Right now, all Lei Jun could do was hope that Elder Ke, still recovering from grave injuries, might finally turn the tide.

Objectively speaking, he wasn't as conspicuous as Lei Jun.

People who kept their eyes on Lei Jun might not necessarily focus on Ke Sicheng.

Meanwhile, the new Elder Zhang Jingzhen was assigned as the Edict Hall's resident elder.

What was called the Edict Hall—in terms Lei Jun recalled from his Blue Star days—was really the Scripture Repository.

Although the most essential texts, like True Formula of the Great Way Scripture and the Talisman Scripture, were kept separately, the Edict Hall's collection was still extensive.

Lei Jun found himself stopping by every few days to browse through the texts there.

Plenty of these tomes weren't Taoist Scriptures or methods, but historical records and stories from the sect's archives.

As the Sacred Land of the Taoist Talisman Sect, Celestial Master Mansion not only had a long history but also a vast, diverse library, with many unique manuscripts.

It was in the Edict Hall that Lei Jun pored over numerous accounts about the rest of the cultivation world, learned about other prestigious sects and Sacred Lands, and delved into all sorts of legendary tales.

Relatively speaking, guarding this place was the easiest job.

But this role had been earmarked for Zhang Jingzhen long ago, so Lei Jun and the others never even thought about it.

The reason was simple, Zhang Jingzhen had reached a pivotal point in their cultivation.

Currently, among Middle Three Heavens cultivators in the Mansion, Zhang Jingzhen was the most promising candidate to break through to the Seventh Layer of Heaven Realm soon, bringing a new High Merit Elder with Upper Three Heavens cultivation to Celestial Master Mansion.

Lei Jun's rise in recent years had been meteoric, attracting growing attention—among peers, he was second only to Xu Yuanzhen and Tang Xiaotang.

*But strictly speaking, for now his main goal was the Sixth Layer Heaven Dao Seal Realm.*

As for Zhang Jingzhen, they'd always been the favored "seed" for reaching Upper Three Heavens.

Now, after the Mansion's latest bout of infighting and staffing shortages, everyone naturally hoped Zhang Jingzhen would make that leap as soon as possible.

So Lei Jun, Lin Shan, and Ke Sicheng were being groomed as the backbone of the Mansion's new generation of Middle Three Heavens cultivators.

Apart from everyday cultivation, each carried certain management duties as well.

Zhang Jingzhen, meanwhile, had been given the time to focus more on their training and prepare for the leap from Sixth to Seventh Layer—at least for now.

Lei Jun didn't mind one bit.

After he took up his post in the Hall of Steward as the resident elder, it felt a bit overwhelming at first—too many random tasks coming at him.

But after a brief adjustment, he gradually got the hang of it.

Lei Jun kept an easygoing attitude.

*In a way, he considered this part of sharpening himself too.*

*The more he endured, the calmer and steadier his heart became.*

*For cultivation, it appeared to take up some of his time, but when he practiced during quiet moments, he could settle into the right mindset more easily—his spirits weren't troubled, and he found it easier to focus.*

*It really was a case of sharpening the axe not delaying the woodcutting.*

Yuan Mobai saw all this and couldn't help but nod again and again.

The trials of the past decade had taught Lei Jun to make the most of every opportunity.

Once that initial awkward period passed, Lei Jun was running things smoothly in the Hall of Steward, and found time again for his own matters.

Apart from his daily cultivation—hoping to quickly complete his fifth Tao Palace—Lei Jun spent his spare hours forging his own magic artifacts.

He gradually depleted his stores of Southern Extreme Cold Iron and Dragon Bind Hemp.

Mixing together Broad Method Mist, Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission Talismans, and other ingredients, Lei Jun successfully forged banner after banner of his Primordial Magnet Coiling Dragon Banner.

In the end, he made twelve in total.

Lei Jun's next research direction was to use the twelve Primordial Magnet Coiling Dragon Banners to set up a formation and open up greater possibilities.

"Speaking of which, without the right materials, I can't upgrade the Divine Eye Mirror Stone." While busy with artifact forging and formation setting, Lei Jun kept another line of improvement in mind.

The banner formation had plenty of uses; it wasn't limited to working with Magnetosword Pellets.

However, when paired with Sword Pellets, it was still somewhat reactive.

The formation was best suited for ambushes and not for quick attacks or sudden encounters.

If he could further improve the Divine Eye Mirror Stone, expanding its detection range and upgrading its viewing abilities, then working with the Magnetosword Pellet would let him take the initiative.

"Guess I'll have to see what luck and chances come my way." Lei Jun wasn't in a rush.

He had plenty of ideas.

Now that some of them were being realized, he was already in a great mood, not in a hurry to check off the rest.

Though, the Fourth Rank Opportunity mentioned in that very best lot remained unseen in the Hall of Steward.

Lei Jun kept up his daily routine, living and training as usual.

But unexpectedly, before his Fourth Rank Opportunity arrived, the new Patrolling Wind Elder, Ke Sicheng, showed up first.

Yeah, Elder Ke was injured again.

He was carried back by others.

The wounds were serious, luckily not life-threatening.

"......" Ke Sicheng himself could only look as if he wanted to cry but couldn't.

His master, Elder Yao, sighed deeply, tried to comfort his disciple, and personally tended to his recovery.

"It wasn't anyone from the Yellow Sky Sect, the Jiangzhou Lin Clan, or... the Li Family,"

So, Elder Ke hadn't been hurt by people.

It was just bad luck running into a Great Demon—caught in danger.

Fortunately, the two demons were too busy fighting each other at the time to pay much attention to Ke Sicheng.

That was how Elder Ke made it back to the mountain alive.

Came down from the mountain all fired up, only to get caught as collateral damage and injured yet again.

*Compared to his physical injuries, what Ke Sicheng was really feeling now was probably... emotional exhaustion.*

*Upon hearing the news, Lei Jun couldn't help but sigh inside.*

*Had he been the Patrolling Wind Elder, the disasters he'd face might have been different than Ke Sicheng's.*

*If Ke Sicheng had run into those disasters, who knows what would have happened?*

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