Shi Xuan nodded, still pondering the results of the poison pill experiment. This demonic ape was enormous and highly cultivated; even with five poison pills thrown into its mouth, plus the physical damage from her Golden Core stage senior brother, it still took a long time to die. It seemed that the poison pills had significant limitations, becoming less effective against those with higher cultivation levels.

"Let's go back and roast guinea pigs!" He got up from the ground, then remembered something and turned back to collect the corpse of the Fiery Demon Ape.

This level-five demon beast, if you disassemble its parts, you can sell them for a lot of money.

The group returned along the same route, collecting many low-grade spiritual herbs along the way. It was a very fruitful trip.

Zhao Cai must have heard that we were going back to eat barbecue, because it hurriedly flew back, with two seeds of some unknown plant in its little paws.

Shi Xuan placed its seed in a designated spot in its storage bracelet, which contained a variety of items it had brought back from its adventures. From a small seed to a large piece of wood, Shi Xuan figured it was too small to carry anything large now. But once it grew bigger and its wings were stronger, who knew how much "treasure" it would bring back?

On this day, the aroma wafting from the courtyard of the Lianfeng Sword Sect distracted disciples from other sects who were busy refining pills. They came out to look around and discovered that the Lianfeng Sword Sect members were having a group barbecue, which only made them more annoyed.

They all advanced in the first round, which greatly dampened the confidence of others. Now they're having a barbecue here, making others see the meat but not be able to eat it. It's infuriating!

Shi Xuan took the roasted guinea pig meat to the sect leader to curry favor.

"Sect Master, please try this! This is roasted guinea pig meat that I hunted and cooked especially for you. It's incredibly delicious!"

"Really?" Shi Mingxiu glanced at her, as if he hadn't heard the noisy commotion in the courtyard. She was just giving him some food, and she even prepared it especially for him, without even considering whether he believed her or not.

Shi Xuan remained unmoved; whether she believed it or not, she accepted the sect leader's belief and happily handed the plate to Shi Mingxiu.

Shi Mingxiu said, "Your cultivation has advanced two minor levels, not bad. Tell me, what trouble have you gotten into this time? Why are you here to offer your help for no reason?"

Shi Xuan feigned shock, revealing an incredulous expression, and said, "This disciple is not the kind of person who amuses others. Sect Master, you must have confused this disciple with Second Senior Brother."

Is this implying that he's getting old and his eyesight is failing, that he can't even tell the difference between men and women? Shi Mingxiu twitched his lips almost imperceptibly and said, "Then I'll assume you're alright. Don't come looking for me these next couple of days."

Shi Xuan stood tall and said, "Of course I'm fine! Do you think I'm the kind of person who only tries to curry favor with the sect leader when I need something?!"

Shi Mingxiu thought to himself: You are.

Sure enough, Shi Xuan changed the subject and frowned, saying, "Nothing much is wrong, but when the disciples were hunting monsters together, they ran into Fan Mingzhu and her senior brother from the Divine Cauldron Sect, and they bullied us terribly!"

I knew that her saying "it's nothing" wasn't really true, and sure enough, it was.

"Oh? She and her senior brother are at the Qi Refining stage and Foundation Establishment stage respectively, and they think they can bully you? Is Lu Wenxing's Golden Core stage just for show?"

"Sect Master, you may not know this, but their bullying of us is not limited to physical force, but also to our mental well-being!"

"Tell me about it," Shi Mingxiu thought to himself, "It's really not easy to get a piece of your flesh."

"We encountered them deep in the forest. The two of them were recklessly fighting a fiery ape, trying to steal the ape's guardian spirit plant, the Fiery Red Star. Then, unable to defeat the ape, they threw the Fiery Red Star at the disciple, which caused the ape to chase and attack the disciple relentlessly!"

"Is this true?" Shi Mingxiu narrowed his eyes. If it was true, their actions were indeed very unethical.

"Absolutely true!" Shi Xuan said decisively, "My second senior brother and I used all our strength to kill that demonic ape, and guess what happened?"

Shih Ming-hsiu didn't want to guess.

Shi Xuan didn't care and continued, "But they turned around and accused us, insisting that the disciples had stolen her spiritual plants and demanding the Fiery Red Star from us. Of course, we refused. She framed us first, and we killed the demon ape afterward. Why should we hand over our spoils of war?"

"The Divine Cauldron Sect is truly regressing." Shi Mingxiu sneered, "So hunting the Fiery Demon Ape is your opportunity for advancement?"

Shi Xuan nodded in agreement, and then went on to complain.

"Then Fan Mingzhu took advantage of her power and bullied others, insisting that she would report this to her father after returning, and have him lead the disciples of the Divine Cauldron Sect to attack our Lianfeng Sword Sect, ordering us to hand over the spiritual plant and the person who stole it! Sect Master, this is blatant discrimination against us! Where does this leave our Lianfeng Sword Sect!"

Shi Xuan delivered this embellished story with great enthusiasm and animated gestures, regardless of the consequences, he just wanted to file the lawsuit first.

Whether Fan Mingzhu said this or not, Shi Mingxiu had no way of knowing, but Fan Hongde probably wouldn't have the guts to lead people to confront their Lianfeng Sword Sect. For alchemists to attack the Sword Sect's gates—did they have a death wish?

Shi Xuan's original intention was simply to report it.

Fan Mingzhu cares so much about this Fiery Red Star. Now that she's gone back, who knows what she'll say to her father? If that old man comes looking for trouble again, she's afraid the sect leader won't know what really happened. That's all.

Now that the lawsuit was over, she chuckled and took her leave.

"Then please continue eating, Sect Master. I'll be going now!" Shi Xuan said, tossing her curly hair and happily leaving, leaving the Sect Master there silently churning his anger—my meat's all cold, and you're happily going out to eat something hot...

*

The second round of the competition is just one day away. Perhaps the men in black outside the market that day served as a warning, because the sect leader ordered the disciples to stay in the courtyard and prepare for the second round of the competition tomorrow, and not to go out and wander around unless necessary.

Shi Xuan didn't care. She was currently addicted to refining poison pills, so spending a whole day refining them in the room was no big deal. At worst, she would just take a painkiller pill.

The only one who was unhappy was Lu Wenxing.

Everyone else was busy refining elixirs, but he was the only one who was bored out of his mind. He just sat by Shi Xuan's alchemy furnace, going around in circles like a donkey pulling a millstone.

Shi Xuan was still refining the black poison pill that she had tested yesterday. She hadn't named it yet, but when she saw Lu Wenxing wandering around in front of her, she simply named the poison pill "Grinding Pill".

After refining two batches of millstone pills, Shi Xuan stood up to stretch his limbs. Thinking that his second senior brother was so bored, he thought he might as well spar with him in swordsmanship.

Before they even reached their second senior brother, something suddenly fell from the sky, flying into the courtyard like a meteor and crashing down between them with a loud bang, creating a large crater in the yard.

The shattered floor tiles flew everywhere, nearly hitting the two men in the face.

The two siblings quickly retreated a few steps to avoid the attack that came from the sky.