Chapter 6
"Back then, we accepted a mission at the Mission Hall and obtained two ordinary Blood Spirit Grasses."
Herbs are graded into six levels: low-grade, common, medium-grade, high-grade, top-grade, and divine grade.
Liu Qingqing explained in detail: "For us, even ordinary Blood Spirit Grass was extremely rare. It was crucial for our breakthrough, as we were only at the Foundation Establishment stage at the time, and we were all seriously injured in that mission."
"Ruotong was more talented than me. She was already at the sixth stage of Foundation Establishment, while I was at the fifth stage. She took the Blood Spirit Grass without hesitation, and her body recovered two days later, and she advanced to the eighth stage of Foundation Establishment."
"I spent a whole month recuperating from my injuries, just so I could take the Blood Spirit Grass to help me break through after reaching the ninth stage of Foundation Establishment."
"Three months later, we both reached the ninth stage of Foundation Establishment. The reason she didn't break through was that she didn't put any effort into cultivation. She spent all her time trying to find more spiritual herbs to take shortcuts. I tried to persuade her, but she wouldn't listen."
Liu Ruotong is quite cute and charming, and she has a sweet tongue in front of others. She is also a typical "green tea" girl, and it is likely that many of her fellow disciples have been deceived by her.
Wen Wan seemed to be deep in thought, waiting for Liu Qingqing to continue.
"Then came the news that the sect leader was going to take on disciples, the younger and more talented the better. Ruotong was a year younger than me, and there was no doubt that her talent was higher than mine. I never thought of competing with her. I just wanted to go home to see my father. At that time, I was preparing to take the Blood Spirit Grass to break through, but I found that the Blood Spirit Grass was gone."
"I only found out the next day that Liu Ruotong had stolen my Blood Spirit Grass and had already broken through to the Golden Core stage."
"Then, the sect leader suddenly went into seclusion, and she became the sect leader's designated disciple. Being young, she was pampered by her senior brothers and sisters. When I questioned her about why she took my Blood Spirit Grass, she insisted that it was a gift from me."
Liu Qingqing gave a bitter smile. Everyone in the sect knew how good she was to this younger sister, so they believed her lies. But the Blood Spirit Herb had already been allocated to each person, and for her to take it without asking was tantamount to stealing.
"At that time, she pitifully said in front of everyone: 'Sister, you were the one who said you would give me the Blood Spirit Grass. Now that I have broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage and become the sect leader's chosen disciple, do you regret it?'"
"After saying that, she pitifully tugged at the sleeve of the senior brother next to her, saying that she didn't want to be the sect leader's disciple, and that she shouldn't have taken the position that belonged to me and made me unhappy."
"I've earned a reputation for being jealous. To get revenge for her, my senior brother gave me the Forget-Back Grass, which has prevented me from breaking through to the next level. Meanwhile, she's already at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, but she's never gone home to see her father even once."
After hearing Wenwan's story, she expressed sympathy for her plight. Some people are born bad, and she was worried that the other person would eventually go astray. It turns out that she was already a bad person to begin with.
Then she won't hesitate to retaliate.
I don't even know what kind of spiritual root I have, or whether I have any talent.
Although her superpowers could be further improved, she had only thought of fleeing when she faced Chu Yun, who was in the Nascent Soul stage. Relying solely on her superpowers, in this world, she could at most fight to a draw with a cultivator in the Spirit Division stage.
The strongest female cultivator right now is only at the Nascent Soul stage. Even at the peak of her abilities, she can only fight to a draw with someone at the Nascent Soul stage. It's far from enough. She needs to become even stronger.
"Sister Qingqing, since she's so distorting the truth, haven't you thought about clearing your name?"
She would deal with cultivation later; she wasn't the type to be weak and suffer in silence when bullied.
She doesn't buy into the idea that "a gentleman takes revenge even after ten years." She believes in settling scores as soon as possible, otherwise she'll only suffer in silence.
"You believe me?" Liu Qingqing was taken aback. "Aren't you afraid I'm just making this up?"
