Elder Jia must feel extremely guilty for releasing the Tu family members after being persuaded by Elder Jia, which has led to such serious consequences.

It would be better to just agree to his request and let him contribute some of the spirit stones for the reconstruction; that would be easier for him.

Having just dealt with Elder Jia, a disciple from the main peak who was following behind him stepped forward. He handed over a storage bag and said to Shi Xuan, "Junior Sister Shi Xuan, this is redwood that the sect leader ordered me to deliver. The sect leader said it would be used for the reconstruction of the affordable shop."

Shi Xuan readily accepted the gift, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Please pass on a message for me, senior brother, that I will personally go to thank him after I return to the sect."

The senior brother paused for a moment, then replied, "Junior sister, the sect leader said that if you want to come and thank us in person, please tell him on your behalf: there is absolutely no need for her to come and thank us."

"Pfft," Shi Xuan could already picture Shi Mingxiu's flustered expression, his beard trembling. He was afraid that if Shi Xuan went there to plead poverty, he might pull some other trick...

The onlookers were unaware of the entanglement between the two. All they saw was that after such a small shop was burned down, a large group of disciples came to help her avenge her, and even the sect leader personally sent people to deliver materials, which showed how high Xuan's status was in the Lianfeng Sword Sect at this time.

They're not to be trifled with, really not to be trifled with at all.

They were already worried for the Nuojiang Tu family.

The cultivation world is a place where strength reigns supreme, and the strong can easily crush the weak. However, the principle of not bullying the young and poor is also something many people care about. This is why the most exceptionally talented newcomers are so highly respected.

Shi Xuan is the most outstanding disciple of this generation; her growth rate cannot be described as merely rapid.

The way the Tu family treats Shi Xuan today will certainly not benefit them when Shi Xuan grows up. We'll see how the Tu family reacts later: will they fight Shi Xuan to the bitter end, or will they strive to repair relations and rebuild goodwill?

Although Shi Mingxiu forbade Shi Xuan from going to see him, Shi Xuan still went to the sect leader's main hall when he returned to the sect.

Shi Mingxiu's head ached whenever he saw her.

"Isn't that rosewood enough for you? What else do you want? Just tell me." He sounded like he was ready to give up entirely.

It was rare for the sect leader to be so cooperative today, so Shi Xuan immediately seized the opportunity. He laughed and said, "Well, if we have wood, we must have stones, right? I think the stones on the small rocky hill next to the Spirit Tempering Pool in our back mountain are quite good. How about we give you a few?"

Shi Mingxiu couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. Everyone knew that the stone was good. Being so close to the Spirit Tempering Pool, it was bound to pick up some spiritual energy over time.

"Here, here, here," Shi Mingxiu waved his hand, trying to send her away so she wouldn't remember something and ask him for it again.

"Then thank you very much, Sect Master! You are so generous! I am truly proud to have such a Sect Master!"

The sect leader, already immune to her flattery, remained unmoved and remained on guard.

Shi Xuan straightened his clothes, his smile vanished, and he said seriously, "I came to see the sect leader this time for something else. I have doubts about the identities of the two people who came to me for treatment today, and I suspect that they are members of the [New Life] organization."

"Oh?" Shi Mingxiu asked, "What's your basis for that?"

“It’s just a suspicion,” Shi Xuan raised an eyebrow and replied, “I have a feeling he’s not a good person.”

Shi Mingxiu: ...

Shi Xuan continued, "Last time I auctioned off a spot for healing dantian in the black market for rogue cultivators. Those two people from the [Newcomer] organization participated in the bidding. Although they didn't succeed in the end, it shows that they needed such a spot. Perhaps they just didn't have enough spirit stones, so they didn't succeed."

Furthermore, I've asked disciples from other sects, and they all seem completely unfamiliar with these two. The two disciples themselves are also very wary; their master-servant relationship is contradicted by their father-son dynamic, which suggests something fishy is going on.

Shi Mingxiu pondered for a moment, then said, "So what do you want to do?"

"I want to try and bluff them. I would appreciate it if the sect leader could lend me some men to lie in ambush around the area, just in case. If they are not [newcomers], that's fine, but if they really are [newcomers], we must capture them immediately!"

Shi Mingxiu nodded in agreement and finalized the time and place with Shi Xuan.

Shi Xuan left satisfied, leaving Shi Mingxiu standing there feeling a bit strange, as if something was amiss...

Something's not right. Did Shi Xuan come to ask for the stone? No, wait, she came to ask for someone!

So, Shi Xuan originally came to discuss matters concerning the [New Life] organization, but he ended up giving her a batch of spiritual stones for nothing!

Thinking of this, Shi Mingxiu's heart ached even more. That cunning little monkey!

The next day, when the sun was high in the sky, Shi Xuan leisurely went out and arrived at the courtyard where the "father and son" were.

Na Luoyisheng was noticeably more polite than yesterday, welcoming Shi Xuan into the house and even pouring him tea.

Shi Xuan remained expressionless, not even glancing at the cup of tea he poured for her, and said directly: "Any more questions? If you want to find someone else, you can still leave now."

This arrogant attitude was even more pronounced than yesterday, but Luo Yisheng was not as angry as he was yesterday. Instead, he said with a hint of respect, "Master, what are you saying? Since we've come here, we have complete confidence in you."

Shi Xuan snorted coldly: "You didn't say that yesterday. Your attitude really changes so quickly."

“Please forgive me, Master,” Luo Yisheng said, “It was a matter of life and death that I was overly cautious yesterday.”

Shi Xuan picked up his teacup, but didn't drink. He just twirled it in his hand and said casually, "You new students are really hard to trust."

As soon as she finished speaking, Luo Yisheng's expression changed drastically, and even the surrounding spiritual energy tightened for a moment.

Then he probably realized he was being too nervous, so he immediately relaxed his expression and smiled, "Master, why do you say that? We are all natives, there is no such thing as newborns."

Shi Xuan threw the teacup down, and the covered bowl rolled onto the ground with a crisp sound.

“It’s boring,” she said, standing up and clapping her hands. “They don’t even have an open and honest attitude. They’re so cowardly and timid. No wonder they can only be a bunch of snakes and rats.”

Luo Yisheng's last glimmer of hope was gone. It seemed that Shi Xuan had already decided in his heart that they were members of the "New Life" group, so there was no point in pretending anymore.

Shi Xuan had killed their people, robbed their treasures, and was their mortal enemy. Yet, they could still speak to her calmly now, simply because they wanted to use her to repair Luo Qin's dantian.

But by this point, his identity had already been exposed, so what was there left to pretend for!

Luo Yisheng glanced at Luo Qin, then immediately raised his hand, and a large net formed of spiritual energy shot out from his hand, covering Shi Xuan's head.

At the same time, the pressure around him surged, and his cultivation level rose steadily. It turned out that his previous Golden Core realm was just a facade!

Shi Xuan had already prepared for him to make a move, and before he could act, he retreated and exited through the door behind him.

After stopping and looking at Luo Yisheng again, I found that I could no longer see through his cultivation level!