Because I'm a Genius

"Is that so? Tell me all about it."

The sounds of people around her discussing it reached her ears, and the key information caught Bai Lan's attention.

The foot she had just raised was forcibly withdrawn. She found a corner and began listening to the gossip around her.

Wasn't True Person Qing Xuan expelling Bai Ling from the sect supposed to happen after Bai Ling reached the Foundation Establishment stage?

Why had it suddenly played out ahead of schedule?

Hadn't the righteous and demonic factions yet begun their full-scale war?

"What's with that female disciple? She was already accepted under True Person Qing Xuan, yet she still caused such a scandal?" Someone spoke disdainfully.

"She must be ill-behaved and wicked at heart. A Martial Uncle as lofty and upright as True Person Qing Xuan would never accept such a malicious disciple." Someone else seized the chance to spread rumors.

"That female disciple seems to be called Nan Xianshi? She's only at the Qi Refining stage, yet she's in the inner sect without a master to guide her. Tsk, tsk."

Bai Lan frowned slightly.

This plot development was wrong.

In the original plot, Nan Xianshi had never left Jade Purity Peak. In the end, she was killed in a secret realm by one of Bai Ling's harem.

Rustling came from behind her. Sensing a sudden presence at her back, Bai Lan's expression turned grave.

The combat instincts she had developed over the past half month of killing Whirlwind Tortoises sent her swiftly into a fighting stance. She whirled around, seized the hand that had been about to pat her shoulder, and pinned the person behind her to the ground.

A woman's pained cry came from beneath her hand.

Bai Lan looked closely and met an utterly haggard face—it was Nan Xianshi.

"?"

This was bad. She had fought too much lately; her entire body had been wound tight.

"Ahem." Bai Lan coughed lightly and released her, then pulled the person on the ground back up. "So it was you. Don't sneak up on people like that in the future."

Nan Xianshi gritted her teeth. "What are you doing?! I was just saying hello!"

"Sorry, it was instinctive..." Bai Lan couldn't exactly say she had mistaken her for a Whirlwind Tortoise attacking from behind.

"Hmph. This Martial Aunt is magnanimous and won't hold a petty grudge against you." Nan Xianshi snorted, then suddenly lowered her voice. "You already know about what happened to me."

Nan Xianshi had been expelled from Jade Purity Peak and had left True Person Qing Xuan's tutelage, but she was naturally still an Azure Sect disciple and remained on the inner sect disciple roster.

"Mm. You mean being expelled from your master's tutelage?"

"..." Nan Xianshi gritted her teeth. "Hmph, expelled? They make it sound awful. I was the one who voluntarily left Jade Purity Peak. In any case, having that master was no different from having none at all. Rather than suffer on the peak every day, I might as well leave sooner."

Such actions would indeed draw scorn in the cultivation world, but as long as True Person Qing Xuan said nothing, it was theoretically acceptable.

"That day on the peak, I saw Master personally teaching Bai Ling swordsmanship. I wanted to secretly learn a few moves. At first, nothing happened, but later, for some reason, Bai Ling twisted her foot and fell flat on level ground."

What a classic scene!

Bai Lan suppressed a laugh and continued listening to Nan Xianshi without saying a word.

"Then Master pulled Bai Ling into his arms. The two of them spun around a few times, and then, then they actually just embraced like that!?" Nan Xianshi said through gritted teeth. "I thought Master favored her in every way because Bai Ling's aptitude surpassed mine, and I could accept that. But what is this supposed to mean now?!"

Her neck had turned red with anger.

"So, do you have somewhere for me to stay?" Nan Xianshi rattled on for a long while before finally getting to the point.

Bai Lan: "...So that was your real purpose?"

"I don't want to live on Jade Purity Peak anymore. I don't know which peak I'll go to in the future, so these past few days..." Nan Xianshi said gloomily.

She had nowhere to go.

"You should know that I'm a Steward Disciple. I live on the outer peaks, and it's not exactly a nice place." Bai Lan spread her hands, but when she saw the look in Nan Xianshi's eyes, she sighed. "There are plenty of houses on the outer peaks. Just pick whichever one you want."

