Immortal Venerable's Order
Chapter 57: The Defiant Ye Lingtian

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: The Defiant Ye Lingtian

The sky was just beginning to brighten, and Yan Rufeng brought Zhou Shuhua back to Huaxia on his flying sword. Zhou Shuhua opened his eyes and unexpectedly found Lu Mingliang, who was smiling at him.

"Professor Zhou, I apologize for the scare."

"General Lu, why are you here?" Zhou Shuhua asked in surprise.

"Haha..."

Lu Mingliang laughed heartily, "Professor Zhou, this is the base. If I’m not here, where else would I be?"

"The base? We came back to the country so soon?" Zhou Shuhua asked, puzzled.

"That’s right, Professor Zhou. You are safe now. From now on, you can focus on your research at my base. No one will be able to harm you."

Zhou Shuhua smiled wryly, "What if I run around outside again?"

"Haha..."

Lu Mingliang chuckled, "Professor Zhou, if that happens again and you get captured, you can’t blame me."

Zhou Shuhua, inheriting the knowledge of the Artifact Sect, was solely focused on cultivation, improving his cultivation level, and crafting extraordinary magic artifacts. At this point, not to mention running around, even if someone tried to chase him away, he wouldn’t be willing to leave.

Seeing Zhou Shuhua deep in thought, Lu Mingliang turned to Yan Rufeng and said, "Comrade Rufeng, I didn’t expect you to rescue Professor Zhou so quickly. Truly, your speed is godly."

Yan Rufeng smiled calmly, "Thank you for the compliment, General Lu. Now that Professor Zhou has safely arrived, unless there’s something urgent, General, I intend to go into seclusion for a while."

Lu Mingliang laughed, "In such a hurry to leave again? That little girl Wen Tong has been talking about you a lot recently. Are you sure you don’t want to see her?"

Yan Rufeng smiled wryly, "No, there’s a competition between the two major bases in a little over two months. I need to prepare early..."

Just as Yan Rufeng was about to bid farewell to Lu Mingliang and Zhou Shuhua, Wen Tong, who had overheard their conversation, stormed in angrily. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide open, and she gritted her teeth with a crunching sound. Her fists were tightly clenched, and her knuckles cracked. It seemed like she wanted to give Yan Rufeng a good beating.

"Yan Rufeng, you stinky Taoist! Who cares about seeing you? Just go if you want to go."

"Uh."

"Is that necessary?" Yan Rufeng asked in shock.

"It really isn’t. All your worry for nothing!" Wen Tong pouted.

"Well, in that case, I’ll be off then." Yan Rufeng stood up to leave.

"Yan Rufeng, you..." Wen Tong stomped her foot in anger.

Yan Rufeng stopped, "What about me? I’m your instructor. How dare you talk to your instructor like that? What are you going to do about it?"

"Instructor Yan, I was wrong." Wen Tong straightened up immediately and saluted.

"Wen Tong, if I remember correctly, you said you’d never call me a little Taoist again just to get a flying sword. Do you remember?" Yan Rufeng asked, pretending to be serious.

"Yes, Instructor Yan, I remember."

"I’m sorry, Lady Wen. Since you knowingly violated your promise, I won’t make the flying sword for you." Yan Rufeng turned to leave with one hand behind his back.

"Boo-hoo~"

Feeling extremely wronged, Wen Tong covered her eyes and started sobbing.

Seeing Wen Tong crying, Lu Mingliang immediately stopped Yan Rufeng.

"Comrade Rufeng, as the instructor of the special team, how can you go back on your word? You promised to make a flying sword for Wen Tong. Why are you now unwilling? Look how sad she is." Lu Mingliang’s words clearly favored Wen Tong.

Zhou Shuhua, disturbed by Wen Tong’s sobbing, consoled her, "Wen Tong, if Instructor Yan refuses to make your flying sword, I’ll make it for you."

"Boo-hoo~"

Wen Tong cried a couple of times more, then peeked through her fingers to closely observe Yan Rufeng.

"Officer Wen, I didn’t expect you to have such low tolerance. I said I wouldn’t make the flying sword; I didn’t say I wouldn’t give you a flying sword. Look how aggrieved you are." Yan Rufeng couldn’t help but laugh.

"Hee-hee!"

"Instructor Yan, I knew you were just trying to fool me." Wen Tong’s bell-like laughter rang out.

"Haha..."

Lu Mingliang laughed, "This girl, she’s such a crafty one."

Zhou Shuhua laughed, too, "General Wen is lucky to have such a daughter."

Yan Rufeng certainly knew Wen Tong was pretending to cry, but seeing her put on an act was quite cute, so he let her be.

Yan Rufeng’s divine sense swept over his Storage Jade Ring, and a longsword shining with cold light floated in front of everyone.

