Chapter 12 Even the ashes were scattered very evenly.

That night.

Inside the sect's main hall, the floor, paved with warm jade, shone so brightly it reflected Xiao Jingrui's gentle and refined face.

He stared at the young man at Shen Zhaozhao's feet, who was gnawing on a freshly roasted spirit chicken, his mouth glistening with oil, yet his aura was unmistakably that of someone who had just achieved the Golden Core stage. He remained silent for a full three breaths.

"Junior sister..."

Xiao Jingrui's voice was still clear and melodious, but the end of his voice carried a hint of barely perceptible etherealness, "After a day down the mountain, I brought back 2400 spirit stones, and... I even picked up a Golden Core stage demon beast as a spirit pet?"

"Isn't your efficiency... a bit too outrageous?"

Shen Zhaozhao straightened her back, her face instantly switching to "righteous" mode: "Second Senior Brother, you may not know, but that Yun Wan'er from the Tianyan Sect, relying on being the sect leader's personal disciple, flaunted her power in front of the Baixiao Pavilion, distorting the truth and forcing the sect members to give her preferential treatment."

"How can we stand idly by and watch such bullying and rule-breaking happen?"

She raised her chin slightly, adopting an arrogant "praise me" posture. "So I immediately stepped forward, engaged in a verbal battle with the group of cultivators, argued with reason, and finally turned the tide, saving that steward from dire straits and upholding the fairness and justice of the Four Directions Ranking."

"These spirit stones are the proper reward from Baixiaoge for my act of bravery."

"As for Xiao Huang..."

Shen Zhaozhao pointed to the boy who was still diligently gnawing on a chicken leg, "He was grateful for my noble character and lofty integrity, and voluntarily followed me, willingly becoming my spirit pet to contribute to our sect."

Xiao Huang froze mid-gnawing motion as he ate his chicken leg. He looked up blankly, his oil-stained face screaming, "What nonsense are you spouting?" He was about to retort when Shen Zhaozhao gave him a stern look that silenced him. He then continued to eat with a pitiful expression.

Xiao Jingrui's smile finally softened completely, like snow melting in early spring, clear and even carrying a touch of comforting warmth.

"Junior Sister's chivalrous spirit is truly a blessing to our sect, but I'm very curious..."

Xiao Jingrui leaned slightly closer to Shen Zhaozhao, his clear voice slowly asking, "When you committed this extraordinary act and offended the Tianyan Sect, whose face did you use...?"

Shen Zhaozhao: "..."

Shen Zhaozhao's righteous expression froze instantly, her eyes darting nervously left and right: "Uh... Senior brother, let me explain..."

"Oh."

Xiao Jingrui's smile deepened, his smile so kind it could send someone to their death on the spot. "Do you believe I can poison you right now? I guarantee the process will be smooth and painless, the effect will be immediate, and I'll even scatter your ashes very evenly."

Shen Zhaozhao shrank her neck: "Second Senior Brother, I think the most urgent thing is for you to activate the mountain-protecting formation as soon as possible. What if that petty Yun Wan'er goes back and complains, and the Tianyan Sect brings people to attack our door?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingrui let out a very short, disdainful sneer.

He straightened up, his moon-white robe sleeves fluttering even without wind, and an invisible, terrifying pressure belonging to the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage instantly spread out.

"At the beginning of the year, the Tianyan Sect attacked those evil cultivators. Several old guys were almost beaten to a pulp. Now they are all lying in their caves in seclusion. It will take them at least three to five years to recover."

"As for those few direct disciples who are still able to cause trouble outside?"

Xiao Jingrui wore a gentle, fake smile, but his eyes swept over Shen Zhaozhao with a chilling gaze. "Tying them together isn't enough to make me take them seriously."

Moreover, if he can't handle it himself, he can drag the sect leader, who is lying in the cave, out to take the blame.

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhaozhao's beautiful almond-shaped eyes lit up instantly.

If that's the case, then if she goes out to swindle and cheat people with her second senior brother's handsome face... no, I mean, to do chivalrous deeds and collect spirit stones, wouldn't she be able to do so without having to worry about anything?

