Better Not to Inquire Into Personal Matters Too Closely

However... Xia Wantang had accumulated another fifteen draws. Before the grand competition, she decided to do a ten-draw pull first to liven things up.

"Little System, I want a ten-draw pull."

You got it, Host, setting it up right away!

A flash of purple light swept past, and the system's voice sounded once more:

Congratulations, Host! Obtained: Wood Spirit Root (Immortal Grade Seventh Tier), Comprehensive Advanced Spirit Talisman Manual (Immortal Grade Seventh Tier), True Essence Pill *4, Qi Replenishing Pill *4.

Wow, it dropped two Immortal Grade Seventh Tier treasures. Her luck was pretty good this time~

"You say that every single time."

Heh heh, this system is just speaking the absolute truth. After all, our host is a chosen child of Ou Huang.

"Little System, you are the ancient Greek god in charge of rainbow farts!"

Finished bantering with the system, Xia Wantang prepared to refine the Wood Spirit Root first.

She was currently refining pills every day, which consumed a massive amount of spiritual herbs. Meanwhile, cultivators with the Wood Spirit Root were exceptionally suited for cultivating spiritual herbs, as they could accelerate the herbs' growth rate.

The higher the grade of the Wood Spirit Root, the greater the bonus to the growth of spiritual herbs.

"Put that way, shouldn't I set aside a special piece of spiritual field on Quiet Heart Peak to grow herbs?"

No sooner said than done, Xia Wantang leaped to the middle of the back slope of Quiet Heart Peak. She channeled her spiritual power, cleared the patch of previously vacant grass, laid down the pre-prepared spiritual soil, scattered the spiritual herb seeds, and nourished them with Wood Spiritual Power. With that, the job was done.

As the gentle Wood Spiritual Power washed over the spiritual soil, the seeds sprouted at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Xia Wantang:? I knew you were fast, but I didn't expect you to be this fast.

As an immortal-grade spirit root, it was naturally extraordinary.

Originally, the Wood Spirit Root could have merged with the Water Spirit Root or the Light Spirit Root, but unfortunately, they had already merged with other spirit roots.

The Wood Spirit Root was incompatible with the Ice Spirit Root, Lightning Spirit Root, and Fire Spirit Root, so a fusion was impossible.

After finishing with the spiritual field, Xia Wantang returned to Quiet Heart Hall and resumed her cultivation.

The next day.

Early in the morning, Fu Hanqiu summoned Xia Wantang and Ye Xing to the main hall of the Azure Cloud Palace:

"Lingyun, Wantang, today the Inner Sect Grand Competition officially begins."

"Do you two have any inner sect junior brothers or junior sisters that you are particularly optimistic about?"

Naturally, the Holy Son and Saintess were required to participate in the Inner Sect Grand Competition. However, because their cultivation levels were already among the best of their peers, they could be directly fast-tracked into the top four.

At these words, Ye Xing was the first to reply:

"The inner sect disciples are all equally excellent, and Lingyun cannot choose."

Ye Xing didn't interact with other disciples at all, so how could he possibly understand their strength?

Besides, with his cultivation level, he didn't put these Azure Cloud Palace disciples in his eyes at all. As a Demon Prince, he was naturally arrogant and too lazy to pay attention to the mere ants in his sight.

One could say that among all the Sons of Destiny, his true personality was probably the worst. It was only in front of Xia Wantang, due to the bonus of favorability points, that he remained somewhat polite.

This answer did not exceed Fu Hanqiu's expectations, so he turned his gaze to Xia Wantang, wanting to hear if she had any different thoughts.

Xia Wantang hesitated for a moment, deciding she might as well put in a good word for Xiao Rui:

"Replying to the Palace Lord, among the inner sect disciples there is no one worth special attention, but among the outer sect disciples there is one person whom Wantang is very optimistic about."

Hearing this, Fu Hanqiu grew interested:

"Oh? Who is it, to be able to win such favor from Wantang?"

