is too tragic for us.

After glancing around, the steward simply folded the document, whispered a few instructions to his disciple, and hurriedly left.

Lai Gebao, relieved, quickly reminded him, "Brother Shen, why don't you change your clothes?"

Shen Gui asked, "Whose?"

Lai Ge Bao looked down at the tattered rags on his body, and after a long while, squeezed out, "Never mind."

After the butler left, the foot of Mount Teruno became lively again.

Three stone paths were laid outside the mountain gate. The left path was for those who came to pay homage to the master, the right path was for their accompanying family members, and the middle path was the widest, reserved for the disciples of the Zhaoye Sect and the people from the government office.

But once you get there, who cares about all that?

The steamed bun vendor squeezed through the crowd with his carrying pole, the straw sandal vendor squatted under a tree and called out, and there was someone selling so-called blessed wooden plaques with the words "[Zhaoye]" crookedly carved on them. When a disciple of the Zhaoye sect passed by and glanced at them, the man immediately rolled up his cloth and ran to a more distant place to continue selling.

The toad would look at the mountain gate for a while, and then at the young men and women in their new clothes.

"Senior Shen, do you see? Everyone is wearing new clothes, but the two of us are in a sorry state."

Shen Gui walked along the edge of the crowd without responding.

He no longer dislikes such lively scenes; more people mean more emotions and desires, and who knows, the stone might react if it falls.

Lai Ge Bao was used to Shen Gui not replying, so he didn't mind and continued talking to himself.

As the two approached the foot of the mountain, they saw a village chief talking to seven or eight children.

The village chief was quite old. He held a bamboo cane in his hand and nodded to each child to keep them from getting lost.

"Listen up, don't just watch the show. When we get to the mountain gate, listen to something useful. When we ask you about your character and temperament, don't just say you want to eat your fill."

A child answered quickly, "I know."

But his eyes were on the monkey show next to him.

The other children were busy with their own things and didn't listen at all.

The village chief, enraged, pounded the ground with his bamboo cane: "Hey, you little brats, do you know how important it is to enter the Zhaoye Sect? The rules I'm talking about were bought with money!"

He raised his voice a bit, and only then did the child look away and listen attentively.

Lai Gebao took two steps in that direction, looking elsewhere, but his ears were already firmly locked on the village chief's mouth.

The village chief began to speak to the children:

"Remember this: although there are no immortals who can roam the heavens, there are quite a few people who can shatter rocks with a single punch."

A child asked, "Can it fly?"

"Well..."

The village chief stroked his beard. "In the later realms, I've heard that one can walk on the wind and not starve even if one doesn't eat for a short time. However, there are very few people who can do that. It's rumored that even the prime minister of the current dynasty can do it, but that's just hearsay. Let's not even think about it."

The toad's eyes lit up, and it turned to look at Senior Shen.

Shen Gui was still standing there, the old lotus leaf in his hand was already dry at the edges, but he didn't throw it away, he rolled it up in his hand and used it as a fan.

The toad turned its head back.

The village chief continued, "There is a kind of energy in this world called primordial energy. Whether you are a human, a demon, or a ghost, as long as you have a way to absorb primordial energy and slowly nourish your muscles, bones, and soul, you can embark on the path of cultivation."

"Are they all the same?" the child asked.

"no the same."

The village chief held up two fingers, then, feeling it wasn't enough, counted on his hands and said, "Among the human race, there are those who practice fist and weapon techniques, those who read Taoist scriptures and chant Buddhist mantras, and those who cultivate Confucian righteous energy. There are many paths. The demon race also has its own cultivation methods..."

Lai Ge Bao's mouth was slightly open as he listened intently, when suddenly chaos broke out in front of him.

First, the stalls were overturned, then someone shouted, "Stop fighting! Today is the opening day of the Zhaoye Sect! Who dares to cause trouble!"

The crowd dispersed to both sides.

The toad was too short to see clearly, so it could only hop around a couple of times.

Shen Gui reached out and grabbed it by the back of its collar, placing it on a nearby rock.

