San Shan City.
Sun Xiaoman hurriedly walked into her mother's room.
Since the end of the battle at Yu Heng Peak, Dou Yuemei locked herself in her room and didn't come out. All the affairs in the city were handled by Sun Xiaoman, even the new dean of the San Shan City Taoist Academy was not introduced by her.
This was the first time in days that she was willing to see people.
"Mother..." Sun Xiaoman trembled at the sight of Dou Yuemei's haggard and exhausted face.
"Xiaoman." Dou Yuemei looked at her daughter, and finally had a little bit of color on her pale face: "How is the city?"
"It's all fine, more or less." Sun Xiaoman didn't dare to say that since the failed battle at Yu Heng Peak, several talented disciples of the Taoist Academy had transferred to other cities, saying that there was no hope here.
Although there were not many such people, it was still a blow to the talent-starved San Shan City.
"That's good." Dou Yuemei didn't seem to care too much about this answer either, and asked: "How is Xiaoyan?"
"She's still locked in her room and says she never wants to talk to you again."Dou Yuemei sighed, feeling a little sad: "It seems she's really angry this time."
"It's okay, she'll forget about it in a while."
Sun Xiaoman's eyes were a little tired, and she tried not to let her mother notice.
Handling the affairs of the city lord's mansion was not her strong suit, but Sun Xiaoyan was incapable of doing so, and her mother was so depressed that she was unable to do anything. She could only reluctantly take on the task.
For her, she would rather wield a big hammer and fight against hundreds of experts than bury herself in paperwork.
"I've figured it out these days." Dou Yuemei slightly lifted her spirits and sighed: "San Shan City still has to hold on, and your brother's cultivation cannot be abandoned. Most importantly, I can't delay you anymore."
"Mother..."
"Go find your master!" Dou Yuemei sighed: "This world is not what your father thinks it is. Everything he has done is meaningless. This world is not a world of reason, but a world of the strong."
It was really hard to imagine. As a woman who had absolute confidence in her husband as a spiritual pillar, how desperate she must be to say such things. How could she deny the efforts her husband had made?
Sun Xiaoman felt that her mother's words were not correct, but she didn't know how to refute them.
"Your master is very strong, but I still insisted on keeping you by my side back then because I was confident that one day I would not lose to him. Following me will not affect your cultivation."
Dou Yuemei was a little depressed: "Now... I can never surpass him."
At that time, Dou Yuemei sat in front of her dressing table, only facing away from the mirror. The sunlight shone through the window and made her haggard face even paler.
Sun Xiaoman sat on the ground, shaking her silver hammer on her wrist, using her hand as a pillow, and leaning her head on her mother's knee.
Dou Yuemei stroked her temple and continued: "Pure martial arts cultivation has not yet forged a complete path. So the path of a martial artist is very difficult. Your master is just one of the explorers. Many times, you can only rely on yourself and think more."
"Okay." Sun Xiaoman's voice was soft.
"You are talented. Before the Inner Palace Realm, everything was easy for you, so I won't talk about cultivation before that."
Dou Yuemei took out a small booklet, which was only a few pages thin: "This is a bit of my experience in exploring divine powers. Take it. Different paths lead to the same goal, and maybe it will help you."
When Sun Xiaoman took it, she continued to sigh: "Martial artists have yet to reach the thirty-three heavens, and no one has ever succeeded. I really don't know where my daughter will go."
Translation by @yuzhouxie on Twitter.Sun Xiaoman raised her hand with a small silver hammer and said, "Go to the highest point!"
Dou Yuemei smiled and flicked her daughter's nose with her finger, "Go ahead, go ahead."
Sun Xiaoman stood up barefoot and asked, "Mom, can I go now?"
Dou Yuemei smiled with tears in her eyes, "Go ahead."
Sun Xiaoman suddenly smirked, "Before I go, let me teach Sun Xiaoyan a lesson for you!"
