Page 8

Li Zi walked all around the cave residence and discovered there was no path down the mountain.

It seemed she could only come and go freely by flying on a sword.

What rotten luck.

She still hadn't begun cultivating, but the original story's heroine had already reached the first level of the Qi Refining Stage.

Ever since joining the sect, the original Li Zi had been suppressed and bullied by her senior fellow disciples.

In the end, even after she had awakened her Divine Bone, her senior brothers in the Golden Core Stage and Nascent Soul Realm had forcibly carved it out of her.

In all of this, weakness was the original sin.

Now that she had joined the sect, there was probably no changing anything.

All Li Zi wanted was to temper her body, cleanse her marrow, and speed up her cultivation as soon as possible.

"System, can't you exchange some martial techniques or cultivation methods for me? At least let me learn a little about cultivation in this world."

The system sounded helpless. "Host, you don't have enough points."

Early the next morning, knocking at the door woke Li Zi.

Ji Zheng stood outside with an honest smile on his face. "Little Junior Sister, why didn't you come to the new disciples' welcome celebration yesterday?"

The corner of Li Zi's eye twitched.

There had been a celebration?

Did he think she hadn't wanted to go?

Look at you, so high and mighty. You dumped me in this godforsaken place and ran off, and now you're asking why I didn't attend the celebration? Are you here to provoke me?

Ji Zheng's smile stiffened.

He suddenly slapped his forehead and apologized repeatedly. "I'm sorry, Little Junior Sister. I forgot you can't fly on a sword yet."

Li Zi felt a twinge in her chest.

Mockery. Blatant mockery!

She blinked her doe-like eyes. In an instant, they misted over, and crystal-clear tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Senior Brother, do you think I'm too useless? I'm sorry. I don't know how to cultivate yet, but I'll work hard from now on."

Ji Zheng had never dealt with anything like this. He took several flustered steps back.

"No, that's not what I meant..."

Seeing Li Zi in tears, Ji Zheng ignored the hundreds of insults she had hurled at him in her mind and hurriedly pulled a star-shaped pendant from his storage artifact.

"This is a

spatial

artifact I found in a secret realm. It's yours, so please don't cry."

Li Zi blinked and said sweetly, "Thank you, Senior Brother."

She hung the pendant around her neck, stars shining in her eyes. "Senior Brother is so kind."

She remembered that Ran Zirou had treasured this pendant in the original story.

She hadn't expected it to fall into her own hands through such a twist of fate.

Heaven knew she had never intended to steal the heroine's opportunity.

She had no idea where things had gone off track.

Whatever the book had said, Ji Zheng was genuinely a decent senior brother.

Every curse in her mind vanished, replaced by cheers.

Ji Zheng couldn't help laughing.

This little junior sister was remarkably easy to please.

"Come on. Master told me to take you to the main peak."

Standing steadily on Ji Zheng's striking, fiery-red longsword, Li Zi arrived at the main peak's plaza.

The plaza was the center of the entire Spirit Sword Sect.

The Tempering Pavilion, Scripture Library, Treasure Tower, and Alchemy Tower stood around it on separate peaks, each mountain connected to the next by a single iron chain.

Here, the sword in one's hand was both weapon and means of transport.

Quite a few disciples looked over curiously.

They all wondered what kind of heaven-favored genius the Fifth Elder had accepted as his final disciple.

But when they sensed not a trace of spiritual energy on Li Zi, their curious looks turned to contempt and ridicule.

Following behind Ji Zheng, Li Zi could still hear their snickers.

"The Fifth Elder's final disciple is actually a good-for-nothing? That's ridiculous."

"She hasn't even started cultivating at her age. Even if she has a spiritual root, it must be a useless mixed one. Is the Fifth Elder trying to challenge himself? Does he think he can turn a waste into a genius?"

Ji Zheng heard them and frowned slightly, but said nothing in her defense.

That was how this world worked: the weak were prey to the strong.

Connections and family background were no more than passing clouds. If she wanted respect, she would have to show what she could do.

He glanced sideways at Li Zi again.

For all her busy thoughts, his little junior sister was timid. She was probably frightened to tears by now.

Instead, Li Zi was staring intently at the ground beneath her feet, as though she couldn't hear a word.

She held her breath and kept her composure. What remarkable self-control!

He had a faint feeling that this little junior sister of his might have a bright, dazzling future.

System, if I ask Master for a Marrow-Cleansing Pill outright, will he give me one? I remember that old man being pretty stingy.

The system replied, With your constitution, an ordinary Marrow-Cleansing Pill won't help. You'll need a spirit spring too. Host, I'll tell you some good news when you get back. I'm afraid you'll faint from excitement if I tell you here.

Good news? Tell me! Hurry, hurry!

Ji Zheng listened to the complicated thoughts running through her head. "..."

He had overthought it.

It wasn't that his little junior sister had remarkable self-control. She simply hadn't heard what anyone around her was saying.

Just then, a sweet voice rose from the crowd.

"Don't insult Sister Zi like that! What did she do wrong? Her talent for cultivation just isn't very good, yet you're all hurling abuse at her. Apologize to her right now!"

The voice caught Li Zi's attention, and she finally stopped pestering the system.

She turned toward it and frowned.

Those doubts had been perfectly natural. She had planned to find a way to temper her body and cleanse her marrow first, then crush every idle rumor with her strength.

But with Ran Zirou "defending" her like this, the matter had grown into a spectacle.

At once, a disciple tried to reason with Ran Zirou. "Junior Sister Zirou, you're too kind. Li Zi obviously used underhanded means to become the Fifth Elder's personal disciple."