This question momentarily stumped Ziyuan. Although she had long anticipated this day might come, a part of her had subconsciously avoided confronting it, precisely because she didn't know how to face it herself.

On one side was her sect's Second Martial Uncle. While Hongling hadn't received much direct kindness from him, Ziyuan herself had received considerable guidance in her early cultivation from him—a debt of instruction she acknowledged.

Furthermore, even if the Second Martial Uncle hadn't guided her personally, by seniority alone, he was still her Martial Uncle. In terms of close relations, even stretching back eight hundred years, he was infinitely closer than Li Yundong, an outsider.

Yet, on the other side stood someone who, theoretically, had no connection to her at all. But her Master's cryptic poem had inextricably linked her fate to his. After spending so many days and nights together, even if true love hadn't fully bloomed, a genuine attachment had certainly formed. If she were to watch him fight the Second Martial Uncle, or worse, watch him die at the Second Martial Uncle's hands someday, how would she bear it?

For a moment, Ziyuan became lost in thought, bordering on trance. Ruan Hongling noticed Ziyuan’s vacant stare, her brow furrowed with worry, as if a thousand tangled anxieties had coalesced into an unsolvable knot.

Ruan Hongling let out a long sigh: "Alas, on one side is one's own Second Martial Uncle, and on the other, one's beloved. What is one to do?"

Ziyuan was slow to react, murmuring almost to herself, "Yes, what is one to do?"

Ruan Hongling let out a sharp laugh and clapped her hands: "Sister Ziyuan, you finally admitted you've fallen for this fellow!"

Ziyuan snapped back to awareness, her face flushing with a mix of shyness and annoyance as she glared at Ruan Hongling: "What did you just say!"

Ruan Hongling chuckled slyly: "Sister Ziyuan, don't deny it. Your subconscious just answered for you. You can't pretend otherwise!"

Ziyuan flared slightly: "Hongling, you're becoming utterly unmanageable! If you keep nagging, I'll send you back up the mountain!"

Ruan Hongling jumped, quickly grabbing Ziyuan's arm and pouting appealingly: "Sister Ziyuan, our sect is sealed off now. If you send me back, can you bear to let me be bullied all alone?"

Ziyuan rolled her eyes at Hongling: "If you don't want to be bullied, then behave yourself!"

After speaking, she sighed herself, continuing, "The Zhengyi Sect is too powerful now. They press us overtly, while the Second Martial Uncle haunts us in the shadows, setting traps everywhere. Just thinking about our internal and external pressures makes it impossible to eat or sleep peacefully. I'm not worried about what the Zhengyi Sect or the Second Martial Uncle might do to us, but Li Yundong... perhaps it's time I taught him some truly potent magic."

Ruan Hongling was slightly startled: "Sister Ziyuan, what are you going to teach him?"

Ziyuan paused in thought, then said, "When I asked him about the Five Elements of the Great Dao—what kind of magic he wished to learn among all the techniques in the world—Li Yundong answered me: 'Among all the Daoist arts, Thunder Magic is the strongest. If I learn one, I will learn the strongest Thunder Magic!' At the time, I didn't dare teach him because his cultivation was incomplete. But now that he has achieved true accomplishment, it is time he learned!"

Ruan Hongling gasped in great displeasure: "Sister Ziyuan, I begged you many times and you refused to teach me, yet now you're proactively teaching this guy! You are clearly playing favorites!"

Ziyuan shot Ruan Hongling a look: "Your own cultivation is insufficient. You cannot cultivate Yang energy from Yin energy, so how can you practice Thunder Magic? Master the standard Five Elements Daoism first! A nuclear weapon can kill, but so can a bullet. A practitioner shouldn't aim too high too soon!"

"Oh, I understand," Ruan Hongling mumbled, pouting, but secretly she thought: Oh, Sister Ziyuan, even if you won't admit it out loud, and even if you won't admit it in your heart, I still feel that you have fallen in love with this fellow Li Yundong. When the day finally comes that you are forced to acknowledge it, I bet this fellow won't love you back, but instead love that fox spirit. We’ll see what you do then!

...

While Ruan Hongling and Ziyuan were speaking privately in the room, Li Yundong was savoring the "Four Famous Dishes" prepared by Su Chan.

Cao Yi and the others from the Fox Zen Gate were tactful enough not to intrude on this intimate scene and had retreated to their own rooms. Seeing that she was alone, Su Chan blinked her eyes and watched Li Yundong as he slowly savored the "Four Famous Dishes."

Li Yundong maintained a serious expression, chewing each bite slowly and deliberately. He glanced at Su Chan and saw the little girl deliberately putting on airs of a reserved lady, sitting upright at the table, yet her eyes betrayed her true feelings.

The little girl's eyes gazed at Li Yundong with intense eagerness and expectation, clearly communicating: Is it delicious? Is it delicious?

Li Yundong chuckled inwardly. He deliberately ate slowly for a long while, nodding as he ate, as if savoring the finest delicacies in the mortal world, looking increasingly delighted with every bite.

Seeing Li Yundong enjoy the food so much, the little girl’s composure finally broke. The corners of her mouth couldn't help but lift, and her eyes crinkled into crescent moons. She repeatedly signaled him with emphatic looks, as if pleading: Praise me quickly! Praise me quickly!

Li Yundong shook his head slowly, his face a mask of profound admiration. He nodded: "Did you really make all of this?"

