Chapter 9

The second person called onto the platform was a little boy who looked seven or eight years old. His face brimmed with arrogance, and judging by his clothes, he too had come from a respectable aristocratic clan.

A flurry of whispers rose nearby.

"Who's that? Why is he so full of himself?"

"He's Jin Chen, the young master of the Jin Household in Capital City."

"Even the Azure Tide Sect lets people in through the back door?" At those words, many assumed the Azure Tide Sect had made special allowances for the Jin Household.

"Of course not. He has a single metal spirit root with eighty percent purity. When he was tested, golden light blazed so brightly that even people far away could see what was happening!" The man offered a timely explanation, afraid of inviting unnecessary trouble.

In the eyes of the Azure Tide Sect, the Jin Household might be no different from any other cultivation clan, but to most ordinary cultivators, it was still a powerful presence. The man who had just spoken was one of them.

He was a rogue cultivator whose family lived in Capital City. As a local, he knew better than anyone what position the Jin Household held there. If he spread rumors carelessly, perhaps the Jin Household could do nothing to him, but the same could not necessarily be said for his family in Capital City.

The third person to go up was Lu Tianqi.

Lu Tianqi's bone age was already fifteen, and he was beginning to carry himself like a young man. His features were refined and handsome, and his smile was like a gentle breeze and fine rain. No wonder he had become one of the male leads.

Su Jiu truly could not understand a genius like him. What sort of true love could matter more than cultivation? He clearly had outstanding talent and resources, yet he handed his resources over to someone else on a platter. Most laughably of all, he had ultimately gone into seclusion with the female lead and those other men. What kind of bizarre specimen was he?

Someone with a water spirit root of seventy percent purity spent all day fighting with other men over a woman's affections.

In the end, Lu Tianqi was accepted into Water Shadow Peak, but only as a true disciple.

As far as Su Jiu remembered, Water Shadow Peak's master seemed to have only two personal disciples. Luo Cang appeared indifferent to everything, but when it came to accepting disciples, he was stricter than anyone.

In her previous life, Luo Cang's two personal disciples had gone on missions with her. She had to admit that both senior brothers were exceptionally outstanding. In terms of aptitude alone, neither was particularly remarkable. Even Luo Cang's second personal disciple had only two evenly balanced spirit roots, but his strength lay in his character.

Among the twenty-odd personal disciples of the Azure Tide Sect, his cultivation progressed more slowly than almost anyone else's. Yet he alone had passed through the inner demon tribulation with the greatest steadiness.

Thinking of those two senior brothers, Su Jiu could not help smiling faintly.

Like other sects, the Azure Tide Sect had its own distinct circles within its little world. Outer gate disciples mostly went on missions with other outer gate disciples, while personal disciples mostly went with other personal disciples.

Personal disciples could almost be said to have little contact with outer gate disciples, inner gate disciples, or true disciples.

In the Azure Tide Sect, nearly every personal disciple was someone the other disciples looked up to.

That was also why she had barely crossed paths with Bai Su in her previous life, even though she had ultimately died because of her.

"The remaining new disciples will now receive their assignments from the outer gate steward."

Su Jiu froze, intense bewilderment filling her eyes.

The sect master glanced down at Su Jiu and could not help shaking his head with a sigh. What a pity.

Su Jiu had thought that in this life, just as in her previous one, she would become the sect master's disciple directly. She had never expected to have to start at the outer gate instead.

Su Jiu pressed her lips together and frowned in silence. Her aptitude was even better now than in her previous life, so why had no one chosen her? She did not understand, but more than that, she could not reconcile herself to it.

Several companions from her city who knew the circumstances also turned to look at Su Jiu.

"How could she..." Su Jian seemed about to say something, but Su Bo caught hold of him and shook his head. Su Jian's lips parted slightly, but in the end, he said nothing. The disbelief in his eyes, however, was plain to see.

"Su Jiu, are you all right?" Seeing that her complexion was poor, Su Bo asked with concern.

Su Jiu shook her head. "I'm fine."

A derisive snort rang out at a most unwelcome moment.

A boy of about twelve or thirteen laughed. "Didn't your test in Peace City show an ice spiritual root? With a full hundred percent purity, too? So why did no one want you in the end? Could the test have been wrong?"

The boy's voice was loud, and the disciples nearby who had yet to leave all turned to look.

"An ice spiritual root? That's impossible, isn't it?"

"A hundred percent, no less. Maybe she's some heaven-sent prodigy." The speaker's tone held mockery, along with a trace of sour envy.

"Enough, enough. Stop dreaming. Why would a real genius be here with us?"

"But that fellow really is obnoxious. What business is it of his what spirit root or purity someone else has? Their families probably have a grudge, and that little girl's been made into a raft for him to tread on."

"Now that you put it that way, I feel a little sorry for her."

There were not many people around, but hearing those mixed words of praise and criticism was still distinctly unpleasant.

Su Bo gave the boy a cold look, while Su Jian laughed beside him. "Tsk, Li Siyi, have you eaten too much sour fruit? That sourness of yours is about to spill right out of the Azure Tide Sect."

Li Siyi's eyes widened in anger. He was indeed fiercely jealous. The moment he saw that no high-level cultivator had taken Su Jiu away, he had blurted out his thoughts without restraint, as though venting something. He simply wanted everyone to know that Su Jiu was no different from them.

"So what if no one wanted her? Our little sister Jiu still has a mutated ice spiritual root. Someone with a fourfold spirit root like you can do nothing but stand here spouting sour words." Su Chen was about the same age as that boy.

The Su Family Head had said that the members of the Su Household shared honor and disgrace alike. Outside the household, they were one united whole. His cultivation might not have been powerful enough to command others, but he had always done an excellent job of educating the younger generation.

Su Yi also stood and moved in front of Su Jiu. She was small to begin with, and with him standing there, she was completely hidden behind him.

Seeing all the members of the Su Household rise, Li Siyi could not help panicking a little. "What's this? Are you bullying us because fewer people came from our household? Do you really think your Su Household alone rules Peace City?"

The onlookers immediately lost much of their interest. He had been so gleeful about bullying the little girl, yet the moment her side had more people, he lost his nerve? And now he was turning around to rake them with the blame? Instead of admitting he had bullied someone weaker, he accused them of ganging up on him. Everyone present came from an aristocratic clan. Who did he take for a fool?

"A fine display of double standards." The female cultivator who spoke plainly looked down on Li Siyi.

Seeing that things were going poorly, Li Sitang tugged at Li Siyi from behind. "There are five of them."

Of course Li Siyi knew there were five of them, but he had already spoken and could not afford to lose face. Even though he was afraid, he stubbornly held his ground.

Su Jiu pushed aside the Su Household disciples standing in front of her and took two steps forward. Meeting the gaze of the little girl who had yet to grow into her features, Li Siyi involuntarily retreated two steps.

Su Jiu sneered. "Fierce in appearance, cowardly within. Strong on the outside, hollow at the core." Then she turned to the others from the Su Household. "Why waste words on someone like him? The outer gate steward is still waiting for us to assemble."

Only after Su Jiu and the others had gone far away did Li Siyi realize that the little girl had actually frightened him into taking two steps back. He pounded the wall in fury.

"Why didn't you help me say something?"

But Li Sitang showed no regard for brotherly loyalty. "You really were the one who went over and started trouble."