The bright red sun rises slowly from the eastern horizon, rising little by little, over the treetops, and slowly rises to the zenith.

Wu Jie sat on the roof of Zhifeizhai, staring at the rising sun. The gradually dazzling sunlight did not make him uncomfortable, but instead made him feel warm in his heart.

When he thought of what he had to do today, he felt warm from the bottom of his heart.

Today is his 100th birthday. Because of the suggestions of his friends, he decided to hold a small gathering at Zhifeizhai to entertain his friends and celebrate himself.

And...after the birthday party, there is still one very important thing to do.

Wu Jie took a deep breath and smiled towards the sun.

"Master, why are you smiling at the sun so early in the morning?" Lin Xiao, wearing a chef's white coat, passed by the yard and asked in confusion, "I've seen you like this several times when I passed by. It's been almost half an hour.

Already...

Wu Jie lowered his head and saw that he was dressed simply, without the slightest hint of aggression or ferocity. Instead, he naturally exuded an easy-going air and was approachable. Just looking at his appearance, he could no longer tell that he was the "bloody man" who was so frightening in the past.

Sword" Lin Xiao, but just a handsome young chef.

So he couldn't help but laugh again.

"You look very good now, much better than before"

Lin Xiao was stunned for a moment, looked at himself, and suddenly realized.

"Yes, I have changed a lot in the past six years." He showed a nostalgic look, "From the depression and hardship at the beginning, to later becoming more familiar with it, I gradually got used to the life of an ordinary person, and I truly understood

What is a 'person'?"

"In the past, I always thought that as long as I insisted that I was a human being, then I would be. But now I understand that 'human being' is not only a name, but also a set of behavioral habits and a set of thoughts from the heart. In the past

Even though I never want to show my true colors in front of others, I am actually just a monster."

"Oh? It seems that you have really understood it." Wu Jie smiled and nodded, "These six years have been well spent. You have truly embarked on the right path and can be called a right person."

"Alas" Lin Xiao sighed, "I often recall the past... At that time, I was young and ignorant. I always liked to have the upper hand. I felt it was natural to hurt others with my words. I would get angry when I was hurt by others... If it weren't for the usual big brother.

Take care, I rarely go out, I’m afraid I’ve caused countless troubles long ago..."

"It seems you really know where you went wrong."

"Yes, although it took a lot of time." Lin Xiao looked very remorseful: "When I first opened the store, I thought that my mistake was that I could not distinguish the situation and lacked experience in fighting with people. Later, after getting along with the common people for a long time,

Only then did I realize... I was fundamentally wrong as a cultivator. Apart from issues of big principles of right and wrong, I shouldn't have any free time with others."

"The road to immortality is so long. How can it be smooth sailing along the way? A person who only knows how to constantly fight and does not know how to give in and compromise cannot go too far."

"If it's strong, it's easy to break. Even if it's made of steel, it needs to be hammered repeatedly before it can become a good knife."

"Yes, a person who doesn't bow his head and doesn't know how to give in has no future at all." Lin Xiao bowed deeply to Wu Jie, "I finally understand the painstaking efforts of the master."

Wu Jie nodded with satisfaction, but couldn't help but think of Lin Lushan and his wife, and sighed: "It would be great if Lushan and the others could see you like you are now..."

Mentioning his parents, Lin Xiao suddenly felt sad: "I think if they saw me like I was before, they would be very disappointed and sad... When I think of the mistakes I have made, I feel ashamed to face them...

…”

Wu Jie was stunned: "How could you have such an idea? There is no parent in the world who would not forgive a child who has gone astray and returned."

"But I can't forgive myself." Lin Xiao lowered his head, with a look of pain on his face, "Many of the mistakes I made cannot be forgiven. If even such mistakes can be forgiven, where else in the world can I forgive them?"

Fair enough”

Wu Jie's face gradually became serious. He realized that he had not thought carefully before and there were still some problems with Lin Xiao's teachings.

