The Xuan Token

Ye Hongyao was delighted to hear this.

"I can go to the Mystic Sound Sect, but I hope Senior will let Big Brother Shi go with me." Zhong Xiu nodded, then said this to Ye Hongyao.

Shi Mu's heart gave two hard thumps.

If he could join a sect even more powerful than the Great Qi court, he would be willing a thousand times over.

At this, Ye Hongyao furrowed her delicate brows. After a long pause, she finally shook her head and said:

"Everything else can be discussed, but I'm afraid this won't work. Unless someone has a bloodline or truly exceptional talent and is well suited to our sect's cultivation methods, our sect has always accepted women but not men. From the sect elders down to the inner disciples, there are very few men in our sect. Even as the head of a pavilion, I wouldn't dare make an exception lightly."

"But Big Brother Shi is a bloodline bearer too," Zhong Xiu said, growing anxious at her words.

"What? You're a bloodline bearer too? What kind of bloodline do you have? Let me test it." Ye Hongyao was taken aback, looking somewhat skeptical.

"There's no need to test it, Senior Ye. I have Stone Monkey Waste Veins. I'm afraid I won't meet your standards." Shi Mu smiled wryly.

"Stone Monkey Waste Veins? If that's really the case, then you have no hope of joining our sect." Ye Hongyao felt relieved, then said solemnly.

"If that's how it is, then I won't go to the Mystic Sound Sect. I want to stay with Big Brother Shi. He saved my life, and I can't abandon him halfway and join a sect on my own." Zhong Xiu spoke resolutely.

"Miss Zhong, you don't have to do this." Shi Mu was moved and touched by her words.

Zhong Xiu only shook her head, continuing to look at Ye Hongyao with pleading eyes without saying a word.

Seeing this, Ye Hongyao couldn't help feeling a serious headache. But after a turn of thought, she remembered something and suddenly asked Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu:

"Right, I almost forgot to ask. Which of you has the Black Tortoise Sect's Xuan Token?"

"The Black Tortoise Sect's Xuan Token?"

Shi Mu and Zhong Xiu looked at each other, both utterly bewildered.

"Never mind. I'll look for it myself." Ye Hongyao quickly realized something and gave a knowing laugh. She turned one hand over and took out a pale-yellow talisman. With a wave in the breeze, it burst into flame with a soft puff, though there was no wind.

The next moment, a strange murmuring sound came from Shi Mu's chest. Something beneath his clothes began to tremble.

"This is... Miss Zhong, sorry for the trouble, but could you take it out for me?" Shi Mu lowered his head at the sight. He was first stunned, then suddenly understood.

The young woman beside him agreed and reached inside the clothes at his chest, pulling out an object.

It was a pitch-black token, its surface engraved with exquisitely intricate patterns that gave it an ancient, mysterious air.

Zhong Xiu looked just as surprised when she saw the token.

Shi Mu gaped, his expression turning strange.

This was the very object left behind by the Zombie he had slain when he first encountered Zhong Xiu and her father at the ancient temple.

And the thing was extraordinarily tough. It had already saved his life twice.

The first time had been in the fields near the manor, when Jin Tian tried to stab him from behind with a dagger, only for the blade to strike this very object. The other time had been just recently, when Fifth Master Jin tried to crush his breastbone with a kick, only to be stopped by the token again.

Was this the Xuan Token Ye Hongyao had mentioned?

Shi Mu stared at the token, his thoughts racing.

Just then, Ye Hongyao took the token from Shi Mu's hand. After a brief inspection, she nodded and said:

"Indeed, this appears to be the Xuan Token belonging to Old Monster Sun's murdered disciple. How did you get it?"

Shi Mu hesitated only briefly before recounting every detail of how he had slain the Zombie.

Zhong Xiu occasionally chimed in to fill in a few details.

"Then there's no doubt. According to Old Monster Sun, this disciple of his practiced the famous Zombie Art. He had been preparing to break through a cultivation bottleneck, but not long after leaving the mountain, the soul lamp he'd left behind at the Black Tortoise Sect went out. Then, just recently, the mother token in Old Monster Sun's possession suddenly reacted, showing that this token had appeared in an area under the jurisdiction of our Mystic Sound Sect. That's why he sent someone with a few talismans and asked me to help search for it. It seems his direct disciple failed to break through and suffered a backlash from his cultivation method, turning his corpse into a Zombie. But this means your Big Brother Shi has somewhere to go now, Xiu'er." Ye Hongyao immediately understood what had happened and explained with a smile. Her final words, however, held a deeper meaning.

"Senior, what do you mean by that...?" Zhong Xiu asked, with a vague suspicion but little certainty.

Shi Mu's eyes brightened slightly.

"It's simple. Although our Mystic Sound Sect can't conveniently accept male disciples, the Black Tortoise Sect has no such restriction. Moreover, that sect has plenty of cultivation methods for strengthening the body. Although this young man has Stone Monkey Waste Veins, his physique is indeed far stronger than an ordinary person's. With the matter of returning an inner disciple's Xuan Token, and my putting in a personal word with Old Monster Sun, the Black Tortoise Sect should accept him." Ye Hongyao explained with a smile.

"So Big Brother Shi will still have to leave me." Zhong Xiu still looked disappointed when she heard this.

Shi Mu, however, declared firmly:

"Very well. I'll take Senior Ye's advice and go to the Black Tortoise Sect."

"Excellent. I'll write you a letter and give you a summoning talisman. Light it at a riverside ferry near Kaiyang City in Zhao Province, and someone will naturally guide you into the Black Tortoise Sect." Seeing this, Ye Hongyao smiled. Without giving Zhong Xiu a chance to hesitate, she immediately took out a jade slip, pressed it to her forehead, and murmured for a while. Then she handed Shi Mu the Xuan Token and a yellow talisman she had taken out from her person.

Although Zhong Xiu was reluctant, she didn't object again.

"Thank you, Senior."

Shi Mu thanked her, but looked embarrassed and didn't move at all.

"Oh, I almost forgot. You still can't move your arms. Fine, I'll see this through to the end and treat them too." Ye Hongyao seemed to realize the reason. She took out two more blue talismans and flicked her wrist, sending them floating lightly onto Shi Mu's arms.

The next moment, the two talismans began to emit dazzling blue light, their patterns writhing as if they were alive.

At the same time, Shi Mu felt an intense heat at the fractures in both his arms, followed by an increasingly unbearable itch.

"This is..." Shi Mu moved his fingers slightly, his mouth hanging open in amazement.

"Those two Rejuvenation Talismans cost me quite a few spirit stones. You're getting a bargain. All right, Xiu'er, I have other important business here, so let's set off together." Ye Hongyao seemed eager to separate Zhong Xiu from Shi Mu as soon as possible. After just a few words, she announced that it was time to leave.