Lu Zhouming put it tactfully: "I think he probably didn't want to compete with his master, so he went down the mountain early."

"Yeah?"

Su Lin raised an eyebrow. What Lu Zhouming said made sense, but Su Lin didn't believe it.

His words sounded as if my master was avoiding me.

But who is my grandmaster? He's a god-like being, why would he need to avoid someone like me, a junior?

Su Lin preferred to believe that Li Xingtian was about to break through again. Based on experience, could this be the third time he had robbed the Heavenly Tribulation Immortal Qi?

"By the way, where is Wang Qingyue?"

Su Lin suddenly remembered his new follower. He had taken him in as his first disciple almost a year ago, but he seemed to have only met him once.

Hmm...it seems I'm not a very competent master.

"He works in the Internal Affairs Hall and is now an outer sect steward, responsible for instructing some of the outer sect disciples."

Xiao Linlin explained that Xiaoyun Temple is developing rapidly nowadays, and a very small number of outstanding disciples from the first batch of inner disciples have become stewards, most of whom are responsible for teaching outer disciples.

This should have been something the sect masters did, but unfortunately, the core members of Xiaoyun Temple were not very skilled, and their cultivation speed was not as fast as that of the genius disciples.

The only two people qualified to teach everyone are Su Lin and Li Xingtian, but both of them are cultivation fanatics and it is difficult for them to find the time to give guidance.

Fortunately, this entire family consists of talented geniuses with high comprehension; otherwise, the cultivation of all the disciples would be in serious trouble.

"He's a deacon now? And he can even teach cultivation?"

Su Lin was surprised by Wang Qingyue's rapid progress. Xiao Linlin smiled and said, "He is indeed very strong and has extremely high comprehension. He is already at the late stage of Golden Core, which is even higher than my brother's realm."

"You've made rapid progress!"

Su Lin smiled and asked with concern, "He's progressing so quickly, is his foundation solid?"

Logically speaking, having only entered the Golden Core stage for less than a year, he shouldn't have reached the late Golden Core stage so quickly. He should at least have remained stable in the early stage for a few years before seeking an opportunity to break through.

"I don't know about that."

Xiao Linlin shook her head and innocently spread her hands: "Brother, I only reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment last month. How would I know about the foundation of a Golden Core cultivator?"

She also possessed top-tier cultivation aptitude, but unfortunately, she was preoccupied with sect affairs, leaving her with little time for cultivation.

However, Xiao Linlin herself didn't really care about cultivating immortality; she only regarded it as a means to prolong her life and didn't have much pursuit of higher cultivation levels.

As long as it's enough, that's fine. As long as I don't die before my brother, that's all that matters.

"Okay, I'll go take a look myself."

Su Lin waved his sleeve, took a step, and was already a thousand meters away.

"My brother has left again, and I haven't had a chance to report on the sect's development and profits last year!"

Xiao Linlin wanted to call Su Lin back, but then stopped herself and sighed helplessly.

"He won't care, you should have known that by now."

Lu Zhouming smiled and reminded her that he could tell Xiao Linlin didn't expect Su Lin to be very concerned about the sect's management; the girl just wanted to spend more time with Su Lin.

Since entering this match, the two have been like wound-up tops, each with their own important matters, constantly spinning, and often only able to meet once every six months.

"Since your master doesn't do anything, shouldn't you be doing more work?"

Xiao Linlin gave Lu Zhouming a cold look. Lu Zhouming scratched his head and wisely turned to leave.

...

On the other side, Su Lin used his divine sense to cover the entire sect and quickly found Wang Qingyue, who was giving a lecture to the outer disciples.

It's been more than half a year since I last saw him. He's become much more mature than before. His words and actions exude composure, and the principles and techniques he imparts to the outer disciples are very insightful, showing his unique understanding.

Su Lin did not disturb them, but observed in secret until the lecture ended. When Wang Qingyue returned to his accommodation, he saw Su Lin standing in front of the door.

"Master."

Wang Qingyue was taken aback, and hurriedly cupped his hands in greeting: "Congratulations on your completion of seclusion, Master."

"I heard that you've taken care of a lot of things for Linlin in the past six months."

Su Lin smiled and looked at his apprentice, Wang Qingyue, who lowered his head and said, "It's all my duty, all to share Master's burdens."

"Why are you still so humble? Your level of understanding is much higher than mine. There's no need for you to always bow your head when you speak."

"Disciple dares not. No distinction of rank is based on cultivation level. In my eyes, Master will always be stronger than me."

"Whether it's strong or not, we'll only know by trying."

Su Lin waved: "Come and try calling."

"Master?"

Wang Qingyue was taken aback, and looked up, somewhat confused.

Why are they fighting as soon as they meet?

Is Master testing my progress?

But my master's level of cultivation... it seems inappropriate for me to take action.

While Wang Qingyue was still hesitating, Su Lin didn't want to wait. He was always decisive in his actions, and he raised his hand to send out a faint spiritual light: "Qingyue, use your Taoist magic to break it."

"Master!"

Wang Qingyue was startled and instinctively formed a hand seal, unleashing the Golden Core Dao technique: "Thousand Hands Technique of Ten Thousand Mountains!"

His right hand manifested as a gigantic form, as large as half a mountain peak, and with its boundless spiritual light, it grabbed at the spiritual light that Su Lin had unleashed, suppressing it defensively.

Unexpectedly, Su Lin's seemingly weak spiritual light was surprisingly strong, piercing through Wang Qingyue's giant hand magic in an instant and shattering it in the blink of an eye.

"Whoosh!"

The light, undiminished in its momentum, pierced Wang Qingyue's eyes almost instantly, before slowly dissipating in front of his pupils.

That's too fast!

The change happened so fast that Wang Qingyue, with his late-stage Golden Core cultivation, couldn't react in time. Only after the spiritual light faded before his eyes did he realize that a layer of cold sweat had appeared on his back.

"Too weak."

Su Lin shook his head, his eyes showing obvious disappointment: "Your Taoist skills are insufficient. You have fancy moves but weak spiritual energy and unstable aura. You have not fought enough."

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