But among them, some people were quite seriously injured.

Lei Jun took out some of the famous Golden Bone and Jade Muscle Powder from Hui Tian Hall in the Capital, which Chu Yu had given him before, then took out various medicinal powders Wang Guiyuan had prepared for him before this trip, and used both methods to help his injured fellow disciples stabilize their condition.

Seeing the wounded stabilized and out of danger, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt even more grateful toward Lei Jun.

Only now did Lei Jun find the time to ask, "Where are Uncle Zuo and Senior Brother Li?"

Zhang Yuan and the others gave wry smiles.

After hearing them mention that Li Yucheng had gone toward Jiuxi Valley, Lei Jun kept his expression unchanged, but *inside, he felt both amused and exasperated.*

The route from Red Mountain Manor back to Dragon Tiger Mountain had many possible paths.

As long as they avoided Guyuan Peak, Cangling River, and Jiuxi Valley, any other way would be fine.

But, of course, Li Yucheng just had to pick Jiuxi Valley.

*Looking back now, the earlier situation made perfect sense.*

Lei Jun himself went to Cangling River first, then to Guyuan Peak.

The Lin Clan must have missed him by chance—they arrived at Cangling River right after Lei Jun had left.

Later, at sunset, after several people from their group died, Lin Liao and the others managed to obtain a spiritual object from Cangling River.

Lei Jun, for his part, reaped Pure Spirit Rock at Guyuan Peak.

And Li Yucheng? As luck would have it, he went to Jiuxi Valley.

From Zhang Yuan and the others' descriptions, Jiuxi Valley had experienced extraordinary upheaval at sunset.

Zuo Li, worried, first brought Zhang Yuan and the others to a safe place and told everyone to wait there, while he personally headed to Jiuxi Valley to search for Li Yucheng.

When night had fallen, there was still no sign of Zuo Li or Li Yucheng returning.

Instead, Zhang Yuan and the others encountered the Lin Clan group coming over from Cangling River.

The sudden meeting surprised both sides.

But no words were needed—everyone immediately started throwing spirit talismans and Confucian arts at each other.

Lei Jun comforted everyone a little and told them to check the surrounding area for any Lin Clan stragglers.

He himself, remaining calm, frisked Lin Liao's body.

Lei Jun left the other stuff untouched, only taking the strange spiritual object that looked like a stone mirror.

Stone mirror in hand, Lei Jun shook his head with a rueful smile.

*Earlier, he had just been lamenting not having a reliable buddy by his side on this trip.*

*When encountering two moderately good lots, it had been impossible to grab both—he'd had to settle for just one.*

But now, both of the treasures mentioned by the two moderately good lots about fifth grade opportunities had landed in his hands after all.

*Wasn't this the classic "I want it all"?*

Well, not bad luck.

Once again, he got to have both fish and bear's paw.

*Even though he'd let one moderately good lot go back at Supreme Pure Thunder Mansion Cave Heaven, overall, Lei Jun still felt pretty contented and happy.*

On the other hand, things looked very different for Zuo Li and Li Yucheng.

When Lei Jun and the rest finally approached Jiuxi Valley with caution, they found the two of them outside the valley.

No wonder the two had taken so long to return.

Both Zuo Li and Li Yucheng were seriously injured.

Zuo Li, at least, could still sit cross-legged and quietly circulate his qi to tend to his wounds.

Li Yucheng, though, was so badly hurt he was barely clinging to life, and it was only thanks to Celestial Master Mansion's top spiritual elixirs that he was hanging on at all.

If this had been a less powerful sect's disciple, with such heavy injuries, they would be dead by now.

"Lei, Nephew Lei?"

Upon seeing Lei Jun, Zuo Li was startled.

With Lei Jun's help, he was finally able to catch his breath completely.

But after listening to Zhang Yuan and the others recount their experience, Zuo Li almost passed out from frustration all over again.

*Even though everyone was now perfectly safe with Lei Jun leading, Elder Zuo still couldn't help but feel lingering fear.*

Fortunately, everything went smoothly from then on. They all returned safely to Dragon Tiger Mountain and ran into no other Lin Clan members on the way.

From the Lin Clan's conversations, the "Zhen" they kept mentioning, Lei Jun guessed must be Lin Zhen, a leading figure among the younger generation of Jiangzhou's Lin Clan—often mentioned alongside Celestial Master Mansion's Senior Brother Li Zhengxuan and Ye Cheng of the Qingzhou Ye Clan, whom they'd met earlier.

Of course, "younger generation" referred to cultivators, not in the secular sense.

That guy might not be a hundred yet, but he was still already several decades old.

But as a Seventh Heavenly Layer Confucian Practitioner, Lin Zhen was still very young compared to his natural lifespan.