Before the toad could react, it had already grown taller. It quickly grabbed the hood and whispered, "Quack, thanks."

The noise came from a leather goods stall.

The stall owner was a burly man of Chinese descent, with fox pelts, wolf pelts, and several snake skins with intricate patterns hanging on his wooden rack.

A snake demon stood upright, its tail swishing back and forth in displeasure, staring at the snakeskin: "Where did this skin come from?"

The stall owner glanced around and saw that most of the people surrounding him were humans, and retorted, "I bought it from the mountains, so what?"

The snake demon reached out to tear off the skin.

The stall owner grabbed the wooden frame and said, "What are you doing? This is my merchandise."

"This is snakeskin."

"Nonsense, who says you can't sell snakeskin?"

Someone nearby laughed.

The snake demon's scales parted slightly, and its voice grew even lower:

"This is snakeskin that has gained intelligence! It cannot be sold!"

"You think you can just grant them enlightenment like that? The government officials are all around at the foot of Zhaoye Mountain, do you think you can steal their goods?"

The two argued even more fiercely.

The snake demon, naturally unable to win the argument, became enraged and lashed out with his tail, shattering the wooden frame and scattering various leather goods all over the ground.

Just as tensions were about to rise, disciples of the Zhaoye sect arrived.

The three disciples parted the crowd, one of them wearing a law enforcement badge at his waist. He first looked at the stall owner, then at the snake demon.

The stall owner immediately shouted, "Immortal Master, please help! This snake demon stole my goods and even tried to attack me!"

The snake demon pointed to the skin on the ground: "He sold the skin of the wise demon."

The enforcement officer frowned: "Do you have any proof?"

The snake demon remained silent.

After learning the reason from the onlookers, the disciple in charge of law enforcement said with a grim face: "The snake demon was the first to destroy the stall and injure people. According to the rules of the mountain gate, he shall be punished with twenty strokes of the cane and expelled from the mountain gate. He shall not be allowed to take the exam this time."

The snake demon suddenly raised its head, and the surrounding demons also stirred.

Upon hearing "not allowed to take the exam," Lai Gebao instinctively pressed his hand against the letter in his pocket.

The next assessment will be in three years, which is too long.

For these wild demons who have no one to protect them, who can say for sure what will happen in three years? One day they might just encounter a Taoist priest or a monk and become merchandise on a leather stall.

The disciple in charge of enforcement had already raised his hand, and two disciples behind him stepped forward to restrain the snake demon.

"Wait a minute."

As the words fell, the sound of a bicycle bell came from afar.

Two black horses pulled a blue-roofed carriage from the end of the mountain road, with a fox tail painted on the curtain.

Someone in the crowd with sharp eyes gasped in shock.

"The Hu Clan of Qingqiu".

"The one where three members of the family are considered auspicious for marriage?"

"They've come to the Teruno sect too?"

"Was that the young master of the Hu family who just spoke?"

Lai Ge Bao's head was buzzing.

The village chief just said that Wangyue Realm is already the top in the prefecture.

They have three children in one family.

The carriage stopped.

A young voice came from inside the car, carrying a hint of innate nobility: "Slow down the punishment."

The disciple's expression changed slightly, but he didn't immediately step aside: "Young Master Hu, this demon has injured people in public; the rules are in place."

The carriage curtain was lifted by a fair hand, and out came not a demon, but a young man.

She looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in a moon-white robe, with a small tuft of light-colored downy hair on her forehead and a snow-white fox tail hanging down behind her, the tip of which swayed slightly.

Someone whispered nearby:

"Only when demons reach the Wangyue Realm can they fully transform into human form. Young Master Hu's parents are both great demons who have transformed into human form, so he was born as a half-transformed demon. The Hu family treasures him very much."

"No wonder Teruno Munechika gave him face."

"Look at the other person in the car, that's Hu Yanshan, one of the three members of the Hu family who have reached the Mountain-Gazing Realm! I didn't expect him to come too."

Amid the murmurs of the crowd, two people got off the car one after the other.

Hu Zhaoying walked in front, followed by a middle-aged man in a dark blue long robe with a thin face and eyes that were slightly longer than average.