Seeing Dou Yuemei about to object, she interrupted, "Mom, listen to me. It's good to discipline children. Don't be too soft. Dad is gone, but the future is still long!"
She took two steps and turned around, winking, "I see my master has a thing for you!"
"Go away! You don't know anything!"
The daughter left to discipline her son.
Dou Yuemei felt a strange sense of contentment and pushed the thought out of her mind.
She turned to the dressing mirror and saw her face, still beautiful despite being tired and without makeup.
She sighed, "Dead ghost, did you feel it was worth it to die so early? It's such a pity for my beautiful face..."
...
Jiang Wang was familiar with Vice Dean Song Qifang and respected him. Dong A's transfer to Fenglin City was only a few years ago, before that, the Fenglin City Taoist Academy had always been under the leadership of Song Qifang.
Of course, due to his own strength and vision, Fenglin City Taoist Academy had always been weak under his leadership.
Now that Dong A was in charge of the main hall, Song Qifang, as the deputy dean, focused on alchemy and divination outside of teaching. It was a clear division of labor, with each person doing their own job.
Because he was not competitive and was amiable, he was always respected by his disciples.
However, Jiang Wang couldn't think of why Song Qifang suddenly wanted to see him.
"Dean Song." Jiang Wang walked into the alchemy room and respectfully greeted him, "Do you have something to discuss with me?"
The white-haired Song Qifang turned around from the furnace and looked at Jiang Wang with a friendly smile, "How has your cultivation been recently? Do you have any problems?"
"Thank you for your concern, Dean Song. The instructors are all very responsible, and my cultivation is still shallow. The problems are all basic, and sometimes my senior brothers help me solve them. There are no special difficulties for the time being."
Song Qifang nodded in satisfaction, "You are one of the best disciples in the city Taoist Academy. I trust you."
"There are many experts in the Taoist Academy, and I dare not compare myself to them."
"I heard about your performance in Wangjiang City," Song Qifang turned his head to look at the fire in the furnace before continuing, "You did well. However, some things still need to pay attention to the method. We are close to Wangjiang City, and there is no need to make things so tense."
Regardless of the right or wrong of the matter, Jiang Wang was unhappy with the act of labeling without evidence.
But he remained calm and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Dean Song."
"Of course, it involves family matters, and it's understandable for young people to be impulsive." Song Qifang smiled, fanning the fire, and said casually, "I heard that you have a transcendent sword technique that has been outstanding in Sanshan City and Wangjiang City?"
"I did come across a sword technique by chance," Jiang Wang frowned and said, "But this sword technique is not as amazing as others say."
"It's good to be humble in victory." Song Qifang paused and then looked at Jiang Wang's eyes, "I don't know if you are willing to contribute this technique to the Taoist Academy, so that other disciples can benefit from it. Don't worry, your contributions will be greatly rewarded, I will be the one to decide."
Indeed, the Zhuang State Dao Academy had a tradition of exchanging materials for Dao merits, which allowed those wealthy disciples to contribute their resources to the academy and the cultivators themselves. It was a good thing for both the academy and the cultivators, and cultivation techniques were included in the exchange.
However, this was purely based on the principle of voluntariness.
In other words, if Jiang Wang was willing, he could have exchanged his materials long ago. Why would he wait for Song Qifang to speak up?
Sharing with Zhao Rucheng, Ling He, and Du Yehu was done willingly. But this did not mean that Jiang Wang was so compassionate to the world and cared for all living beings. That would not be compassion, but foolishness.
So, Jiang Wang asked directly, "Is this the intention of the Academy's Dean?"
Song Qifang's face darkened slightly, "In the Maple City Dao Academy, what I say still carries some weight. Even the Dean would not disrespect my opinion."
No wonder the Maple City Dao Academy was so mediocre under his control, filled with such a stale atmosphere!
Jiang Wang thought to himself and bowed, "In that case, I'm afraid I cannot oblige."
After the bow, he turned and left without hesitation.
His sword hung at his waist.
At this moment, he had the sharpness of a sword.