I courted death and then tried to escape, so the whole sect wants to get rid of me.

The Second Elder stroked his beard, raised his chin with a smug look, and pointed at Jiang Jin, who had just managed to get up from the spring: "Who else could it be? Of course, it's my disciple."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jin's lips curled slightly, and he hurriedly curtsied, displaying impeccable manners: "Disciple Jiang Jin greets all elders."

All the elders recognized him.

The most talented disciple at the initiation ceremony had great ambitions and wanted to become Xie Zhou's personal disciple, but Xie Zhou rejected him several times.

At that time, people didn't have a very good impression of him, but after all, he was just a child, and a child with extraordinary talent, so they couldn't really have any prejudice against him.

The elders nodded in approval, and the First Elder stroked his beard and smiled, "Excellent! To condense a Golden Core in just two months since joining the sect, he will surely become a pillar of our Nine Saints Hall in the future!"

The Fifth Elder nodded slightly: "It is indeed rare to have such good fortune at such a young age."

"During the annual sect competition, the sect leader will emerge from seclusion. He might just accept you as his last disciple."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jin's smile deepened, and he hurriedly cupped his hands again, but was interrupted by the Second Elder: "That's not necessarily true. It wasn't just my disciple who broke through. The second wave of lightning tribulation just now was brought by Lin Mu."

The elders were all taken aback, their faces showing surprise.

They were equally impressed by the trees.

A quiet and aloof young girl, before even becoming an apprentice, was already clamoring to leave the sect, only to be trapped by more than five thousand spirit stones and unable to leave.

The instructor elder gasped in astonishment, "Didn't she just recently reach the Foundation Establishment stage?! I personally witnessed her achieve it! This... this hasn't even been two months, has it?! Two months from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell completely silent.

Two months, from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, what does that mean?

Even the legendary divine spiritual root needs to cultivate its foundation step by step for three to five years. How can one break through to a higher realm so easily?

The entire back mountain fell into a deathly silence in an instant, and even the mountain breeze seemed to stop.

After an unknown amount of time, an elder gasped in astonishment, exclaiming, "Isn't this a true prodigy? Back then, even the fastest disciple personally trained by the main peaks took more than half a year to condense a Golden Core, and she... in less than two months?"

"and……"

The teaching elder added with difficulty, "Since joining the sect, this child has hardly attended any classes. He asks for leave every day, saying that his soul is missing and his body is weak. He spends most of his time sleeping on Hundred Herbs Peak."

The Second Elder sighed, "Those with high comprehension are cultivating even when they're sleeping."

Another brief silence followed.

The First Elder gazed at the distant mountains and sighed deeply: "A Heavenly-level Wood Spirit is naturally adept at drawing upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and she has such a great talent. It seems that as long as she performs normally in the year-end competition, the Sect Master will most likely take her into the main peak for personal instruction when he comes out of seclusion."

Jiang Jin's expression visibly froze after hearing these words.

He was so focused on Lin Mu's attitude towards him that he hadn't thought about this aspect at all.

Now that they mentioned it, he felt a terrifying sense of crisis.

This tree looks lazy all day long and does nothing, yet it always manages to outdo him in every way.

Including the two days in the Demon Realm.

How exactly did he leave the cellar in the end?

How exactly did those two vengeful spirits disappear?

Lin Mu only said that they were driven away by his two super-powerful talismans, but after fighting them, he knew that they were definitely not that weak.

Could it also be made of wood?

Unable to suppress his frustration, another elder sighed, "But this child is rather strange. With such good aptitude, he would be suitable to be a spiritual cultivator or a sword cultivator, but he insists on becoming a pill refiner. Even so, I heard that he blew up three cauldrons before he could refine a single pill. Isn't that absurd?"

The Ninth Elder angrily said, "I already told her to learn swordsmanship from me, but she refused! She's really wasting her talent. If she followed me, she would definitely become famous throughout the world."

"If the child's mind is not on cultivation, there is really nothing that can be done, and the sect leader may not accept her as a disciple."

"Besides, didn't she want to leave the sect?"

"Fine, let's just take things as they come. As long as we don't raise another Song Yao, everything will be fine..."

As the elders talked, Jiang Jin relaxed a little, his thoughts drifting away.

Lin Mu advances quickly, so what if he has a Heavenly-level Wood-type spiritual root? If he doesn't strive for improvement, he probably won't become a direct disciple.

Moreover, her dedication to alchemy does not conflict with her personal life.

With such great talent, it seems like it wouldn't be bad to follow him in the future, refine pills for him, protect him, and be his support.

If she could learn a medical skill to heal him, that would be even better.

-

Song Yao rushed to the main peak without even having time to change her clothes.

I heard that Zhu Zhao is often away from the sect, so we should take advantage of her injury and recuperation to quickly collect the debt.

The main peak used to have a barrier, but today it's inexplicably unobstructed.

As soon as I stepped through the mountain gate, I was greeted by plum blossoms covering the branches, their petals fluttering like snow in the wind.

Xie Zhou, dressed in flowing white robes, wielded the long sword with effortless skill, his swordplay sharp and fluid.

Every slash carried a crisp, clear sword aura, neatly cleaving away the falling plum petals. His profile, bathed in light and shadow, was cold, fair, and handsome, dazzlingly beautiful.

Song Yao was momentarily distracted.

Xie Zhou is a talisman cultivator and doesn't wield a sword much. She taught him these sword moves and would force him to practice for her when she had nothing to do, which was especially pleasing to the eye.

She simply didn't expect to be able to see it again after being reborn.

As she stood there stunned, Xie Zhou's sword suddenly turned, and the longsword that was originally aimed at the plum branch pierced the air with a sharp sound, and went straight for her face.

Song Yao almost instinctively reached for the sword, but as soon as she touched the scabbard, she realized what was happening and abruptly stopped herself.

The gleaming sword tip stopped just two inches in front of her, the sword's energy scraping her cheek until it stung.

Xie Zhou stared coldly at her with his dark eyes, his tone icy: "As a sword cultivator, shouldn't you draw your sword immediately upon being attacked?"

Song Yao: "...I am a pill refiner."

"Alchemy cultivation?"

A soft chuckle.

With a flick of his wrist, Xie Zhou swiftly sheathed his longsword.

He walked to the stone table under the plum tree, his voice cold and indifferent: "Sit."

Song Yao hesitated: "But I came to see my second senior sister..."

Xie Zhou raised his eyes and glanced at her indifferently.

Song Yao had no choice but to keep quiet and obediently sit down.

Those despicable feudal sects.

There is also a hierarchy among those who belong to the same sect.

I miss the days when I was the third senior sister.

Back then, Xie Zhou had no choice but to obey her with just a glance.

As soon as she sat down, several pale golden talismans floated out from Xie Zhou's sleeves, swirling around her body. The warm spiritual energy instantly spread out, drying her clothes, which were damp from the spiritual spring, making them fluffy and dry.

Song Yao was stunned and didn't react in time, but Xie Zhou had already knelt down in front of her.

He knelt on one knee against the bluestone slab, his white robes spread out among the fallen plum blossoms, his fingertips holding a small jar of translucent white ointment, his well-defined knuckles gently holding her ankle, exposing the wound.

The wounds inflicted by the vengeful spirit not only failed to heal, but were actually worsened by the lightning strike.

She felt inexplicably flustered: "Fourth Senior Brother, I can do it myself."

"Don't move."

"..."