"We eagerly await the arrival of the immortal."

In the square, the mortal emperor, along with the soldiers around him and the bewildered young men and women, bowed and then knelt down.

That's right, everyone knelt down, including the emperor.

As long as one is a mortal, even an emperor, one has no dignity whatsoever in front of a cultivator.

Among the group from Pengshan Sect, neither the leading elders nor the inner disciples who disembarked from the cloud boat said anything about the situation.

They did not urge the group to get up, nor did they offer to help them up; instead, they quietly accepted this great courtesy.

I don't know why they can accept it so readily.

Leaving aside the issues of morality and character, let's just talk about the rules of Pengshan Sect.

Hundreds of years ago, the head of Pengshan Sect said: Pengshan is affiliated with several countries, and ordinary people must not kneel and worship when they see cultivators. If they want to show respect, they can simply bow.

Meanwhile, the head of Pengshan Sect himself... this paper figure, is standing on the shoulders of his disciple, watching.

Han Qingxiu also watched this scene. She saw her brows furrow and her body take a small step forward, as if she was about to do something.

But seeing that the other fellow cultivators remained unmoved, Han Qingxiu's body suddenly stiffened, and she began to hesitate.

After all, people always like to follow the crowd.

At that moment, the paper figure Wu Er transmitted a message to Han Qingxiu: "Xiuer, go forward and help the kneeling emperor up. If other people look at you, don't pay attention to them. You did the right thing."

With Wu Er's words, Han Qingxiu did not hesitate any longer. She took a few steps forward and came to the mortal emperor.

"According to the rules of Pengshan Sect, mortals are not allowed to kneel and bow to cultivators."

After saying this, Han Qingxiu reached out and lifted the mortal emperor up.

It wasn't that they helped him up, it was that they lifted him up.

Because when the emperor was being pulled by Han Qingxiu, his eyes were full of panic, and he didn't move at all, so he didn't seem to want to get up.

You can't help someone who doesn't want to get up, so you have to lift them up.

The emperor stood up, glanced at Han Qingxiu, and then looked at the others from Pengshan.

Although the leader of Pengshan was somewhat displeased, he couldn't say anything since it was the sect leader's disciple helping someone.

Some even took the opportunity to flatter him, saying, "As expected of the sect leader's disciple, so humble and loving, he will surely achieve great things in the future!"

The emperor wasn't stupid either. Seeing the reactions of the crowd, he stopped kneeling and instead started flattering them.

He said, "Thank you for your grace, Immortal!"

In response to such flattery, Han Qingxiu simply replied, "Why should I thank you? Just follow the rules."

These words were spoken by Wu Er through telepathy to Han Qingxiu, intended as a warning to the Pengshan cultivators who had been silent earlier.

Sure enough, the inner disciples and the elders all changed their expressions; they understood what he meant.

But all they could do was understand it. What else could they do besides understand it?

That's the benefit of having a certain status.

A Nascent Soul cultivator's eyes lit up, and he stepped forward, saying to Han Qingxiu, "Qingxiu, let's rest first, and then we can conduct a more thorough selection of these young men and women in a few days."

Here's a side note: this so-called "careful selection" involves further subdividing the spiritual root grades of these young men and women with spiritual roots.

After all, having spiritual roots doesn't guarantee cultivation.

Some inferior spiritual roots cannot be cultivated unless they encounter some great opportunity.

Seeing that another elder had appeared, Han Qingxiu nodded and replied, "I will follow your arrangements, senior."

Subsequently, the emperor arranged for Pengshan and his party to stay in the imperial palace, since only the imperial palace was fit for "immortals" to reside in.

Han Qingxiu naturally moved into the palace, and her residence was extraordinary, being the emperor's bedroom.

However, the emperor's bedroom was quite simple and elegant, without the legendary gold and jade inlay decorations. The overall style was not luxurious, but mainly focused on simplicity and practicality.

"It seems this man was a good emperor, or at least a frugal one."

After looking at the simple room, Han Qingxiu expressed her thoughts.

"That's not necessarily true. It depends on the emperor and how well the country is governed."

The paper figure Wu Er jumped off Han Qingxiu's shoulder and then slowly floated to the wooden table next to him, where he sat down against the pen holder.

Han Qingxiu also found a place to sit down, and looking at Wu Er, she thought of what had just happened.

So he asked, "Master, the sect rules clearly state that kneeling is forbidden, so why do those people insist on kneeling?"

Wu Er raised his head and pushed it away, resting his short arms behind his head, and said leisurely, "Isn't that simple? Some people think they are noble, some people think they are lowly, that's all."

This is an inherent inferiority complex; mortals believe they are born lowly, while cultivators believe they are born noble.

Little did they know that, in essence, both cultivators and mortals are human beings.

Han Qingxiu nodded and said, "Some people in the sect are also annoying. Why did we bring them in when the sect was founded?"

Wu Er didn't want to answer this question, because it was indeed difficult to explain, but then he thought about how young his apprentice really was.

So he simply said, "We must use theirs, otherwise the sect will not be established, and the doctrines of Pengshan Sect will not be passed on."

Han Qingxiu nodded as if she understood, realizing that Wu Er's explanation was too general and she couldn't fully grasp it.

Then the master and disciple talked about cultivation.

After chatting for a while, Wu Er stopped leaning against the pen holder and stood up, looking out the window.

He said, "Xiuer, your master wants to go out for a walk, but he's not feeling well. Why don't you take me out to have a look?"

Although it was a question, Wu Er jumped onto Han Qingxiu's shoulder before she could answer.

Han Qingxiu naturally agreed to her master's request, and so she went out.

I didn't want to fly into the sky; I wanted to walk, for fear of disturbing the mortals.

They wandered around the palace for a long time without getting out, so they had no choice but to fly out of the palace on a sword and then walk.

Fortunately, it was already dinnertime, and there were few people on the street, so no one saw Han Qingxiu take off on her sword.

Once outside the palace and on the ground, Han Qingxiu asked Wu Er on her shoulder, "Master, we're out now, what's next?"

Wu Er, who was leaning on Han Qingxiu's shoulder, replied, "I'm not doing anything, just wandering around. I'm not very patient, and I get bored if I stay in one place for too long."

Do you get bored of always staying in one place?

Han Qingxiu thought of something and asked, "Is that so? But Master, you've been in seclusion on Xiaoyuan Peak for two hundred years?"

Wu Er did not answer the question immediately, but remained silent for a while before replying: "It's because I stayed in one place for too long back then that I hate staying in one place all the time now."

Han Qingxiu naturally didn't believe Wu Er's words, because they sounded very perfunctory.

Considering the stone slab she had dug out under the loquat tree that day, Han Qingxiu couldn't help but feel curious.

I've always heard various legends about my master, but the master is completely different from the one in the legends. What exactly did my master go through in the past?