Xie Lingjun spoke earnestly: “Gu Jin, everyone has their own path to walk. Interfering rashly may backfire. Grow alongside her. As your master, I have a feeling that your little junior sister will bring earth-shaking changes to the Xiaoyao Sect.”
Gu Jin thought and thought with his not-so-big brain, but still couldn’t figure it out.
He felt there was more to his master’s words, but he couldn’t grasp it.
“Master, don’t speak so profoundly. I lack cultural depth.”
Xie Lingjun rapped him on the head: “Shame on you, a prince of a nation, for saying such a thing. When you’re out and about, mention my name as little as possible—I can’t afford the embarrassment.”
“Oh, understood, Master.”
The master and disciple waited from dawn till dusk before the cries from inside the room finally ceased.
Only after receiving Jiang Yishu’s response did the two push the door open and enter.
Gu Jin had once trained as a medical practitioner during his travels and couldn’t stand patients who neglected their own health.
Seeing Jiang Yishu weak in breath but with eyes shining brightly, his initial impulse to scold turned into a sigh: “Little junior sister, I’ll call our senior sister to help you wash up again. Don’t be so reckless next time.”
“Thank you, Senior Brother.”
After Gu Jin left, Xie Lingjun said: “Under the catalysis of the medicine, your meridians have fully healed. Congratulations, you can cultivate again. Your cultivation base has stabilized and will no longer regress.”
“Thank you, Master!”
“Soak once more tomorrow to consolidate the effects. Your future cultivation will surely proceed more smoothly.”
After giving his instructions, Xie Lingjun left Jiang Yishu with a pile of pills to speed up her recovery. Not long after he left, Liu Rutang pushed the door open.
“Little junior sister, your senior sister is here. After I apply the medicine, I’ll have to leave the sect for a bit—your eldest senior brother has gotten lost again.”
“Senior sister, if you have matters to attend to, go ahead. Don’t worry about me. Once I recover a bit more, I can manage on my own.”
“Don’t push yourself. A child should act like a child—there’s no rush.”
Liu Rutang effortlessly carried Jiang Yishu to a basin of clear water. As Jiang Yishu removed her clothes, her injuries were fully exposed to Liu Rutang’s eyes.
Liu Rutang’s breath hitched: “Little junior sister, cry out if it hurts. After I apply the medicine, I’ll have your second senior brother examine you. Though he’s usually unreliable, his medical skills are decent.”
“Thank you, Senior Sister.”
Jiang Yishu hadn’t expected that since coming to the Xiaoyao Sect, she’d said “thank you” more than anything else.
The Xiaoyao Sect was good, and its people were good too.
Gu Jin arrived quickly, frowning deeply at the long scar on Jiang Yishu’s waist and abdomen. He remained silent for so long that Jiang Yishu nearly fell asleep before he finally spoke.
“So it’s a gu poison. A toxin that can linger outside a cultivator’s body for so long… I think I’ve seen it in some ancient text. Junior sister, wait for me—I will definitely find a prescription to remove it.”
Gu Jin came in a whirlwind and left in a whirlwind.
It wasn’t until the sound of the door closing echoed that Jiang Yishu snapped back to reality.
“I was poisoned? No wonder, when both Spiritual Roots were extracted, my cultivation was higher than Jiang Yijun’s at the time. She healed, but my scar grew more horrifying. Qingyun Sect, what other surprises do you have in store for me?”
Jiang Yishu laughed, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.
“Apart from Jiang Yijun, the only one who came into contact with the ointment was Yan Weixu. Yan Weixu, you who took care of me all that time—were you truly innocent?”
Library Pavilion
Gu Jin was nearly buried in a sea of books, his fair face smudged with dust, but his eyes shone frighteningly bright.
“Finally found it, haha! I knew I’d seen this gu poison before.”
Gu Jin joyfully flipped through the records, but his smiling face gradually fell silent. With each sentence he read aloud, his fingers clenched tighter.
“A cultivator with an ice spiritual root, when the spiritual root was… extracted? Crush the Ice Soul Gu, extract its venom, and apply it to the wound. This will cause the scar to remain unhealed for a long time, with pain from both cold and heat…”
“So, was that scar on Little Junior Sister left when her spiritual root was extracted? How much pain must she have endured back then…”
The more Gu Jin read, the blurrier his vision became. Tears dripped onto the records, and he quickly wiped them away.
Gu Jin clutched his chest, puzzled.
“How strange, why does this place hurt so much? Could it be that I’ve been poisoned too?”
“But that’s not important. The priority is to detoxify Little Junior Sister. Scarlet Flame Grass, Immortal Spirit Flower, Phoenix Grass, Earthheart Lotus… Except for these four I’ve never seen before, the rest can be found.”