Disguise Elixir!

She still has stock in her storage bag!

Shen Zhaozhao's mind was racing with calculations. She tried her best to maintain a well-behaved expression that said, "Senior brother is right, senior brother is really amazing." But secretly, she was covering her storage bag with her hand, determined to protect her precious treasure that would help her get rich and make her a part of the world, even if it meant her death.

However, just as her fingertips touched the storage bag, Xiao Jingrui's long, beautiful, and well-defined hand simply beckoned lightly to the air.

Shen Zhaozhao felt a sudden lightness in her arms, as if her storage bag had suddenly grown wings and landed steadily in Xiao Jingrui's palm.

"!!!"

Shen Zhaozhao's docile expression instantly crumbled as she watched Xiao Jingrui move with the elegance of a flower plucker, his two fingers precisely reaching into his storage bag and pulling out the small jade bottle containing the disguise pill.

He didn't even glance at Shen Zhaozhao; with a slight flick of his finger, the small jade bottle vanished from his sleeve as if it had never existed.

Then, this person slowly and deliberately tossed the empty storage bag back to Shen Zhaozhao, who was standing on the spot in the petrochemical area, as if throwing away trash.

Shen Zhaozhao subconsciously caught the storage bag that she had lost but had regained, but which had long since lost its soul. She then looked up at her second senior brother's gentle and refined face, which seemed to be asking, "Is there anything else, junior sister?"

A surge of immense grief and indignation rushed to the top of my head: "Eek!" TAT!

Before we knew it, it was time for the newcomer competition.

This competition for new talents is a major event in the cultivation world of Lingzhou.

Elders from all the top sects will be present, partly to support their newly recruited disciples, and partly to see if they can find a few promising talents who have ended up in smaller sects or as independent cultivators.

Of course, the most eye-catching thing is the reward for the winner of this competition—a top-grade Foundation Establishment Breakthrough Pill.

In the original book, Yun Wan'er, under Gu Xuanchen's protection, pretended to be cool and slapped his face all the way, and finally "reluctantly" acquired this treasure, which provided great help for her breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage later.

However, now that Yun Wan'er no longer has Shen Zhaozhao's immortal bones as a catalyst, nor the demon core of her newly formed Golden Core as fuel, she is still stuck at the bottleneck of the ninth level of Qi Refining, unable to break through the Foundation Establishment barrier no matter what.

And Shen Zhaozhao.

Looking at the ball of spiritual energy that had gathered in her palm, which was clearly much more solid and substantial than it had been a month ago, she fell into deep self-doubt.

No, this is already the second stage of Foundation Establishment?

She remembered that the original owner of this body had been stuck at the first level of Foundation Establishment for almost half a year, while she herself had only been here for a little over a month. Every day, besides figuring out how to make money and how to trick Xiao Huang into working honestly, she was forced to cultivate by the sect's facilities—

The floor paved with warm jade felt so that when you stepped on it, the spiritual energy would be drawn straight into your meridians.

The ebony bedroom exudes a calming and tranquil atmosphere at all times.

The entire sect, from top to bottom, every flower, every tree, every brick, and every stone, focuses on eliminating distractions and absorbing spiritual energy as much as possible, even if it doesn't kill them!

It was as if the entire mountaintop was a giant, berserk spirit-gathering array.

No wonder even though the second senior brother was driven to the brink of explosion by the sect leader's unreasonable demands every day, he still stuck to his post as the "Supreme Handsome Man Sect," a position that sounded like it required a lot of courage.

This is no sect.

This is clearly a super-large, all-day, powerful spirit-gathering cheat!

Shen Zhaozhao suddenly felt that her sect leader, who seemed to have a screw loose and was suspected of having a bit of paranoia, wasn't so useless after all.

Once he comes out of seclusion, I'll be less likely to curse him.

However, Shen Zhaozhao is unaware that when Xie Linyuan finally emerges from seclusion, she will be the one who hurls the most insults.