Why do I have so many masters?

Chapter 145 Heaven's Heart Naturally (2/2)

```Baili Feng had nothing more to say upon hearing those words. Wang Anfeng smiled slightly and quickened his pace. He stopped by a butcher's stall, bought some cuts of tender ribs, and although somewhat puzzled, upon his return, he asked:

"But Anfeng, why the sudden urge to get together today?"

Wang Anfeng simply responded with a smile:

"We haven't gathered in a long time, just felt like it."

"After all, the assessments of the various families and schools in the Academy are about to begin. After today, it will be difficult to get together again..."

Baili Feng did not doubt his intent but grimaced upon hearing about the assessments, though there was a hint of relief. He shook his head and sighed, saying: Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

"Indeed, those damnable assessments, we all know our own strengths, and the Masters surely do too, yet they always devise such tricky and peculiar tests. We train in troop formation and strategy, yet they insist on testing us on siege tactics and cunning minds, preparing us with the 'Military Family's Ten Commandments,' yet what we encounter is 'Military Strategy.' Is it not intentional difficulty imposed on us?"

"It's also a good thing I am a student of the Military Family and not of the Legalists."

"This time, for some reason, the Legalist students angered the Masters greatly; nearly the entire group was wiped out, with only one person managing to secure a top-grade evaluation."

"On that day, the Legalist quarters were filled with wailing and howling, tsk, it was no less chaotic than when you joined the Academy and the students of the Military Family were swindled by Su the Gambler."

"Even so, the Masters were not appeased and took it upon themselves to send a written note about the various scriptures, interpretations, cultivation techniques, and martial skills assessments directly to the students' homes."

His voice paused for a moment, and the stern-looking young man's narrowed eyes also revealed a trace of struggle, but he couldn't help laughing as he said:

"I imagine the families at home have already prepared sticks and rods."

Wang Anfeng smiled.

He had not intended to disturb Baili and the others at such a time, but ever since he saw Tuoba Yue outside the Academy that day and encountered her several times since, although she looked as usual on the surface, Wang Anfeng could keenly sense Tuoba Yue's depression. Yet, due to his status, he could not disclose to Tuoba Yue the matter concerning Qibin Helie.

After much deliberation, he was certain about one thing: no matter what, he could not let Tuoba Yue be alone with her troubled thoughts at such a time.

As for whether he and the others could help Tuoba Yue, he was not sure.

But to turn a blind eye would leave him ill at ease.

As the two chatted, they purchased many more food items and made their way toward the Academy. Suddenly, a man paused beside the road, turned to look back with a contemplative expression. He had a stout build and a square face with a commanding aura, unfortunately marred by light brows and thin lips, giving an impression of lacking compassion. His shallow gaze swept over the crowd, stiff and indifferent with no hint of fluctuation.

Turning around, he shook his head slightly, dismissing his doubts, and said:

"I must have been mistaken."

"How could a mere wooden sword possibly possess the aura of a Divine Weapon..."

After thinking for a moment, he headed in another direction, clad in vigorous attire, not carrying a long sword or saber, but with a dark iron hammer on his back, still seeming to carry the heat of a furnace.

...............

The Taoist Sect.

A white feathered crane flew in from the outside world and soared away.

At the foot of the mountain, an elder looked up briefly, then snorted disdainfully and muttered to himself.

Beside him, a small girl with delicate features tugged at the hem of his garment.

"Supreme Master...?"

"Is there something that requires your return?"

The old man looked down, stroked the girl's hair affectionately, and said with a smile:

"Something to do?"

"In this world, what could be more important than playing with little Tingyun?"

The old man, dressed in a washed-out Taoist robe with wild white hair held together by a twig, looked scruffy, yet his complexion was rosy, always smiling in a way that was endearing.

He lifted Zhang Tingyun onto his lap, pinched the girl's nose affectionately, causing her to wrinkle her brows and push his hand away, leaving a slightly dirty smudge on her nose tip, which made the old man laugh heartily.

After being teased several times, Zhang Tingyun, rare in her mischievousness, wanted to show the old man her prowess. As she thought of her Master, who was always seen with two large cheeks stained by tears running away, a touch of sadness flickered in her eyes, but her face did not betray much sorrow, only saying:

"Master, the Masters always teach me cultivation, teach me..."```

The old man picked a freshly plucked tangerine from beside him, peeled off a segment, and stuffed it into the girl's mouth, Zhang Tingyun bit down, tasted the sweet, juicy fruit, and her cheeks puffed out slightly like a little bun, as she chewed and asked,

"Mmm mmm mmm, teach me, meditation, mmm mmm mmm..."

He stuffed her with another segment, and her right cheek also plumped up, resembling a tiny squirrel, yet she bore a seriously mature expression and asked,

"Why don't you teach me these?"

The old man didn't answer, just asked her with a smile,

"Does it taste good?"

"Tasty."

"Want more?"

"...Yes!"

"Which do you prefer, the comfort of meditation or the fun of stories?"

Zhang Tingyun frowned and finally nodded, saying,

"...Stories!"

The elder laughed heartily, rose to his feet, and despite appearing to have a formidable figure, unlike an ordinary Taoist, he lifted the girl onto his shoulder, then kicked the black bear beside him and chided,

"Get up, you lazy brute."

"I'm going to make honey roasted rabbit, I'll catch a rabbit, and with your tough skin and meat, you're perfect for gathering honey."

The black bear growled in dissatisfaction, and the old man laughingly scolded,

"Oh? Bargaining now, are we?"

"Hurry up, or I'll give you the rabbit's bottom..."

Atop Jade Bamboo Peak.

A middle-aged Taoist nun frowned helplessly and said,

"Supreme Grandmaster... what is he doing?"

"Spending all day playing with Tingyun, isn't this wasting her Innate Taoist Body? Sect Leader brother, are you really going to let Grandmaster do this?"

The man dressed in a simple blue shirt beside her had a calm expression and said,

"Initially, I too thought this inappropriate."

"Then please, Sect Leader brother, persuade him..."

The man raised his hand, looking down at the mist-wreathed mountains below, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, and said,

"But now I realize, it's only right for Grandmaster to do this. When we taught her martial arts, when we taught her how to control her breath, she was obedient, but when have we ever considered her own choices?"

"On seeing an Innate Taoist Body, we thought ourselves to be pioneers, eager to make her a Grandmaster before thirty, blinded by ambition and forgetting our principles. How is that different from the way of demons?"

The Taoist nun opened her mouth but couldn't speak. The blue-clad Sect Leader looked at the dispersing and gathering clouds in front of him and said lightly,

"We want to teach her what the Tao is."

"Yet Grandmaster is teaching her how to be human."

Below Jade Pillar Peak, the burly elder gently supported the little girl on his shoulder, who held an apple in her hand and took a big bite. Her tiny feet wobbled as she watched the old man and the black bear quarrel, watched the bear roar in grievance, saw how the old man was driven to stomping his feet, and her eyes curved like a bright moon, indistinguishable from a normal family's five or six-year-old child.

The Sect Leader on the mountain took his gaze back and said with a sigh,

"Let nature take its course."

"Without having truly lived, how can one speak of the great Tao..."

PS: Second update,

and the character card for Zhang Tingyun has already been updated