Chapter 60: Becoming Family with an Old Friend

As Jiang Yun led the way, the three soon reached the main hall of the sect.

Jiang Yun quickly told the two to sit down, and Qiu Zheng and Qiu Tao decided to be polite.

Jiang Yun started by asking a question, "Why choose me as a master? There should be plenty of people to choose from considering who your father is."

Qiu Tao answered, "Other people are far too cowardly to do what you did at the merchant association. You have the personality that I would like to be my master, and nobody else can replace it. Not to mention, you are very strong to destroy a high-level merchant association so quickly."

Jiang Yun turned to Qiu Zheng and asked, "What do you think?"

Qiu Zheng replied, "My daughter is old enough to think for herself now, and I can’t always stop her. Having you as a master will be good for her future so she can be independent."

Jiang Yun realized he couldn’t get out of this situation and decided to accept it. Jiang Yun then took some things out of his ring and gave some treasures to both Qiu Tao and Qiu Zheng.

Qiu Zheng asked, "What is this, and why are you giving this to me?"

Jiang Yun replied, "Since your daughter is now my disciple, I should be giving something to you in return. What I gave you should help in improving your chances of reaching the Beginning Dao realm, as I can see you are making no progress."

Qiu Zheng looked at what Jiang Yun had given him and was surprised by what he heard. After some processing, Qiu Zheng quickly tried to return what Jiang Yun had given him.

Qiu Zheng stated, "I am a dignified Immortal Emperor, and there is no need to give me gifts just for accepting my daughter as a disciple. You should keep these treasures for yourself."

Jiang Yun pushed it back, noting, "I no longer need these things. You, on the other hand, have a strong need for it."

Qiu Zheng, seeing Jiang Yun being stubborn and reluctant, took it back and stored it away. Qiu Zheng then stood up and gave a bow to show his gratitude.

Jiang Yun quickly said, "Stand up, there is no need for this. We are basically family now with your daughter entering my branch of cultivation."

Qiu Zheng stood up and thought of something, saying, "Since you say we are family, are we sworn brothers now?"

Jiang Yun thought about it and replied, "I suppose we are indeed sworn brothers now."

A smirk appeared on Qiu Zheng’s face as he took some alcohol out from his storage, intending to make it official.

Qiu Tao, watching from the side, interrupted, as doing this now while she was still around was quite rude.

Qiu Tao yelled, "Dad, stop embarrassing me! Can’t you see I haven’t even been formally accepted yet?"

Qiu Zheng, hearing his daughter’s words, reluctantly put his alcohol away, as it indeed was not the right time for this.

Jiang Yun replied, "I don’t have any formal disciple ceremony, so you are already my disciple. What I gave you should be enough resources for you to cultivate for a while. After you get used to staying in the sect, I will start teaching you, my lineage."

Qiu Tao happily said, "Then where do I stay?"

Jiang Yun replied, "You can stay anywhere, as most of my sect hasn’t arrived here yet, since I only recently acquired this territory. Just choose a room that isn’t occupied, and you can stay there."

Qiu Tao, hearing this, stood up to prepare to look for her room. She wanted a nice place to stay and wanted to settle in as soon as possible.

Seeing his daughter leave, Qiu Zheng pulled out his alcohol again, intending to truly become sworn brothers with Jiang Yun.

Receiving the alcohol, Jiang Yun decided it wouldn’t hurt to participate in this ritual, as Qiu Zheng wasn’t a bad person. After completing the ritual, Qiu Zheng became serious, as he had some questions to ask.

Qiu Zheng asked, "Just what exactly is your realm now? I wanted to know before, but you pushed it off and didn’t answer me. Just what have you been up to for over a century to have so many valuable treasures?"

Jiang Yun, seemingly unable to get out of the situation, replied, "I am above the Beginning Dao realm. I have no more rivals in the world and no longer need these treasures to get stronger."

Qiu Zheng was shocked that Jiang Yun had reached the Dao realm. It hadn’t even been that long since he had reached the Immortal Emperor realm, so this progress was insane.

