sky became Zhang Jingmo.

Lu Guijiu stared at his master's face, his heart full of admiration. He felt extremely lucky to have such a good-looking master, with skin as white as jade, beautiful eyebrows and eyes. Usually, there was little expression on his face, but whether he frowned or smiled slightly, Lu Guijiu couldn't take his eyes off him.

Moreover, his master... treated him so well.

Thinking of this, Lu Guijiu snuggled into Zhang Jingmo's arms, found a comfortable position, and fell asleep again in a daze.

In fact, Zhang Jingmo woke up the moment Lu Guijiu's breathing changed.

Cultivators have extremely keen senses, and he had already reached the realm where not a single feather could be added and not even a fly could land without him knowing.

Although Zhang Jingmo did not open his eyes, he could feel Lu Guijiu's gaze on his face - it was a gaze with eager kindness, which was somewhat unexpected for Zhang Jingmo.

In the first life, although he and Lu Guijiu were master and disciple, their relationship was not very good. Both he and Lu Guijiu strictly adhered to the duties of master and disciple - this was before Lu Guijiu betrayed him.

As for after Lu Guijiu betrayed him... every time Zhang Jingmo recalled these memories, his breath became a little unstable. Since he had already decided to use Lu Guijiu to overcome his enemy, he should have long forgotten these past events and wholeheartedly paved the way for Lu Guijiu.

However... how one thinks in one's heart is not something that can be controlled.

Zhang Jingmo had devoted himself to cultivation and had never been involved in matters of lust or love. It was precisely because of this that what Lu Guijiu did to him was somewhat unforgettable, because it was too profound, so even after so many lifetimes, he still vaguely remembered it.

Just as Zhang Jingmo was lost in thought, Lu Guijiu, who had been staring at him, suddenly burrowed into his arms and fell asleep again after a while, his breathing even.

Seeing this, Zhang Jingmo was somewhat at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He even began to doubt whether what Qingfeng and Mingyue told him, that Lu Guijiu getting up early every day to work hard was actually a lie. Although he didn't open his eyes, he knew that it was already late in the morning.

If it were the usual Zhang Jingmo, he would probably pull Lu Guijiu out of bed and tell him to study hard.

But the weakness of temporarily losing his power and the snake venom on his shoulder made Zhang Jingmo feel a little tired. He felt Lu Guijiu's chubby little face pressed against his chest, and the faint sound of breathing... even without looking, he knew that the child was sleeping soundly.

Forget it, let him off this once.

Zhang Jingmo sighed inwardly, but did not wake Lu Guijiu up. Instead, he gently reached out to tuck in the quilt behind Lu Guijiu's back and fell asleep with him.

When they woke up again, it was already afternoon.

Lu Guijiu was still groggy from sleep. When Zhang Jingmo told him to get up, he even grunted a couple of times.

Zhang Jingmo leaned on the edge of the bed and told Lu Guijiu to put on his clothes, eat something, and then practice his cultivation techniques properly.

Lu Guijiu was buttoning his clothes and suddenly said, "If I break through again within a year, how will Master reward me?"

Zhang Jingmo thought to himself that the boy was really greedy. He, Zhang Jingmo, had lived for more than 120 lifetimes and had never heard of anyone entering the second layer of Qi Refining at the age of four.

Zhang Jingmo said, "How do you want me to reward you?"

Lu Guijiu said, "If I break through within a year, will Master promise me one request?"

Zhang Jingmo heard this and reached out to knock on Lu Guijiu's head. He said, "What if you don't break through?"

Lu Guijiu shook his head and said, "Then I will promise Master one request."

Zhang Jingmo heard this and laughed. He said, "Okay."

Lu Guijiu got Zhang Jingmo's promise and was happy. He put on his clothes cheerfully and went out the door with a skip in his step.

Zhang Jingmo looked at his back and thought that only at this time would Lu Guijiu look like a four-year-old baby.

The effect of the Primordial Cyan Pill lasted for seven days.

During these seven days, Zhang Jingmo avoided seeing guests and spent most of his time recuperating and resting. After seven days, the golden core in Zhang Jingmo's abdomen finally regained its luster and was no longer as dull as before.

After the golden core recovered, Zhang Jingmo planned to refine the python skin and bones he brought back. The fresh blood of the demon python was also a precious medicinal material, perfect for refining pills.

This demon python was already at the late stage of the Golden Core realm. The python skin was naturally refined to be impervious to swords, spears, water, and fire. In addition, its inherent poisonous attribute had the effect of resisting hundreds of poisons.

The python skin was long enough. After Zhang Jingmo made a set of inner armor for himself, he called Lu Guijiu and made a set according to his size.

However, children grow fast, so when Zhang Jingmo made it, he made the size a little larger.

