The ceremony concluded.
"What?!" Many people present exclaimed in disbelief. This was a disciple whom Yun Xingjun had taken the initiative to accept, and even a closed-door disciple. How could they refuse?
Yun Xingjun thought he had misheard, and said somewhat excitedly, "Say it again."
Nie Yi didn't want to become Qi Yuan's disciple because he remembered what Qi Yuan had said. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Sect Master, I admire Lord Huiguang. Please forgive my presumption."
Huiguangjun paused, and Yunxingjun's expression turned extremely ugly.
“Nie Yi, you have a brighter future following Yun Xingjun. Why don’t you become his disciple?” Hui Guangjun said awkwardly.
“No, I will only bow to you.” Nie Yi’s attitude was firm.
Yun Xingjun let out a cold snort, pretending to be nonchalant: "Fine, I won't force you. Huiguang, just take him as your disciple."
Huiguang smiled and said, "Alright. Nie Yi, from now on you will be my disciple. These are your gifts for becoming my disciple."
A large pile of spiritual herbs and magical treasures floated to Nie Yi's front. He first knelt on the ground and said, "Master, please accept my bow!" Only then did he stand up and accept them.
"Alright, my good disciple." Huiguang-jun smiled broadly.
Yun Xingjun then said, "Liu Huaxu, you..."
"Sect Master, I'm sorry! I also want to become Huiguang-jun's disciple!" Liu Huaxu shouted boldly.
Huiguang-kun: ?
Yun Xingjun:?
Everyone except Qi Yuan and Nie Yi: ?
After a long pause, Huiguang finally stammered, "Liu Huaxu, you..."
"I will only bow to you!" Liu Huaxu shouted, kneeling on the ground first.
"That's enough." Yun Xingjun's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible anger.
Huiguang coughed and said, "Alright. From today onwards, you are my disciple. Stop kneeling. These are my gifts to you as a disciple."
Another huge pile of magical treasures and artifacts, even more extravagant than Yun Xingjun's.
"Master, please accept me as your disciple!" Liu Huaxu buried her head even deeper.
Feeling he had lost face, Yun Xingjun asked in a deep voice, "Whom do the other five of you wish to become disciples of?"
Wu Rongqiu hurriedly said, "This disciple hopes to become Yun Xingjun's disciple!"
Jin Jin said, "Me too! Yun Xingjun has been someone I've admired since I was a child!"
"I'm fine with anything," Chen Jie said, scratching his head sheepishly.
Wen Lian and Shen Yangge spoke at the same time: "I want to become Yun Xingjun's disciple!"
Yun Xingjun shook his head: "I have always wanted to take on a disciple with a Heavenly Spiritual Root, but unfortunately I am not fortunate enough. Wu Rongqiu, step forward."
Wu Rongqiu, not understanding what was going on, obediently stepped forward and extended her hand. Yun Xingjun placed two fingers on her spiritual meridians, suddenly moved his body, and a glint of light flashed in his eyes.
"You are the most talented among the five. I have decided to take you as my disciple. Why don't you kneel down?" Yun Xingjun coughed twice.
Wu Rongqiu looked up in surprise and hurriedly knelt on the ground: "Master, please accept my bow!"
She kept her head on the ground for a long time, but Yun Xingjun didn't tell her to get up, which made her suspicious.
Qi Yuan stepped forward: "Junior Sister Wu, you can get up now. Master has a bad memory."
"Thank you, Senior Sister." Wu Rongqiu's legs were numb when she stood up after kneeling for so long.
Yun Xingjun spoke up: "Jin Yan, there are four more disciples. You can choose one yourself. I'm tired. I'll go upstairs to rest first. Have Han Yun inform me of the results."
Jin Yanjun ignored him and focused intently on the four people.
"By the way, there are three people inside with three spiritual roots. Senior brother, don't choose the wrong one," Yun Xingjun said meaningfully before leaving.
"Hmph, I don't care about qualifications, I only care about first impressions. I'll pick whichever one I like," Jin Yanjun said irritably.
He got up and walked over to the four men to examine them carefully.
The three who had just chosen Yun Xingjun blushed and paled in turns, and lowered their heads deeply.
