The more one settles the score, the more bitter it becomes.

The thunderous roar quickly jolted the two back to their senses, also waking up little Lin Jiuci, who had been sleeping soundly in their arms.

"Jiuci, there, there," Lin Jiuge hurriedly lifted Lin Jiuci into an upright position, expertly patting her back. After a moment, Lin Jiuci came to.

"Sister, I'm hungry," Lin Jiuci pouted. Oh, she was so hungry.

Lin Jiuge realized that because she had kept her sister under a sleep-inducing acupressure spell for too long, the little girl had grown hungry—a true oversight. She quickly brought out the food she had prepared. At the mention of food, Lin Jiuge and Zhou Yan also realized they were famished, suffering from that uncomfortable, hollow feeling of having pushed past their hunger.

"Master, Uncle-Master, please scold us later," Lin Jiuge said. She took out a storage bag full of provisions, and the three of them, shedding all decorum, began to devour the food without caring what they were eating.

The three elders, previously boiling with rage, were left speechless by this sudden turn of events. Especially when they saw Lin Jiuci choking from eating too fast, the elders instinctively stepped in to offer water. The situation devolved until Li Yun was cradling Lin Jiuci, Wudao Yuanzun was holding the serving tray, and the Sect Leader was holding a cup of water.

As for the two older children, the three elders simply ignored them. Once they were full, the three elders, joined by Lin Jiuci, began the reckoning.

"Speak. Where have you two been for the past day and night?"

"Never mind where you went; you actually had the audacity to bring little Fuzai along."

"You kept Fuzai under a sleep spell for a whole day and night. If something had happened to her, what would you two have done?"

The three elders took turns, their anger mounting as they glared at the two kneeling on the ground with their swords held high. Lin Jiuci sat obediently to the side, gnawing on a piece of fruit. Hearing that she had been asleep for a day and night while her sister and brother went off without her, she felt a sense of camaraderie with the elders.

"You are mean," she said. They took her along but wouldn't let her play; the little girl was genuinely upset.

"Tell us, where did you go?" Wudao Yuanzun demanded.

"Uncle-Master, we didn't go anywhere else, just to the waterfall connected to the backyard," Lin Jiuge confessed honestly. It was her first time being punished, and it was truly humiliating.

"The waterfall?" The three exchanged glances. They had been looking at that waterfall for hundreds of years; it was nothing special.

"Master, Uncle-Masters, we really only went to the waterfall," Zhou Yan quickly added. It was his first time being punished as well, which felt quite strange.

"If you only went to the waterfall, how come we couldn't find you?" Li Yun asked, puzzled.

"Master, there is a cave behind the waterfall."

"You mean there is a cave behind the waterfall?" The three could hardly believe it. They looked at each other—the same look of shock on all their faces. They truly had no idea.

"Where exactly?" the Sect Leader asked sternly.

"One-third of the way up from the bottom," Zhou Yan answered truthfully.

The three thought back carefully; they had never noticed it.

"The entrance isn't large, just enough for one adult to pass through," Lin Jiuge added.

"What was inside?" What was so important that it required them to put Lin Jiuci under a sleep spell for a day and night?

"Senior brother, it's such a pity," Lin Jiuge sighed, thinking of the spiritual herbs she had planned to harvest on their way back. She felt a pang of heartache—she was still in debt, and who would have thought the Ancestor would do things so unpredictably?

"Indeed, it pains me," Zhou Yan said, also feeling the sting of their debt. He couldn't help but reflect that next time, they should just act first and worry about the consequences later.

"What exactly did you two miss?" Wudao Yuanzun asked. Judging by their pained expressions, it seemed they had missed quite a lot.

"Grand Uncle-Master, there were so many spiritual herbs! We could have paid off half our debt," Zhou Yan said, his voice laced with regret. How could they have just let them go?

"Paying off debt?"

"Yes, Uncle-Master. There were so many first-tier water-elemental spiritual herbs, and they were growing beautifully." The more Lin Jiuge explained, the more it hurt. The Ancestor had said that once the array was activated, they would never find that place again.

"Is that all you're pained about?" The three elders were baffled and shocked. Their conclusion was simple: these two children were too inexperienced.

"Uncle-Master, isn't that enough to be pained about? The Ancestor said that once the array is triggered, the place will be gone forever," Zhou Yan said. At these words, the three elders finally felt the ache too. It wasn't the low-tier herbs they cared about; it was the legacy of the Ancestor.

"But we didn't come back empty-handed. Master, Uncle-Master, Uncle-Master, we did bring some things out," Lin Jiuge said.

"Bring them out."

Lin Jiuge didn't move, gesturing to the fact that she was still being punished.

"You two, get up first," the Sect Leader said, half-amused and half-irritated. These two troublemakers certainly knew how to work them.

"Yes, Master/Uncle-Master." The two stood up without hesitation, Lin Jiuge even helping Zhou Yan up.

The two produced the items from their storage bags. Three boxes were particularly conspicuous. It appeared that the legendary items left behind by the first-generation Ancestor of their lineage had indeed been found by these two rascals.

"What are they?" Li Yun asked, not reaching out to open them.

"The Ancestor said this is a liquid formed from primordial energy," Lin Jiuge said, pointing to a bottle.

The three elders maintained their composure; such an item was equivalent to top-grade primordial stones.

"This is Ice Marrow," Zhou Yan said, opening a jade box. A bone-chilling aura immediately spilled out.

"Hiss," Wudao Yuanzun drew a sharp breath. This was a godsend for anyone with an ice affinity. Because of the long passage of time, even the surrounding ice had been imbued with the essence, let alone the precious Ice Marrow inside!

"All these boxes are the same," Zhou Yan pointed to the pile.

"Eight boxes." Two children had managed to secure eight boxes of such precious Ice Marrow.

The three elders suddenly remembered what the Junior Uncle-Master had said to them earlier. They had thought he was joking, but it was true! No wonder the Uncle-Master had been so jealous—though they certainly weren't!

"There was also Pure Water, but we couldn't collect it." Lin Jiuge said this with a hint of regret, wondering if the bit she had secretly kept would work.

"Pure Water? You encountered Pure Water?" Wudao Yuanzun's hands were trembling.

"Are you certain it was Pure Water?" Li Yun asked again.

"The Ancestor said that Weak Stones, Ice Marrow, and Pure Water are symbiotic. This is a Weak Stone," Lin Jiuge said, pointing to a few lake-blue crystals that looked like mere fragments to her, but made Wudao Yuanzun's hands shake.

To think there was such a large piece of Weak Stone; he could finally upgrade his life-bound spiritual artifact.

"And then there are the three boxes the Ancestor left behind, saying one for each of us," Zhou Yan finished his report.

The three elders understood that these three boxes were the most valuable items of all.

"One for each of you three?" the Sect Leader repeated. He looked at his disciple, then at his grand-nephew, and finally at Lin Jiuci, who was obediently munching on her fruit.

"Fuzai has one too," Zhou Yan added.

"Fuzai has one too?" Lin Jiuci understood. If there was one for her, she wasn't angry anymore!

"That's right, Fuzai has one. When it comes to choosing, Fuzai picks first," Lin Jiuge confirmed.

"How do you intend to handle these items?" Li Yun looked at the small but immensely valuable collection.

Lin Jiuge and Zhou Yan exchanged a look. Setting aside the three boxes—which were definitely off-limits—they had no idea what the rest was worth.

"Master, may I discuss this with my senior brother first?" Lin Jiuge asked in a small voice.