Shu Yuanguan couldn't swallow this insult! He wished he could run to the sect leader right now and demand an explanation!

“Peak Master,” Lu Shan thought he also wanted to meet this part-time genius alchemist, and added, “She will come again. She said she will come to our Hundred Herbs Peak to refine pills often this month.”

Shu Yuanguan calmed himself down, nodded, and decided to watch her alchemy process with his own eyes before making a decision.

However, Shi Xuan did not come the next day. She only sent a message talisman to tell Lu Shan not to wait for her, and Shu Yuanguan naturally missed her.

After the sect's opening ceremony for accepting disciples, a dust-bathing ceremony is held for all new disciples. Shi Xuan entered the sect alone, and no one told her about it separately, so she only received the last-minute notice on the morning of the third day when it was time to gather.

Behind the Lianfeng Sword Sect lies a spiritual spring that, when bathed in, has the effect of cleansing the marrow and rejuvenating the body. Every year, newly initiated disciples undergo this bath; some experience significant improvements, while others see no effect whatsoever.

The new disciples of Biefeng all gathered together before going, but Fuyufeng only accepted Shi Xuan as its sole disciple. As a sole disciple, Shi Xuan also needed to be respected, so three senior brothers and sisters teamed up to escort him to the gathering place.

Throughout the journey, Lu Wenxing kept giving Shi Xuan winks and flirtatious glances, but Shi Xuan kept her eyes straight ahead. She interpreted this as a possible aftereffect of the green cakes her second senior brother had eaten yesterday.

Lu Wenxing was furious. He thought of what Tang Nong had said before leaving yesterday, that she would cook for him again next time, and he felt utterly hopeless.

He looked at Shi Xuan with accusatory eyes, but the other party did not react at all.

He was so angry that he even resorted to telepathic communication: "Junior Sister, when did I ever say that Third Brother's spiritual food was delicious! You're framing me!"

Shi Xuan didn't react at all. What secret communication? As a low-level cultivator at the first stage of Qi Refining, she couldn't hear the communication of a Golden Core expert.

Her "no reaction" was so real that Lu Wenxing began to doubt himself. Was it because he hadn't mastered his secret communication technique? Or was it because his junior sister's constitution was special and she couldn't receive it? Cultivating immortality is really too difficult!

The disciples of the Lianfeng Sword Sect wear gray robes for outer disciples, brown robes for inner disciples, and black robes for those who are personally trained. Therefore, the arrival of Shi Xuan and his group of four was quite eye-catching—among the crowd of gray and brown-clad people, the four men in black stood out, causing the new disciples to whisper among themselves.

"Did we have four personal disciples this year? I've never heard of that."

"I know, she only accepted one, that little curly-haired girl. The other three were probably given to her by her senior brothers and sisters from Fuyu Peak."

"Pshaw, this isn't like a child going to school, where they need to be picked up and dropped off..."

...

Shi Xuan seemed oblivious and led the three guardians to the edge of the group.

The assembly point was a small square closest to the back mountain, where more than fifty disciples stood in groups according to their mountain peaks. When the appointed time arrived, Elder Li from the main peak and Elder Jia from the council hall opened the back mountain's protective barrier and led the new disciples into the mountain.

The trio from Fuyu Peak watched their junior sister follow the group into the mountains, their expressions showing a hint of reluctance.

Before leaving, Lu Wenxing gave a loud farewell message: "Junior sister, you'd better make the most of this opportunity to take a bath!"

This drew the attention of disciples from other sects, who turned to look at him, some even covering their mouths and chuckling. Where did this personal disciple come from, describing such a solemn ritual as taking a bath?

Even the elders couldn't help but turn around and glare at him.

Shih-hsuan said, "Even though we were wearing the same clothes, can I say I don't know him...?"

After walking for about the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn, a small mountain valley appeared before them. Occasionally, a faint blue halo could be seen rising from the ground, which was the light emitted when the spirit-gathering array was in operation.

A portion of the spiritual spring water was drawn out, diluted, and placed into small, circular pools, which were named the Spirit Refining Pools. Each disciple occupied one pool.

The disciples who entered couldn't help but recall what their senior brother had said earlier: taking a bath. This setup certainly looked like taking a bath. Thinking of this, their expressions became somewhat strange.

According to the order arranged by the elders, the outer disciples were assigned to the pools at the edges first, while the inner disciples were assigned to the pools further in—because the innermost pools had a higher concentration of spiritual spring water.

As a direct disciple, Shi Xuan should be positioned further inside than the inner sect.

To her surprise, Elder Li led her past all the pools without letting her choose, and instead led her through the passage at the end of this Spirit Tempering Pool, turning a corner to arrive at a "private room".

This private room contains a large pool, about five times the size of the outer pool, and its shape is quite different from the outside pool.

Elder Li said, "You'll be right here. This is the Spirit Tempering Pool that the Sect Master specially designed for you."

Tailor-made? Shi Xuan's gaze was fixed on the pool water, and the corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

Everyone else's pools were crystal clear, but hers had a dark red hue and was bubbling away. Anyone who didn't know better would think it was some kind of evil blood pool.

"The sect leader has added some other good things to your soup, so you can just stay here and soak."

Elder Li had also heard about it. This was a useless person with five spiritual roots, born with a sword bone. No one knew how she had developed such a contradictory physique. No one knew how far she could go in the end. Perhaps this step of spirit tempering could give us a clue. The pool was full of good stuff, and the sect was willing to invest heavily.

After making arrangements for his disciples, Elder Li left the mountain valley and stood guard at the entrance for them.

Soaking in the Spirit Tempering Pool requires no cultivation level. The spiritual liquid in the pool automatically seeps into the body, cleansing the meridians, strengthening the spiritual root, and removing accumulated impurities. However, the pool is only effective the first time one soaks in it, and the improvement in aptitude is greater in the early stages of cultivation.

Zhao Cai entered the "blood pool" even faster than Shi Xuan. It swooped down and sank to the bottom, disappearing without a trace. Shi Xuan took a deep breath and jumped in after it.

She was initially hesitant. If the Spirit Tempering Pool's effect was to strengthen meridians and spiritual roots, she didn't know what would happen given the clash between her spiritual roots and meridians. But then she thought that if things got bad, she could just leave the pool quickly; she had to get in anyway.

Sure enough, as soon as he entered the pool, a sharp pain shot through him, and Shi Xuan's vision went black; he almost fainted.

She gritted her teeth and forced herself to sit against the pool wall, so she could jump out if things got really bad.

What Elder Li didn't tell her was that the spiritual spring water in the Spirit Refining Pool she was in was undiluted, hundreds of times more concentrated than the small pools outside. It was also filled with rare spiritual herbs that helped enhance the vitality of the five elemental roots, making the water in this pool incredibly precious.

The spiritual liquid and medicinal liquid seeped into her body through the pores of her entire body. The five spiritual roots that were originally weak and dormant in her body began to become active due to the stimulation of the medicine. Shi Xuan's pulling sensation in her body suddenly increased, and she suffered excruciating pain all over her body.

This spiritual root is rebelling! Shi Xuan took a pain-relieving pill from his bracelet and swallowed it, only then was he able to spare some energy to examine his body internally.