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[Host, the one who cheered just now is Fu Chaoqing, one of the Fifth Elder's Direct Disciples in the Spirit Sword Sect. He and Ran Zirou are actually distant relatives. By seniority, Ran Zirou should call him uncle.]

Fu Chaoqing finally straightened his back, and there was a little more confidence in his voice.

"My family told me that Zirou is my niece and asked me to look after her."

The Second Elder fixed him with a strange look.

If Fu Chaoqing and Ran Zirou were distant relatives,

did that mean Fu Chaoqing knew who Immortal Ziyang had run off with?

And he dared keep it from him!

Fu Chaoqing looked innocent. "Second Martial Uncle, I truly didn't know Ran Zirou was Immortal Ziyang's daughter. I've spent all these years cultivating in the Sect, paying no attention to worldly affairs. Even that much came from a messenger sent from the Mortal World."

[Some relative he is. In the end, Fu Chaoqing uses blood from his heart to refine a Heaven-Grade Pill for Ran Zirou, exhausting himself to death. So those two are playing at forbidden love?]

The System spoke with utter seriousness. [It's such a shame. Fu Chaoqing is an alchemy genius, but he drains every last drop of his vitality for Ran Zirou. And after all that, Ran Zirou brings several men to his grave to fool around—more than once.]

Li Zi sighed deeply. [A devoted lapdog licks and licks, and ends up with nothing.]

This time, it was Fu Chaoqing's face that turned ashen.

What did she mean, he would drain his vitality for Ran Zirou?

Granted, he did think Ran Zirou seemed like a nice girl. She was as delicate as a willow swaying in the breeze. How could that not be charming?

But that hardly meant he was deeply in love with her!

The Fifth Elder gave him a sympathetic look and patted his shoulder.

"My disciple, you're exceptionally gifted. Best not let your heart stray. Keep yourself in check."

Fu Chaoqing's eye twitched.

On the platform,

Ran Zirou waited in vain for praise from the elders. Her eyes reddened.

She had done so well. Why hadn't the elders taken her as a Direct Disciple?

It seemed she needed someone less impressive to make her shine.

Ran Zirou swept her gaze across the crowd and spotted the skinny little figure at the very edge. She raised her voice. "Little sister Li Zi, don't hide in the corner because you're scared. Come here!"

Li Zi, who had just been called out: "..."

She was so speechless that even speechlessness's mother had opened the door to find her home.

Ran Zirou gave another soft, alluring smile. "Everyone, although little sister Li Zi is only a lowly maid, she's my good friend. I hope none of you will bully her. I'd love for us to enter the Sect together."

The disciples' gazes fell on Li Zi.

She was skinny and scrawny, younger than all of them, without the slightest fluctuation of Spiritual Power around her. She clearly had not even reached the Qi Refining Stage.

To think someone as lovely as a celestial maiden would speak up for such a scruffy little girl.

She was so gentle, so kind.

[System, is she the textbook white lotus? What do I do? My blood pressure's rising.]

[Host, give it right back to her!]

The elders on the platform exchanged knowing looks.

They had found her.

She really was a little girl of only a few years.

Under everyone's gaze, Li Zi walked forward step by step.

Ran Zirou glanced toward the elders, then came over and took Li Zi's hand. "Little sister, you only need to win one match for a chance to enter the Inner Sect. Come on, give it a try."

Li Zi looked at her, and tears suddenly streamed down her face.

"Sister, you know perfectly well I can't cultivate, yet you dragged me here to make yourself look good. Every word you say twists a knife in my chest. So what if I'm not talented? Am I eating your family's rice? You've humiliated me so badly, I just want to die. Boo-hoo!"

Ran Zirou froze.

How was Li Zi even better at crying than she was?

The girls in the arena were more quick to empathize, and for a moment, they all felt Li Zi's pain.

A taller girl strode over and pulled Li Zi behind her.

"Ran Zirou, why are you picking on a little girl? To make yourself look noble by comparison? You men must be blind. Take a good look at her. You call that kind?"

Li Zi might have been skinny and scrawny, but her eyes were large and bright. When she cried, she truly tugged at the heart.

Ran Zirou tried to explain in a panic. "That's not—I didn't..."

"So what if she was a maid? Once you step onto the path of Immortal Cultivation, you leave your past behind. We're all starting from the same place now, so why are you looking down on her?"

"Little sister, don't be afraid. We'll stand up for you."

Li Zi wiped her eyes. This time, she was crying because she was moved.

[System, this world is actually pretty wonderful. These lovely big sisters are so good to me.]

The System replied, [...Host, I think you're the white lotus.]

[Don't be ridiculous. I'm the schemer here.]

Ran Zirou burst into tears too, crystal drops rolling down her cheeks one after another. She looked utterly pitiful.

"That's not what I meant. Little sister Li Zi, how could you misunderstand me?"

Seeing their goddess being ganged up on, the male disciples' protective instincts flared. They immediately moved in front of Ran Zirou.

"You're just blatantly jealous!"

Li Zi choked back a sob. "Sisters, please don't make things hard for Miss Ran. Otherwise, people might think you, with your single and dual Spiritual Roots, are jealous of Ran Zirou's Mixed Spiritual Root."

That struck Ran Zirou right where it hurt.

Her face turned ashen, and she nearly failed to hide the venom in her eyes.

She was born to a noble family and blessed with breathtaking beauty, but her Spiritual Root was the lowest-grade Mixed Spiritual Root. Her cultivation was painfully slow.

It was the one flaw she could never erase.

"Exactly! Ran Zirou's just a pretty face with a Mixed Spiritual Root. What's there to envy?"

"You men are all lechers, bewitched by her face! Which of us sisters doesn't cultivate faster than she does?"

The scene descended into chaos, with both sides on the verge of a fight.

Li Zi quietly squeezed her way to the edge of the crowd.

[Host, are we really leaving?]

[Of course. I have a Mixed Spiritual Root too. If I stay, I'll only end up an Outer Sect disciple doing menial work. I'm not as lucky as Ran Zirou, with so many men rushing to hand her opportunities. I'll get beaten up and have to carry wash water for the senior disciples' feet. It'll be miserable.]