Has the Nine Saints Hall really fallen to such a state?
Aren't pill cultivators supposed to be the richest?
Seeing her stare blankly at the spirit stones, the Seventh Elder sighed rather mournfully. “My medicine cauldron was blown to pieces by that Song Yao before. You probably don't know, but to a pill cultivator, a medicine cauldron is just like a sword to a sword cultivator—it's more important than life itself. Just half a month ago, I bought a new cauldron, and I still owe Eighth Elder three hundred thousand spirit stones. It's really not that I don't want to give you money, I truly don't have any.”
Song Yao: “...”
How miserable.
She felt a sudden wave of guilt, unable to hold her head up.
“It's fine. Once you learn how to refine pills yourself, you can sell the surplus. You'll definitely make money quickly.”
The Seventh Elder chattered on, then comforted her, “And you don't need to worry too much. Since you've already taken me as your master, I won't let you starve. As long as I'm breathing, you'll have buns to eat every day.”
Song Yao: “Boohoo, Master, you're so nice.”
If he knew she was the one who blew up his cauldron, she wondered if he would still give her buns.
“Come, I'll show you around to get familiar with the environment.”
Song Yao had been to Baicao Peak quite a few times. There were many herbs here. Back when she was injured from practicing her sword, she would come over to pluck a few herbs to eat.
To avoid exposing herself, she obediently followed behind the Seventh Elder.
As they passed by a medicine field, the Seventh Elder rolled up his sleeves, slipped inside, and pulled out a few massive carrots, tossing them to Song Yao. “These were grown by your senior brother. Take them and eat.”
These carrots were bigger than a human head. Song Yao was pushed back a few steps by the impact, barely catching them. “Can Senior Brother not afford to eat either?”
“That's right. His cauldron was also blown up.”
A pill cultivator's cauldron was very expensive. In her previous era, it could easily cost as much as two houses. Song Yao knew this well.
She fell silent for a moment, her conscience pricking her. She looked up at the Seventh Elder and said, “Master, once I make money, I'll buy new cauldrons for you and Senior Brother.”
The Seventh Elder patted off the dirt and crawled out of the field. Seeing the little girl holding a pile of carrots with a face full of sincerity, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
What a good child. She didn't even have enough food or warm clothes, yet she was already thinking of buying cauldrons for them.
And him? He couldn't even produce five thousand spirit stones.
How disgraceful!
The more he thought about it, the more moved and guilty he felt. “Don't worry,” he said, a lump in his throat. “Once we get through this tough period, Master will definitely find a way to send you out of the sect.”
...
Night had already fallen. After a brief tour with the Seventh Elder, Song Yao returned to her courtyard.
From her probing earlier, she had gained a general understanding of the Nine Saints Hall's current situation.
Back then, the Nine Saints Hall was undeniably the number one sect in the Tianshu Realm, jointly known as the three major sects of Tianshu alongside the Taiqing Pavilion and the Beiyao Sect.
However, because she had constantly stirred up trouble in the Nine Saints Hall, and because the Young Master of the Taiqing Pavilion, Ye Chang'an, had married the Holy Maiden of the Beiyao Sect, Chen Qingqiu, half a year ago—shortly after her death—the two sects now showed signs of joining forces to suppress the Nine Saints Hall, even starting to seize its territory.
Under these circumstances, the Hall Master of the Nine Saints Hall remained in secluded cultivation, and the personal disciples were nowhere to be found, causing the Nine Saints Hall's status among the three major sects to plummet, falling to third place.
Rumors circulated outside that if this continued, the Nine Saints Hall might even fall out of the ranks of the three major sects.
Most of this was within Song Yao's expectations.
After all, the system had previously given her a general outline of the plot. Only when the Nine Saints Hall declined could the male lead, Jiang Jin, step up and save the Nine Saints Hall from ruin.
But there was one thing...
Why would Ye Chang'an, the Young Master of the Taiqing Pavilion, marry someone else so quickly?
This person was the Fifth Junior Sister's fiancé, whom she had seduced away.