It was just that, because of the earth vein changes and the shifting global spiritual qi, Lin Zhen and his group had trouble finding Lin Liao and the others hiding deep in the mountains. All they could do was agree on a place to regroup.

And now, the remains of Lin Liao and company had returned to nature, with Lei Jun's assistance.

Because of this battle, after returning to the mountain, Lei Jun first went with Zuo Li, Zhang Yuan, and the others to the Hall of Steward to report and hand in their account.

Conflicts and casualties between the Celestial Master Mansion and the Jiangzhou Lin Clan happened so often, the Celestial Master Mansion was long used to it.

Everything about handling it was essentially standardized.

Lei Jun had rescued his fellow disciples—needless to say, he received commendations and a healthy chunk of merit was added to his record.

Zhang Yuan and company had managed to hold out bravely against enemies that outnumbered and overpowered them, so they hadn't disgraced the Celestial Master Mansion's reputation and were also rightfully praised.

The ones in hot water were Zuo Li and Li Yucheng, the two talisman-bestowed Taoists in charge of the team.

This trial with Zhang Yuan and the others was their responsibility.

For Lei Jun, on the other hand, it had absolutely nothing to do with him, so his part was pure extra credit.

But for Zuo Li and Li Yucheng? This was their real, actual duty.

Zuo Li's situation was a bit better—after all, he went to save Li Yucheng. Otherwise, whether Li Yucheng would have made it out of Jiuxi Valley alive was up in the air.

Li Yucheng, on the other hand, had well and truly abandoned his post, and his actions got both him and Zuo Li badly hurt. What's more, his absence almost led to Zhang Yuan and the others being in even greater danger.

Zuo Li had always been a generous man who looked after his juniors.

If Lei Jun hadn't been there, he might have tried to put in a good word for Li Yucheng, or ask Zhang Yuan and the others to talk to the Hall of Steward in a roundabout way.

But Zhang Yuan and company had already spilled everything in front of Lei Jun, so now Zuo Li's hands were tied.

Right now, even though Li Yucheng still hadn't recovered from his injuries and needed rest, sooner or later he'd have to face sect discipline.

After reporting what he'd seen and heard without embellishment, Lei Jun lost interest in the whole matter.

*Whatever happened to Li Yucheng next had nothing to do with him—he kept his distance.*

Elder Zuo, though, let out a sigh.

Overall, among the young generation of Celestial Master Mansion, even if Li Yucheng wasn't the very top, he was definitely part of the upper echelon.

He was usually reliable enough, and this was a rare moment when he'd acted rashly—and it immediately got him wrecked.

Elder Zuo was a kind man, but deep down, he could more or less guess the real reason behind Li Yucheng's lapse in judgment.

But that was something he wasn't about to bring up in front of Lei Jun.

"It's not just Junior Brother Zhongyu—actually, a lot of folks in the Mansion have been feeling unstable lately."

After Lei Jun returned, he ran into his senior brother Wang Guiyuan and, as the two chatted, Wang Guiyuan said, "It's not just because of you, Junior Brother."

Lei Jun considered that in silence.

Wang Guiyuan seemed to suddenly change the subject, saying,

"The earth veins have been shifting a lot lately. Aside from the possibility of human interference, it's connected to the major trends of the world as a whole.

"Over these past decades, the global spiritual qi has definitely been flourishing more and more.

"Heavenly materials and earthly treasures are becoming more common, and the ambient spiritual qi is getting ever denser—perfect for us cultivators to train in.

"Right now, these are boom times for the cultivation world. To be alive in this era—no wonder our ancestors are so envious!"

Lei Jun nodded slightly.

Looking at history, at least over the last thousand years, the overall situation had gotten better and better: cultivators increased their cultivation ever faster, and more and more young high-realm cultivators emerged.

*It was a result of both the cultivators' own efforts, and the momentum of the times surging forward.*

This trend had been particularly obvious over the last century—especially the last few decades.

Dragon Tiger Mountain's Celestial Master Mansion had certainly been one of the major beneficiaries of this surge.

With so many strong, young cultivators springing up, their cultivation advancing at breakneck speed, they produced even more youthful prodigies than any other top-tier power.

That alone barely filled the void left by the earlier chaos.

Otherwise, after the death of Celestial Master Li Qingfeng, the Celestial Master Mansion wouldn't have survived the last confrontation so smoothly. At the very least, it would have been much harder, with even greater losses.

Undeniably, this was a good thing for the Mansion as a whole.

*But there were complications hidden beneath the surface.*

Wang Guiyuan had a point. Lei Jun had only just emerged as a standout, so even if he made Li Yucheng feel unstable, it hadn't exactly affected the other Taoists.

But there was someone whose presence put immediate, palpable pressure on everyone.

Tang Xiaotang.

Already the Celestial Master Mansion's most naturally gifted young talent, she was now riding the wave of surging global spiritual qi, rising faster than ever.

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