The Melon Must Be Eaten

The time in the secret realm was up, ya~

She sensed the fluctuations in the surrounding space and vanished from where she stood the instant those cultivators arrived.

Before those cultivators could even make out her figure, they too were teleported out.

When Jiang Lu opened her eyes, she found herself already outside the secret realm. She hurriedly sought out the Medicine King Pavilion's group.

Then she stuffed several handfuls of spirit plants into the pack on her back. They were more than enough to turn in for the mission.

When the Medicine King Pavilion elder saw Jiang Lu emerge first, he was slightly surprised. Judging by her clothes, she was merely an apprentice.

Yet her strength was anything but ordinary. Qi Refinement Middle Stage—at her age, she should not have reached this level. No matter what, she ought to have been a disciple by now.

Jiang Lu gave the elder a faint smile, revealing two little dimples, then took several spirit plants from her pack.

The elder did not give it further thought. In the Immortal Cultivation Realm, the greatest taboo was digging into everything to the bitter end.

He took the spirit plants and examined them closely, then nodded in satisfaction. They were all high-grade first-rank spirit plants, enough to complete the mission. It seemed this disciple's luck was quite good.

After registering Jiang Lu's name, he told her to stand to the side and wait.

Quite a few cultivators lurking in the shadows saw Jiang Lu standing within Medicine King Pavilion's territory. They averted their eyes in quiet regret and continued searching for other lone Rogue Cultivators.

Jiang Lu took in everyone's expressions and lowered her gaze. This was the sorrow of Rogue Cultivators—they were easily targeted.

Still, most Rogue Cultivators had long grown accustomed to this way of survival. They would form teams of their own before heading out to gain experience.

That was why those people in the shadows had fixed their eyes on Jiang Lu earlier. Her strength was not high, and she had appeared alone.

Medicine King Pavilion...

For the time being, they could not afford to provoke them.

As more and more cultivators were teleported out, the white light on the secret realm's gates gradually faded. The two doors slowly shut, then gradually dissipated into the surroundings as though they had never existed.

After the elder finished registering the disciples' information, he shook his head. This time, four disciples had been lost—one from a group and three who had gone out to train on their own.

Cultivators fought the heavens for their lives. Falling while training in a secret realm was only normal.

There were only so many resources. If one wanted to obtain them, competitors would inevitably be reduced. So long as no one foolishly provoked others, the various factions would not interfere in infighting between disciples.

But if other cultivators had deep ties to the deceased, avenging them was also an unspoken rule accepted by all.

To put it plainly, if you had backing and strength, others would naturally show you some respect. If you had nothing at all, then do not blame others for refusing to give you face.

Jiang Lu stood where she was, letting her thoughts drift, when a clamor suddenly arose ahead. Everyone turned toward the sound.

Not far away, two groups were arguing.

"You old bastard! My disciple trained together with your disciple, yet only he came out. And you're telling me you don't know what happened?!"

"Hey, they traveled together, but what does that prove? My disciple already said they split up halfway through. They were only training as a team. Must my disciple protect him too? We are not your guards."

"You... you people..."

The old man's pointing finger trembled, and his face had gone red with fury.

The disciple standing beside the other elder was red-faced as well, his face full of indignation.

Both sides clung to their own claims, neither willing to yield.

Jiang Lu watched them curiously. Her divine sense slowly stretched toward them, and she soon heard the surrounding discussions.

"If they formed a team, they were one of their own. He came out alone, so it is no wonder the other man's master is angry. Whose disciple could fall in a secret realm without them feeling awful?"

"Exactly. Perhaps he really was blinded by wealth and harbored sinister intentions."

"I do not see it that way. He did nothing wrong either. They are both cultivators—who is more noble than the other? Perhaps they simply got separated inside. Is that not perfectly normal?"

"Fellow Daoist speaks reasonably. Since one wishes to train, one must be responsible for oneself. No one can die for another person for no reason. They merely formed a team to enter together; even disciples of the same clan have no reason to sacrifice themselves."

"Both sides have their own arguments, and each makes sense. Outsiders like us cannot speculate. It is only a pity that their friendship of so many years will likely end here."

"..."

Jiang Lu listened to the discussion and felt that both sides had a point. This was not like her previous life, where surveillance cameras could record evidence.

The ability to see what happened before a cultivator died was a gift possessed only by great powers. How could low-level cultivators like them possess such abilities? Once someone died, they were simply dead. How they died and who harmed them—none of it could be known.

Whatever the truth was, only the other party knew it in their heart.

The other Medicine King Pavilion disciples merely glanced over and paid it no further mind.

Jiang Lu was rather curious. There were actually people in the world who did not like eating melons?

Interesting!

With a shy look on her face, she walked over to a female cultivator nearby.

"Senior Sister, why are you all not curious about what happened?"

When that senior sister saw that it was Jiang Lu, she recognized her. This junior sister was from Master Wen's herb garden, but her strength...

A trace of envy appeared in her eyes. Jiang Lu must have encountered quite a considerable opportunity.

Opportunities had no owner; whoever obtained one owned it. But if an opportunity was in the hands of a fellow sect member and one went to seize it, that would be no different from a demonic cultivator. She merely felt envious, nothing more.

Seeing the thirst for knowledge overflowing from Jiang Lu's eyes, she chuckled.

"Junior Sister Lu has not been here long, so it is only natural that you do not understand. These sorts of disputes happen often. Once you have seen enough, you will grow used to them."

Another senior sister also nodded, her face carrying the indifference of someone who had seen it all before.

"Junior Sister Lu, there is no need to feel pressured. Once you see more of this in the future, you will become immune to it. We were also very curious when we first encountered such scenes, but after seeing them often enough, we stopped paying attention. In the end, only those involved know the truth."

Jiang Lu nodded, though she doubted their claim that they were no longer interested. Could anyone really resist eating melons?

She felt that even if she saw it a hundred times, she would still be curious. After all, the melon being eaten was different every time. In any case, she would definitely eat it.

Still, she certainly could not go against her senior sisters, so she nodded along with their words.

The two senior sisters felt a little more satisfied. Who would not like an obedient disciple? Moreover, Junior Sister Lu was not someone who lacked a sense of propriety.

They had heard from other disciples that Junior Sister Lu had a good talent for sorting spirit plants. Now that she had received this opportunity and advanced to the Qi Refinement Middle Stage, she qualified to enter the Alchemy Institute.

When the time came, they could put in a good word for her. When traveling outside, one more measure of goodwill meant one more chance of survival. No one knew how far the other person might go in the future.

It was always better to make friends than enemies.

This principle was the code of conduct of their Medicine King Pavilion. Otherwise, Medicine King Pavilion could not have survived for so many years in such a tangled and complicated environment.

Jiang Lu did not yet know that a pie was about to fall from the sky and hit her. She looked at the storage pouch she had snatched from that cultivator. Inside were several spirit stones, a few offensive spells, as well as some demon beast corpses and spirit herbs.

Now...

They were all hers.