Wang Shouren didn’t dare to persuade further at this point.

It seems that Mr. Qi is quite taken with Pei Lengxue indeed.

In Wang Shouren’s memory, Mr. Qi rarely showed interest in or liked any disciples.

On most occasions, he would even wear a sour expression when facing the Sect Master.

“Sir, this…” Wang Shouren hesitated for a moment and asked, “You seem to be quite fond of Pei Lengxue, right?”

“Yes.” Qi Baishi glanced at him and nodded, “Although Feng Yudie is a disciple of True Immortal Tai Xu, if she can’t provide answers like that, I’ll still have to deal with her. But the other girl is different. When I examined her meridians during the Heart-Questioning, I was astonished…”

“Astonished?”

“Cough— cough—” Qi Baishi coughed lightly and continued, “Anyway, her master must have tormented her quite a bit.”

“Tormented her?”

“Yes, that girl practices a method of harsh cultivation. She even used the bone-breaking technique during body refinement and endured the freezing water. She has also ingested parasites.”

Wang Shouren’s jaw practically dropped. “Ingested… parasites? Why?”

“Why?” Qi Baishi sighed with a pursed mouth. “It’s the same principle as with pills. The more pills you take, the less effective they become. The more parasites you ingest, the harder they are to affect her. In other words, those demonic cultivators’ parasites have no effect on her.”

…

“And that’s why that girl surpasses cultivators of the same realm in both willpower and Qi Sea. If she learns a better cultivation technique and encounters several opportunities, she’ll definitely be on par with or even surpass single-spirit root cultivators.”

Hearing this, Wang Shouren inexplicably thought of Ye Anping.

When he examined Ye Anping’s meridians at the Hundred Lotus Sect earlier, he was also taken aback, thinking that Ye Ao was harsh for making his son practice such a method.

But now, hearing Qi Baishi’s words, he suddenly felt that Ye Ao was truly unrelenting. Not only did he make his son endure such harsh cultivation, but he also made a girl accompany his son in this suffering.

“I see…”

Qi Baishi exhaled heavily and then continued, “But I’m still puzzled.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I can understand that Feng Yudie’s answers might have been taught to her by True Immortal Tai Xu, but the answers from Pei Lengxue, she claims were given by her senior brother.”

“Really? What’s wrong with that?”

“Then who taught her senior brother?”

“Her senior brother is undoubtedly taught by the Sect Master of Hundred Lotus Sect.”

“Ye Ao?” Qi Baishi rolled his eyes at him. “Impossible. I’ve met that young man before. He’s slow-witted and has mediocre spiritual roots. He’s incapable of teaching such things.”

At this point, he glanced at the piles of exam papers that were stacked like a mountain in the room. Suddenly, he stood up and said, “I’m going to the library to research the cultivation technique Pei Lengxue practices. It seems a bit peculiar to me.”

“Ah… alright.”

As Qi Baishi left the room, Wang Shouren didn’t think too much about it. He sat back down to continue grading papers. After grading a few more papers, he had a sudden realization.

Wait a minute!

Mr. Qi has left, and there are more than ten thousand papers in this room. Does that mean I have to grade all of them by myself…

In an instant, beads of sweat started forming on Wang Shouren’s forehead. But he had no choice; after all, he was just an assistant elder.

“Ah…”

Wang Shouren let out a sigh and reluctantly picked up the next exam paper to start grading.

…

The next morning.

While Feng Yudie was still lying in bed lazily, Pei Lengxue had already gotten up early. She was in the courtyard outside their dwelling, carefully practicing her “Shadowleaf Sword Art.”

With the swing of her wooden sword in hand, fallen leaves at her feet seemed to come to life, following the movements of her sword—rushing forward, rolling sideways, and finally thrusting fiercely toward the direction indicated by her sword tip.

Crack.

With a crisp sound, the bamboo she was holding was swiftly sliced into sections by the leaves summoned by her. The segments fell to the ground.

Pei Lengxue nodded in satisfaction. She quickly rested and gathered her breath, focusing her energy.