Jin Yanjun laughed: "Haha, you don't need to worry about it. Having ambition is a good thing, I don't dislike ambitious people."
He looked at Chen Jie and grew to like him more and more, and couldn't help but ask, "What's your name? Why do you cultivate immortality?"
Chen Jie answered crisply, "My name is Chen Jie. I used to be a farmer. My family was poor. People in the village said that cultivating immortality would lead to a bright future, so I came to Yin Zhu's house."
"Not bad, not bad, I'll take you as my apprentice! We won't do those formalities, you can skip the apprenticeship ceremony!" Jin Yanjun said happily, as if he had received a great treasure.
“Uncle-Master…then we…” Wen Lian asked cautiously.
Jin Yanjun casually said, "Let's forget about the youngest. Who's the youngest among the three of you?"
“I’m twelve this year, so I’m the youngest,” Jin Jin said slowly, raising his hand.
"Then it's you. The other two can go back. I'll just take on two personal disciples," Jin Yanjun said nonchalantly.
Wen Lian and Shen Yange frowned, glanced back reluctantly, and then walked out of the main peak.
Qi Yuan walked to the center and solemnly announced: "The five disciples under the tutelage of Yun Xingjun, the sect leader of the Silver Bamboo Sect, are: Qi Yuan (eldest disciple), Ye Hanyun (second disciple), Ye Munian (third disciple), Xie Juxing (fourth disciple), and Wu Rongqiu (fifth disciple). The two disciples under the tutelage of Huiguangjun are: Nie Yi (eldest disciple) and Liu Huaxu (second disciple). The two disciples under the tutelage of Jinyanjun are: Chen Jie (eldest disciple) and Jin Jin (second disciple). Dismissed."
After she finished speaking, she turned and left, walking briskly as if she had something urgent to do.
Liu Huaxu said excitedly, "I've really become Huiguang-jun's disciple! I'm going to find Senior Sister Qi!"
Nie Yi reached out to stop her, and said seriously, "Don't go. I think Senior Sister has something important to do, so let's not disturb her."
“…Alright then.” Liu Huaxu suppressed her thoughts.
Wu Rongqiu was overjoyed. With Yun Xingjun's subordinates including the defector Yun Qing, all five of them possessed rare Heavenly Spiritual Roots. She, with only two Spiritual Roots, had actually been selected by sheer luck.
Of all the selected disciples, Jin Jin was probably the only one who felt inferior, knowing full well that he was just there to make up the numbers.
Jin Yanjun stood by and asked Chen Jie about his well-being without even asking his name.
Lu Wenxing sighed, "The selection process of the Silver Bamboo Sect is truly rigorous. If it were my sect, all of these disciples would be personally taught."
"This Lord Yunxing is an exception; he actually took on a disciple with dual spiritual roots... It's outrageous." Cheng Jin said thoughtfully.
*
"Mu Qinghuai, I have something very important to tell you. When can I go to the Demon Realm to find you?" Qi Yuan communicated through spirit communication.
“Anytime is fine. I also have a teleportation array. If you want to come, you'll have to find a reason to ask Ruan Yiyun. So how about I... pick you up tomorrow morning?” Mu Qinghuai’s tone sounded slightly nervous.
“Alright. How about we meet at Huai River Bridge? Also, could you… investigate that Ghost Lord?” Qi Yuan said slowly.
"Okay," the other end replied very quickly.
Qi Yuan ended the psychic session and stared straight at the ceiling.
Yun Xingjun must be from the Demon Realm, she thought.
Does Yun Qing's emphasis on Yun Xingjun mean that Yun Xingjun was already aware of the situation?
Why is he so interested in the affairs of Xingguijun, Jinyuejun, and Yinguijun?
"Senior Sister Qi, may I come in?" It was Ye Hanyun's voice.
"Come in," Qi Yuan said wearily.
"Senior Sister, I didn't come to ask what's in Master's room. I just wanted to ask if you would like to come to Lingguang Pavilion with me?" Ye Hanyun said.
"What? Is there news about Juxing?" Qi Yuan sat up, perking up.
