Chapter 1151: Meeting Crooked-Mouth Old Man, Taking Him as Master!

Crooked-Mouth Old Man was starting to wonder if he'd eaten too many rare natural treasures and swallowed too many of his master's refined pills, to the point of hallucinating.

Why... why did he seem to hear the Child's voice?

Lu Ding felt like teasing him.

Who told the Old Man to hang him on Lü Mountain's Demon Ancestor True Inheritance stone tablet without so much as a word beforehand!?

So, Lu Ding kept his mouth shut.

The Old Man listened, but heard nothing for a long while.

He got anxious: "Say something, you!!!"

The moment he opened his mouth, Lu Ding stuffed a rare natural treasure right in.

Here, swallow!!

"You..."

Here, swallow!

"Wait a..."

Here, swallow!!

"Hold on!!"

Here, swallow!!!

"Fine, fine!!!"

The Old Man frowned, still unable to open his eyes. He was currently caught up in the pull of the secluded cultivation chamber's array.

It wasn't quite time yet.

This was driving the Old Man crazy. He just wanted to see who the hell was beside him.

And instead, he'd ended up with a stomach full of rare natural treasures.

Helpless, the Old Man could only shout at the top of his lungs: "Master!! Master!!! Come quick!!!"

"Untie me!!!"

"Someone, untie me now!!!!"

Lu Ding: "Hahahahaha, stop shouting, Old Man, it's me."

Lu Ding didn't keep up the act and revealed his identity.

The Old Man froze on the spot instantly.

The Ancestral Master's Wife formed a hand seal and pointed with one finger from the side.

The array's pull on the Old Man vanished. He slowly opened his eyes, and looking at the Lu Ding before him, he couldn't believe his own eyes.

Heart racing with excitement, trembling hands reaching out to grip Lu Ding's arm, his speech even came out a bit halting: "Chi...Child?"

"How are you here?"

Lu Ding smiled: "I ran into some trouble back in the Great Han earlier. It was the Great-Grandmaster who brought people to help me out, and he brought me back along the way."

Hearing this, the Old Man's voice instantly jumped several notches.

"What!!!?"

"Good heavens!!!!"

"You old bastard!!!"

"Some master you are, you're so inconsiderate!!!"

"You actually went without me!!!"

"I didn't get any piece of the action, it's driving me crazy!!!"

This had the Old Man so angry he was pounding his chest and stomping his feet.

Thinking back to when he'd first come up, after Lü Mountain brought him back to the Demon Continent, they'd first asked about his situation, then immediately asked about Lu Ding.

Asked him why he hadn't brought Lu Ding back.

It was also then that Crooked-Mouth Old Man learned that everything about his time in the Third Circle was known to all the senior uncles, grandmasters, and great-grandmasters up above.

Crooked-Mouth Old Man had said back then: "I had no status, and hadn't taken him as a disciple. It wasn't easy to bring him over."

And the moment he said that, he was met with a room full of glaring eyes.

His master asked him: "Don't you two already have the substance of a master-disciple relationship!?"

Crooked-Mouth Old Man was confused himself. What substance of a master-disciple relationship?

The Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster said: "Didn't you lead him through the Door of Feng Shui?"

Crooked-Mouth Old Man was stunned: "Does even a mere surface-level bit count?"

Black-Robed Great-Grandmaster: "Isn't a steamed bun still dry rations?"

Although the Old Man was convinced by the Great-Grandmaster's reasoning...

But still...

Lu Ding was almost stronger than him already!

And becoming stronger than him was only a matter of time.

As a master, if he wasn't even as strong as his own disciple, how could he take him on? Back then, he'd dug in his heels, insisting that he'd wait until his cultivation was sufficient, then put on a grand display and go fetch Lu Ding in spectacular fashion.

Have his moment of glory.

That's why he was here now, eating rare natural treasures every single day.

He'd also held firm to his bottom line: Lu Ding must be taken as a disciple by him personally, and he wouldn't budge an inch for anyone in all of Lü Mountain.

And yet, and yet Lu Ding had come on his own...