Lu Guijiu quickly received his soft armor and was naturally overjoyed. Regardless of the door still being wide open, he wanted to take off his clothes and change into it. Fortunately, Zhang Jingmo stopped him in the end.

Zhang Jingmo said, "Guijiu, you can wear this inner armor for now. When your master finds better materials, he will make you a better one."

Lu Guijiu said loudly, "I already like this outfit very much!"

Zhang Jingmo shook his head with a smile and said, "Go and cultivate well."

Inside his cave abode, there were a total of two spiritual caves. Currently, he used one, and Lu Guijiu used the other. But if his two disciples who were out wandering returned, it would be a bit insufficient.

However, Zhang Jingmo did not intend to have Lu Guijiu give up the spiritual caves he was using. Instead, he planned to allocate some of the spiritual caves he was using to his eldest and second disciples.

Since he had made the decision, he wanted to provide Lu Guijiu with the best environment and see just how far he, who had a bright future ahead, could go.

Python bones, like python skin, had the effect of resisting hundreds of poisons. Zhang Jingmo originally planned to find someone to refine them into spiritual tools, but upon second thought, he felt it would be too much of a waste.

After all, he only needed to wait a few more days before having better spiritual tools waiting for him to retrieve. These python bones would just go to waste.

So it would be better to... send these bones to his friend Daoist Yu, who could soak them in spiritual wine for a few days, and enjoy a small drink.

With this thought, Zhang Jingmo took the bones and headed towards the mountain peak where Elder Yu resided.

Elder Yu did not expect Zhang Jingmo to come. He was playing chess with another friend when he saw Zhang Jingmo descending from the sky. He deliberately said loudly a few times, "What a rare guest! What a rare guest! I was wondering why there were magpies chirping on the branches this morning. It turns out it's such a joyous occasion."

Zhang Jingmo knew that his good friend was sharp-tongued, so he said nothing. He took out the python bones from his ring and directly threw them in front of him.

Elder Yu's mouth was still open. Suddenly seeing a huge skeleton appear in front of him, he was stunned and forgot to close his mouth.

Zhang Jingmo said, "Take it to soak in wine."

Elder Yu: "..."

After saying this, Zhang Jingmo made a gesture of farewell to the equally shocked fellow Daoist standing beside Elder Yu, and then flew away on a cloud again.

It took Elder Yu a good while to recover. He said faintly, "If I'm not mistaken, this is the skeleton of a demon python at the late Golden Core stage, right?"

The fellow Daoist said, "Indeed it is."

Elder Yu then said, "... Could it be that my friend really consumed a Primordial Cyan Pill for the sake of this python?"

The fellow Daoist said, "It seems so."

Elder Yu said helplessly, "Then he really does dote on that disciple of his like his own son."

The fellow Daoist said, "That's right, that's right."

At this point, Elder Yu turned his head and glanced at his good friend. He said, "Aren't you the one who loves to read faces? Didn't you see his young disciple last time? Tell me, what kind of person is his disciple?"

The fellow Daoist stroked his beard and squinted his eyes. He sighed, "Hard to say, hard to say." Greatly treacherous and greatly loyal, greatly good and greatly evil... He had been reading faces for so many years, but had never seen such a complex and strange face.

After delivering the python bones, Zhang Jingmo returned to his cave abode. He was planning to hurry and refine the medicine while the medicinal properties of the python blood had not yet dissipated, so as not to waste it.

However, just as he was about to enter, he suddenly heard a voice calling out to him.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang--" The voice was both shrill and hoarse, making it very grating to the ears. Zhang Jingmo was still fine, but Mingyue, who was standing beside him and serving him, nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Although Zhang Jingmo did not like to fight with others on a daily basis, he had always been one to take revenge for grievances. Otherwise, he would not have held a grudge against Lu Guijiu for so many years...

Zhang Jingmo turned around and saw a familiar face. His own face showed no expression. "Fellow Daoist Cen, long time no see."

The person Zhang Jingmo addressed as Fellow Daoist Cen looked at Mingyue standing beside Zhang Jingmo with disdain. He extended his sleeve to cover his mouth, coughed a few times, and then said, "I have nothing to do today, so I've come to ask you for medicine again."

Zhang Jingmo said nothing and directly took out a bottle of medicine from his sleeve, tossing it to the person standing in front of him.

Fellow Daoist Cen caught the medicine, but looked at Zhang Jingmo with a very sticky and disgusting gaze. He said, "It's been a few days, Fellow Daoist Zhang, and you've become even thinner."

Zhang Jingmo did not speak and looked at him coldly.

Fellow Daoist Cen laughed again, "I heard that Fellow Daoist Zhang has refined the Primordial Cyan Pill. Seeing Fellow Daoist Zhang's haggard appearance, could it be that... you have already consumed one?"

Zhang Jingmo said expressionlessly, "That's not something you need to concern yourself with."