After speaking, the leading male disciple turned his gaze toward the other four.
“And you lot. What are your names?”
The four exchanged glances before introducing themselves one after another.
“Du Xinbao.”
“Liu Wan.”
“Wu… Wu Lishan.”
“…Wang Sui.”
The lead disciple lowered his head and compared their names against the jade slip in his hand. When he looked up again, his tone was as calm as if he were merely announcing tomorrow’s weather.
“Oh. You’re all on the list.”
“You’re coming as well.”
Without waiting for any of them to react, he turned around and left with his group.
He came and went like the wind, leaving the courtyard temporarily silent.
Liu Wan frowned and muttered quietly,
“That’s strange… The Gulolin Realm has always been a mission assigned to senior brothers and sisters who have already been in the sect for one or two years. We only just became Inner Sect disciples. Why would our names be on the list?”
Du Xinbao’s eyes sparkled instead.
“Because we’re elites!”
Xie Zhengxing fell silent.
What elites?
This was obviously guilt by association.
Ever since obtaining the Quantum Sonar Detection Earring, she had vaguely sensed that someone had been secretly following her.
The other party never revealed themselves and concealed their presence extremely well.
Judging by the circumstances, it was almost certainly someone from within the sect.
Immediately, Xie Zhengxing thought back to Elder Sun—the elder who had looked at her with obvious disdain on the day she entered the sect and had been reluctant even to hand her the identity token that symbolized her status as an Inner Sect disciple.
Still…
She hadn’t paid any attention to him.
She had no interest in pretending to be a model student.
Acting obedient for a day or two was manageable.
Pretending forever?
That would have been torture.
Besides…
She hadn’t violated any sect rules or regulations.
Xie Zhengxing genuinely didn’t think she had done anything excessive.
Yet…
She had still been targeted.
Xie Zhengxing could figure it out.
Naturally, so could the viewers who had been following her livestream all this time.
【Xiaoxiao】: It was definitely that old fossil’s doing.
【Awake at 3 A.M.】: At the root of it all, they’re simply bullying the weak. If she were some talented disciple with a higher cultivation level, they would’ve never made things difficult for her. They just look down on Xingxing, so no matter what she does, they’ll say she’s wrong!
【Your Strong One Has Arrived】: I get it now! This is the cultivation world’s version of workplace PUA! Give someone an impossible assignment, then wait for them to fail so you’ll have an excuse to kick them out! How underhanded!
Seeing that comment, Xie Zhengxing nearly burst out laughing.
They wanted her to suffer?
To fail spectacularly?
Impossible.
She was no longer the powerless little servant disciple she had been at the beginning.
After briefly tending to her little vegetable garden, Du Xinbao, Liu Wan, and the others all bid Xie Zhengxing farewell, saying they needed to return and prepare for the sect mission three days later.
Liu Wan smiled.
“Xingxing, we’re heading back now.”
Xie Zhengxing escorted them to the courtyard gate.
“See you in three days.”
After sending them off, she looked up toward the floating livestream.
Her viewers were still furiously cursing the shameless old geezer.
She smiled and said her goodbye.
“This streamer is going to get some proper rest and spend the next few days preparing.”
“My beloved consorts…”
“Three days from now…”
“We’ll meet again for the live broadcast of demon extermination in the Gulolin Realm!”
The chat instantly flooded with melodramatic farewells.
“Streamer, I’ll miss you!”
“How am I supposed to survive without your streams?”
“Three days feels like three hundred years!”
Amidst the exaggerated comments, Xie Zhengxing ended the livestream.
【Livestream Ended】
【Current Stream Popularity: 16,780 Viewers】
【Followers: 4,065】
【Popularity Rewards This Stream:
【Donation Rewards This Stream:
Xie Zhengxing immediately took out both Gene Enhancement Serums and drank them in one gulp.
She firmly believed in one principle.
Good things should never be saved for later.
They should be used on herself immediately.
After so many days of streaming, she had already figured out how the popularity rewards worked.
As long as her livestream consistently exceeded ten thousand viewers, the system upgraded the settlement rewards from Nutrient Solution to Gene Enhancement Serum.
Although she only had a little over four thousand followers, nearly all of them were active fans who showed up almost every day.
The livestream atmosphere was lively and humorous, and even casual viewers tended to like her.
As a result…
Gene Enhancement Serum had practically become her daily supply.
Even though the Big Boss was no longer around…
Her foundation among the audience was solid.
She continued living quite comfortably.
Feeling the warm current flowing through her body and sensing herself becoming increasingly light yet resilient, Xie Zhengxing contentedly curled up in the hanging basket swing inside her flower garden.
Then she opened the personal status panel that only she could see.
