"Little brat, played enough down the mountain, and you're finally willing to come back?"
The moment Wo Long appeared at the Taoist temple's entrance, a cold gust of wind swept in, and a man around seventy or eighty years old, clad in a white Taoist robe, with a youthful complexion despite his white hair, materialized out of thin air, sneering.
"Old man, what are you saying? Qiulong Mountain is my home. No matter how long I'm away, I have to come back."
Wo Long looked at the old Taoist, grinned, and said, "Master, your martial arts cultivation is getting more terrifying. From hundreds of meters in the sky, you could instantly crush a helicopter. Have you reached the legendary Innate realm?"
"Stop beating around the bush. I'm asking you, why are you the only one back? Where's your senior brother?"
The old Taoist looked at Wo Long with displeasure, "Is your senior brother indulging in the comforts of Nanling, unwilling to even return to Qiulong Mountain now?"
"Heh, old man, you say that. What kind of person is my senior brother? Others may not know, but surely you, his master, understand?"
As the junior disciple, Wo Long naturally had to defend his senior brother wholeheartedly. He smiled and said, "Senior brother has two major matters to attend to recently, so he's tied up. However, before I came, he specifically asked me to bring a gift back for you, and he guaranteed that you'd be happy to see it."
"A gift?"
Hearing Wo Long's words, the old Taoist sneered, "Before I became a monk, I held immense power and wealth, rivaling empires. What rare treasures haven't I seen? What gift could possibly make me happy?"
"Of course, there is. It's the Wen Wu Qi Xian Qin that you've been longing for."
Wo Long presented the Wen Wu Qi Xian Qin with both hands to the old Taoist, tears welling up in his eyes. "Old man, you have no idea. To find this Wen Wu Qi Xian Qin, Senior brother worked tirelessly and exhausted himself after descending the mountain, losing dozens of pounds. He searched all over Nanling to find it, and the first thing he did was send me to bring it to you."
"Oh… Since when did he become so filial?"
Wo Long spoke eloquently, and anyone else might have believed him. But the old Taoist, hearing his words, merely narrowed his eyes and retorted.
"Old man, this is not the way. You must believe in Senior brother's filial piety. It comes from the heart and can move heaven."
Wo Long spoke, "Compared to Senior brother's filial piety, I feel like a scoundrel, filled with shame."
"Alright, stop acting. You two little brats, I raised you from childhood. Do you think I don't know your ways?"
The old Taoist looked at the Wen Wu Qi Xian Qin in Wo Long's hand, a ripple disturbing the calm in his eyes. "On account of the Wen Wu Qi Xian Qin, I won't hold it against you two little brats for now. However, you'll stay on the mountain until your senior brother returns."
The old Taoist looked at Wo Long and said calmly, "I heard your senior brother has broken through to the peak of the Earth Realm. You should also strive to keep up with his pace."
"Remember, if you dare to sneak down the mountain before your senior brother returns, no matter how far you flee, I will break your legs."
With that, the old Taoist, holding the Wen Wu Qi Xian Qin, vanished from his spot.
"Has the old man already cultivated to the realm of shattering the void?"
Seeing the old man come and go freely, leaving no trace, Wo Long's face changed in shock. In such a short time, the old man's strength had become even more unfathomable.
In an instant, Wo Long suddenly thought of Song Shadao and became curious. If Song Shadao were to encounter the old man, who would emerge victorious? The thought alone made him excited.
However, the old man was right. Wo Long indeed needed to improve his martial arts cultivation as soon as possible.
Wo Long had broken through to the Earth Realm at the age of twenty-four, which was already the genius among geniuses, with few such individuals found worldwide. But Wo Long knew that the mere Earth Realm was a vast distance from his senior brother.
Moreover, over the years, his senior brother had intentionally or unintentionally slowed down his cultivation speed to integrate the internal energies of "Ice Cold Force," "Marrow Cleansing Classic," and "Muscle Tendon Classic." Otherwise, his current realm would be even higher.
Wo Long was unwilling to be inferior to others, even if that person was his most respected senior brother. Therefore, Wo Long was determined to cultivate diligently on the mountain, striving to break through to new realms as quickly as possible.
However, Wo Long was unaware that just as he made up his mind to cultivate diligently, the old Taoist appeared before the San Qing statues in the Taoist temple, and a burly, bearded man with a murderous aura had appeared from somewhere.
The middle-aged man was none other than Shen Lang's uncle, Song Shadao. However, even Wo Long didn't know how Song Shadao had arrived here.
"I've always been curious about who Shen Lang and Wo Long's master was, so I made a bold guess. I didn't expect it to be you."
Song Shadao looked at the old Taoist in front of him and sneered, "Eight hundred miles of Qiulong Mountain, the scenery is endlessly beautiful. Those who don't know would mistake this place for a tourist attraction. But those who do know that this is a prison, intended to trap you, the dragon, here forever."
"Shen Tianjun and I always thought you had accepted your fate, content to be imprisoned until death. Now it seems you haven't accepted it."
"Song Shadao, you dare speak to me like that?"
The old Taoist slowly sat down on the cushion before the San Qing statues, his fingers plucking at the zither strings. "You should be grateful that I have entered the Taoist sect now. Otherwise, for speaking to me in such a manner, I would have killed you."
"Old Taoist, things are different. Perhaps I would have lost to you back then, but today's Song Shadao will never lose to anyone."
Song Shadao said, "I have only one purpose for coming today. I want to know, when you adopted Shen Lang, did you know he was Shen Tianjun's son?"
"What if I knew? What if I didn't?"
The old Taoist said indifferently, "To me, it makes no difference whether he is Shen Tianjun's son or not. I only know he is my disciple. Song Shadao, rest assured, if I truly wanted revenge, I would only need a three-foot sword to spill rivers of blood, not play tricks like adopting Qiao Feng to kill his clansmen."
"So that's how it is. Since that's the case, I can rest easy."
Hearing the old Taoist's words, Song Shadao let out a sigh of relief. "I should thank you, because you adopted Shen Lang, giving Shen Lang and his mother, Song Qingyi, a chance to recognize each other. However, I hope you will never leave Qiulong Mountain. This is not a reminder, but a warning."
"Qiulong Mountain?"
The old Taoist smiled faintly upon hearing this. "I have no interest in going down the mountain. But, I must also say, a true dragon cannot be caged."