"Ah Xiao, I thought you had fully understood the principles of being a human being, but now it seems... you have only understood half of it," he said in a deep voice, "You have jumped from one extreme to another, whether it is extreme left or extreme left.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the extreme right, it’s wrong.”

Lin Xiao raised his head in confusion, not understanding what he meant.

"Well, don't open a hotel, and go to the Western Qin Kingdom to work as a bodyguard for a period of time." Wu Jie said, "The unruly spirit in your heart that shouldn't be has been worn away, but the sharpness that should be in your heart has been worn away.

My mind has also been worn away... This won't work. You should hang out with those Jianghu people for a while and get a good feel for their lives. This will definitely help you."

Lin Xiao nodded, but suddenly thought of his hotel, and asked hurriedly: "What about my store? It would be a shame to close it. It took a lot of effort to gain popularity..."

"You should have saved some money in the past few years. Expand the store, hire a waiter, a chef, and a bookkeeper. You can concentrate on being the boss... isn't that enough?"

Lin Xiao suddenly frowned: "The people in Nanping County are simple, there is not much business, and people don't often come to the hotel to eat. Even if they come to eat, they will probably only have a pot of rice wine and two plates of side dishes... You can't make much money."

"...Why are you crying about poverty again?"

"I really didn't cry poor," Lin Xiao said with a wry smile. "When I first started to open a shop, my skills were not very good. Not only did the food taste bad, but it even looked terrible... During that time, if I hadn't just relied on drying

You can survive with the sun and water, but I'm afraid you'll have to beg on the street..."

Wu Jie suddenly remembered the dishes Lin Xiao cooked when he brought Qin Jing back, and the corner of his mouth twitched twice.

"To be honest, I think the food you cooked at that time was really scary... I have never seen fried vegetables that glow green in my life, nor have I seen barbecued meat that is constantly squirming on a plate... What a shame.

Those diners dare to eat”

"Yes, when I look back now, I always feel that it was really not easy to avoid killing anyone." Lin Xiao couldn't help but blush, "At that time, I was too poor to buy materials, and I couldn't hunt by myself because I had no cultivation.

, so the ingredients I use are all cut from myself...Anyway, as long as I take root in the earth, I can turn into a big tree in a while, pick some leaves, cut some buds, it doesn't matter..."

Only then did Wu Jie understand why the things he ate tasted so weird - Lin Xiao's mother was a peony, and he himself was a monster of flowers and trees, so those dishes - to put it bluntly, they were petals, leaves, stems and buds.

, and it was picked from a monster.

No wonder many people in this town are overly healthy...it turns out to be the result of eating the heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

No... As the saying goes, "what is weak cannot be replenished." It's a miracle that not many mortals have died after eating this kind of food.

Wu Jie couldn't help but shook his head and sighed, and asked worriedly: "How is your cooking skills now? Don't make such terrible dishes again. Today is my birthday, master. If you serve dark dishes... Then I'm too pitiful.

Already..."

Lin Xiao suddenly smiled. He touched the tip of his nose with his thumb, his face full of confidence: "Master, don't worry, I have honed my skills. Today you just wait and see what I am capable of."

At this point, he suddenly remembered something and asked: "By the way, I found that many of the raw materials today are very special, some are particularly old, some are particularly hot... Master, have you been collecting them all these years?"

Ingredients, right? Otherwise, where would so many good things come from..."

Wu Jie smiled mysteriously and did not answer.

As the chef of today's birthday banquet, Lin Xiao was very busy. After only a short delay, someone called him from the kitchen. He had no choice but to complain and ran over in a hurry.

Seeing his appearance, Wu Jie nodded, feeling quite satisfied.

Although this apprentice has been overcorrected, he has finally embarked on the right path. Even if he ascends in the future and can no longer take care of him, I believe he can take care of himself.