Ye Hanyun said, "Probably. Madam Ling found something in her room."
“I’m going too.” She got up and opened the door. “There are a lot of things I don’t understand.”
Lingguang Pavilion.
It had been a long time since she'd been to this place. The last time was when an old man caused trouble; it was also the place where she and Mu Qinghuai had first met. Qi Yuan couldn't help but think.
The two of them went up to Lingguang Pavilion and found Madam Ling. Ye Hanyun asked, "Madam, what did you find?"
Madam Ling's face was ashen; she knew she couldn't hide it any longer, and stammered, "You... never mind. Go see for yourselves."
Their curiosity grew stronger, and Qi Yuan pushed open the door, finding the layout exactly the same as when she had been there before.
Qi Yuan found the pillow on the bed, lifted it up and looked at it, then froze on the spot.
Ye Hanyun asked, "What's wrong?"
"...It's nothing. What...what did you find?" she asked, trying to hide her panic.
"I haven't even looked through it yet, but I feel a really strange aura coming from under this cabinet." Ye Hanyun reached out and pulled open the bottom of the cabinet. "Holy crap, what's this...?"
Before Qi Yuan even got close, she sensed the same demonic energy as Mu Qinghuai, only much weaker.
She picked up the silver plaque, which was engraved with strange patterns that she couldn't understand at all. But... it seemed to be magic runes?
"This thing looks so much like something from the Demon Realm." Ye Hanyun looked at it again and again, but still couldn't figure it out.
"It's from the Demon Realm." Qi Yuan sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"I knew it... something's not right. Why does Juxing have the East of the Demon Realm? I get it. It must belong to that traitor Yun Qing, or he manipulated Juxing to obtain it, after all, he is from the Demon Realm!" Ye Hanyun suddenly realized and clapped her hands.
"Senior sister? Senior sister? What do you think?" he asked.
Qi Yuan snapped out of her daze and replied, "Yes. Very likely."
"Why don't we, the Silver Bamboo Sect, invade the Demon Realm? Master, lead the people from the Immortal Realm, and Senior Sister, you lead the ghosts and demons from the Ghost Realm, and then slaughter the Demon Realm, how about that?" He spoke with great enthusiasm.
"No way!!" Qi Yuan exclaimed excitedly.
Ye Hanyun frowned, puzzled, and asked, "Why not? Whether they are demons or demon cultivators, they all deserve to die! There isn't a single good person in the Demon Realm!"
"Why do you say there are no good people in the Demon Realm? Are you familiar with the demons or do you understand them? Don't be so absolute. Aren't there evil people in the cultivation world too?" she said seriously.
"I... but the demons attacked the Silver Bamboo Sect. Senior Sister, didn't you want us to fight back?" He hesitated for a moment before continuing to explain.
Qi Yuan's eyelids twitched: "Isn't it only natural for us to retaliate when they attack the Silver Bamboo Sect? There are also sects in the cultivation world that actively attack the Demon Realm, so how can that be called justice?" She replied without hesitation, "There are good people in the Demon Race, and there are bad people in the Human Race."
"I'm asking you, have I ever denied the existence of the Demon Realm before?" she asked.
"……No."
"I ask you, aside from fighting back against those demonic cultivators, have I ever had the Silver Bamboo Sect fight against any demons?"
"...No, not either."
"That's right." Qi Yuan nodded.
“…Okay, I understand.” Ye Hanyun couldn’t speak and lowered her head.
"Let's go. I'll be involved in the investigation, so you don't need to worry too much." Qi Yuan opened the door, and Ye Hanyun followed closely behind.
Near Lingguang Pavilion is Wanlu Sect, which did not participate in the sect competition this time. Qi Yuan suddenly stopped when she passed by here.
She seemed to have thought of something, turned around and said, "Wait for me here, I'll be back soon." Then she ran into Wanlu Sect.
Ye Hanyun stood still, completely baffled by her actions.
But a few days later, he found out what Qi Yuan had done.
A few days later, Wanlu Sect announced to the cultivation world that Gu Youtian, the direct disciple of an elder of the sect, had not colluded with the demon race and that the rumors of his defection were false.
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