"Wow."

Wen Tong exclaimed, "Instructor Yan, this sword is so beautiful, so perfect."

"Do you like it?"

"I love it."

"This sword is one of Japan’s three famous swords, the ’Heavenly Union Treasure Sword.’ With your current strength, you can’t control it." Yan Rufeng said.

Instantly, Wen Tong felt disappointed, "Can’t I just keep it as a collection for now and use it when my cultivation improves?"

"Wen Tong, do you really want this sword?"

Wen Tong nodded expectantly.

"Alright, I’ll seal its power for now and let you keep it." Yan Rufeng cast a restriction spell on the Heavenly Union Treasure Sword, and its radiance instantly dimmed.

Wen Tong took the sealed Heavenly Union Treasure Sword and ran out happily with it in her hand.

Once Wen Tong left, Yan Rufeng asked Lu Mingliang, "General Lu, now that the people at the base, except for General Wen, are all cultivators, what about General Wen?"

Lu Mingliang laughed, "Funny you should ask about General Wen. He went off to a meeting and won’t be back for a few days."

"General Lu, in that case, let’s wait for him to come back. I’d like to see Ye Lingtian and the other three now."

Yan Rufeng stepped on his flying sword and hovered in the air above the base, his divine sense scanning around, bringing a smile to his face.

In this time, Ji Yun’s cultivation had become even more solid and stable, with the potential to break through at any moment. The cultivation of other noncommissioned officers at the base had also advanced a level.

Without lingering, Yan Rufeng turned into a rainbow and appeared in the Grand Canyon.

Using his divine sense, he suddenly discovered that Ye Lingtian had already reached the Foundation Establishment Stage in his underground cave.

"The Innate Taoist Body is indeed extraordinary. In just a few days apart, Ye Lingtian has advanced to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Incredible..."

Cheng Hui, Yin Zhiqiang, and Fan Zhiwei were also at the peak of Qi Refining and could break through at any moment. Yan Rufeng didn’t disturb them and quietly left the Grand Canyon.

Yan Rufeng roamed through the depths of Taihang Mountain, collecting herbs for refining the Nascent Soul Pill.

Not wanting to destroy any spirit veins on Huaxia Land, Yan Rufeng had to rely on elixirs to advance to the Nascent Soul Stage.

After searching all of Taihang Mountain and still not gathering all the materials for the Nascent Soul Pill, he reluctantly headed towards Southern Yue Country.

In the depths of the Huanglian Mountain Range in Southern Yue Country, Yan Rufeng stood by an old spirit vein, set up a restriction, and began meditating in a cross-legged position.

In the timeless pursuit of cultivation, two months flew by. Over at the Grand Canyon, Ye Lingtian and the other three had successfully reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, as per Yan Rufeng’s instructions, and returned on their flying swords to the base.

Seeing the four return on their flying swords, Lu Mingliang immediately released his divine sense to investigate.

"Bang."

Lu Mingliang’s divine sense was instantly repelled, leaving him shocked, "What level have the four of them reached?"

Ye Lingtian and the others knew this was the base and anticipated someone would test them. Knowing it was friendly, they gently deflected the probing divine sense; otherwise, Lu Mingliang would have suffered greatly.

The highest-ranking cultivator in the base was Ji Yun, whose divine sense was also deflected when he tried to investigate.

Fortunately, Yan Rufeng had previously warned them, preventing a serious conflict.

Wen Tong, seeing them flying around the base on their swords, was envious and couldn’t help but start daydreaming.

"Clear blue seas and skies, clad in splendid attire, sitting quietly on a flying sword, smiling sweetly, gently leaning into Yan Rufeng’s embrace..."

"Wen Tong, what are you thinking about? You’re drooling!" A loud voice snapped Wen Tong out of her illusion.

Wen Tong composed herself, wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, and said, "Dad, I wasn’t thinking about anything. I just wanted some ice cream lately, but there’s nowhere to buy it here, so..."

"Alright, enough. Where is Yan Rufeng? Why hasn’t he come yet?"

"Dad, don’t worry. Cultivation doesn’t happen overnight. From what I see, he’ll be back in a few days."

"How can I not be anxious? Look at them flying around up there; it’s so frustrating to watch!" Wen Tong’s dad said angrily, pointing at Ye Lingtian and the others flying on their swords.

"Dad, it’s your fault. Last time, you decided to have your meeting while Yan Rufeng was here. Now, you’re the only one in the base without a cultivation level."

"You brat, how dare you blame me now? If I hadn’t gone to that meeting, how would I have secured the spots for Kunlun Mountain?"

"Brother Wen, what are you two arguing about?"

Lu Mingliang walked over at this moment.