Lin Xiao is a tree demon with a long life. But correspondingly, his growth rate will be relatively slow. The reason why he is a young genius is just because his parents left him with a rich foundation. Now he is already in the middle stage of refining the power, and his parents left him

The legacy given to him has almost been used up. Next, he will probably have to spend a long time to accumulate strength like Lao Rongweng and Song Baisheng, and finally challenge the last step of the cultivators.

Wu Jie is a human being. No matter how long his life span is, he cannot compare with the tree demon. Moreover, his cultivation has reached the peak of Yuan Condensation. Recently, he often feels his mind vibrating slightly while practicing. He must be about to realize his true mind.

I have entered the realm of golden elixir.

Once the golden elixir is achieved, it will surely take a few years to ascend. When that time comes... the inheritance and development of Zhifeizhai's lineage can only rely on Qin Jing and Lin Xiao.

After all, Qin Jing still lacks some key inspirations in Taoism. There is no problem in understanding Taoism and practicing Taoism, but he cannot understand the profound and mysterious aspects of many dexterous tricks - he is like Guo Jing in Jin Yong's novels. Although he is a hard-working and good apprentice,

But he cannot be a good teacher. If he is allowed to take charge of the Zhifeizhai lineage, I am afraid that he will mislead the disciples.

As for the fourth disciple Xiang Xuehai... Wu Jie couldn't help but sigh when he thought of this guy.

Although this guy has a high level of cultivation, his way of thinking about problems is very poor. Wu Jie is thankful that he can avoid causing trouble to his fellow disciples. He expects him to carry forward the tradition passed down by him? It would be better to hope that other sects can't find good disciples.

Maybe it's more practical

Therefore, after Wu Jie ascends to the throne, the Taoist lineage of Zhi Feizhai will probably only be passed on by Lin Xiao. Wu Jie's training now has the intention of cultivating a successor.

Qiao Feng saw this very clearly. He met with Wu Jie in private yesterday and suggested that the master take advantage of his 100th birthday to formally list his disciples in Zhifeizhai and determine Lin Xiao's identity in a clear way.

"I have withdrawn from the Taoism. After all, the second junior brother is lacking in qualifications. Master, the Taoism passed down by you can only be carried forward by the third junior brother."

Looking at the growing number of gray hairs on his eldest disciple's head, Wu Jie couldn't help but sigh deeply.

He accepted this apprentice, only taught him how to practice, and gave him some magic weapons and pills. Other than that, he did nothing else for him. On the contrary, he had been protecting the family and doing things for himself for so many years.

A lot of things happened... But in the end, I couldn't even give him a chance to live forever...

Looking at the guilty look in his master's eyes, Qiao Feng still didn't understand Wu Jie's thoughts, and immediately said with a smile: "I can experience so many things, go through the rise and fall of a country, and in the end I can still be a hero and chase young people.

The dream of the times... These are all given by you, Master. You have given me too much, and it will be difficult for my disciples to repay me even if they are broken into pieces. I am very satisfied with my current life, please don't be sad anymore."

Wu Jie raised his head and looked at the red sun slowly approaching the zenith, and couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

Time passes bit by bit, time passes, and it never stops. Although my appearance has never aged, the people around me are constantly coming and going... The life of my apprentice Qiao Feng is a mirror, reflecting

The prosperity and vicissitudes of my own life over the past hundred years.

The same mirror, and this Nanping County. When I first came out of the world, I became famous as a young man because of the incident of transporting grain to Nanping County for disaster relief. In the following decades, countless things happened, and even the Great Chu Kingdom

It has been destroyed, but Nanping County is still Nanping County.

He jumped up, flew into the sky, and looked down at the vast land between the mountains from the clouds.

The magical power that he used to move mountains and seas was already a mythical miracle in the eyes of the monks, but for Nanping County, it was actually just a dozen more towns, and there was not much change.

If we want to talk about changes, perhaps the biggest change is the Elephant Mountain?
To be continued...