Xu Haoguang looked at Wei Ruxue with a trace of pity in her eyes and said, “Only by cultivating diligently can you avenge your family.
“However, revenge is not your ultimate goal. No matter how much hatred and resentment you harbor in your heart, you cannot change the fact that your family is gone. I will not advise you to let go of your hatred, but I want to remind you not to let hatred blind you.
“Before you fall into obsession, think of your family. They would not want you to succumb to inner demons and ruin your path to immortality for their sake.”
Wei Ruxue nodded blankly, though it was unclear how much she actually absorbed.
Xu Haoguang merely offered a brief word of advice. After all, Wei Ruxue had not even entered the Qi Refining stage yet and lacked even the budding of a Dao Heart, so it was only natural that she could not fully take such grand principles to heart.
After saying this, Xu Haoguang shifted her gaze back to Wen Jingshu.
Wen Jingshu held nothing back, recounting everything that had transpired from the moment they arrived in the mortal realm to their encounters with the Beast Taming Sect.
Especially regarding their contracted beasts.
“Sect Master, among the ten Foundation Establishment Stage disciples of the Beast Taming Sect whom I killed, I did not see a single contracted spirit beast.”
As everyone knew, although demon beasts were physically tough and possessed strong combat power, they had little intelligence. Thus, most cultivators contracted spirit beasts instead.
The members of the Beast Taming Sect could not possibly be ignorant of this common knowledge.
Even if capturing demon beasts was less costly, the ten Beast Taming Sect disciples Wen Jingshu had encountered were all at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Logically, they should not have been without even a single spirit beast.
Moreover, Qian De, the Golden Core Stage cultivator Wen Jingshu had met earlier, did not have a contracted spirit beast either.
This situation was far too abnormal. What exactly was the Beast Taming Sect up to?
After Wen Jingshu and Wei Ruxue truthfully reported what they had seen and heard, they took their leave.
Considering Wei Ruxue's young age and the sudden, major tragedy that had befallen her family, and seeing that she still felt somewhat close to Wen Jingshu, Xu Haoguang specially permitted Wei Ruxue to stay at Little Spirit Peak with Wen Jingshu for a few days. Afterward, she would join the others for the Newcomer Ceremony.
Possessing a spiritual root merely granted them the eligibility to enter the Qingyun Sect. As for whether they could truly become disciples of the Qingyun Sect, they still had to climb the nine hundred and ninety-nine steps of the Heart-Interrogating Steps and pass through the Source Mirror.
The Heart-Interrogating Steps could weed out those with twisted minds and impure intentions, while the Source Mirror could see through whether they were human cultivators.
The moment they returned to Little Spirit Peak, Congbai swooshed into Wen Jingshu's arms, wagging its tail frantically.
Xu Zhizhi then came forward to greet her, bowing to Wen Jingshu. “Greetings, Senior Sister. During your absence, nothing unusual occurred on Little Spirit Peak.”
Hearing this, Wen Jingshu casually handed her a storage bag. “Thank you for your hard work. Go and rest early today.”
Xu Zhizhi withdrew, leaving only Wen Jingshu and Wei Ruxue on Little Spirit Peak.
Wen Jingshu released Xuanzhi, Suyao, and Zhaocai from the Shengsheng Bead, allowing them to roam freely on Little Spirit Peak.
Having been cooped up in the Shengsheng Bead for a long time, the three beasts finally emerged and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Congbai remained nestled in Wen Jingshu's arms, clearly missing its master.
Holding the fox, Wen Jingshu said to Wei Ruxue, “You can stay in the eastern courtyard. If you need anything, you can speak directly to Xu Zhizhi. These are Fasting Pills. Little Spirit Peak does not have a kitchen, so if you feel hungry, just take one.”
Wei Ruxue nodded and took her leave, still looking somewhat distracted.
Not long after, Luo Yunting, who had reverted to her female attire, smoothly entered Little Spirit Peak.
Before returning to the sect, Wen Jingshu had asked Xu Haoguang in advance to prepare two disciple tokens for her.
One was for Luo Yunting, as a chore disciple of Little Spirit Peak.
The other was for “Luo Yunting”, the identity of the disciple with the heavily crippled spiritual root whom she had brought back from the mortal realm.