Su Chan could hold back no longer, breaking into a smile that revealed a row of snow-white teeth, nodding rapidly like a chick pecking grain: "Yes, yes! I made it! How is it? Is it good?"

Li Yundong didn't rush to answer. He slowly and meticulously wiped his mouth, his movements so deliberate they seemed like a slow-motion scene from a film, clearly teasing Su Chan.

The little girl grew anxious, her heart burning with impatience. She couldn't help but pounce in front of Li Yundong, grabbing his shoulders with both hands and shaking him vigorously, asking with pleading eyes: "How is it? Tell me! Hurry up and tell me!"

Li Yundong stifled his laughter, his face growing even more serious, his eyes conveying a look of pleasant surprise. He let out a soft sigh: "I truly never expected you made this."

Su Chan beamed: "Is it really that good? Is it truly that delicious?"

Li Yundong nodded firmly: "It really is..."

Su Chan immediately leaped up, clapping her hands in triumphant laughter. But before her laughter finished, Li Yundong took a deep, gasping breath and announced: "It really is... awful!"

The smile instantly collapsed from Su Chan's face. Angrily and shamefully, she lunged at Li Yundong, clawing and biting him: "You dare trick me!"

Li Yundong burst into hearty laughter. He swept Su Chan into his arms, affectionately pinching her cheek, and chuckled: "You put in way too much salt! We cultivators should eat simply and lightly. With this much salt, are you trying to shatter my Dao cultivation?"

Su Chan let out a giggle: "Can the cultivation of the esteemed Sect Master really be shattered so easily?"

Li Yundong grinned mischievously at Su Chan: "With a little fox spirit like you around, isn't my elderly cultivation instantly shattered by you?"

Su Chan's cheeks flushed slightly, and she giggled proudly: "So I am the bane of the famous True Man Li? Hmph, hmph, see if you dare bully me again! Be careful, or I'll shatter your cultivation!"

Li Yundong wrapped his arm around Su Chan's slender waist, pinched her nose lightly, and whispered wickedly: "You wicked little fox spirit, trying to shatter my elderly cultivation? Be careful I shatter your body first!"

Su Chan immediately jumped up, shrieking with surprised laughter, and ran to her doorway like a little rabbit. Then she poked her head out, glanced timidly at Li Yundong, and then chuckled: "Big bad guy, you only think of doing bad things!"

Li Yundong roared with laughter: "A bad guy who doesn't want to do bad things isn't a good bad guy!"

Su Chan burst into a laugh, stuck out her tongue at Li Yundong in a playful grimace, and then hid inside her room.

As night fell, everyone in the Fox Zen Gate entered their respective meditations. Zhou Qin read through some classics for a while before also drifting into slumber. Li Yundong, however, remained within his small Thousand Worlds, continuing his own rigorous training. After an indeterminate amount of time, he vaguely heard a faint, ethereal voice slowly and softly calling his name.

Li Yundong's heart stirred. Quickly, his Yang Spirit departed his body and materialized on the roof outside his chamber. He saw Ziyuan, also with her Yang Spirit outside, standing there dressed in white. Although a gentle smile graced her face, her eyes revealed a profoundly complex emotion.

Li Yundong smiled: "You called me?"

Ziyuan nodded slightly: "Yes."

Li Yundong found it strange: "If you had something to discuss, you could have come directly to me. Why summon me using the Yang Spirit projection?"

Ziyuan gave a faint smile. She explained, "Because coming to you directly would certainly alert others. The lesson I must teach you today is our Zhengyi Sect's secret, non-disseminated technique. As the saying goes, the Dharma should not be spread to the 'six ears.' Only in the state of Yang Spirit projection can one float in mid-air without overly draining magical essence. Since no one can be hidden in the air, naturally no one can overhear what we say."

Li Yundong’s expression turned grave: "What is it? Are you leaving? Why call this the final lesson?"

Ziyuan chuckled softly: "You are overthinking things. The reason I call this the final lesson is because your mastery of the Great Dao of Cultivation has already surpassed mine. The only things I can teach you now are minor Daoist arts. Once you master these, I will truly have nothing left to impart to you. From then on, in every aspect, you will be able to surpass me. Next time we spar, you will truly have to show mercy."

Hearing this, Li Yundong felt a surge of emotion. He bowed respectfully to Ziyuan, a deep salute: "True Person Ziyuan, you imparted the skills for my cultivation and led me formally into the world of the practitioners. Half of all my divine abilities were taught by you. In my heart, I consider you my teacher and my friend. I, Li Yundong, dare to disrespect anyone in the world, but I would never dare show the slightest disrespect toward you, nor would I ever dare raise a hand against you."

Ziyuan was already incomparably beautiful, and standing under the clear moonlight, her misty hair and ethereal form made her seem like a celestial being. She smiled slightly, and it was as if the surroundings brightened around her.

Ziyuan said softly, "You need not be so formal. This is your destiny, and it is also my own cultivation path. Once you master these Daoist arts, if you can punish evil and promote good, upholding righteousness, that will be a blessing to our cultivation world, and a blessing to all of us."

Li Yundong bowed respectfully again: "I will certainly remember every word True Person Ziyuan has spoken. May I ask what Daoist art you intend to teach me today?"

Ziyuan stated each word deliberately and with immense solemnity: "Today, I will teach you the Five Thunders True Method!"