Yet even as the elder inwardly coughed up blood, he quietly extended his spiritual sense.
Because he really wanted to know what had happened ten thousand years ago, too!
Even the history he taught these youngsters had merely been passed down through the generations. How could he possibly know as much as an Immortal Artifact?
[Lan Yue: Actually, I'm pretty curious how these people carried four continents and sprinted off in different directions. Were their true forms all deep-sea spirit turtles?]
Lan Yue remembered an animated show from her previous life in which a giant turtle supported an entire continent, but she had already forgotten its name and what it was about.
So she opened the system out of curiosity.
[Lan Yue: Oh, they pushed them over little by little. It took more than a thousand years! Talk about perseverance! What kind of grudges and hatred could keep those people going for so long? I'm really curious. Let me see if there's any more detailed gossip.]
Lan Yue had buried her head so deeply that she never noticed the silvery-white Spirit Sword quietly inching closer beside her, or the people nearby leaning toward her.
[Lan Yue: What's going on? Why did this heading go dim? It's turned gray. System, system, get out here! What's going on?]
While Lan Yue was wondering about it, the heading before her suddenly turned black, leaving her scratching her head in frustration.
[System: You don't have enough mental energy. I locked it to keep you from passing out immediately after reading it.]
Lan Yue felt rather regretful. Had she known, she would never have searched for the reason the Four Regions had separated. Such juicy gossip was sitting right in front of her, yet she couldn't read it because she lacked mental energy. It truly made her heart ache!
Her heart ached. It ached so much!
Since even Lan Yue couldn't read it, the others sitting in the Morning Cultivation Hall felt more or less disappointed as well.
The elder at the front, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. His feelings were particularly complicated: he wanted to learn what had happened ten thousand years ago from Lan Yue, but he also didn't want their ancestors to lose face.
"Ahem. Next, let me give you a proper introduction to our Four Cultivation Regions." The elder's face once again filled with smiles.
"Although we call them the Four Cultivation Regions, only the Northern Region is relatively close to our Southern Region. We have very little contact with the other two regions. A thousand years ago, our closest ties were with the North Ridge Sacred Ground in the Northern Region."
"Unfortunately, lately our sect's relationship with North Ridge hasn't been quite so..." Before the elder could finish, the disciples around him had already begun discussing it below.
"The North Ridge Sacred Ground? Isn't that the sacred ground the North Ridge Sacred Son belongs to?"
"The North Ridge Sacred Son? Isn't he the sacred son tangled up in all that love and hate with our sect master?"
"Yes, yes, exactly! Apparently, that sacred son even gave birth to a daughter for the sect master. He came right to our doorstep!"
"That doesn't sound right. I heard our sect master seduced him and then abandoned him, trying to cast the sacred son aside. In a fit of anger, he dumped their daughter here and ran off himself."
"Is that what happened? Then I must have heard wrong. Your version sounds more plausible."
The elder on the platform watched helplessly as they discussed it, listening as the sect master's reputation sank bit by bit until it finally hit the ground with a splat and shattered to pieces.
Who on earth had spread this rumor? He had been at the sparring grounds too, and he had heard it himself! How had that tangled tale of love and hate changed versions in the blink of an eye, becoming a story about the sect master seducing someone and then abandoning him?
Did the sect master know about this? Wouldn't he die of anger if he found out?
At the very back of the Morning Cultivation Hall, Lan Yue propped up her chin and listened with relish, finding it all immensely entertaining. She had no idea that some of this had originated with her, only to go slightly awry after spreading.
Then again, that was perfectly normal. Who could have imagined that the gossip she'd enjoyed at the sparring grounds would eventually become a version where the sect master seduced and abandoned the North Ridge Sacred Son, who then ran away with a baby on board?
If she came back to listen after a while, perhaps the North Ridge Sacred Son would have become the North Ridge Sacred Maiden, with even his gender changed.
[Lan Yue: Sigh, looks like this world really is different from what I remember. I must have transmigrated into a fanfic.] [Lan Yue: In that case, let me soothe my nerves with some more gossip. Should I dig into that huge scandal about the sect master and the North Ridge Sacred Son?] [Lan Yue: Huh? The gossip about white-browed Elder Lu has actually updated! Let me check that first.]