Outer sect disciples did not have fixed masters; the sect only provided them with lodging and protection.
A disciple's daily necessities and cultivation methods had to be obtained by completing missions to earn points, which they would then exchange at Miscellaneous Peak.
There was an immense number of outer sect disciples, and because they frequently went out on missions, their comings and goings were highly complex and difficult to track. She had secured the identity of an outer sect disciple for “Luo Yunting” precisely to serve as a cover, making it convenient for her to approach and observe Yun Xiange and Bai Han.
As for the identity of a chore disciple of Little Spirit Peak, it was to announce to their fellow disciples that she was one of Wen Jingshu's people.
Wen Jingshu led Luo Yunting to a nearby cultivation room, casually retrieved a Marrow-Cleansing Pill, and said, “This is a Marrow-Cleansing Pill. It can randomly cleanse away any one of a cultivator's spiritual roots.
“Once one of your spiritual roots is removed, I will find the corresponding cultivation method and technique for you.”
Hearing Wen Jingshu's words, Luo Yunting's heart pounded wildly.
Ever since learning that she possessed dual water and fire spiritual roots, she had made numerous inquiries.
To resolve this predicament, the simplest, most effective, and direct method was to consume a Marrow-Cleansing Pill.
However, a Marrow-Cleansing Pill was a high-grade pill. A disciple like her, with no status or background, had absolutely no way of obtaining one.
Even if she had the chance to come across one, she would never be able to acquire it.
Yet now, this Marrow-Cleansing Pill had actually appeared right before her eyes?
Sometimes, she truly felt that living as a free person with dignity was far inferior to being a servant to a second-generation cultivator.
Luo Yunting took the Marrow-Cleansing Pill with trembling hands and bowed deeply to Wen Jingshu, saying, “Yunting thanks Miss for the gift!”
Wen Jingshu gave a brief response, advised her on a few precautions, and then entered secluded cultivation.
She had left the Pill Sect in a hurry and had not yet had the chance to organize and use the items she had acquired from the Fusheng Auction House.
There was also the Innate Sword Embryo. Although she lacked the raw materials to forge it into a sword for now, she could still refine it in advance.
After some thought, Wen Jingshu first retrieved the Innate Sword Embryo from the Shengsheng Bead, taking a day and a night to successfully refine it.
Since the Innate Sword Embryo had not yet been forged, it still retained the appearance of a stone lotus.
After drawing the Innate Sword Embryo back into her dantian, Wen Jingshu finally took out the storage ring that Xinghui had handed to her.
First was the exotic fire she had set her eyes on: the Ziwei Starfire.
This flame ranked ninth on the Exotic Fire Registry. The flame source glowed entirely with a purple light. Because it was an exotic fire obtained from a spiritual demon, it held immense deterrent power over both demon beasts and spirit beasts.
Unlike the gentle nature of the Glazed Fire, the Ziwei Starfire was violent and possessed a certain degree of corrosiveness. Once a cultivator was touched by the Ziwei Starfire, unless they possessed a high-grade water-attributed magic treasure, they would be unable to extinguish it until they were burned to a pile of white ash.
It was simply the perfect treasure for plotting against others and destroying all traces of a corpse.
She had placed the Glazed Fire inside her hidden dantian, so she would place this Ziwei Starfire in the dantian where her lightning spiritual root resided.
Exotic fires could devour and fuse with one another to raise their grades. Wen Jingshu knew this, but she had no intention of doing so for the time being.
Who knew if there would be occasions in the future where she would need to use an exotic fire; she did not want others to suspect her identity because of using the same exotic fire.
After refining the Ziwei Starfire, Wen Jingshu took out the second auction item.
It was a battered, broken mirror. When she looked at this mirror, the Shengsheng Bead reacted slightly.
With a flip of her hand, the Shengsheng Bead appeared in her palm. Almost the instant it was brought out, the Shengsheng Bead floated of its own accord to the front of the broken mirror. To the naked eye, the Shengsheng Bead was extracting a rich, mellow power from the broken mirror.
Although Wen Jingshu did not know what that power was, she could clearly feel that the Shengsheng Bead had been repaired just a tiny bit more.
Forget it. It was obtained in passing anyway; any amount of repair was better than nothing.
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