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Fang Shu raised his head at her words.

A light smile appeared on Fang Lu's face again. "Immortals, immortals—if they leave the mountain, can they still be called immortals? They are people, not immortals."

She looked around at the various implements in the room and sighed. "And besides, Junior Brother, those who can make it up the mountain may not all be geniuses, but you and I still fought our way out of the crowd.

"We're merely temporarily mired in mud on this mountain. Can you truly bear to leave this place at the first little stumble and sink completely beneath the mountain? Going down the mountain is easy; climbing back up is hard."

Now it was Fang Shu's turn to answer. Without hesitation, he said:

"Of course I'm unwilling. At the very least, I have to endure a while and give it a try."

Fang Lu nodded. "Those of us who cultivate—the higher we climb, the less anyone thinks they are an ordinary mediocrity. Unless they are truly old and frail, with no immortal path left to speak of, who would want to go down the mountain?

"Forget Senior Sister. Do you know the most popular saying among you servants?"

Fang Shu cupped his hands and asked for instruction.

Fang Lu said calmly, "You are not servants. You are merely prospective disciples who have yet to refine qi."

These words fell on Fang Shu's ears and struck him as truly interesting, worth pondering over and over.

Not only on the mountain, but beneath it as well, among mortals, before others and behind their backs, it seemed that most people in the world thought this way.

As they chatted, Senior Sister Fang Lu's eyes flickered again. "Furthermore, the lives you servants lead are hard and bitter. I've heard that the