Joining the Pavilion

"Damn it! Where's the medicine? Where's the Treasure Medicine?! Bear Child!"

Hearing the furious shriek from afar, Bai Yixin coughed, barely managing to suppress his laughter.

After the Black Sha Lotus was discovered missing, the people from Heaven-Mending Pavilion searched the area. They found only the traces Little One had left behind, along with the Treasure Bones he had buried in various places.

After all, Little One didn't have Bai Yixin's spatial backpack. He couldn't hide things on his person, so he had no choice but to stash them in concealed spots around the examination grounds.

And so the blame for the missing Black Sha Lotus landed on Little One again.

Little One watched from among the crowd, his eyes wide and round with indignation. He hadn't eaten the Treasure Medicine, and his own Treasure Bones had been found. Furious, he was determined to find the thief and give him a good beating.

"Kid, you seem pretty suspicious to me~"

Suddenly, a voice spoke up, and a hand clamped firmly onto Little One's shoulder.

"Who?!"

Little One was shocked. Had he been found out? He'd already changed his appearance and been careful enough not to leave a single clue. How had they still tracked him down?

When Little One turned around, he saw that the person who had patted his shoulder was a beloved friend he knew extremely well.

"Brother Little White?!"

"Heh heh, Little One, did you do something bad? You're jumping at shadows." Bai Yixin chuckled, pretending not to know.

"Ah... No way, Brother Little White. You know me. How could I do anything bad?" Little One, Shi Hao, replied guiltily.

"I believe you. It was Bear Child, right? I heard he wrecked the formations in five areas of the First Examination Ground and let tens of thousands of people pass the test." Bai Yixin looked delighted as he teased Little One, who didn't dare meet his eyes.

"Huh? I only did one..." Shi Hao froze and blurted out half a sentence before quickly realizing his mistake and clapping a hand over his mouth.

"Ha ha (ಡωಡ)hiahiahia."

Amid the crowd, Bai Yixin glanced at the elders who were still searching, put an arm around Little One, and whispered to him.

"I've had great luck today. Earlier, while wandering around the battlefield, I found a Black Lotus Treasure Medicine nobody wanted in front of a cave. I picked it before its owner came back, but I don't know which heartless bastard dug up the roots I left behind."

"Brother Little White, you!!" Little One stared at him in disbelief. His round, apple-like face flushed red, as if it had swollen up, and he pointed at Bai Yixin, unable to get the words out.

"Calm down, calm down! You don't want people to find out you're Bear Child, do you~" Bai Yixin snickered.

"Brother Little White, so this is the kind of person you are. Was this the surprise you had prepared for me?" Little One looked miserable. He couldn't believe his own people had stolen his ji.

"Of course not. The surprise I have for you will grow with time, just like a fruit." Bai Yixin clenched his fist, then opened it to illustrate.

"It comes in stages. You seem too impatient to wait, so come find me after we enter Heaven-Mending Pavilion, and I'll tell you."

"It really is a surprise?"

Though Bai Yixin had gotten the better of him, he was still Little One's big brother. Little One quickly recovered and began wondering what kind of surprise Bai Yixin had in store for him.

"Of course."

Bai Yixin nodded.

The surprise he had prepared for Little One was, in short, news of whether his parents were alive and where they were, whether his childhood playmates were alive and where they were, whether his grandfather was alive and where he was, and, in the end, the news that he had a little brother.

He planned to tell him in stages because Little One was still young. Though his mind was far more resilient than most people's, it wasn't fully developed, and his worldview might not yet be complete.

A few years ago, Little One had still cried because he missed his parents. The villagers and Bai Yixin had spent a long time comforting him before he finally calmed down. Bai Yixin wasn't about to dump everything on him all at once.

Otherwise, Little One might head straight for Mount Eternal, and that would be game over.

Telling him too much could easily affect his development. Bai Yixin understood how important that was.

For now, the only surprise Bai Yixin could tell Little One was that his parents were still alive.

That alone could give Little One extraordinary motivation. It might even be more useful than figuring out how to confront Shi Yi and demand an explanation.

"Brother Little White, it looks like they're gathering everyone who passed the Second Battlefield. Hurry and join them. I'll come find you." Little One pointed toward the several Heaven-Mending Pavilion elders standing in the distance with grim faces.

"All right. See you inside."

Bai Yixin pinched Little One's soft, apple-like cheek, then slipped in among the more than one hundred geniuses who were gathering.

The Heaven-Mending Pavilion elders watched the more than one hundred geniuses assembled in the Second Battlefield, their faces dark as their gazes passed over each of them, as though they were trying to pick up on something.

Bai Yixin looked utterly composed. I'm not Bear Child. This has nothing to do with me.

They were looking for Bear Child. What did that have to do with him, Bai Yixin?

"The test is over!"

At last, Xiong Fei, Zhuo Yun, and the others spoke those words. Their eyes seemed to glow green as they glared at Bai Yixin and the other geniuses, clearly convinced that Bear Child was mixed in among them.

But without proof, the elders, Xiong Fei and the others, had no way to pick Bear Child out of such a large crowd. In the end, they had no choice but to lead everyone back to the mountain gate.

After the children who had passed the test said their goodbyes to their families, only a thousand people remained in front of the enormous three gates. Normally, the pavilion accepted only a few hundred disciples a year. But with Bear Child causing such a ruckus—and the first test having to be held again—this year's number had swelled. Otherwise, there would have been even more.

The mountain gate was magnificent, formed by two towering stone mountains, majestic and solemn. Many elders from Heaven-Mending Pavilion appeared and led Bai Yixin and the other children inside. First, they had to pay their respects before the Founder's statue.

Only after paying their respects to the Founder's statue would they officially enter Heaven-Mending Pavilion.

Heaven-Mending Pavilion was vast beyond measure, with one beautiful mountain after another rising up. Fine trees grew across their slopes, pavilions and terraces had been built among them, and waterfalls tumbled down from above.

It was like a celestial realm on earth. Each and every one of the lovely peaks looked the same, shrouded in clouds and rosy mists, filled with a peaceful aura.

This was an ancient Pure Land. Spiritual Energy curled through the air, and the beautiful peaks were lush with fine trees. There were many spirit springs and waterfalls, as well as all sorts of auspicious birds and auspicious beasts. It was like a world from myth.

"There's so much Spiritual Energy. This is a precious place for cultivation." Bai Yixin drew in the Spiritual Energy and felt his whole body relax. Cultivating here could make his progress ten or twenty percent faster.

Strange clouds of light hung over every beautiful mountain peak, where precious old medicines grew and spirit birds and beasts he had never seen before made their homes.

Bai Yixin gazed at them, practically drooling, itching to get his hands on them.

Now that he had joined Heaven-Mending Pavilion, wasn't it perfectly reasonable for someone from the pavilion to eat a little of the "vegetables" it grew and the "poultry" it raised?

Bai Yixin thought of the big shot who shared his surname, Bai Xiaochun, a notorious chicken thief, and decided to follow his example.