Competing for a Disciple

Master and disciple were exposing each other's flaws.

Xu Xian sat in the middle, swaying back and forth.

A group of Elders looked at each other in dismay...

One was the Sect Master,

One was the Little Grand-Uncle,

And one was Li Qingshan.

None of these three were easy to deal with, and no one could afford to offend them.

When they stopped acting like normal people, no one could bear the consequences.

At such a time, it was wisest to just watch quietly.

Honestly, it was quite interesting—much more interesting than the Disciple Recruitment Assembly itself.

At least, that was what Lu Yuan thought.

Brilliant!

Ye Xianyu argued that since she had a high realm, high cultivation, was the Sect Master, and was a woman, it was most appropriate and promising for Xu Xian's niece to follow her.

Li Qingshan argued that he was the one who brought her back, he knew her background, and he didn't have any disciples under his name yet. If Chu Yi followed him, she would be his only disciple, and he would surely treat her with the utmost care.

Ye Xianyu said Li Qingshan's character was lacking.

Li Qingshan said Ye Xianyu's class was too low.

Xu Xian grumbled that the two of them were two peas in a pod.

Lu Yuan wondered to himself: 'Class? Character? Who can compete with you, Xu Xian, in those departments?'

"Follow me."

"Follow me."

"Follow me!"

"Follow me!"

"..."

Xu Xian, however, found faults with both options.

He felt Li Qingshan was unreliable.

Yet he also feared she would suffer under Ye Xianyu.

Finally.

The two, having reached no conclusion in their argument, turned their gaze toward Xu Xian, letting him choose one.

Xu Xian had a bitter expression.

He was very anxious!

This matter was not easy to handle.

Lu Yuan suddenly interjected, "What's there to be conflicted about? If you think neither of them is good enough, why don't you just teach her yourself?"

Swish, swish, swish...

Countless gazes, almost instantly and in perfect unison, landed on Lu Yuan.

The looks in their eyes were profound.

Lu Yuan froze. "Did I say something wrong?"

Li Qingshan lowered his head in deep thought.

"No!"

Ye Xianyu stroked her chin.

"Absolutely not!"

Xu Xian nodded, questioning himself, "Indeed, that won't work!"

Even the crowd of Elders watching the excitement chimed in:

"There is no rush for this matter. We should deliberate further."

Lu Yuan was instantly dumbfounded.

What the hell?

Am I the clown here?

For Li Qingshan, if Xia Chu Yi followed Xu Xian, she would be ruined.

For Ye Xianyu, if Xia Chu Yi took Xu Xian as her master, it would be a disaster.

For the Elders, having one Xu Xian in the Wendao Sword Sect was enough.

If another female version of Xu Xian appeared, they truly wouldn't be able to take it.

Even Xu Xian himself felt it was inappropriate.

He knew exactly what he was like.

Following him would mean the only path was to be a self-taught genius.

He didn't have a drop of ink in his belly. Taking a disciple? What could he possibly teach?

If it were an outsider, it would be one thing.

But how could he screw over his own niece?

That would be truly heartless.

Furthermore.

He had many things to do next. He had to leave the sect and head to the Demon Abyss; he couldn't exactly bring the little girl along.

Xu Xian shrugged and said calmly, "Forget it. We'll discuss it after she crosses the Longevity Bridge."

Li Qingshan and Ye Xianyu nodded in agreement with rare synchronicity.

Xu Xian beckoned and asked the Personnel Hall Deacon waiting nearby, "How are the preparations for the Heart Inquiry formation?"

"Everything is ready. We can begin at any time!"

Xu Xian glanced at Ye Xianyu, symbolically seeking her opinion.

Ye Xianyu maintained her hands-off attitude. "Don't look at me. You decide."

Xu Xian didn't hesitate and immediately announced the start.

Upon receiving the command.

The transmission reached outside the sect. In front of the Heart Inquiry Forest, the presiding Elder opened the forest's barrier.

With a kind and gentle face, he spoke to the group of children who had been waiting for a long time:

"Young friends, please."

Gusts of cold wind blew from the bamboo forest. Some children were afraid and shrank back, while others summoned their courage and rushed forward.

