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

Has the Nine Saints Hall really fallen to this state?

Isn't it said that alchemists are the richest?

Seeing her staring blankly at the spirit stones, the Seventh Elder said with a hint of resentment, "My medicine cauldron was blown up by that Song Yao before. You probably don't know, but for alchemists, a medicine cauldron is like a sword to a swordsman, more important than life itself. I just bought a new medicine cauldron half a month ago, and I still owe the Eighth Elder 300,000 spirit stones. It's not that I don't want to give you the money, it's just that I don't have it."

Song Yao: "..."

That's terrible.

She seemed a little downcast.

"It's alright. Once you learn how to refine pills, you can sell the extra pills and you'll definitely make money quickly."

The Seventh Elder spoke for a while, then comforted her, "And you don't need to worry too much. Now that you've become my disciple, I won't let you go hungry. As long as I live, you'll have steamed buns to eat every day."

Song Yao: "Waaah, Master, you're so kind."

If he knew that she was the one who fried his food, I don't know if he would still give her steamed buns.

"Come on, let me show you around."

Song Yao has visited Baicaofeng quite often. There are many medicinal herbs here. When she was injured while practicing swordsmanship, she would come here to pick a few herbs to eat.

To avoid being exposed, she obediently followed behind the Seventh Elder.

As they passed by the medicinal herb field, the Seventh Elder rolled up his sleeves and slipped inside, pulling out a few large carrots which he tossed to Song Yao: "These were planted by your senior brother, take them and eat them."

These radishes were bigger than his head. Song Yao was hit and stumbled back a few steps, barely managing to catch himself: "Senior brother, can't you afford to eat either?"

"Yes, his cauldron was also blown up."

The cauldron used for alchemy is very expensive; in her time, it could be worth two houses, a fact that Song Yao knew.

She remained silent for a moment, her conscience troubled, then looked up at the Seventh Elder and said, "Master, when I earn money, I will buy new cauldrons for you and my senior brother."

The Seventh Elder dusted himself off and emerged from the ground, only to see the little girl holding a pile of radishes with a sincere expression. He was immediately filled with mixed feelings.

What a good child! He himself is struggling to get enough to eat and wear, yet he's thinking of buying them a tripod.

He couldn't even come up with more than five thousand spirit stones.

So outrageous!

He was increasingly moved and felt a pang of emotion: "Don't worry, once this period is over, Master will definitely find a way to send you out of the sect."

-

It was already dark when Song Yao followed the Seventh Elder for a casual stroll before returning to the courtyard.

After her initial probing, she had a general understanding of the current situation at the Nine Saints Hall.

Back then, the Nine Saints Hall was undeniably the number one sect in Tian Shu, and was known as one of the three major sects of Tian Shu, along with Taiqing Pavilion and Beiyao Sect.

However, because she had been stirring up trouble within the Nine Saints Hall, and because half a year ago, not long after her death, Ye Chang'an, the young master of the Taiqing Pavilion, married Chen Qingqiu, the holy maiden of the Northern Shaking Sect, the two families seemed to be joining forces to suppress the Nine Saints Hall, and even began to seize territory.

Under these circumstances, the leader of the Nine Saints Hall remained in seclusion, and his personal disciples were nowhere to be found, causing the Nine Saints Hall's status among the three major sects to plummet, dropping to third place.

There are rumors that if the Nine Saints Hall continues like this, it might fall out of the ranks of the three major sects.

This situation was mostly within Song Yao's expectations.

After all, the system had given her a rough outline of the plot beforehand. Only if the Nine Saints Hall was defeated could the male protagonist, Jiang Jin, step forward and save the Nine Saints Hall from its dire straits.

But there's one thing...

How could Ye Chang'an, the young master of Taiqing Pavilion, get married to someone else so quickly?

This is the man she seduced; he's the fifth junior sister's fiancé.

The system said that after she dies, Ye Chang'an will have a very agonizing and ambiguous love affair with Fifth Junior Sister again, until Jiang Jin appears and Fifth Junior Sister will fall in love with someone else.

This timeline is clearly wrong now.

Did Fifth Junior Sister suddenly realize something on her own?

Song Yao lay on her back on the bed, staring blankly at the roof beam.

Can't sleep.

Can't sleep at all.

He simply got up and took out the basic herbal medicine book and alchemy book that the Seventh Elder had just given him to read.

Previously at the Nine Saints Hall, she devoted herself entirely to practicing swordsmanship and torturing people, making her a model of a sword cultivator with a brilliant mind but simple limbs.

Now, sitting here earnestly reading a book, I'm surprised...

Extremely tired.

She hadn't turned two pages when her eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted off to sleep.

-

The Seventh Elder never expected that he would have such a diligent disciple at his age.

He stood at the window and looked inside.

Inside the room, Song Yao was lying on the table, an open book on alchemy pressed under her fair face. Her head was tilted to one side, and a few strands of hair fell down, covering half of her face.

The oil lamp on the table had burned out, leaving only a short wick.

diligent.

He's too diligent.

I became an apprentice yesterday, and I'm studying all night today.

Where can you find such a good disciple?

He felt guilty for his hesitation in accepting a disciple yesterday.

The Seventh Elder turned around and looked at the eldest disciple and several outer disciples behind him. He said earnestly, "This child has a Heaven-level spiritual root and is so hardworking. If you were half as hardworking as her, our Hundred Herbs Peak would not have fallen to such a state."

The eldest disciple, He Yu, hesitated and said, "Isn't the reason why our Hundred Herbs Peak is in such a sorry state because of Song Yao?"

"If you guys had worked hard enough, would Song Yao have been able to blow this whole place up? Look for the problems within yourselves."

As the Seventh Elder spoke, he picked up a pile of radishes by the door and tossed them to He Yu. He patted the mud off his hands and said, "Peel these up. I'll go catch a chicken to nourish your junior sister."

He Yu watched the Seventh Elder's departing figure in silence for a long while before finally managing to speak with difficulty: "Wait, where did the chickens come from on Hundred Herbs Peak?"

-

Song Yao was awakened by a fragrant aroma.

She opened her eyes groggily, relaxed her muscles, and followed the scent outside.

In the courtyard, the Seventh Elder was bending over to scoop soup from an earthenware pot.

Hearing the noise, he looked up and saw Song Yao standing at the door. He smiled and said, "You're awake? The chicken soup is just ready. Come and eat."

Song Yao rubbed her eyes and was about to take a step—

My gaze casually swept over the wooden table, then suddenly stopped.

Two people were sitting at the wooden table.

One of them was the Seventh Elder's eldest disciple, I think his name was He Yu.

another......

The other person was dressed in a black outfit, with his black hair standing on end. He had a cold and aloof look, with dark pupils. His aura was sharp and incongruous with the tranquil and secluded Hundred Herbs Peak.

Song Yao froze, instantly snapping back to reality.

How come I ran into an old acquaintance so soon?

Her second senior sister.

Zhu Zhao.

Of all the people, Zhu Zhao disliked her the most.

In his past life, the words Zhu Zhao said most often were, "Song Yao, I'll chop you up and feed you to the dogs sooner or later."

The two are not just enemies; they've almost reached the point of life and death.

The reason for this was that Song Yao, relying on the sect leader's favoritism, repeatedly took away her opportunities to go out and train, and even used many underhanded tricks, eventually plucking all the feathers from her black bird.

Song Yao was almost certain that if she recognized her, she would tear her to pieces.

After all, it was not uncommon for her to chase after him and cut down thirty mountain peaks.

In their last encounter, he almost lost an arm, and she also gained a scar on her shoulder.