If you think this book is good, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.

"Ahem, fine. Lead the way." Nan Xianshi raised her chin.

Clearly, for Nan Xianshi right now, simply having somewhere to live was already quite good.

Bai Lan shook her head helplessly.

"Do you think Bai Ling might be a succubus that gained sentience? Why do True Person Qing Xuan and all the Senior Brothers like her so much? Why does no one like me?!" As they walked, Nan Xianshi still could not swallow her anger.

"Tsk." Bai Lan shook her head. "Because you have a princess temper."

Nan Xianshi: "..."

"Wait, I just realized—after not seeing you for a month, you've actually broken through to Qi Refining level two?" Nan Xianshi's eyes suddenly widened. "Do Five Spirit Roots cultivate this quickly?"

"Because I'm a genius."

Actually, it had all been piled up with Spirit Stones.

Nan Xianshi said, "I've never seen anyone so narcissistic!"

"Your outer peak Steward Disciple housing is far too shabby." When Nan Xianshi arrived, she looked around at the row of identical bamboo houses and frowned.

Bai Lan's expression did not change. "You can also choose to return to Jade Purity Peak."

"...Forget it." Nan Xianshi gave up talking to Bai Lan and, huffing angrily, found an empty house and moved in.

The system watched Nan Xianshi's departing back and clicked its tongue, shaking its head.

"Host, the plot has gone so far off course now that I can barely stand to look at it."

"From the moment I robbed Long Aotian and extorted Spirit Stones from Bai Ling, this plot was already beyond saving. Give it up." Bai Lan smiled as she patted the system on the head, then began counting the spoils from this trip.

There was nothing much of value in the two Qi Refining level five Storage Bags. The only flying blade had long since perished beneath Bai Lan's Fireball Technique, reduced to scrap.

Altogether, there were only a few bottles of pills and two hundred Spirit Stones. Still, it counted as a profit.

Her gaze shifted to the Storage Bag of the Qi Refining level seven cultivator.

That cultivator had favored a long saber in battle. His Wind Spiritual Root made his movement technique nimble and swift, while his methods in combat were extraordinarily strange—nothing like those of an orthodox cultivator.

In one of her previous reloads, Bai Lan had been struck by his poisonous blood palm.

The poison from that strike had spread rapidly, and even the Water Healing Technique had been utterly unable to treat it. It was clearly no ordinary cultivator's method, and closely resembled the arts of an Evil Cultivator.

Sure enough, after searching for a while with gloves on, Bai Lan pulled a cultivation manual from that man's Storage Bag.

Five Poisons Soul Capturing Palm.

One could tell at a glance from the name that it was no orthodox Mystical Technique.

Besides that, there was also a Corpse Puppet.

That was right—a cultivator's corpse, already putrid and decayed beyond recognition.

The soul that had originally belonged to the corpse still remained within. The torment and agony the soul endured during this time were the finest nourishment for refining a Corpse Puppet.

Bai Lan frowned at the thick Corpse Refining Handbook in her hands. After a long while, she looked up at the system. "I remember one of Bai Ling's harem members was from... what was it, the Corpse Refining Sect?"

There were more than ten people in Bai Ling's harem, and one of them was connected to the Corpse Refining Sect.

She had not the slightest favorable impression of the Corpse Refining Sect. Their methods—using living people to refine Corpse Puppets, tormenting their living souls before refining them into something to be used for themselves—were simply vicious and sinister.

This was pure evil.

But that Rogue Cultivator clearly was not from the Corpse Refining Sect. Who knew where he had found its inheritance, only to begin attempting to refine Corpse Puppets all by himself.

Bai Ling could actually fall in love with someone from the Corpse Refining Sect, someone so beastly?

She found it hard to imagine.

"Yes! In the plot, an elder of the Corpse Refining Sect named Luan Yin captured Bai Ling alive during an accident and wanted to refine her into a Corpse Puppet. Yet over the following months, while conducting experiments and refining her, he fell in love with her instead. In the end, he deliberately spared her life..."

"...Nan Xianshi was right. Bai Ling really is cultivating the Succubus Path, isn't she!" Bai Lan was speechless.