The Daoist temple was quickly covered up; it only had one room with a thatched roof above and yellow mud stone bricks below, inside there was nothing but a wooden plank bed.

Outside was a small courtyard, enclosed by a fence made of tree branches and brambles, and even the gate was fashioned from branches.

Shi Feiyang sat on the wooden plank bed, engaging in cultivation.

In the world of cultivation, time mattered little; once Shi Feiyang sat down to meditate, months could pass, but staying in meditation for several years or even decades was not out of the question.

He used a Flying Sword Transmission to summon Qiu Yuan, keeping him close to teach him hand in hand.

Lin Han and Shi Sheng also came by occasionally, but they mainly needed to continue accumulating Outer Skills, helping Deng Bagu transport water from the South Sea, and didn't reside there permanently.

In the temple, there was only one room, which belonged to Shi Feiyang; he cast a spell to move an old pine tree to the courtyard. The tree was as thick as a wheel, hollowed out at its base to accommodate someone sitting inside – it became Qiu Yuan's room, shielding him from wind and rain.

With Shi Feiyang's abilities, he could summon wind and rain as well as disperse clouds, but he refrained from doing so; a master should not take care of everything for his disciple. Flowers grown in a greenhouse could not survive calamities, hence they need to endure some hardships, to be tempered by wind and rain to develop.

If there were tribulations to endure, they must be endured, and if none existed, they must be created!

Luckily, young Qiu Yuan was diligent and earnest; every day he nested in the pine tree to sleep, woke up in the morning to bathe and then went out hunting. After filling his belly, he would start practicing his sword, and Shi Feiyang would teach him some spells, talisman formations, and so on, depending on his progress in cultivation.

Soon, another eight years had passed, and the young Kuzhu had grown, starting to run about everywhere.

Because of the White Jade Talisman given by Shi Feiyang, Shi Wenbing named him Shi Zhu.

Truth be told, Shi Wenbing felt no real fatherly affection for him; the only reason he had kept him was in the hope that Ni Lanxin would return one day.

However, as the years went by, Ni Lanxin never reappeared, and Shi Wenbing's patience grew thin. He took several new concubines, fathered a son and a daughter, and paid even less attention to Shi Zhu.

In the later years, Shi Zhu's provisions for clothing and food became inadequate; he had to fend for himself in the kitchen every day, eating whatever he could find, and if he found nothing, he simply went hungry.

After the new concubines learned of his origins, they saw him as a thorn in their sides.

The concubines all wondered how beautiful Ni Lanxin must have been for the old master to pine for her for so many years, because of her raising a child with no blood relation to them! So, they each harbored intentions of killing Shi Zhu to sever the master's lingering thoughts.

They dared not act openly, but in secret they took many opportunities to harm him. During Shi Zhu's upbringing, he endured being pushed into water three times, food poisoning nine times, being mauled by stray dogs six times, poisonous snakes entering his bed twice, one kidnapping, and was the victim of malicious curses four times...

Shi Feiyang watched from the mountain, knowing every detail of the boy's life; the child was inherently tough, with a strong Primordial Spirit, abundant Essence Energy, and a sturdy body.

Not only did he survive falling into water, but after several instances of choking, he even learned to swim; ordinary poisons couldn't kill him, as after ingesting arsenic, he would vomit a few mouthfuls of blood and after half a day of unconsciousness, he would revive; when wild dogs bit him, he bit back, even biting off a wild dog's nose; poison snakes dared not bite him, and he would catch and roast them to eat...

The kidnapping was particularly dangerous; he was buried alive, bound hand and foot underground, until Shi Feiyang sent the Nine Child Mother Sky Demon to rescue him.

As for curses from Evil Skills, they were utterly ineffective against him... his Primordial Spirit was too strong, his Three Souls and Seven Spirits more solid than steel, still young though he may be, he was not someone that ordinary wizards could harm. Only someone at the level of the Green Robe Ancestor or Poison Dragon Venerable, employing Demon Cult Great Techniques, might stand a chance.

These were all minor skirmishes; unless his life was at stake, Shi Feiyang would not intervene, letting him stumble and fall, scraping and struggling, growing up tough and resilient.

Shi Feiyang was mainly on the lookout for people like Grandmaster Ha Ha, Taiyin Hunyuan Ancestor, and most importantly, Blood God's Child Deng Yin.

Shi Feiyang had calculated that Shi Zhu would play a critical role in the changing landscape of the world's future. If he were not there, those people might very well come and kill him.

It was because of his presence that the past eight years had been relatively calm.

Considering that Shi Zhu had grown up and could start his cultivation journey, Shi Feiyang decided to lead him onto the path of Immortal Cultivation.

He calculated a bit and saw that another calamity was about to befall the boy.

Back when Ni Xinlan was around, she had a maid named Xiaochan, who was tormented by the head mistress. So, Ni Xinlan taught Xiaochan some spells, which she used to curse the head mistress, causing her mouth and eyes to become crooked, half her body paralyzed, and incontinent.

Later, Ni Xinlan sent messengers everywhere seeking help, managing to summon only a swollen Daoist priest, while Xiaochan was also dispatched to ask for help.

Xiaochan wanted to summon Wu Xing, the master of Heart Piercing Cave in Wushan Mountain's Ox Liver Gorge.

Wu Xing had also once been favored by Ni Xinlan; this time, in her predicament, aside from the swollen Daoist priest, who was like an adoptive father, the rest she sought out were past lovers she had accrued over the years.

Wu Xing's Heart Piercing Cave was situated atop a steep cliff. Although Xiaochan had learned some cursing skills, she was still a mortal and couldn't climb up. Struggling for several days at the base of the cliff, she finally encountered Wu Xing's disciple, Diseased Toad Jin Duo. Attracted by her faint beauty, he came over to inquire and upon learning she was Ni Lanxin's maid, he took her up.

Having lived this long, Xiaochan finally experienced being carried through the skies by a Sword Immortal, filled with envy, she quickly relayed the matters entrusted to her by Ni Lanxin.

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