If life were compared to a river, then these chance encounters were like passing currents that would quickly go their own ways after a brief moment of entanglement.

The blind old Daoist priest with the Dao title Xuan Guzi remained silent for a long time afterward. His disciple Jiu'er was slightly unaccustomed to this.

Even though the lame young boy was unwilling to hand the snake gall pebble over, he still decided to offer it to his ill-tempered master after a moment of hesitation and conflict.

The old Daoist priest accepted the smooth and exquisite pebble and carefully caressed it in his palm for a moment. After this, he surprisingly returned it to the young boy and said, "Here, keep it for yourself."

The lame young boy was completely baffled as he accepted the pebble. He looked at Little Jiu'er, yet she subtly shook her head to signify that she didn't understand their master's thoughts either.

"Little lame lad, this is your fated opportunity, and it's not something that your master can take away. If I truly attempted to, then that would only lead to bad consequences," the old Daoist priest explained. 

"Why do you think that young boy, Chen Ping'an, is going to send a letter to Dragon Spring County when he reaches the next relay station? If I were to hazard a guess, then I'd say that our stay in Dragon Spring County will be a miserable one if I'm the one to retrieve that pebble in the pastry shop or Burclover shop instead of you. Perhaps they won't try to make things difficult for us, but it will definitely become challenging for us to settle down. It will be even harder for us to find a mountain to cultivate in."

"Oh," the lame young boy replied. He wasn't a cunning person, so he naturally wasn't good at understanding these matters.

The blind old Daoist priest rubbed the little girl's head and said, "You two are truly blessed by good fortune."

Little Jiu'er was more observant than her older brother, and she asked, "Master, do older sister and her companions have powerful backgrounds?"

The old Daoist priest nodded and replied, "The Dragon Spring County that the young boy mentioned was formed after Jewel Small World that hung in the sky above the Great Li Empire shattered and fell to the ground. The Confucian Sage Qi Jingchun overlooked this small world for 60 years. Those children with bookcases were all extremely smart, and they said that they were on a long journey to the academy in Great Sui Nation. That being the case, who can they be the disciples of?"

The little girl was slightly envious as she said, "Disciples of a Confucian Sage... How im...