The black-robed monk did not get annoyed, he just smiled and asked, “Lord Warden Commander, you just said you didn’t have salary to treat, and now you can pay out this much? Don’t let it be that after this destitute monk finishes eating, I’ll have to stay here doing chores for years to pay off the noodles.”

The noodle shop owner, who had already brought the plain noodles, happened to hear this remark, and suddenly hesitated, unsure whether to put down the noodles in his hands.

Chen Chao took out a skygold coin without hesitation and handed it to the owner, smiling, “Master, serve as much as you want.”

Seeing the genuine skygold coin, the noodle shop owner beamed, accepting it, and even offered many extra words of praise for free. Chen Chao laughed it off, letting him get back to work, then asked again, “Master, don’t hold back; if we delay any longer, my two friends will probably be dead.”

The black-robed monk was in no hurry and picked up his chopsticks to start eating noodles, “As I said, finish eating first, then speak.”

Seeing this, Chen Chao did not ask further, just watched the black-robed monk eat, and asked a question that many people would have wanted to know, though today it was truly of no consequence.

“Master, what exactly is your relationship with that Nation Teacher?”

The black-robed monk ate his plain noodles, speaking slowly, “Hard to say, also not good to say, so I simply won't say.”

Chen Chao smiled bitterly, thinking, what the hell kind of answer is that.

“Lord Warden Commander, since you asked this question, this destitute monk would like to ask: even if I really were the so-called reincarnation of that Nation Teacher, would you still ask this destitute monk to return to be the Nation Teacher?”

This question from the black-robed monk was somewhat interesting.

Chen Chao thought for a moment, but before he could answer, the black-robed monk smiled, “If this destitute monk has no relation to him, would it then be impossible to become the Nation Teacher?”

Chen Chao wanted to speak again, but was once more interrupted. The black-robed monk smiled, “No matter how it is, what Lord Warden Commander says does not count.”

The black-robed monk looked at Chen Chao and smiled, “After all, Your Excellency isn't the emperor.”

Chen Chao was stunned when he heard this.

If the black-robed monk here intended to emulate that former Nation Teacher and do the same thing, it would not be simple.

The black-robed monk said calmly, “Your Excellency has no such intent, and this destitute monk admits I cannot accomplish such a thing.”

Chen Chao's expression was complicated.

......

......

On the mountain peak over there, perhaps the two most talented daoist sages of the past thousand years had already begun to move.

The elder of the two, his sleeves flowing, merely watched the younger daoist quietly, paying no mind to the thunder rumbling across the sky.

The younger daoist, by contrast, appeared far more flustered.

Their realms were different. Now that the fight was no longer one of suppression at the same level, naturally one had it easier and the other faced difficulty.

Looking at the lightning pool gradually forming in the sky above, Daoist Wuyang’s eyes were full of admiration. Daoist lightning techniques, rumor had it that in the past, the Dao Ancestor once asked his disciples, “If you were to slay demons, what methods would you use?”

At that time, the daoist world could not yet be called Daoism. It was merely that a high-level cultivator, dissatisfied with the contemporary paths of cultivation, decided to establish his own sect.

Who would have thought that the Daoist later known as the Dao Ancestor, after founding a sect, still remained unsatisfied, and so began to establish a proper daoist lineage, taking disciples and declaring them as daoists?

Even Dao Ancestor himself probably never imagined that one day, the daoist sect he founded would become Daoism, and that countless years later, about one-third, or even more, of the cultivators in the world would be daoist cultivators.

However, on that day when Dao Ancestor asked about methods for slaying demons, several disciples returned and began studying the daoist techniques. Some of them, independently of each other, thought of using the power of heaven and earth to suppress the demon race.

That was how lightning spells first appeared. At the very beginning, there was indeed more than one type of lightning spell, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. But as time passed, many of the lightning techniques were lost. Now, the lightning spells in the world are all roughly similar.

Moreover, the path of lightning spells was easy to enter, so many daoist cultivators could learn them.

Yet it was difficult to master.

There were few daoist cultivators in the world who could be said to truly excel in lightning spells.