The system had said that after her death, Ye Chang'an would resume a highly toxic and ambiguous sadomasochistic relationship with the Fifth Junior Sister until Jiang Jin appeared, at which point the Fifth Junior Sister would transfer her affections.
The timeline now was clearly off.
Did the Fifth Junior Sister finally come to her senses?
Song Yao lay flat on her back in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling beams.
She couldn't sleep.
She couldn't sleep at all.
She simply sat up and pulled out the basic herb manual and alchemy book that the Seventh Elder had just given her.
Previously in the Nine Saints Hall, her entire mind had been focused on practicing the sword and tormenting others, making her a textbook example of a simple-minded, muscle-brained sword cultivator.
Now, sitting here seriously to read, she actually felt...
...extraordinarily sleepy.
Before she could even flip through a couple of pages, her eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted off to sleep.
...
The Seventh Elder had not expected to receive such a diligent disciple at his age.
He stood by the window, peering inside.
Inside, Song Yao was slumped over the table, her clean, pale face resting on an open alchemy book. Her head was tilted to one side, with a few stray locks of hair hanging down, covering half of her face.
The oil lamp on the table had already burned out, leaving only a short stub of a wick.
Diligent.
Extremely diligent.
She just apprenticed yesterday, and today she studied all through the night.
Where else could one find such an excellent disciple?
He felt guilty for his hesitation in taking her as his disciple yesterday.
The Seventh Elder turned around, looked at his eldest disciple and several outer sect disciples behind him, and said earnestly, “This child has a Heaven-grade spiritual root and yet works so hard. If you all had even half her diligence, how could our Baicao Peak have fallen to such a wretched state?”
The eldest disciple, He Yu, hesitated before saying, “Isn't our Baicao Peak's wretched state actually because of Song Yao?”
“If you all were hardworking enough, could Song Yao have blown this whole place up?! Look more at your own shortcomings!”
Saying this, the Seventh Elder picked up a carrot from the pile by the door, tossed it to He Yu, and patted the dirt off his hands. “Peel this. I'll go catch a chicken to nourish your junior sister.”
He Yu silently watched the Seventh Elder's departing figure. After a long while, he spoke with difficulty, “Wait... where on Baicao Peak are there any chickens?”
...
Song Yao was awakened by a delicious aroma.
She opened her eyes sleepily, stretched her limbs, and followed the scent outside.
In the courtyard, the Seventh Elder was bending over, ladling soup from a clay pot.
Hearing the movement, he looked up, saw Song Yao standing at the door, and said with a smile, “Awake? The chicken soup is freshly stewed. Come and eat.”
Song Yao rubbed her eyes and was about to take a step—
Her gaze swept past the wooden table by chance and froze instantly.
Two people were sitting by the wooden table.
One was the Seventh Elder's eldest disciple, whose name seemed to be He Yu.
The other...
The other person wore black, tight-fitting robes. Her dark hair was tied up high, her brow and eyes cold and aloof, her pupils pitch black. Her entire aura was sharp and fierce, completely out of place with the serene and quiet Baicao Peak.
Song Yao's steps were pinned to the spot, and she instantly snapped wide awake.
How did she run into another old acquaintance so quickly?
Her Second Senior Sister.
Zhu Zhao.
Of all the people, Zhu Zhao hated her the most.
In her past life, the words Zhu Zhao said the most were, “Song Yao, sooner or later, I'm going to chop you up and feed you to the dogs.”
The two were not just simple rivals; they had reached a point of life-and-death enmity.
The reason was that Song Yao, relying on the Hall Master's favoritism, had repeatedly snatched away her opportunities to go out for training, even using many underhanded tricks, and finally plucked all the feathers off her Black Bird.
Song Yao was almost certain that if Zhu Zhao recognized her, she would definitely tear her to pieces.
After all, the occurrence of Zhu Zhao chasing and slashing her across thirty mountaintops was a common event.
During their final clash, she had almost lost an arm, while Zhu Zhao ended up with an extra scar on her shoulder.
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