"It's alright."
Wen Wan was willing to believe her. If she found out it was all fabricated, she could simply "repay" her properly. Right now, she wanted to get revenge for being kidnapped, and she really wanted to see that little green tea Liu Ruotong jump up and down in anger.
In Liu Qingqing's eyes, she was very moved. Wen Wan was the first person who was willing to believe her. She answered the question from before: "I have been looking for an opportunity, but I have no evidence. Everyone in the sect protects her and avoids me like the plague."
"So you're just going to follow her like this? Doesn't anyone notice?" This is what Wen Wan finds puzzling.
Liu Qingqing's cultivation level is not high. Since the people of the sect are protecting Liu Ruotong, how could they not discover Liu Qingqing's presence?
Wen Wan didn't say anything, and Liu Qingqing hadn't thought of this either. She said somewhat uncertainly, "Perhaps...they found out? But they're just too lazy to bother with me?"
Wen Wan didn't deny it, and didn't bring up the topic again. Then, remembering something, she asked, "Sister Qingqing, how long does the sect leader usually go into seclusion? Do you know when he comes out?"
Liu Qingqing didn't know the answer to this question either, after all, she was just a nobody in the sect who was disliked by everyone.
It seems I'll have to ask my senior sister later.
One afternoon, with nothing else to do, Liu Qingqing took Wen Wan for a walk around to learn what each place in the sect was for.
The most commonly used ones are Mission Hall and Wanbaozhai.
The Mission Hall is where disciples receive missions to earn spirit stones or spirit treasures; the Treasure Pavilion is where disciples buy things, including spirit treasures, weapons, cultivation techniques, and most importantly, mortal ingredients, though they are expensive, so it's better to hunt a few pheasants in the back mountain.
"By the way, Sister Qingqing, where is Mingxiang Pavilion?" Wen Wan remembered that Mingxiang Pavilion was the canteen, and only there could she find food. She would come here often in the future, and she would see if her senior sister could help her find a place to stay closer to home.
"Mingxiang Pavilion is located in a relatively remote area on the west side, because few people come and go, and the westernmost part is a forbidden area that cannot be entered."
Secluded = quiet, which she liked. She then asked her senior sister to find her a good place to live in the west.
After a day of sightseeing, the two arrived at Mingxiang Pavilion in the afternoon. Wenwan's stomach, which had never fasted, was already rumbling.
Wen Wan looked at her awkwardly, which amused Liu Qingqing: "Come on, I'll take you to ask if there's anything else good to eat."
The two walked past the Mingxiang Pavilion and into the backyard. Under a towering tree, amidst lush greenery, sat a rocking chair. One person lay on it, casually fanning himself with a palm leaf fan, comfortably squinting his eyes and enjoying the pleasant moment.
"Uncle Zhong, is there anything else good to eat?" Liu Qingqing shouted loudly.
The person in the rocking chair paused, put down their fan, and looked over: "Oh, it's Xiaoqing."
A slightly overweight middle-aged man sat up from the rocking chair, smiling broadly, looking honest and kind: "You brought a new partner today?"
Then he looked at Wen Wan and said, "Oh, this little one hasn't even started cultivating yet, but she has extraordinary talent and is destined for greatness!"
Oh dear, why is someone showering me with compliments right off the bat? The little voice in Wen Wan's mind covered her face in embarrassment.
“Yes, Uncle Zhong, this is Wen Wan. She just came up the mountain today and is just an ordinary person, not a cultivator yet, so she hasn’t started fasting. I brought her here to find something to eat,” Liu Qingqing explained.
"No problem, no problem." Uncle Zhong casually got up, idly fanning himself with a palm leaf fan as he walked towards Mingxiang Pavilion, muttering to himself, "Ordinary people, these ordinary people are not to be underestimated."
Liu Qingqing didn't hear clearly, but Wen Wan did.
"Sister Qingqing, is Uncle Zhong the manager of Mingxiang Pavilion?" Wen Wan asked.