【Original Host: Xie Zhengxing】
【Identity: Inner Sect Disciple of the Shanghui Sect (Disciple of the Main Peak—unable to compare with those above, yet better off than those below.)】
【Spirit Root: Five-Element Mixed Spirit Root (Extremely poor aptitude.)】
【Age: 15 (A tiny little sprout.)】
【Lifespan: 60 (+160) years (Has surpassed the limits of ordinary mortals and now possesses a lifespan comparable to a Golden Core cultivator.)】
【Cultivation: Early Qi Refinement Realm (Equivalent to one of the Federation military’s elite soldiers—a humanoid walking weapon.)】
…
Three days later.
At the gathering point outside the mountain gate.
The morning light had only just begun to brighten the sky.
Yet twenty to thirty disciples were already standing solemnly in formation.
There were both men and women.
All wore identical light-cyan sect robes.
Their postures were perfectly synchronized.
Even the spiritual pressure radiating from them seemed disciplined and uniform.
Every one of them practically radiated the message:
Professional Demon Extermination. Unauthorized Personnel Keep Away.
Unfortunately…
The atmosphere didn’t remain intact for long.
Du Xinbao arrived first.
Instead of wearing his sect robes, he showed up in a sleeveless cropped top that exposed his waist, paired with pink trousers.
As he stepped into formation, excitement filled his eyes.
He seemed completely oblivious to the strange looks everyone else was giving him.
Next came Liu Wan.
Compared to him…
She looked perfectly normal.
Wu Lishan followed behind her.
Balanced on his shoulder was an enormous bulging pack the size of a small hill.
When he set it down…
The ground itself seemed to tremble.
Wang Sui also arrived.
He hurried over to join the other three.
His lips moved continuously as though muttering something to himself.
His entire body trembled.
He resembled a frightened lizard about to flee from battle.
Finally…
Xie Zhengxing wandered over at a leisurely pace.
She was slim.
The loose-fitting cyan robe hanging over her body made her appear even more relaxed and casual.
Her long, wavy black hair flowed freely down her back, occasionally lifted by the morning breeze.
She looked as though she hadn’t fully woken up.
Walking over to stand beside her four unusually distinctive teammates…
She naturally let out a long yawn.
The five of them looked utterly out of place.
They stuck out like sore thumbs among the surrounding elite disciples.
The looks cast toward them were… difficult to describe.
Even the disciple responsible for maintaining order couldn’t help twitching at the corner of his eye.
Elder Sun had been absolutely right.
They really were rotten apples.
Wherever they went…
They contaminated the whole bunch.
Just then—
Two streaks of sword light shot across the sky one after another with the force of wind and thunder.
They landed several paces apart.
As the sword light dissipated…
Two figures emerged.
Halfway through another yawn, Xie Zhengxing narrowed her eyes and looked over.
The man was dressed entirely in snow-white robes.
His brows were cold as frost.
The pressure surrounding him was so frigid that the temperature within several meters seemed to drop.
It was none other than the sect master’s direct disciple…
The Shanghui Sect’s greatest genius—
Chu Moyun.
The woman beside him wore flowing violet robes as graceful as water.
She resembled an orchid blooming in a secluded valley.
Her eyelashes were lowered.
Her lips were gently pressed together.
Beneath her quiet demeanor lay an almost imperceptible mixture of stubbornness and sorrow.
She was naturally the original novel’s female lead—
Luo Jingxin.
The instant the two of them appeared…
The previously solemn atmosphere of professional demon extermination immediately twisted into something bizarre.
It became a massive…
Silent…
Competition among devoted admirers choosing sides.
It was as though every elite disciple present had been placed under a hypnosis spell.
The female disciples immediately adjusted their expressions before gazing passionately at Chu Moyun.
One after another they praised him.
“Senior Brother’s cultivation has improved again.”
“After the demon extermination, I’d love to take a nighttime stroll through the Gulolin Realm with Senior Brother.”
Meanwhile…
The male disciples quietly drifted toward Luo Jingxin.
Their voices overflowed with concern.
“Senior Sister Luo doesn’t look well. Are you worried about the demons?”
“If Senior Sister has any orders for us, we’d gladly give our lives.”
Chu Moyun accepted the invitations expressionlessly.
Then he sneered in Luo Jingxin’s direction.
Luo Jingxin merely curved her lips into a faint smile and nodded politely toward the disciples expressing concern for her.
The invisible cold war hanging in the air transformed what should have been a solemn expedition by elite disciples into something that felt suspiciously like an eight o’clock primetime romance drama.
Xie Zhengxing stopped yawning.
Her eyes widened.
Good.
Very good.
The melodramatic, abusive romance might have been late…
But it had finally arrived.
Without hesitation, Xie Zhengxing issued a command in her mind—
【Start Livestream】