In Daoist Wuyang’s view, Yun Jianyue had already gone very far in the path of lightning spells. Even considering just Nepenthe, Daoist Wuyang would not have been stronger than Yun Jianyue in that realm.

For this young man, surpassing that threshold was only a matter of time.

By now, Daoist Wuyang felt somewhat irritated. The better Yun Jianyue performed, the more reluctant he was to kill him. The more reluctant he was, the more troublesome it would become once the other two little ones arrived.

Being constrained like this was frustrating.

Fine. Since he could not bear to kill Yun Jianyue this boy, he would expend more effort on those other two instead.

After all, there was one thing he definitely had to do on this trip: kill that young martial artist.

He could see clearly the geniuses in the world, his own A’Yue was one, and Chen Chao was another.

Yet just as Daoist Wuyang was momentarily distracted, Yun Jianyue’s lightning pool had already been completed. The sky above rumbled with thunder, and countless heavenly lightning strikes fell to the world, not targeting Daoist Wuyang himself, but entrapping him within.

This lightning pool, restraining Daoist Wuyang, was only the beginning.

Daoist Wuyang looked at Yun Jianyue, patiently awaiting his strongest move. Probably only Yun Jianyue in the world could make him this patient.

Once the lightning pool was completed, seeing that Daoist Wuyang had yet to move, Yun Jianyue did not hesitate and immediately deployed another talisman, a cyan one that emitted a pale blue glow.

He was recognized by the Infatuation Daoist Temple as a genius, studying many forms of daoist spells, excelling in every one. While he might not have been the best in the world in the art of talismans, he was certainly among the top.

After that talisman appeared, it slowly expanded. After just a moment, it was already several dozen feet long, looking like a massive blue carpet.

Daoist Wuyang raised an eyebrow.

After that talisman appeared, blue smoke coiled behind Yun Jianyue, and a colossal dharma idol slowly rose, gradually forming a towering figure.

However, that dharma idol also appeared quite young, its features identical to Yun Jianyue’s.

Once the giant dharma idol appeared, it extended a hand, pinched the talisman between two fingers, and pressed it onto the lightning pool.

The talisman shone brightly, countless purple lines flowing out from within and spreading in all directions.

It was an immense lightning talisman, true in every sense.

And it was surely one that Yun Jianyue had written with his full devotion.

With this lightning talisman, the lightning pool at last could be considered truly complete.

Just this lightning pool alone, at this moment, in the entire world, those who dared to step into it and still emerge unscathed could likely be counted on one hand.

This naturally did not include those old hermits who had long withdrawn from the mortal world.

When this lightning pool was completely formed, Daoist Wuyang finally spoke softly, “A'Yue, with these abilities of yours, I can at least use two or three parts of my strength.”

Yun Jianyue smiled and said, “Then please make your move, Martial Uncle...”

Before he finished speaking, Yun Jianyue turned his head and opened a gap in the lightning pool.

In the distance, a streak of sword light swept over.

Sword qi surged, a sight rarely seen in the world.

Without a doubt, it was a great sword immortal.

When the blue‑robed sword immortal arrived within the lightning pool, he opened his mouth and cursed, “A’Yue, did you change your mind and trick me and that brat Chen Chao here to kill us? How long has it been already? Why haven’t you two started fighting yet? What, can’t bear to kill your Martial Uncle?”

The corners of Yun Jianyue's mouth twitched. There was probably no one else in the world who, despite having reached such a high realm, still had such a foul mouth.

He could only ask, “Where’s Chen Chao?”

Yu Xiyi replied irritably, “That stinking brat’s off treating someone to noodles!”

Yun Jianyue slightly furrowed his brow but soon relaxed. There were many things about Chen Chao that he did not understand, but it did not matter, because that fellow was destined to come to no harm.

When it came to matters concerning his own life, he could actually be trusted.

Not a problem at all.

After all, when it came to his own neck, that guy cared more than most in the world.

Yu Xiyi glanced at Daoist Wuyang, who still had not made a move, and clicked his tongue. “Old ox-nose, your luck’s really something.”

Daoist Wuyang looked back at Yu Xiyi.

Yu Xiyi chuckled and said, “To die under the sword of Great Sword Immortal Yu, you should count yourself lucky.”