“That’s right.” Liu Qingqing nodded: “Most cultivators choose to abstain from grains in order to improve their cultivation, and they won’t come here unless necessary. Therefore, Mingxiang Pavilion is not popular within the sect, and Uncle Zhong rarely comes and goes within the sect.”
The sect members all rejected her, but Uncle Zhong didn't care what happened in the sect and wouldn't interfere. For her, this place was the last pure land.
A short while later, Uncle Zhong came out carrying two large meat buns and personally handed them to Wen Wan. She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but she felt that the other party had touched her intentionally or unintentionally.
Oh well, it's not like I'll lose anything. Maybe they just see something special about me and want to latch onto me in the future, hehehe.
Wenwan happily munched on a fragrant meat bun, lost in thought.
"Let's go, I'll take you to see the Spirit Beast Garden."
After saying goodbye to Uncle Zhong, the two arrived at the Spirit Beast Garden, where Wenwan looked at the various spirit beasts with great curiosity.
Two-headed snakes, colorful birds, and giant white rabbits many times larger than ordinary rabbits, hopping around and looking incredibly tender... no, they look very agile, each kick taking down a naughty child.
"Sister Qingqing, do all these spirit beasts have owners?"
If not, could she secretly take a few with her?
“Some do, some don’t,” Liu Qingqing said. “Some spirit beasts are injured and rescued and placed in the spirit beast garden to recover. Once they are healed, they leave on their own. Others choose to stay. If a spirit beast master in the sect chooses them, they will form a contract if both parties agree.”
Wenwan nodded as if she understood, and then she saw a bird fly up to a high branch, lower its noble head and carefully groom its feathers. Its colorful tail feathers were particularly radiant in the sunlight.
"It's a very beautiful bird," Wenwan thought to herself.
"What are you looking at, you country bumpkin?"
Hmm? Did the bird talk?
The two looked in the direction of the sound.
Oh dear, what a small world!
Behind Liu Ruotong was a group of five people, men and women. It was clear that there were two sword cultivators beside her, and the one who spoke was the woman next to her, whose cultivation level was currently unknown.
"Senior Sister Zhang, don't talk like that. My sister just wanted to bring her new friend to get to know her." Liu Ruotong tried to comfort her, but secretly she wished the two would fight.
"Junior Sister, you shouldn't speak up for them anymore. They've already bullied you like that." The person called Senior Sister Zhang was exasperated, fearing that Liu Ruotong would be bullied by them again.
When did we bully her?
Liu Qingqing didn't want to argue with them and was about to leave with Wen Wan when she heard these words, which made her furious.
It was clearly Liu Ruotong who stole her spiritual herb, twisted the truth to frame her, and tied Wen Wan to the pillar. Yet she became the victim?
Senior Sister Zhang angrily pulled Liu Ruotong in front of her, showing her the still-present red mark on her cheek: "Isn't this the result of your actions?"
"Senior Sister Zhang, don't be like this, it's all in the past." Liu Ruotong quickly covered her face, as if she had suffered a great injustice, yet she was magnanimous and didn't care, afraid that the others would be implicated for trying to seek justice for her.
After he finished speaking, the others looked at the two of them even more angrily.
Liu Qingqing was shocked by Liu Ruotong's shamelessness. This was the person she had treated like a sister since childhood. She and her father were truly blind.
Wen Wan immediately understood what was going on. Liu Ruotong was afraid that she would complain, so she slapped herself to make herself the victim first. Then, when she met her fellow disciples, they opened their mouths and she became the villain, just like Liu Qingqing.
Tsk tsk tsk, that's really ruthless, and quite cunning.
"Liu Qingqing!" Wen Wan called out to her, her voice loud and solemn: "If you've learned it well, I'll teach you once today!"
This was the first time Wen Wan had called her by her full name. Before she could react, Wen Wan stepped forward and pulled Liu Ruotong out. Before the others could react and stop her, Wen Wan slapped Liu Ruotong across the face.
The tiny handprint was bright and vivid.
She was very satisfied with this work.
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