At midday, the scorching sun baked the earth. Inside the cool shade, Elder Sky sat upright, no longer showing his usual dejection, and carefully questioned Ethan.
Ethan knelt and respectfully handed a clear inventory to Elder Sky. "Master, these are the herbs Belle collected yesterday at Unicorn Corner."
Elder Sky took it, casting a sidelong glance at Danny Crimson, who stood in the corridor with his back turned, before he began to examine the list carefully.
"Judging by the situation, that monkey's injuries are almost healed." Stroking his long beard, Elder Sky sighed, his tone slightly heavier, as if speaking for Danny Crimson to hear.
"So what if he's healed?" Danny Crimson snorted coldly, his tone full of disdain as he spoke with his back to Elder Sky. "If he knows what's good for him, he'd better behave. If he dares act rashly again, I'll make sure he spends another few months bedridden."
Upon hearing this, Elder Sky gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Senior brother, why go to such lengths? After all, we are fellow disciples."
"Who would call that wild monkey a fellow disciple?" Danny Crimson retorted without turning his head.
After that night, the once aggressive Danny Crimson had instead found himself in an awkward predicament, while Elder Sky, who had been lost in thought, suddenly saw things clearly.
The path of cultivation is long and winding; nurturing the heart must come first.
If you let fear or obsession rule you, you've already lost.
To speak plainly, on the path of cultivation—joy, sorrow, anger, resentment, hatred—all are demons of the heart. If you become trapped by them, you fall into inner turmoil and hinder your progress.
At present, Danny Crimson was precisely in such a state, while Elder Sky, by contrast, had managed to recover. The monkey played a part, but Danny Crimson's own entanglement was a major factor.
Danny Crimson was even more deeply ensnared than Elder Sky.
Ethan quietly produced another slip of paper from his sleeve and offered it with both hands. "Yesterday, Anna Yang, the new female disciple taken in by Uncle Sky Loft, also came to Unicorn Corner to gather herbs. Because she didn't have an ID badge, she nearly had a run-in with the guards. This is the list of herbs she collected yesterday."
"Oh?" Elder Sky reached out for the herb list, examined it closely, and couldn't help but show confusion. "This list is quite unusual. Anna Yang previously apprenticed under Jade Cauldron and has already reached the Spirit-Refinement stage. Is she planning to refine pills? Did she report to the Alchemy Room?"
"She never came." Ethan replied respectfully.
Standing to the side, Danny Crimson clenched his fist on the railing, his voice full of indignation. "Anna Yang is no model disciple either! She was there that night—I simply didn't want to expose her. Such a cunning, deceitful person! If Skylar Loft hadn't sent me a letter first, I'd have dealt with her too! I truly don't understand why he brought her here, and if he must, why not keep her in his Cloudrise Pavilion? Why send her to our Crescent Star Cave?"
These days, Danny Crimson had grown weary of managing the affairs inside and outside the Daoist temple. Though rumors claimed he shirked his duties, even the unavoidable tasks were enough to leave him frustrated and irritable.
Compared to sitting and cultivating, he longed for the days of wandering and adventure. Besides, managing affairs was never his strong suit.
Fortunately, Elder Sky had recovered somewhat and would occasionally help out. Otherwise, Danny Crimson might have already fled in the night.
Everything in the monastery—meals, sleep, daily life—was tied to him, and he also bore the responsibility of teaching and guiding. It was not a task for ordinary people.
The endless trivial matters, the petty squabbles... Sometimes, just seeing certain disciples made him want to kick them out of the monastery. If not for Master Sage Subhuti's orders, he would have struck out more than once.
This made Danny Crimson suddenly feel a measure of respect for the fifth junior brother he had always considered a disappointment.
The monastery had run smoothly under his care for so many years, and only Elder Sky knew the true hardships involved. Yet most of the second-generation disciples living here, except those personally taught by Master Sage Subhuti, had mediocre cultivation and little to show, earning much criticism.
After a long silence, Elder Sky spoke: "Senior brother, in these recent days, I've come to realize something. Let's leave Simon Sun's matter for Master Sage Subhuti to decide. We shouldn't meddle further."
"Hmph! It's easy for you to wash your hands of it. Don't you realize who I'm standing up for?" Danny Crimson turned to Elder Sky and shouted, "Did you see the way that monkey looked at me that night? He's wild and untamable—he'll bring disaster to the sect sooner or later!"
Elder Sky hesitated for a moment, then said calmly, "I'm sure Master Sage Subhuti is aware of all this. In the end, Simon Sun is our junior brother, not a disciple. Let his own master decide. Since Master Sage Subhuti hasn't spoken, we should..."
Before Elder Sky could finish, Danny Crimson interrupted, "I beat that monkey so badly that night, and Master Sage Subhuti said nothing. That means he doesn't care! If he won't act, I will! All the affairs of the monastery are on my shoulders now. If he wants to stay here, he must follow my rules! If Master Sage Subhuti truly wants me to stop, he'll say so himself. You don't need to meddle."
With that, he swept his sleeve and leaped out of the Soaring Cloud Pavilion.
Behind him, Elder Sky could only sigh deeply.
There were things Danny Crimson couldn't explain, and Elder Sky naturally had no way of knowing.
These days, Danny Crimson kept recalling the look in the monkey's eyes that night, and for no reason, a faint sense of fear crept into his heart. Privately, he had been visiting Swallow Lane more often.
Others couldn't see it, but with Danny Crimson's level of cultivation, how could he not?
That night, the monkey's cultivation had clearly reached the threshold of Spirit-Focusing, but now it seemed to have regressed. Upon careful consideration, he understood the reason.
Anna Yang's herb gathering was never about pill refinement—it was simply an excuse to join forces with the monkey.
Clearly, more conflict was inevitable.
Just from the way the monkey looked at him that night, Danny Crimson felt he had no reason to back down!
"A wild monkey dares to cause trouble in my domain!" Returning to his temporary quarters, Danny Crimson spat out the words viciously.
Scarface, who was standing nearby, stepped forward and asked, "Master, should we order the disciples at Unicorn Corner to bar those two from entering?"
"No!" Danny Crimson gritted his teeth. "Let them in to gather herbs! In fact, if there are any herbs or minerals they ask for and Unicorn Corner doesn't have, I want them found and supplied, no matter what! I want to see just what tricks that monkey can pull!"
In the days that followed, Anna Yang found it much easier to search for materials. If any ingredient was missing, she only had to ask the disciples guarding Unicorn Corner, and within a few days, it would appear in a prominent spot.
The disciples at Unicorn Corner were no longer cold and distant as when she first arrived. Sometimes, they were so enthusiastic that Anna Yang was taken aback.
She vaguely sensed someone was secretly intervening, but whether it was Master Sage Subhuti, Danny Crimson, Elder Sky, or someone else, she did not care to investigate.
For her, as long as she achieved her goal, nothing else mattered.
As time passed, another month went by. The monkey gradually recovered, and Anna Yang had gathered all the materials she needed.
A breakthrough was now within reach!