No One Is Born Useless

Xiao Yan froze, then suddenly whipped around.

A handsome young man in white robes stood there, smiling at him. His gaze was calm, yet it held a trace of encouragement and warmth.

"Who are you? Are you here to laugh at me too?"

Xiao Yan gritted his teeth.

What he hated most was people making a joke of him!

"You misunderstand!" Su Bai shook his head, then continued, "I did not come to laugh at you!"

"Hehe..."

Xiao Yan chuckled coldly, clearly not believing Su Bai.

"Care for a walk?" Su Bai smiled. "We can talk as we walk."

"Why should I go with you?" Xiao Yan frowned and refused.

"If you want to defeat the people who humiliated you today three years from now, then come with me."

After saying that, Su Bai turned and walked straight ahead, no longer paying any attention to Xiao Yan behind him.

The streets were crowded with an endless stream of passersby, while cries of vendors rose one after another.

There were peddlers pushing carts, merchants and wealthy men galloping past on horseback, and young masters dressed in luxurious brocade robes, folding fans in hand.

There were also richly dressed cultivators chatting and laughing. Wherever they passed, everyone looked upon them with reverence.

"What did you mean by what you just said?"

Xiao Yan caught up, looking at Su Bai suspiciously.

Su Bai did not answer, nor did he stop walking. He simply continued forward.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan quickened his pace as well, staying close at Su Bai's side.

He wanted to see what medicine this youth, who did not seem much older than himself, was selling from his gourd!

A moment later, Su Bai finally stopped. He took out ten copper coins from his pocket and placed them before a beggar lying on the ground, his legs gone.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

The beggar trembled as he thanked Su Bai over and over again.

Not understanding why, Xiao Yan searched through his own pocket and found one tael of silver, which he offered to the beggar as well.

Yet upon seeing the gleaming silver, the beggar repeatedly waved his hands and shook his head, his face filled with terror.

"If you want to kill him, then give him that silver." Su Bai spoke.

"Huh?"

Xiao Yan was stunned. "Why?"

Su Bai gave him a calm glance. "Ten copper coins can keep him alive for three more days. A hundred copper coins can let him lie here for three more days. But with one tael of silver, he will not live past tonight."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan's heart immediately sank.

He looked around and only then noticed that many beggars with sound limbs were staring at the silver in his hand.

In an instant, realization dawned on him.

"Begging on their knees in humiliation just to survive, peddlers and laborers rising before dawn and returning after dark to feed their families—they have not given up, nor do they think themselves useless."

"Everyone strives for their own life. Everyone has a goal they pursue."

"Tell me, your limbs are whole and your family is well-off, so why do you think you are useless?"

Su Bai looked at him seriously and spoke each word with care.

"Because I cannot cultivate. I cannot make Liu Yanran look at me differently, and I cannot change my current situation!"

Xiao Yan spoke softly, his tone bleak, carrying an indescribable loneliness and desolation.

"In this world, no one is born useless," Su Bai said quietly. "They simply have not found their own path."

"A path? Where is mine?" Xiao Yan laughed at himself.

"Every time I cultivate, I painstakingly refine the tiniest bit of spiritual energy, only for it to disperse at once."

"My father once invited a Foundation Establishment expert to examine me. He said I have no dantian and can never succeed in Qi Refining."

He could not practice Qi Refining. The path of immortality was forever closed to him. That was already a settled conclusion!

"Then why did you just declare that you would challenge them in three years?" Su Bai asked in return.

"Of course, to prove it to them—to prove that I am not useless!" Xiao Yan gritted his teeth.

"Good!"

Su Bai burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Xiao Yan asked, confused.

"If you have that determination, then it is enough!" Su Bai said. "Three years from now, you will be able to prove that you are no worthless piece of firewood!"

"Who exactly are you?" Xiao Yan asked doubtfully.

"I am Su Bai, Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Sect!" Su Bai said with a smile.

"Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Sect? Su Bai?" Xiao Yan frowned and searched through his memories, but could not recall what kind of sect the Heavenly Dao Sect was.

"If you wish to surpass that Liu Yanran three years from now, then wait for me here at sunset and follow me to the Heavenly Dao Sect."

After saying this, Su Bai strode away, leaving Xiao Yan standing there with a blank look on his face.

Xiao Yan stood there dazedly, not knowing what he was thinking.

Xiao Yan Enters the Heavenly Dao Sect

At the entrance to the Hundred Sects Assembly, by the time Su Bai arrived, Xiao Lingxi and Zhuge Feng had already been waiting for him.

Xiao Lingxi was doing well enough. Other than changing into a different dress, even with a veil over her face, she still drew eyes wherever she went.

Wait, drew eyes...

Su Bai looked around and faintly sensed several extremely concealed gazes.

Sigh, what was coming could not be avoided after all.

When soldiers came, generals would block them; when water came, earth would dam it. Once they reached the Heavenly Dao Sect, let alone a mere Lingxiao Sect—even if the Heavenly King himself came, he would have to kneel before Su Bai!

Zhuge Feng, meanwhile, looked completely different. He wore an exquisite brocade robe, with a purple-gold jade belt around his waist, making him appear far more spirited.

The words "Heavenly Dao Sect" were even embroidered upon his chest.

Still, he looked constrained and uneasy. Clothes worth dozens of taels of silver were far too extravagant for a poor boy like him, something he had never dared imagine.

"Raise your head and straighten your chest. You are the eldest senior brother of my Heavenly Dao Sect. Are you going to let others laugh at you?"

"Look at Lingxi—valiant and heroic. How can you be so timid and shrinking?"

"You must learn confidence. Otherwise, how will you become a strong cultivator in the future?"

Su Bai walked over and reprimanded him for a few moments.

Hearing this, Zhuge Feng immediately raised his head and puffed out his chest, his bearing rising at once.

Xiao Lingxi pursed her lips in a smile. Just now, it seemed her master had praised her!

Afterward, the group entered the great square of the Hundred Sects Assembly.

The Hundred Sects Assembly was still packed with people. This time, the number of sect and faction signboards had risen to more than one hundred and twenty.

However, there was no longer a signboard for the Lingxiao Sect recruiting disciples. In the place where the Lingxiao Sect had previously been, another sign now hung.

Wanted Reward Notice!

Those providing clues: ten taels of silver

Those who captured her: one hundred taels of gold

There was also a huge portrait on the sign, and it was unmistakably Xiao Lingxi!

"Who drew this? It looks so ugly!"

The moment Xiao Lingxi saw the portrait, she nearly exploded. Fortunately, Su Bai stopped her in time, or she might have torn the portrait to shreds.

Zhuge Feng, meanwhile, took out the new signboard of the Heavenly Dao Sect and found a place to sit down.

Not bad at all. Now that they had money, the new signboard was quite well made, much better than the old one.

With Zhuge Feng's outfit and appearance, he looked like a genuine disciple of an Immortal Sect, immediately attracting plenty of attention. Unlike last time, no one mocked Su Bai as a swindler.

Still, although many people gathered to watch, when they saw that the monthly base pay required thirty taels of silver, they all shook their heads.

An unheard-of sect actually charged the same price as the Lingxiao Sect?

If I had thirty taels of silver, why would I not go to the Lingxiao Sect and instead go to some Heavenly Dao Sect?

Even a dog would shake its head at that!