As her inner voice faded, everyone discreetly turned their gazes toward her, their eyes brimming with anticipation.
There was actually some fresh gossip they hadn't heard before!
Some disciples who had caught wind of the earlier gossip were already secretly sending voice transmissions, filling the others in on Elder Lu's previous scandal.
[Lan Yue: Let me see what happened with white-browed Elder Lu to make the system update again.]
Lan Yue kept her head down, happily refreshing the system interface, completely oblivious to the very familiar figure who had appeared outside the Morning Cultivation Hall.
The person who had just arrived outside the Morning Cultivation Hall was naturally Elder Lu. He had previously been stationed at the Hidden Sword Pavilion.
Although the Hidden Sword Pavilion had little spiritual energy, and standing guard there was extremely dull, a posting lasted at least three years, or as long as ten or fifty.
But if there were no benefits, how could anyone possibly stay there for so many years? How could talented inner disciples with decent cultivation and bright prospects be willing to take assignments there?
Naturally, it was because the Hidden Sword Pavilion paid extremely well. Spirit stones were only a secondary benefit. As long as they stood guard at the Hidden Sword Pavilion for enough time, they would get first pick of the latest spirit herbs produced by the Spirit Herb Pavilion.
They could even receive priority when commissioning spirit artifacts from Spirit Artifact Peak, along with substantial discounts.
Besides, a spirit-restricting place like the Hidden Sword Pavilion was also somewhere to temper one's character. Plenty of people wanted to go there but couldn't get in.
Elder Lu had originally thought he could keep working there for another few hundred years. He had never expected to be dismissed from the Hidden Sword Pavilion early and reassigned to the Morning Cultivation Hall.
The Morning Cultivation Hall sounded like a nice place, but in reality, it was just somewhere to teach a bunch of little brats. Naturally, his expression was far from pleasant.
Having just arrived by Sword Flight at the mountain peak where the Morning Cultivation Hall stood, his legs suddenly went weak, and he nearly fell.
Could someone tell him why Lan Yue was here too?
Wasn't she already at mid Qi Refining? Why was she still coming to an introductory place like the Morning Cultivation Hall?
[Lan Yue: So that's what happened. After white-browed Elder Lu went back, he met with those Dao companions again.] [Lan Yue: Wow, Elder Lu actually hardened his heart and threw out all his Dao companions. He even declared that he would never see them again for the rest of his life!] [Lan Yue: Is this really the same Elder Lu who took eighteen Dao companions in one go? Did getting kicked out of the Hidden Sword Pavilion by the sect master yesterday really shock him that badly?]
Quite a few people knew that Elder Lu had been forced out of the Hidden Sword Pavilion.
That was especially true at the Morning Cultivation Hall. Most of the disciples who came here had only just joined the sect and were intensely curious about it. Whenever there was gossip, it generally spread everywhere that very day, without waiting until tomorrow or the day after.
Lan Yue had a wide range of sources, so naturally, she had heard the news as well.
[Lan Yue: Looks like Elder Lu really is angry this time. He threw all those Dao companions out without even giving them any spirit stones.] [Lan Yue: So many delicate beauties, lovely as flowers and jade, left shivering in the wind and rain. Poor things! One of them was so cold she nearly fainted. Elder Lu is far too heartless!]
Sometimes, Lan Yue could watch videos here, but viewing them would definitely consume more mental energy.
She now felt that the mental energy in her mind was like her phone's battery or mobile data in her previous life. If either ran out, it would interfere with her continued enjoyment of gossip.
Yet, curious about what Elder Lu's eighteen Dao companions actually looked like, she clicked on it anyway.
Before she clicked, the Silver Snow sword, which had secretly edged over on her right, quietly tapped her.
"Stop messing around. I'm enjoying some gossip." Lan Yue instinctively pushed the silver longsword away.
Only two seconds later did she realize that what she had just pushed away seemed to be Silver Snow.
Lan Yue whipped her head around and saw that Silver Snow's sword spirit had already manifested, with two stubby little legs planted in an indignant stance.
Before you continue