Even Ye Xing at the side glanced over, his pitch-black pupils dark and unfathomable.

Xia Wantang paused for a split second before saying:

"It is Xiao Rui, a miscellaneous chores disciple of the outer sect."

"A miscellaneous chores disciple?!"

This time Fu Hanqiu was genuinely shocked, though the name "Xiao Rui" sounded somewhat familiar to him:

"Xiao Rui, is he that single lightning spirit root disciple from many years ago?"

"His talent is indeed quite good, but I've heard his cultivation hasn't made any progress in all these years. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been reduced to a miscellaneous chores disciple."

Ye Xing had also heard a thing or two about this person called Xiao Rui. Thinking of how he was a disciple Xia Wantang favored, his tone instinctively turned sarcastic:

"Xiao Rui is merely a puny miscellaneous chores disciple. The Saintess should still eat something better."

For instance, there was a young and promising Holy Son right in front of her; surely he was far more formidable than that what's-his-name Xiao Rui?

Xia Wantang glanced at him indifferently:

"The Palace Lord and the Holy Son do not know this, but two months ago, the cultivation level Xiao Rui professed to the outside world was only at the late Human Martial Realm. Right now, however, his cultivation has already reached the peak of the Mystic Martial Realm, making him no weaker than myself and the Holy Son."

That was right, Xiao Rui's cultivation had advanced once more.

He had sworn to catch up to Ye Xing's cultivation within a month, and he had truly achieved it.

Of course, over this past month, Ye Xing hadn't been sitting idle either. Although the cultivation he displayed to the outside world was still only at the peak of the Mystic Martial Realm, his actual cultivation had already broken through to the peak of the Spirit Channeling Realm.

One could say that these Sons of Destiny were more overpowered than the last.

If Xia Wantang hadn't possessed the system as a cheating device, she really wouldn't have necessarily been able to keep up with their pace.

Hearing this, Fu Hanqiu was shocked:

"Could such a thing truly be?!"

Ye Xing also frowned:

"To break through so rapidly in the span of two months, then why hadn't Xiao Rui's cultivation made any progress in the previous years?"

Xia Wantang lowered her gaze and said:

"Wantang believes that he was probably concealing his edge previously, intending to burst forth with astonishing brilliance when the Inner Sect Grand Competition and Sect Grand Competition arrived."

She had also considered several explanations, such as stumbling upon some great fortune or building up strength over time to surpass others from behind.

Yet such a path would inevitably invite jealousy from malicious people.

Xiao Rui hadn't truly matured yet, so he mustn't be allowed to have his life cut short prematurely.

Therefore, concealing his edge was the most reasonable explanation.

Coupled with the fact that his single lightning spirit root talent was already exceptionally high—otherwise Fu Hanqiu wouldn't have agreed back then to let Xiao Rui forcibly buy-one-get-one-free and bring Ye Yilan into the sect together—it all made sense.

Hearing Xia Wantang's explanation, Fu Hanqiu nodded thoughtfully:

"A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind; this kid is quite clever."

"If he truly possesses such a high cultivation level, it seems this year's Inner Sect Grand Competition will be worth watching."

Saying this, Fu Hanqiu cast his gaze toward the two of them:

"Lingyun, Wantang, the two of you are also proud disciples that this seat holds high hopes for. In this upcoming Inner Sect Grand Competition, you must perform well."

"You wouldn't want to lose to an outer sect disciple, would you?"

"Yes!"

When Xia Wantang and Ye Xing emerged from the Azure Cloud Palace main hall, Ye Xing once again couldn't help but make sour remarks:

"I never imagined that the usually aloof Saintess would actually deign to have contact with an unknown miscellaneous chores disciple."

Xia Wantang merely cast a faint glance at him, her eyes devoid of their past adoration and admiration:

"Which disciple of the Azure Cloud Palace I interact with—what business is that of the Holy Son?"

"Since the Holy Son demanded that we maintain a mutual distance, it's better not to inquire into personal matters too closely."