After the sect competition, as is customary, inner disciples would lead newly initiated disciples on training trips.
Six months later, Li Chen returned and reached the fifth stage of Qi Refining, while the number of his fellow disciples decreased by two.
Since injuries and deaths are common during training, and Li Chen had the system to cover for him, the matter was dropped.
Di Xiu counted on his fingers expressionlessly, making a crackling sound like firecrackers.
He hated nothing more than being stabbed in the back.
...
The more people Li Chen killed, the more shrewd and worldly he became; all his former crudeness seemed to have vanished.
He was shrewd and charming, with a cheerful and generous personality. He got along well with everyone and often visited the other six peaks. The peak masters all appreciated this talented junior and would often give him things, which were treasures that could save his life in critical moments.
Xiao Lingchuan was the first among his peers to break through to the Spirit Master level, and naturally became the head disciple of the Taiyi Sect. Under the sect leader's instructions, he barely learned to care for his junior brothers and sisters.
He thought he and Li Chen had a mutual appreciation between geniuses, and with the latter's deliberate approach, they quickly became familiar with each other. He didn't show much warmth on his face, but judging from the array formations Li Chen was using, they were all his creations.
Seeing that Li Chen's fighting ability couldn't keep up with his cultivation level, he often suppressed his cultivation to spar with him. Then... the sect began to spread rumors that he was jealous of Li Chen and deliberately made things difficult for him and beat him up.
This news was obviously deliberately released by Li Chen, but he would then take the initiative to explain it, as if he were genuinely grateful, unless he was just being dramatic and hurling extremely vulgar insults.
After Li Chen became a Spirit Master, he began to enter the secret realm alone. He also got along well with Xiao Lingchuan. When the latter entered the secret realm, he followed him nine times out of ten, causing trouble, shifting blame, framing others, and seizing things by trickery. Most importantly, he plundered the luck of the Qi.
...
Six years ago, he met Shui Xian'er, the daughter of the sect leader of Xianle Sect, in a secret realm. He fell in love with her at first sight and explored the secret realm with her and three other disciples of Xianle Sect.
Most secret realms are left behind by powerful beings, containing various treasures, such as cultivation techniques, weapon manuals, elixirs, and rare and precious materials. In that particular secret realm, there was a thousand-year-old Moonheart Grass, which was an important material for refining the eighth-grade healing elixir, Emerald Spirit Liquid.
Shui Xian'er and her three companions came specifically for the Moon Heart Grass, because the sect leader of the Immortal Music Sect was seriously injured and on the verge of death, and needed it to be used in medicine to save him.
Li Chen also needed it, because he heard from Yan Linglong that the peak master of Biyun Peak wanted to try a new pill formula, but lacked a high-aged Moonheart Grass.
This precious treasure is guarded by a spirit beast, a mid-stage fifth-rank enchanting fox, equivalent to a grandmaster in spiritual cultivation. It already possesses low-level intelligence and is just waiting to break through to the late fifth-rank stage. After consuming the Moon Heart Grass, it will be able to fully awaken its intelligence and speak human language.
Unfortunately, before it could reach the later stages, the secret realm opened, and a bunch of spiritual cultivators poured in to rob the treasures it had guarded for hundreds of years.
At that time, Li Chen was only at the late stage of the Spirit Master realm, while Shui Xian'er was even weaker, at the early stage of the Spirit Master realm. The three disciples of the Immortal Music Sect who came with her were all at the late stage of the Spirit Master realm or even at the Great Perfection realm.
The five of them worked together to severely injure the guardian spirit beast. Li Chen, out of curiosity about whether he could plunder the fox spirit, snatched its head.
The plunder was successful, but the inner core of the Enchanting Fox is required to activate its innate ability, the Spirit Fox Illusion Technique.
So he naturally dissected the fox spirit and took its inner core.
The disciples of the Xianle Sect were unhappy that he had been slacking off the whole time, yet he still managed to kill and steal the inner cores. However, due to his status as an inner disciple of the Taiyi Sect, and with Shui Xian'er mediating between them, they could only grit their teeth and acquiesce.
Logically speaking, since the disciples of the Immortal Music Sect contributed manpower and effort, they should have received the lion's share. Now that Li Chen has already taken the Enchanting Fox's inner core, the Moon Heart Grass has nothing to do with him anymore.
But he dared to ask, "Xian'er, could I have this Moonheart Grass? It's the reason I came here."
Shui Xian'er held the freshly picked Moonheart Grass and carefully placed it into the box made of Cold Marrow for preservation. She was overjoyed that her father was finally saved, but she was stunned when she heard him say this. The other three disciples were also stunned.
The fact that the sect leader of the Xianle Sect was seriously injured was a secret of the sect, so Shui Xian'er and the others did not tell anyone the purpose of their trip. They had only known Li Chen for a few days, so naturally they would not tell him either.
But anyone with eyes could see that they were determined to kill the Enchanting Fox at all costs. When they saw Li Chen accept the Enchanting Fox's inner core, although they were unhappy, they were actually relieved.
To their surprise, the only two great gains from this trip were the Enchanting Fox's inner core and the Moon Heart Grass. Li Chen was so greedy that he wanted to take them all.
The Enchanting Fox Inner Core is a top-grade material comparable to the Moon Heart Grass. The disciples of the Immortal Music Sect mostly use musical instruments as weapons, so the Enchanting Fox Inner Core would be perfect for refining their own zither. However, they need the Moon Heart Grass more to save their sect leader, so even though they were reluctant, they gave it up. This is equivalent to exchanging the Enchanting Fox Inner Core for Li Chen to give up the Moon Heart Grass.
Shui Xian'er valued Li Chen's talent and knew that he would eventually gain a foothold in the Xuanling Continent. She wanted to befriend him, so she persuaded her senior brothers to reluctantly give him up. But that doesn't mean she would be a sucker and hand over even the Moon Heart Grass.
Shui Xian'er was extremely angry, but although the Xianle Sect was well-known on the mainland, it didn't even rank among the top four sects, let alone compare with the Taiyi Sect.
She blinked her bright, watery eyes, put on a pitiful look, and said tactfully, "Senior Brother Li, Xian'er also needs Moon Heart Grass. Since you have already obtained the Enchanting Fox's Inner Core, this Moon Heart Grass should belong to our Xianle Sect."
Li Chen frowned and said helplessly, "Xian'er, you can look for more, but I really need it. True Monarch Yuxiu needs it to refine pills."
“But Senior Brother Li, we really need it too. You’ve already taken the Enchanting Fox’s Inner Core… Xian’er is saying that we haven’t gained anything yet.”
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