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

Zhu Zhao seemed to suddenly remember something, and frowned slightly: "I forgot that this courtyard hasn't been cleaned yet."

She pointed to another empty courtyard on the east side, with a worn-out copper bell hanging under the eaves. It was very close to the main courtyard, only slightly smaller: "You can stay there."

That yard used to be empty, and sometimes it was used to pile up a bunch of miscellaneous items.

Song Yao once wanted to seize it as her third courtyard, but after a fight with Zhu Zhao, she gave up the idea.

Although Jiang Jin was puzzled, he knew that this courtyard couldn't be worse than the one on the western cliff, so he immediately replied, "Yes, thank you, Second Senior Sister."

Song Yao thought of something else.

The yard hasn't been cleaned yet?

That means...

Her things haven't been burned yet?

She has quite a few treasures in her room.

Song Yao had a premonition that she was about to strike it rich. Suppressing her joy, she asked Zhu Zhao, "What about me?"

If this yard isn't tidied up, then that one probably is too.

Zhu Zhao glanced at her questioningly, then at the courtyard by the cliff: "Aren't you going to stay there? There are some odds and ends in there, but they're nothing important. You can take care of them yourself."

As he spoke, he tossed out two keys: "I may not be on the main peak lately. Even if I am, don't bother me. If you have nothing to do, you can go and have a look around the study in the back mountain."

As soon as she left, Jiang Jin couldn't wait to head to the courtyard.

Song Yao stood there, clutching the key.

The snow seemed to be getting heavier, and all I could hear was the howling wind.

She was extremely familiar with every blade of grass and every tree here, yet at this moment they felt somewhat unfamiliar.

Was the main peak always this quiet?

Not all of them are chaotic and disorderly.

Although she seems to be the culprit behind all the chaos...

She moved her feet and walked towards the small courtyard to the west.

No key is needed; the door opens with a simple wave of the hand.

The tables and chairs in the courtyard remained the same, and the two plum trees were in full bloom, which she had painstakingly dug up from Xie Zhou's courtyard in the middle of the night.

There was also a fence around the corner.

There used to be a brood of chicks and ducklings there. She went out to fight and forgot to feed them. When she came back, her fifth junior sister said that they were so hungry that they all escaped and jumped off a cliff.

She was heartbroken for a long time, and only managed to get through it by eating three roast ducks and three roast chickens in a fit of rage.

-

The room was fully equipped and just as it was when she left, without a speck of dust.

However, she hadn't lived in this courtyard much before, and there weren't any treasures inside.

The real gems are hidden over there.

She circled around twice, concealed herself, and hurried towards the courtyard, ready to thoroughly search it.

however--

There were six trees connected outside the courtyard, and various stones were placed on the ground.

It was clearly a barrier set up by the Fifth Junior Sister.

Judging from this situation, it seems to be a dead end. If we try to force our way in, we might be in mortal danger.

Song Yao was desperate.

What does that mean?

Even though she's dead, they still want to seal her courtyard away.

Do you think she's unlucky?

However, it seems that her fifth junior sister had taught her how to break her formation before.

With a flick of her wrist, Song Yao gathered a wisp of gentle spiritual energy and, following her memory, gently stroked the tree trunk in front of her.

My fingertips just touched the bark.

— "Buzz!"

Two gleaming, poisonous thorns shot out from the branches and leaves, heading straight for her heart.

Song Yao's expression changed drastically, her pupils contracted slightly, and she quickly turned to the side.

The poisonous stinger grazed her cheek and embedded itself deeply into the courtyard wall behind her, causing a layer of snow to fall.

A thin layer of sweat broke out on her back.

This formation was not only set up by the fifth junior sister, but also by the eldest senior brother.

Why go to such lengths? Who are they trying to protect themselves from?

Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps in the snow came from the side. Jiang Jin rushed over: "I heard a noise over here, what happened?"

Song Yao withdrew her scattered spiritual energy, her expression returning to calm: "It's nothing, I just accidentally touched the formation here."

Jiang Jin's gaze sharpened, only then noticing the six trees surrounding the scattered stone stars. He said with some surprise, "No wonder Second Senior Sister suddenly changed her mind and told me to stay somewhere else. Could this be the legendary Third Senior Sister's old courtyard?"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, stepping forward: "I've learned some methods for breaking formations, maybe I can..."

Song Yao interrupted him in a cool voice: "This formation is extremely dangerous and contains poison. If you accidentally touch it, you will die instantly."

Jiang Jin's outstretched hand suddenly stopped, and he reluctantly withdrew it.

He turned to look at Song Yao, his brows furrowing. "So what do we do now? Master is in seclusion, and our senior brothers and sisters aren't in the sect. Who will teach us swordsmanship and mental cultivation? We can't just sit here and wait, can we?"

Song Yao shook her head.

too naive.

Even if the master were here, no one would teach him.

He only offered guidance; the rest was up to the individual to do.

She reluctantly offered Jiang Jin a suggestion: "You can go back to Wangyun Peak to study. If that doesn't work, isn't there a study in the back mountain?"

Jiang Jin's eyes lit up: "There must be some unique techniques in the main peak's study. Shall we go take a look?"

"don't want."

Back then, she wouldn't get dizzy reading books, and she had already devoured almost all the sword manuals she could.

They were all just standard sword techniques, nothing special to watch.

As for other techniques, they can be learned with a glance and are equally uninteresting.

Seeing her walk towards the west courtyard, Jiang Jin frowned even more deeply: "Then what are you going to do?"

"What else can we do?"

Her voice drifted lazily through the wind and snow, "Go back to sleep."

-

I thought reaching the main peak would be a huge challenge, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy.

Our master is in seclusion, and none of my fellow disciples are here.

Originally, new disciples at Baicao Peak were required to attend various daily training sessions, but now that they are personal instructors, there are no strict requirements, and even asking for leave is no longer necessary.

Even the monthly allowance increased by 500, reaching an astonishing 1,500 spirit stones.

She only needed to sleep until she naturally woke up each day, and then go down the mountain to have a meal with the Seventh Elder or the Fifth Elder.

After dinner, take a stroll around, then come back and look at the medical and alchemical texts.

The only drawback is that her path to leaving the sect is completely blocked.

The Grand Elder told her ruthlessly that personal disciples only belong to the head of the sect, and if she wanted to leave the sect, she had to get the head of the sect's permission to remove the personal disciple mark.

Song Yao was puzzled: "But the hall master is in seclusion, and I haven't personally passed on the mark."

Grand Elder: "Then you must first have the direct lineage mark before it can be removed and you can leave the sect."

Song Yao: "......"

Song Yao gave up struggling, went down the mountain and bought five chicks, five ducklings, five small fish and a dog that was almost sent to a butcher shop in revenge, deciding to start her retirement life ahead of schedule.

Aside from the worry of someone coming back, life is quite pleasant.

Jiang Jin, on the other hand, seemed somewhat confused.

He originally thought that as long as he entered the main peak, he would receive personal guidance from the hall master and spar with several senior brothers and sisters, and his cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds.

But after a month, they hadn't even seen a shadow of anyone else.

Only Zhu Zhaoshen and Shenlong met twice, but even when they did meet, they couldn't exchange a word.

The books in the study were mysterious and obscure, filled with runes and incantations. For a disciple who had just entered the Golden Core stage, reading them was no different from reading celestial books.