It nearly made Crooked-Mouth Old Man cry from frustration.

He hadn't even gone to fetch him yet! He was still catching up on his lessons! He hadn't even shown Lu Ding his glorious moment yet!

From the Third Circle to the Second Circle, every single meeting had been in some pathetic state.

The first time he met Lu Ding in the Third Circle, he'd gotten stuck on the mountain and couldn't get down. Now, meeting Lu Ding again, he was stuck in the secluded cultivation chamber.

This wasn't fair!!!

No more playing!!!

Bullying an old man, does that even make sense!!!!

And looking at Lu Ding's current state, ugh, he was definitely stronger than him again.

How was he supposed to take him as a disciple like this!!!!!!!

Seeing the Old Man's gaze drift off into the distance, Lu Ding asked: "Old Man, what are you thinking about?"

The Old Man turned his head with a look of utter despair, his eyes listless as he looked at Lu Ding: "Thinking about dying..."

Lu Ding couldn't help himself: "Hahaha, what are you saying, Old Man? Why would you think about that? I'm here now, isn't that right? The two of us have met. I've missed you a whole lot."

Crooked-Mouth Old Man: "Sigh..."

"Child, what realm are you at now?"

Lu Ding answered truthfully: "Feng rank One of God Ascension."

The moment those words left his mouth.

The Old Man's eyes, whoosh, lit up!!!

"Hehehehe, Child."

He held up a hand with eight fingers: "I'm at the eighth rank. Eighth rank."

"Would you say we're destined to meet?"

Lu Ding nodded: "No need to even say it, we're definitely destined."

Old Man: "Hehehe, right? We met when you were just a little kid."

Lu Ding: "That's right, you even taught me feng shui."

Crooked-Mouth Old Man grinned sheepishly, rubbing his hands together like a fly, looking a bit embarrassed: "Then how about... how about..."

He was truly too shy to say it, not knowing how to phrase it.

Lu Ding understood what was on his mind.

What else was there to say?

He took the tea he'd prepared the moment he arrived, held it up with both hands, and knelt down on both knees.

"Master, please have some tea!!"

Let's be real here, if it weren't for the genuine feng shui teachings Crooked-Mouth Old Man had passed down, Lu Ding wouldn't have had the karmic connection to go interview at the construction site, take in the Nanshan Stubborn Stone, and begin his Golden Finger journey.

This call of "Master" came from the bottom of his heart!

Even if Crooked-Mouth Old Man had nothing left to teach him, or even if Crooked-Mouth Old Man had no connection to Lü Mountain at all, Lu Ding would still willingly call him Master with the utmost respect, and take care of the Old Man in his old age.

After all, it wasn't just when they were kids. Later, when they met again in the Third Circle, the Old Man had treated him pretty well too.

The Old Man, who had been so dejected just moments before, broke into a smile in an instant, then burst into tears.

He kept wiping his eyes, sobbing with his whole body trembling.

"Good, I'll drink it, I'll drink it..."

He reached out and took the tea, tears dripping right into it. But the Old Man didn't taste any bitterness, only pure happiness.

It hadn't been easy.

Every step of the process had been missing pieces, none of it going according to his plans.

And yet, somehow, the result had turned out just right.

Truly a mix of sorrow and joy.

After drinking the tea.

Crooked-Mouth Old Man pulled a small cloth bundle from his chest: "Child, this is what I've saved up for you since I came up here. Rare natural treasures, all good stuff. Hurry and take it."

Although the Old Man had eaten plenty of rare natural treasures himself, everything in this bundle was top-tier, the finest of the fine.

He couldn't bear to eat them.

He'd saved them all for Lu Ding, hoping that when he finally brought Lu Ding over, he'd be able to pull out some nice things and not look so shabby. Even if he had to fake it, he was going to fake being generous.

Even though he still didn't have his own cave dwelling in Lü Mountain, having spent all his time in the secluded cultivation chamber, and had no herb garden of his own, and no personal offerings either.

But that was fine, he would go earn them!

He was going to give Lu Ding a good life. No matter how hard things got, the kid couldn't suffer.