16: Master is too cautious; he even tests for poison before drinking water.

In the Hidden God Sect early in the morning, the sunlight was just right.

Shi Tian, carrying a hoe taller than himself, was huffing and puffing as he cleared wasteland on the back mountain. After the baptism of the "phoenix egg," the boy's spirit seemed completely transformed, and his body was filled with inexhaustible strength.

Xiao Chen was practicing his sword, and Leng Yanran was meditating.

Everything seemed so harmonious, so... normal.

Until Li Daoxuan walked out of the main hall.

He brought out a grandmaster's chair with a missing leg, propped up by a brick, placed it in the center of the square, and then lazily slumped into it.

"Disciples, take a break."

Li Daoxuan waved, signaling his three Disciples to come over. "Your Revered Master is thirsty; brew a pot of tea."

Xiao Chen immediately sheathed his sword and scurried off to the kitchen, returning shortly with a steaming pot of spiritual tea.

This tea was no ordinary item; it was "Enlightenment Tea Dregs" that Li Daoxuan had dug out from a corner of the System space. Although it was just crumbs, the fragrance was enough to clear one's mind with a single sniff.

"Revered Master, please have some tea."

Xiao Chen respectfully poured a cup and handed it to Li Daoxuan.

Shi Tian and Leng Yanran also gathered around, wanting to hear their Revered Master's teachings. After all, in their eyes, every move their Revered Master made contained profound meaning; even drinking tea might be a practice of some supreme Divine Ability.

However.

The following scene gave the three Disciples' worldviews an unprecedented shock.

Li Daoxuan did not take the teacup.

First, he warily scanned his surroundings with eyes as sharp as if he were catching a thief. After confirming there wasn't even a fly within a ten-mile radius, he slowly pulled a silk pouch from his robes.

The pouch was opened.

Inside was a row of shiny silver needles.

"Revered Master, what are you..." Shi Tian scratched his head, looking bewildered. "Are you going to give the teacup acupuncture?"

"Shh."

Li Daoxuan made a silencing gesture, his expression as serious as if he were defusing a bomb.

He picked up a silver needle and carefully dipped it into the tea, stirring it three times.

He pulled it out.

The silver needle remained as bright as new, without turning black.

"Hmm, there shouldn't be any ordinary poison."

Li Daoxuan muttered to himself, but his furrowed brows did not relax.

He set down the silver needle and closed his eyes slightly as a golden divine light flickered at his brow.

Great Emperor Divine Sense, fully unleashed!

In that instant, the terrifying power of his Divine Sense, like a microscope, scanned every microscopic particle in that cup of tea eight hundred times.

"Colorless, odorless, stable structure, pure Spiritual Qi... It seems there's no poison at the Divine Sense level either."

The three Disciples looked at each other.

Xiao Chen's mouth twitched. "Revered Master, I just boiled the water for this tea, and you gave me the tea leaves yourself. It should... be poison-free, right?"

"Naive!"

Li Daoxuan glared at him. "The water was boiled by you, true, but what about the pot? The cup? The air? What if some peerless powerhouse smeared Shadowless Poison on the rim of my cup? What if 'Saint-Falling Powder' targeted at Great Emperors wafted through the air?"

"In the cultivation world, one can never know what's in another's heart; one must always be on guard!"

The three Disciples were stunned by the lecture.

Although they felt something was off, their Revered Master's words made so much sense that they couldn't refute them.

"However..."

Li Daoxuan shifted his tone, staring at the cup of tea. "Some ancient exotic poisons cannot be detected by silver needles or scanned by Divine Sense. They must be tested on a living organism."

"A living organism?"

The three Disciples instinctively took a step back.

Li Daoxuan ignored them and turned his gaze toward Da Huang, who was sunbathing in the corner.

"Whistle—"

A whistle.

"Da Huang, come here, I have something good for you to drink."

Da Huang's ears twitched, and he lazily opened his eyes.

He looked at the cup of tea in Li Daoxuan's hand, then at Li Daoxuan's face, which was grinning like a wolf in sheep's clothing, his canine eyes filled with resistance.

"Woof! (I'm not thirsty.)"

Da Huang rolled over, preparing to play dead.

"I'll add a chicken leg." Li Daoxuan held up a finger.

Da Huang didn't move.

"Two chicken legs, plus a Yao Beast rib."

"Whoosh!"

A yellow afterimage flashed by.

In the next second, Da Huang was sitting in front of Li Daoxuan, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging like a propeller.

"How pragmatic."

Li Daoxuan curled his lip, dipped a chopstick into the tea, and let a drop fall onto Da Huang's tongue.

Then, he quickly retreated three steps, activated his Protective Aura, and stared intently at Da Huang's reaction.

"One second."

"Two seconds."

"Three seconds."

Da Huang smacked his lips and looked at Li Daoxuan unsatisfied, as if saying: Just one drop? It's not even enough to get stuck between my teeth.

"No foaming at the mouth? No full-body convulsions? No kicking the bucket?"

Li Daoxuan carefully observed Da Huang's pupils, heartbeat, and even the luster of his fur. After confirming the dog was indeed fine, he finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

"It seems to be safe."

He sat back in his chair, picked up the tea that had gone cold from all the fuss, and drained it in one gulp.