Gu Jin slammed his fist on the table. “The Qingyun Sect is truly vicious. It’s a good thing Little Junior Sister escaped, or they would have sucked her dry. Ouch, my hand hurts…”
Gu Jin’s wailing was so loud that Liu Rutang could hear it from outside the door.
“Gu Jin, what madness are you up to again?”
Gu Jin instinctively hid the records he had just read inside his robes.
“Senior Sister, why are you here? Did you manage to pick up Eldest Senior Brother?”
“Nonsense, do you think I’m as foolish as Ye Shaoyan? Even he can get lost on the way home. Hurry up, Little Junior Sister’s apprenticeship ceremony is about to start, and you’re the only one missing.”
Gu Jin stretched lazily and looked out the window. “Got it, I’m coming.”
Having spent the past two days in the library, Gu Jin felt as though he had forgotten something. It wasn’t until he saw Jiang Yishu that he remembered—he had forgotten to prepare a welcome gift for Little Junior Sister.
Seeing that all five disciples had gathered, Xie Lingjun eagerly began the apprenticeship ceremony.
Almost as soon as Jiang Yishu presented the apprenticeship tea, he raised his head and drank it, not keeping her waiting at all.
“From today onward, Jiang Yishu is the second-generation successor of the Xiaoyao Sect and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, my final disciple. I hope you will support and help one another. You may bicker within the sect, but outside, you must stand united as one.”
“Your disciples obey.”
After handing Jiang Yishu a storage bag, Xie Lingjun took out a sword with a jade-green blade, as if formed from condensed emerald water, and presented it to her.
“This is the Biluo Sword. It can channel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Since you practice the Water Element Cultivation Art, it suits you perfectly. Use it for now, and if you’re not satisfied, when the Sword Sect’s secret realm opens, I’ll take you to the Sword Tomb to pick another.”
Jiang Yishu held the Biluo Sword, unable to put it down. Ranked eighth among the Ten Great Spiritual Swords, there wasn’t a single female sword cultivator who didn’t adore it. Legend had it that the Biluo Sword was owned by a mysterious master and hadn’t been seen in the world for many years.
Moreover, it perfectly complemented the cultivation art she practiced, a testament to her master’s thoughtfulness.
“Thank you, Master. I absolutely love the Biluo Sword.”
As if understanding Jiang Yishu’s words, the Biluo Sword emitted a pleasant humming sound.
“As long as you like it. Now, what about the welcome gifts you’ve prepared for Little Yishu? Bring them out quickly.”
The dignified Eldest Senior Brother presented a bamboo hat. “I am Eldest Senior Brother Ye Shaoyan. This is called Wengwei Sha, a defensive artifact that can withstand a single strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator.”
“Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother.”
Liu Rutang cheerfully slipped the ring she had prepared onto Jiang Yishu’s finger. “This is the King of Hell Ring. The poison needles inside contain a deadly toxin that can kill opponents above your cultivation level. Turn it left for poison, right for an aphrodisiac fragrance.”
Gu Jin, fearing that Liu Rutang would corrupt their little junior sister, quickly interjected, “My turn now, little junior sister. This is the elixir your second senior brother has for you. The pouch on the left is for your personal use, containing Healing Pills, Heart-Protecting Pills, Revitalizing Pills, Bone-Mending Ointment, and so on.
The pouch on the right is filled with all sorts of messy things like Failed Pills, Stink Bombs, Fiery Spice Pills, Beast Pills, Diarrhea Pills, and the like. If anyone bullies you, just throw these at them—even if they don’t die, they’ll be thoroughly disgusted.
If you don’t like elixirs, your second senior brother will find other treasures for you later.”
Youming, lying on the ground with his collar open, faintly revealing his chest, lazily spoke up, “Gu Jin, please throw those disgusting pills yourself. Don’t taint my adorable little junior sister.
Little junior sister, don’t play with them. Come to your fourth senior brother. I’ll give you a wonderful treasure.
Ghost Slave can do everything—laundry, cooking, blocking blades, protecting his master. If you encounter danger, Ghost Slave can remotely inform me, and I can spare your life.”
“Ghost Slave? He’s not alive?”
Apart from his unusually pale complexion, he had been massaging and kneading his fourth senior brother’s shoulders, and his appearance was even more handsome than many young masters from noble families.
Gu Jin added, “Your fourth senior brother, Youming, practices both human and ghost cultivation. His subordinates are either Ghost Slaves or puppets. Ghost Slaves are people on the verge of death who willingly offer themselves, retaining their consciousness and ability to think. We call them the living dead.”