“I wonder what senior brother is doing right now. Didn’t he say he would come find me later?” She pouted, her cheeks puffing out in a complaining manner. “It’s the second day of the Sect’s selection, and he still hasn’t come. Seriously!!”

At this moment, a female voice came from behind her.

“Are you using this bamboo as a practice dummy?”

“Huh?!”

Pei Lengxue was startled, quickly turning to look behind her. There, she saw the same young lady from Profound Star Sect they had met yesterday.

Xiao Yunluo was dressed in a purple skirt and carried a seemingly expensive sword on her back. She leaned against the fence, as if she had been observing Pei Lengxue’s sword dance for a while.

“… …” Pei Lengxue stared at her blankly, then glanced at the ten or so sections of bamboo that she had chopped, and asked in a soft voice, “Is that not allowed?”

Xiao Yunluo approached and sighed. “This bamboo is a Cloud Thunder Bamboo sapling, and it’s worth two thousand spirit stones. It’s not even fully grown yet, and you chopped it.”

“Two… two thousand spirit stones?!!”

Hearing this figure, Pei Lengxue’s eyes widened instantly.

“This… this…” She looked at the bamboo, then at Xiao Yunluo, and then back at the bamboo. She lowered her head, feeling guilty. “I didn’t know.”

“Just because you didn’t know, does that mean you can chop it freely?”

“Ah…”

Pei Lengxue didn’t know what to say. How could she have known that this seemingly ordinary bamboo was worth so much!

After a brief pause, she suddenly remembered the pill given to her by the Nascent Soul cultivator yesterday. She took it out of her storage bag and asked, “Can this be used to compensate?”

“This?” Xiao Yunluo looked at the pill bottle in her hand, which was marked with the emblem of Profound Star Sect. She furrowed her brows and asked, “Where did you get this pill?”

“It was given to me by a Nascent Soul senior from yesterday.”

“Mr. Qi…”

Xiao Yunluo’s frown deepened. She had grown up in Profound Star Sect and had no idea that Mr. Qi would give away pills.

She hesitated for a moment, took the pill from Pei Lengxue’s hand, and opened the bottle to examine it.

“A high-grade Foundation Building Pill… Well, it’s quite valuable.”

Pei Lengxue innocently asked, “Will this be enough to compensate for the bamboo?”

Xiao Yunluo looked at her earnest face, considering offering money, and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Haha— I was just teasing you. Did you actually believe it? If this were really Cloud Thunder Bamboo, how could it be planted here without any protection?”

“… …” Pei Lengxue felt embarrassed. She had never even heard of Cloud Thunder Bamboo…

“Alright, I was just joking. Your swordplay looked unusual. What sword technique is that?”

“It’s…”

Pei Lengxue hesitated for a moment and suddenly recalled her senior brother’s instructions before leaving the Hundred Lotus Sect—to say that her sword technique was taught by him if anyone asked.

So, she replied, “It’s a sword technique taught by my senior brother.”

“What sword technique is it?”

“It’s a sword technique taught by my senior brother.”

Xiao Yunluo glanced at the leaves on the ground and then shrugged. “Alright, forget it. The sword selection is about to begin. Hurry and call your little companion to the sword platform.”

“My little companion?”

Pei Lengxue tilted her head and asked, “What? Isn’t the silver-haired girl your companion?”

“Well…” Pei Lengxue was taken aback for a moment and answered, “I’m her companion.”

…

This time, Xiao Yunluo was the one stunned. She had assumed that with such impressive sword skills, Pei Lengxue was here to participate in the Sect’s selection, but…

Embarrassed, she pursed her lips and nodded. “Alright then. By the way, I forgot to greet you yesterday. My name is Xiao Yunluo. You can call me Senior Sister Xiao.”

“Yes, Elder Wang mentioned it to us yesterday.” Pei Lengxue nodded and extended a hand in a respectful manner. “Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister Xiao.”

With that, Pei Lengxue was about to go back inside to wake up Feng Yudie. However, just as she turned, Xiao Yunluo grabbed her shoulder and asked, “Hey—could you tell me your name?”

“Oh… I’m Pei Lengxue.”