When She Jinxing saw the girl and the kitten in the painting, he almost grabbed them on the spot. Fortunately, he saw Shang Lin sitting calmly out of the corner of his eye, so he held back. He was about to ask, "Sect Master, what's going on?"

Hu Tangdi then waved her peach blossom fan and asked Shang Lin with great charm, "Sect Master, who is this little girl? She looks a bit like Qiu Niang, no, more alluring than Qiu Niang, and more like me. She's the kind of beauty that stands between the two of us?"

Shang Lin glanced at Hu Tangdi helplessly, really wanting to say, "You should go study acting. Why do you act better when there are outsiders around?"

However, Hu Tangdi was his most capable servant, so he patiently replied, "In the painting."

Huang Ying is now almost as immune to Hu Tangdi as Shang Lin is to her. She doesn't complain, but she rolls her eyes so hard they almost reach the sky. However, she feels that her assessment of the girl is very accurate.

Hu Tangdi remained unfazed, even managing to imbue a simple interjection with captivating charm.

Everyone in the Dragon Spirit Tower knows about that painting, but apart from Ji Xiaoyao and She Jinxing, none of them had ever seen the people and animals in the painting before. Now they have seen them all.

When Hu Tangdi and his group appeared, the kitten's fur stood on end, and it stood firmly in front of the girl.

Hu Tangdi immediately laughed and said, "You are indeed a protector, but how can someone so weak protect you? You might as well join our Yuntai Sect, so that you have a place where you can settle down. Our sect leader may be young and a bit sickly, but he is very powerful."

Shang Lin never expected that Hu Tangdi would start helping him take on disciples so soon. However, the two people opposite him were currently on guard, so he decided to wait and see. He then turned to Qiu Niang and asked, "Was the trip smooth this time?"

Qiu Niang glanced at the girl subconsciously, and Shang Lin hurriedly said, "It's alright, let's talk about our things and let them understand the affairs of our sect."

If they still don't know what's good for them, I wouldn't mind using force. Although my temperament has been tempered to a point of being quite mild now, that's only because they haven't crossed my bottom line; otherwise…

Hehe, he doesn't even know how crazy he can get. Otherwise, how could Yuntai Sect become the number one sect in the cultivation world?

However, Qiu Niang was particularly eager to ask, "How can the sect leader be so sure that they want to join us? Besides, their aura is quite different from ours."

But seeing Shang Lin's confident demeanor, Qiu Niang paused, immediately telling herself to trust the sect leader. So she spoke the truth, "We didn't earn as much money this time, which shows that medicinal herbs are still the most profitable."

Shang Lin agreed wholeheartedly, saying, "Medicinal herbs are precious everywhere, especially those that can save lives. However, we don't even have enough for our own use right now, so we can't sell any more."

Qiu Niang nodded, "However, there are many ways to make money outside, but we are too restricted and it is difficult for us to take advantage of them."

"It seems we need to recruit some humans as disciples, and they have to be humans who can face you honestly." Otherwise, the work will be difficult to carry out. But such humans are hard to find, Shang Lin thought with a headache.

Qiu Niang wanted to say, "That's really not easy, after all, there are very few people like you, Sect Leader."

But Huang Ying interrupted her, saying, "Then the sect leader's requirements are a bit too high. He's not afraid of us, and he wants to live in harmony with us like normal humans. That's almost impossible."

Shang Lin seemed completely unfazed, confidently saying, "It's okay, we'll take it slow, we'll meet them eventually."

Hu Tangdi wanted to say, "The sect leader has a really good attitude, but don't we need humans who can make money in front of others? Although we are making money now, it's slow."

However, with outsiders present, Hu Tangdi ultimately held back and quickly agreed with Shang Lin's words, "Sect Leader is right. Sect Leader has classes tomorrow, so please get some rest. As for these two, let's put them into the Dragon Spirit Tower for now..."

"No." Hu Tangdi was interrupted by the tower spirit before he could finish speaking. "They'll pollute the spiritual energy in the Dragon Spirit Tower."

Hu Tangdi was very puzzled, "Then haven't they been in the tower ever since they were brought back?"

Tarling told the truth, "The scroll is shattered."

Uh, okay!

Seeing this, the girl who had been silent all along suddenly said to Shang Lin, "If the sect leader can repair the scroll, we will seal ourselves inside the scroll and never come out again."

This was originally their ultimate goal, but they just hadn't been able to achieve it yet. As for joining any sect, they had no interest in it, because in their hearts, they could no longer trust any outsiders, and they had become too carefree over the years, not wanting to be bound by any rules or regulations or by anyone.

Shang Lin immediately looked at the tower spirit, "Where's the painting? How badly is it broken?"

The tower spirit did not answer, but floated to the wastebasket. With a wave of its hand, all the debris fell down and turned into ashes in no time, making it impossible to recognize its original form.

Shang Lin sighed and said, "I'll draw another one, but I don't have much time and I can't finish it in a short time. You should stay in the New Year picture for now."

The girl did not object, but the New Year picture was unhappy and immediately rolled up on its own. Everyone present was stunned. Shang Lin had no choice but to draw a sealing talisman, which consumed most of the spiritual power he had recently accumulated.

After putting the girl and the kitten into a talisman and then into the Dragon Spirit Tower, Shang Lin unfolded the New Year picture and looked at it for a while before saying, "In the end times of the human world, will gods still exist?"

The deities in the New Year picture show no response whatsoever, as if the automatic rolling up was just an illusion.

The tower spirit floated on Shang Lin's shoulder, watching intently just like him. After a long while, it finally said, "I didn't notice anything different. Was it just a coincidence?"

Shang Lin nodded, "Perhaps. After all, this New Year picture has been hanging in the house for three years, and it was moved here with us when we moved. Maybe the paper is worn out."

Others also looked over curiously. If it really was a divine manifestation, it would be quite an eye-opener. Unfortunately, no matter how they looked at it, the New Year picture was still just a New Year picture, without the slightest difference.

On the third day after the exams, Uncle Hat delivered the reward money to Shang Lin and Meng Zhe, and also presented banners to their school and class, leaving everyone stunned.

Even Shang Lin, a man of few words, was not spared. Most importantly, he hadn't even had a chance to talk to Meng Zhe about the donation, or rather, he hadn't figured out how to talk to her yet, and this whole thing had already happened in such a grand manner!

The principal reacted quickly, not only warmly welcoming Uncle Hat and accepting the banner, but also saying, "These two children are the best students in our school. Shang Lin even got first place in the grade in the midterm exam. I'll go to the Education Commission tomorrow to ask if they can get some extra points in the preliminary exam."