Hu Zhaoying walked between the snake demon and the stall owner, first glancing at the snake skin on the ground, then looking at the law enforcement disciple.

"You can argue that since there's no evidence, the stall owner can't be convicted."

The disciples who enforced the law breathed a sigh of relief.

Hu Zhaoying then asked, "The stall owner has no proof that this isn't an enlightened demon skin, so why is he allowed to sell it in public?"

The disciple did not answer immediately.

The stall owner grew impatient: "Young Master Hu, how can a businessman check the ancestry of every single piece of leather when buying goods?"

Hu Zhaoying glanced at him, and the stall owner swallowed the rest of his words.

Hu Yanshan also spoke up, saying to his disciples, "If someone were selling human skin in front of you today, what would you do?"

The disciple's lips moved slightly.

Hu Yanshan then asked, "Would you first ask him if he has any proof, or would you first have him put the leather away?"

The disciples who enforced the law looked rather displeased, but dared not retaliate, because Hu Yanshan was a cultivator at the Wangyue Realm and a member of the Hu family.

"Mr. Hu, Young Master Hu, there are many people in front of the mountain gate. Please don't offend your eyes."

A steward from the Zhaoye Sect hurried over and bowed from afar, saying, "This matter will be investigated by the Zhaoye Sect. If it is indeed an enlightened demon skin, it will be dealt with according to the rules."

"Then I'll trouble you." Hu Zhaoying nodded.

He then looked at the snake demon: "For harming people, you should compensate with medicine, but a three-year banishment is unnecessary."

The deacon smiled and said, "Of course, of course."

The snake demon stood there, its tail no longer slapping the ground. It prostrated itself and bowed its head to express its gratitude to Hu Zhaoying: "Thank you, Young Master Hu."

"We are all of the same clan and should be united when we are away from home." Hu Zhaoying didn't put on airs and simply returned the greeting.

After saying that, he turned and got into the car.

Hu Yanshan followed behind.

However... when this expert at the Wangyue Realm passed the edge of the crowd, his pace suddenly slowed by half a step.

A man in gray stood in the crowd, looking like an ordinary, unaffiliated cultivator watching the spectacle from the foot of the mountain.

Hu Yanshan glanced at him.

With just one glance, his brows furrowed slightly.

That person didn't emanate any external energy, nor did they exude the oppressive aura of a powerful individual, so why did our gazes unconsciously lock onto them?

The more this was the case, the more wrong it seemed. Hu Yanshan trusted his demon beast intuition. Intuition was a mysterious thing, something that cultivation could not explain, but it had saved his life many times.

So, Hu Yanshan subconsciously took a step to the side, standing right between Hu Zhaoying and the man in gray.

Hu Zhaoying turned around and asked, "Uncle?"

Hu Yanshan said in a low voice, "Don't say anything more, let's go into the mountain first."

Hu Zhaoying didn't ask any more questions and bent down to get into the carriage.

The carriage slowly made its way into the mountain gate.

Once the Hu family members were far away, the snake demon straightened up and shouted, "Young Master Hu is benevolent and righteous!"

Several demons nearby joined in the shouting.

"Greetings, Young Master Hu!"

"The Hu family of Qingqiu is benevolent and righteous!"

The sounds came one after another, quickly drowning out the vendors' cries.

The toad also shouted.

After it finished shouting, it stopped shouting.

It watched the carriage disappear at the end of the mountain road, and after a long while, it muttered to itself, "It's so good to have someone to rely on."

Shen Gui looked at it.

Lai Ge Bao was still lost in his own envy.

"If I were a member of the Hu family, I would definitely have a nice name now, and people would give way to me wherever I go. If someone bullies me, an elder would come out and ask what's wrong."

As it spoke, it turned back to look at Shen Gui, its eyes filled with a sense of shared misery.

"Senior Shen, if you had a powerful backer, you probably wouldn't be wanted by the police."

Shen Gui did not respond.

Lai Gebao sighed, feeling more and more miserable the more he thought about it.

"Quack, we're in such a terrible situation."