Gossip is Always Worth Hearing

Time is up in the secret realm~

Sensing a fluctuation in the space around her, she vanished from the spot the very instant the other cultivators approached.

Before those cultivators could even catch a glimpse of her figure, they were also teleported out.

Jiang Lu opened her eyes to find herself standing outside the secret realm. She quickly located the Medicine King Pavilion's group.

Then, she stuffed several handfuls of spiritual plants into the pouch on her back, which would be more than enough to turn in for her mission.

The Medicine King Pavilion Elder was slightly surprised to see Jiang Lu emerge first. Judging by her attire, she was merely an apprentice.

Yet her strength was unusual—she was at the mid stage of Qi Condensation. Logically, at her age and with this level of strength, she shouldn't still be an apprentice; she should have at least been an official disciple.

Jiang Lu offered the Elder a slight smile, revealing two small dimples as she pulled a few spiritual plants from her bag.

Seeing this, the Elder chose not to pry. In the cultivation world, the greatest taboo of survival was prying too deeply into others' secrets.

He took the spiritual plants and examined them closely, nodding in satisfaction. They were all high-quality Tier One spiritual plants, plenty to complete her mission. It seemed this disciple's luck was quite good.

After registering Jiang Lu's name, he told her to stand aside and wait.

Many cultivators lurking in the shadows saw Jiang Lu standing within the Medicine King Pavilion's perimeter. They averted their eyes, secretly disappointed, and continued scanning the crowd for other lone rogue cultivators.

Taking in everyone's expressions, Jiang Lu lowered her gaze slightly. This was the tragedy of being a rogue cultivator—they were far too easy to target.

However, most rogue cultivators had long grown accustomed to this way of life. They would form their own groups before heading out for training.

This was also why those hiding in the shadows had targeted Jiang Lu earlier—she was weak and had appeared all by herself.

As for the Medicine King Pavilion...

They couldn't afford to provoke them for now.

As the cultivators were gradually teleported out, the white light on the secret realm's gates slowly faded. The two doors closed gently and then dissolved into the surroundings, as if they had never existed.

The Elder finished registering the disciples' information and shook his head. They had lost four disciples this time—one from a group, and three who had gone out to train on their own.

Cultivators defied heaven for their lives, so dying during a secret realm trial was completely normal.

Resources were limited, and to obtain them, one naturally had to eliminate competitors. As long as it wasn't a suicidal provocation, none of the major factions would interfere in the internal conflicts of their disciples.

However, if other cultivators had close ties to the deceased, seeking revenge on their behalf was a tacitly accepted rule of the cultivation world.

Simply put, if you had backing and strength, others would naturally show you some respect. If you had nothing, you couldn't blame others for showing no mercy.

Jiang Lu stood in place, letting her mind wander, when a loud commotion suddenly erupted ahead. Everyone turned their eyes toward the sound.

Not far away, two groups of people were locked in a heated dispute.

“You old scoundrel! My disciple went to train with yours, but only yours came out alive! And now you're telling me you don't know anything?!”

“Heh, just because they set out together doesn't prove a thing. My disciple already said they split up halfway through. They only teamed up for the trial. Is my disciple supposed to be his bodyguard? We aren't your servants!”

“You... you people...”

The old man's finger trembled as he pointed at them, his face flushed red with rage.

Beside him, the other old man's disciple also had a flushed face, looking completely indignant.

Both sides stuck to their stories, refusing to back down.

Intrigued, Jiang Lu watched the scene and slowly extended her divine sense toward them, catching the whispers of the surrounding crowd.

“That cultivator is a bit much too. Since they teamed up, they should have looked out for each other. Coming out alone like that, it's no wonder the other's master is furious. Who wouldn't be devastated to lose their disciple in a secret realm?”

“Exactly. Who knows, maybe he coveted his partner's treasures and murdered him.”

“I don't think so. He didn't do anything wrong. We're all cultivators; who's to say one is more noble than the other? Maybe they just got separated inside. Isn't that perfectly normal?”

“This fellow Daoist makes a good point. Since one chooses to train, they must be responsible for their own life. No one is obligated to die for another for no reason. Let alone a temporary team—even clan disciples aren't expected to sacrifice themselves.”

“With both sides sticking to their stories, each has their own justification. It's hard for us outsiders to guess the truth. It's just a pity that their families' long-standing friendship will likely end right here.”

“...”

Hearing the discussions, Jiang Lu felt that both sides had valid points. This world wasn't like her previous life, where there was surveillance footage or devices to record evidence.

Viewing the final moments before a cultivator's death was an ability only mighty experts possessed. Lowly cultivators like them had no such power. When you died, you were just dead. How you died and who killed you would remain a complete mystery.

Only the parties involved knew the actual truth.

The other Medicine King Pavilion disciples merely cast casual glances before losing interest.

Jiang Lu found this rather curious. Could there really be people in this world who didn't enjoy some good gossip?

How interesting!

With a shy expression on her face, she walked over to a female cultivator standing nearby.

“Senior Sister, aren't you curious about what happened over there?”

Seeing that it was Jiang Lu, the Senior Sister recognized her as the junior sister from Master Wen's herb garden. However, her strength...

A trace of envy flashed across her face. It seemed this junior sister had obtained a significant opportunity.

Opportunities had no owners; whoever found them kept them. But if one tried to snatch an opportunity from a fellow sect member, they would be no different from an evil cultivator. Thus, she merely felt envious.

Noticing the curiosity brimming in Jiang Lu's eyes, she let out a soft chuckle.

“Junior Sister Lu, you haven't been here long, so it's normal that you don't know. These disputes happen all the time. You'll get used to them once you see enough.”

Another Senior Sister nodded, her face bearing a practiced indifference.

“There's no need to stress over it, Junior Sister Lu. You'll become immune to it in the future. When we first saw things like this, we were very curious too. But after seeing it so often, we stopped paying attention. In the end, only those involved know the truth.”

Jiang Lu nodded, though she secretly doubted their claims of disinterest. Could anyone really resist following the drama?

She felt that even if she witnessed this a hundred times, she would still be curious. After all, the people involved in the drama were always different. Either way, she was definitely going to get her fill of gossip.

However, she obviously couldn't openly disagree with her senior sisters, so she simply nodded along with their words.

Seeing this, the two senior sisters felt a bit more pleased with her. Who wouldn't like an obedient disciple? Besides, Junior Sister Lu wasn't someone who lacked a sense of propriety.

They had heard from other disciples that Junior Sister Lu had a good talent for sorting spiritual plants. Now that she had obtained this opportunity and advanced to the mid stage of Qi Condensation, she was qualified to enter the Alchemy Division.

They could put in a good word for her when the time came. Out in the world, showing a bit of kindness meant one more chance of survival. No one knew how far she might go in the future.

It was always better to make a friend than an enemy.

This principle was the code of conduct for the Medicine King Pavilion. Otherwise, they wouldn't have survived for so many years in such a complex environment.

Jiang Lu was still unaware that a stroke of good fortune was about to fall into her lap. She looked at the storage bag she had taken from that cultivator, which contained a few spirit stones, some offensive spell scrolls, a few demon beast corpses, and some spiritual herbs.

Now...

They were all hers.