Qiu Zheng then asked, "Aren’t Dao realms supposed to be in the Dao world in a higher plane? How are you able to descend for so long with no issues?"

Jiang Yun replied, "I have reached a level of strength where it no longer matters where I am. Nothing can restrict where I go anymore."

Qiu Zheng inquired, "Just what level of strength have you reached?"

Jiang Yun replied, "Above the Beginning Dao realm is the Forming Dao realm, and above that is the Unification Dao realm."

Qiu Zheng asked, "Then does that mean you are at either the Forming Dao realm or the Unification Dao realm?"

Jiang Yun answered, "That is close, as I was recently at the Unification Dao realm and was invincible. Just recently, I found there was a realm above that level and have since reached it."

Qiu Zheng curiously asked, "What level might that be?"

Jiang Yun responded, "I am at the Harmonization Dao realm and can bend the heavenly dao to my will. There is truly nothing that can kill or do me any harm anymore."

Qiu Zheng then froze in shock, as he couldn’t wrap his mind around what he just heard. Jiang Yun has broken through four major realms in only around a century, while others like himself were stuck at the Immortal Emperor realm for far longer.

This kind of progress simply made no sense and was beyond reason. Qiu Zheng simply couldn’t understand how one could progress so fast in so little time.

Seeing Qiu Zheng unable to cope, Jiang Yun stated, "I am only able to do this due to my high comprehension ability. Though my cultivation talent is mediocre, my comprehension is very high. There is no need to feel bad about your own progress."

Unable to respond, Qiu Zheng decided to just forget about it. There was nothing he could do, as his comprehension simply wasn’t at the same level. Instead, Qiu Zheng was amazed at how his friend was so much stronger than him now.

Qiu Zheng, realizing something, exclaimed, "Since you are so strong now, you better protect my daughter. There should be no reason even a finger should land on her from now on."

Jiang Yun replied, "Don’t worry, such an occurrence is very unlikely. If something like this ever happens, not to mention your daughter being injured, everyone in this world would perish, as the enemy would be that strong."

Hearing Jiang Yun’s confirmation, Qiu Zheng was relieved. Now that his daughter had such a strong backer, there was no longer any worry if his daughter got into trouble from now on.

Though Qiu Zheng is strong, he is not the strongest in the Immortal world. If one day some other Immortal Emperors decided they didn’t like him and attacked, there was a chance he could die.

Now with Jiang Yun, though, such powerful Immortal Emperors were now like lambs to the slaughter, as the gap was simply far too big. If Qiu Tao wanted to offend an Immortal Emperor, then she could, as Jiang Yun would protect her.

Though this was an extreme case, the chance was not zero, so it’s always better to have a backup plan. Having his daughter ever in danger was heartbreaking for Qiu Zheng.

Now that all matters that Qiu Zheng wanted to discuss were finished, he started to get up to leave.

Qiu Zheng then noted before leaving, "If you ever want to come visit my sect, then you are welcome. I will give you all the pleasantries that I can and give you a great time."

With that said, Qiu Zheng then disappeared, heading back to his sect, as he was a sect leader with responsibilities.

A few moments later, Qiu Tao came back after picking out her room and was satisfied with her new sect.

Qiu Tao, noticing her father had left, asked, "Where did my dad go?"

Jiang Yun replied, "He has already left to go back to his sect."

Qiu Tao was surprised her father didn’t even say anything to her before leaving. Her father had always doted on her in everything and paid the most attention to her.

Qiu Tao felt kind of strange now that her father didn’t show the same level of care as usual. After some wallowing, she turned her attention back to Jiang Yun.

Qiu Tao asked, "When can I start learning to cultivate from you?"

Jiang Yun wanted to wait a little longer for her to settle in but changed his mind seeing how eager Qiu Tao was asking to cultivate.

Jiang Yun answered, "We shall begin immediately if you want."

Qiu Tao then nodded her head, as she was eager to learn to cultivate from someone so strong.

Jiang Yun then led Qiu Tao to a more private area, intending to impart his knowledge to his new disciple.