Everyone at the banquet was smiling.

It wasn’t a long wait; before long, Old He’s figure appeared within the guest room.

However, arriving even before the man himself was a voice as loud as a ringing bell: “Yo! Junior Brother Jinghuai, how is it you have the time to visit my Forging Peak today?”

Xu Jinghuai turned back and saw the towering figure at the door.

The Peak Master of Forging Peak was named He Li, a giant standing two meters tall. Coming into the guest room just now, he nearly brushed the top of his hair against the frame.

As for why he was called Old He…

The reason was simple: He Li was older than Xu Jinghuai, and titles like “Peak Master He” never seemed to fit the man’s rough-and-ready image. Thus, Xu Jinghuai just called him Old He.

He Li naturally had no objection; in fact, he felt the name was quite apt and suited him perfectly.

Xu Jinghuai smiled and said, “Look at what you’re saying, Old He. Can’t I come to Forging Peak as a guest whenever I’m free?”

He Li walked over and sat down brashly in the chair opposite Xu Jinghuai. “Of course you can! Who said you couldn’t?”

“But, Junior Brother Jinghuai, I recall you accepted an immortal sprout at today’s disciple recruitment ceremony. Don’t you need to be training your new disciple?”

Xu Jinghuai cast his gaze to his side. “Aren’t I bringing her along?”

Only then did He Li notice Xia Jin beside Xu Jinghuai. He propped his chin on his hand and scrutinized her from head to toe.

This searching gaze made Xia Jin feel constrained, and she sat up straight like a diligent primary school student.

After a long silence, Old He raised an eyebrow and delivered his verdict: “She doesn’t look like she can handle her liquor very well…”

“But no matter! Drink a few times and your tolerance will build right up! Come! Little Bai, bring up the wine in the guest room. We aren’t leaving until we’re drunk today!”

He Li flashed a simple-minded grin and waved over the disciple who had followed him in.

It was the other Forging Peak disciple who had been guarding the tower and had gone to find He Li earlier.

However, Xu Jinghuai hadn’t come here to drink with Old He, so he quickly called a halt.

“Stop, stop, stop…”

“What kind of wine should a young girl be drinking? We’ll talk about drinking later, Old He. Right now, no more chatter—let’s talk business.”

Xu Jinghuai put on a stern face and said seriously, “Old He, do you have any spare hands on Forging Peak right now?”

Though he learned that Xu Jinghuai wasn’t there for a drink, He Li didn’t let it dampen his spirits. After a brief moment of thought, he replied, “Spare hands… I do have some, but what do you need them for, Junior Brother?”

Xu Jinghuai spread his hands with a helpless smile. “Old He, you know that only I lived on Youyun Peak before. There’s only one place to sleep. Now that there’s a little one, I’d be too embarrassed to make her sleep outside.”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about?”

He Li asked, quite perplexed: “Didn’t our master throw us to the bottom of Heaven’s Scar Abyss back then to temper us? He told us to either break through to the next realm and learn to abstain from grain within two months or just starve to death. He didn’t care if we lived or died.”

“This level of hardship is fine, right?”

‘If I don’t break through… I’ll starve to death…’

‘That’s considered fine??’

Xia Jin shuddered at his words. This was the first time she truly felt how cruel and terrifying the cultivation world could be.

‘Will the Immortal Master also throw me into some unknown corner later and leave me to fend for myself…’

At that thought, Xia Jin looked piteously toward Xu Jinghuai.

If Xu Jinghuai knew what Xia Jin was thinking, his eyes would surely have flickered guiltily as he secretly changed the subject.

‘She guessed exactly right!’

Earlier, Xu Jinghuai really had considered it. While not quite so heartless, the idea of tossing Xia Jin into a pond on Youyun Peak while he went off to slack off was indeed still active in his mind…

However, although he noticed Xia Jin’s gaze, Xu Jinghuai’s attention was currently drawn back to those days thousands of years ago by He Li’s words.

Thinking of his “cheap” master, Xu Jinghuai couldn’t help but feel his lip twitch as waves rose in his Dao heart.

That old man always had the phrase “The master leads you through the door, but the cultivation depends on the individual” hanging from his lips. After teaching them the cultivation methods, he became a hands-off manager, letting the senior and junior brothers grow like wild weeds.

He remembered that after the old man passed away, he and his brothers were all smiling at the funeral feast; they weren’t sad at all. Truly tragic.

Now that he had taken a disciple, he couldn’t follow in the old man’s footsteps!

He had to give his disciple the necessary care and become a good master in her heart!

At this thought, Xu Jinghuai said solemnly, “It’s different.”

“Back then, we were all at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, only a step away from the next realm. We had a foundation to fall back on. But Xia Jin hasn’t even crossed the first threshold of cultivation; she still has a mortal body. If she catches a cold from the night wind outside, it’s incomparable.”

“Besides, the old man’s method of teaching disciples is no longer suited for this era. Hardening a disciple shouldn’t be rushed. I have my own plan for teaching.”

“First, I must make the child love learning… cough, love cultivation! Only then will her progress be twice as fast!”

“After all, no one wants to do something they don’t want to do, right?”

He Li rubbed his stubble and nodded thoughtfully. “Mhm, what you say does make some sense, Junior Brother…”

Beside them, Xia Jin was nodding her head vigorously.

‘Mhm, mhm! The Immortal Master speaks so well!’

He Li was a rough man; once he knew the reason, he wouldn’t obsess over a single point. He waved a hand grandly. “How about this: Junior Brother, just tell me how many people you need. I’ll go pick some for you right now.”

“Great! As expected of Old He, how refreshing!”

Xu Jinghuai reached out and gripped Old He’s hand. “Then I won’t hide my treasures either. A friend gave me some thousand-year-old immortal brew from Immortal Eater Town, and I still have a jar of ‘Immortal’s Drunk’ left. Next time you come to Youyun Peak, Old He, I’ll treat you!”

At the mention of immortal brew, He Li’s eyes lit up. He stood up and shouted “Good!” three times in a row, clearly excited beyond measure.

Thus, the “backroom deal” with Old He, the Peak Master of Forging Peak, was officially concluded.

Xu Jinghuai initially estimated he needed twenty Forging Peak disciples (laborers), but Old He ended up dragging fifty (laborers) along. He Li even ditched his own forging work for the day, leading the group in a grand procession toward Youyun Peak.

He even boasted that they would finish the house within half a day so that his Martial Niece could move in by tonight.

Such mobilizing power earned a massive “thumbs up” from Xu Jinghuai.

‘As expected of Old He!’

Being loyal himself, Xu Jinghuai offered a reward to each Forging Peak disciple who helped: one Second-grade Immortal Pill and one hundred Sect Contribution Points.

Naturally, Xu Jinghuai didn’t feel the sting.

Because at the next stop—the Main Peak—Xu Jinghuai planned to have Sect Master Tian Qingning reimburse the costs.

Did the construction of the new residence go as smoothly as Xu Jinghuai hoped, or did the arrival of fifty boisterous Forging Peak disciples bring more chaos than comfort to his peaceful peak?