In the Heart Inquiry Pool.

The scene in front of the bamboo forest was projected simultaneously.

Xia Chu Yi was among them.

Moreover.

Just like Xu Xian back then, she was the first to walk toward the bamboo forest.

However, there was a difference; the little girl's eyes were filled with a longing for cultivation.

Furthermore.

She was also dragging a child about the same age as her, entering the bamboo forest hand-in-hand.

Ye Xianyu smiled. "Hmm... this child, Xia Chu Yi, is quite like you. Brave enough to take the lead. One look and you can tell she's meant for great things."

Everyone chimed in.

"Senior Sister is right."

"Master is right."

"Sect Master is right."

Ye Xianyu asked again, "Who is the other child?"

An Elder quickly replied, "Tu Kongkong. She's a girl, eleven years old, with a fire-attribute single spirit root. She's one of the few rare talents in this batch."

Ye Xianyu narrowed her eyes. "Fire-attribute?"

Xu Xian propped up his chin and smiled meaningfully. "Just wait. There's going to be a good show today."

A little fox.

And a niece.

Xu Xian couldn't help but feel emotional; this was truly interesting.

Ye Xianyu seemed to only half-understand, remarking casually, "Looking at these two children, they seem quite compatible. They're holding hands very tightly."

Li Qingshan responded, "This child, Tu Kongkong, does look very kind-hearted."

Xu Xian couldn't help but chuckle.

Ye Xianyu asked Xu Xian, "Little Eleven, do you think your niece will give us a 'surprise' just like you did?"

Li Qingshan said with absolute certainty, "Rest assured, this child won't."

Ye Xianyu looked at him with disdain. "That's exactly what you said when your Little Junior Martial Uncle arrived. And what happened?"

Li Qingshan glanced at Xu Xian past Ye Xianyu, his expression hard to describe.

Xu Xian said with slight embarrassment, "I was young and ignorant back then. Senior Sister, let's not mention it."

"Hehe..."

Lu Yuan was incredibly curious, sensing there was a story here.

He wasn't actually a gossip, but he couldn't help being curious about Xu Xian's affairs.

Especially the embarrassing ones.

Lowering his voice, he asked Li Qingshan, "What did he do back then?"

Li Qingshan rolled his eyes at him.

He had no intention of answering. He didn't want to mention what Xu Xian had done; it was humiliating.

Lu Yuan was about to press further.

However, mist rose in the forest, and illusion fragments appeared in the pool.

"Look, it's starting!"

"It's here."

Lu Yuan's words were cut off.

Ye Xianyu looked at the dense fragments of the illusions and remarked, "Quite a lot of people entered the Spirit Inquiry this year, didn't they?"

Xu Xian smiled and said, "Over sixteen hundred people. It's almost double the size of my batch."

Ye Xianyu said happily, "Then we'll have a bumper harvest this year."

Xu Xian said speechlessly, "Listen to you. People aren't crops."

"Same thing, same thing..."

As they chatted and laughed, the illusions played out as scheduled, and the assessment began for one after another.

The first trial was still that isolated village, that ruined courtyard, that dried-up well, and a woman calling for help.

Xu Xian had broken the illusion back then, and his memory remained intact after waking up.

Therefore, everything that happened then was still clearly remembered, vivid in his mind.

What he saw now felt familiar.

The only difference was that back then he was in the game, and now he was outside of it.

The same scene, but with a different identity and a different perspective.

What he saw and heard was naturally different.

Even thinking back to how he had dropped stones on her, Xu Xian couldn't help but let out a self-deprecating smile.

Ye Xianyu struck up a conversation for no apparent reason. "Little Eleven, do you know what this stage tests?"

Xu Xian pondered for a moment. "To save or not to save; a matter of minor wisdom and great kindness."

Ye Xianyu asked again, "Then do you think one should save her, or not?"

Xu Xian took a deep breath and said word by word, "A gentleman does not save, but a saint does not hesitate to act."

Ye Xianyu half-squinted her eyes, smiling brightly. She was very satisfied with Xu Xian's answer.

She thought to herself: 'He really has grown up!'