"Refreshing."

Watching their Revered Master's fluid yet pervertedly cautious sequence of operations, the three Disciples were completely petrified.

"It's just a cup of water!"

"Is all this necessary?"

"This is the Hidden God Sect! Our own territory!"

Standing to the side, Leng Yanran watched her Revered Master's relieved expression. Her initially puzzled gaze gradually turned serious and finally transformed into deep admiration.

She understood.

She realized it.

"Junior Brothers, you don't understand."

Leng Yanran took a deep breath and sent a Divine Sense transmission to her two Junior Brothers, her tone filled with reverence for their Revered Master.

"You think Revered Master is afraid of death?"

"Wrong! Completely wrong!"

"Revered Master is a Great Emperor of this era, invincible in the world. How could he possibly fear a mere bit of poison?"

Xiao Chen and Shi Tian immediately perked up. "Then Senior Sister, why is this?"

Leng Yanran's gaze was profound as she looked toward the sky. "Think about it. Revered Master being this cautious can only mean one thing—in this world, there are still terrifying existences we cannot see that can threaten a Great Emperor!"

"Perhaps they are True Immortals from the Upper Realm, or perhaps they are taboos hidden in the darkness."

"They are watching from the shadows, ready to deal Revered Master a fatal blow at any moment."

"Revered Master is fighting against heaven and fighting against fate! Every step is like walking on thin ice, and every step is calculating Karma!"

"What do you call this?"

Leng Yanran paused and uttered two words with great emphasis: "Steady!"

"This is the true style of a powerful expert! To consider defeat before victory! To nip all danger in the bud!"

Xiao Chen and Shi Tian's blood boiled as they listened, and the way they looked at Li Daoxuan changed instantly.

So that's how it is!

Revered Master isn't cowardly; he's playing a grand game!

We are still too young, too shallow!

Li Daoxuan set down his teacup and happened to see his three Disciples' star-struck, admiring eyes, making him pause in surprise.

What are these three little brats imagining now?

Forget it, no matter what they've imagined, as long as I can stay safe, it's fine.

He cleared his throat and decided to strike while the iron was hot, giving these Disciples who had just caused trouble down the mountain an "ideological and political lesson."

"Cough, cough."

"Since you've all seen it, your Revered Master will stop pretending."

Li Daoxuan sat up straight, his expression becoming incredibly serious.

"The cultivation world is full of hidden dangers. Even walking, you might step into a trap; even breathing, you might inhale poisonous gas."

"Although you have some talent, in front of true powerhouses, you are still mere ants."

"Especially this time, Xiao Chen went to break off an engagement and Shi Tian went to dig up a bone—the commotion you caused was far too great!"

Li Daoxuan slapped the table with a pained expression.

"Too high-profile! You're practically seeking death!"

"Do you know how many eyes are watching us out there right now?"

"The tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. The bird that sticks its head out gets shot first!"

Xiao Chen lowered his head in shame. "Revered Master's lecture is correct; this Disciple was wrong."

Shi Tian also scratched his head. "Revered Master, then what if someone bullies us in the future? Do we not fight back?"

"Fight, of course we fight."

A sharp glint flashed in Li Daoxuan's eyes. "But you must pay attention to the method."

"If you can sneak attack, never face them head-on; if you can gang up on them, never fight one-on-one; if you can deliver a finishing blow, never leave them alive."

"Most importantly..."

Li Daoxuan held up three fingers, his tone as solemn as if he were teaching some supreme Mind-Cultivation Technique.

"From today onward, when you are out and about, you must hide your cultivation."

"No matter what Realm you break through to, the cultivation you display to the outside world must be three major Realms lower than your true level!"

"For example, Xiao Chen, you are currently at the Foundation Establishment Stage, but when you go out, say you've just begun Qi Refining."

"Shi Tian, your Physical Body is comparable to a Golden Core, so when you go out, pretend to be a Mortal who only knows how to farm."

"Yanran..." Li Daoxuan looked at his eldest Disciple, who was covered in Evil Qi. "You look like a villain; remember to smile more when you go out, pretend to be weak, preferably the kind that falls over at a single touch."

Leng Yanran: "..."

"Do you understand?"

Li Daoxuan stared at the three of them with burning eyes.

"This is called 'Playing the pig to eat the tiger,' and it's also called 'the Dao of staying low to survive'."

"Only by letting the enemy look down on you can you pull out a brick... ahem, pull out your trump card and deliver a fatal blow when they least expect it!"

The three Disciples looked at each other.

"Hide three major Realms?"

"Isn't this... a bit too exaggerated?"

But thinking back to their Revered Master's "steady" style of even testing water for poison, the three of them immediately felt that these were words of wisdom!

"This is the wisdom of survival!"

"Disciples understand!"

The three spoke in unison, their eyes firm.

"From this day on, we are the weakest Qi Refinement Stage Disciples of the Hidden God Sect!"

"Whoever dares to believe we are strong, we'll have a bone to pick with them!"

Li Daoxuan nodded in satisfaction, lay back in his rocking chair, and picked up the cup of tea once more.

"That's more like it."

"Alright, disperse. Those who should sweep, sweep; those who should farm, farm."

"Remember, we are just a plain and ordinary small Sect."

"In this dangerous world, we only want to live... quietly."