At this moment, Gu Nian arrived by the side of the Sect Master of Yuanji Sect. Looking at Xue Fuyao inside the water mirror, she spoke to her master, "Master, she is the genius with the wood-element Heavenly Spiritual Root I mentioned to you before. She has no parents, and at such a young age, her cultivation had already reached the Third Layer of Qi Condensation without anyone knowing."
"Furthermore, she only recently started cultivating."
Listening to Gu Nian finish speaking, the various elders who had previously only felt a touch of admiration looked again at the small figure inside the water mirror who was already panting with exhaustion and crawling with hands and feet, their gazes shifting from appreciation to fanaticism.
The Sect Master had already taken a Final Disciple, so could they...
Faced with everyone's expectant gazes, Sect Master of Yuanji Sect Xiao Fansheng gave a light cough and turned to look at the seat beside him.
"Yichu, this child has a Wood Spiritual Root just like you. You are the most suitable person in our Yuanji Sect to teach her, how about..."
Elder Lingmu was named Xie Yichu. He and Sect Master Xiao Fansheng were martial brothers from the same sect, with the former being the Eldest Senior Brother and the latter the junior grand disciple.
Because Xie Yichu was a Final Disciple, he could almost be said to have been raised by Xiao Fansheng, who was the Eldest Senior Brother.
Over the years, the junior martial brother had remained entirely focused on cultivation and had not taken on a single disciple, which caused Xiao Fansheng, as his senior martial brother, to feel deeply worried, afraid that one day this junior martial brother of his would suffer a cultivation deviation.
Master had once said that the junior martial brother was a Once-in-Ten-Thousand-Years Cultivation Saint Body, and his cultivation speed could not be compared to that of ordinary cultivators. Even if his spiritual root purity did not reach the Heavenly Spiritual Root, this would not affect the junior martial brother at all.
Only, Master had also once said that the junior martial brother had shallow affinities with his family and kin, and the junior martial brother himself remained indifferent to matters outside of cultivation, looking entirely unable to muster any interest.
Although it was said that a cultivator's primary responsibility was to cultivate and enhance their cultivation level, if one remained uninterested in everything around them, this was certainly not a good thing for a cultivator.
Originally, his plan was to find a dao companion for the junior martial brother to increase his bonds with all things in this world, but thinking of the junior martial brother's cold temperament that did not resemble a mortal's, he felt that forcibly finding a dao companion for the junior martial brother would likely give rise to a pair of resentful spouses.
Therefore, he changed finding a dao companion for the junior martial brother into finding a disciple for the junior martial brother.
Only, he had found several in succession, but the junior martial brother was unsatisfied with all of them and always flat out refused. Now that a wood-element Heavenly Spiritual Root had emerged, surely he had no reason to refuse anymore.
"Senior martial brother, I have never been a master, nor do I know how to teach a disciple," Xie Yichu said with some ached temples.
Who knew what was wrong with the Eldest Senior Brother recently, as he always wanted to shove a disciple onto him. It was a struggle for him just to support himself, so how could he possibly afford to support a disciple.
"If you don't know, you can learn. Master always praised you for being smart since you were little, learning anything the moment you study it. I believe this matter won't stump you either. Besides, this little girl is neither too big nor too small; take her back and raise her like a daughter, and you won't even need to wait on her food and drink. The weeds on your Green Bamboo Peak are almost taller than a person, and you don't even have a single Menial Disciple, lacking even a shred of human warmth."
After listening to Xiao Fansheng's words, Xie Yichu finally understood that this senior martial brother of his was determined to jam a disciple in for him.
"Since senior martial brother has put it this way, it wouldn't look good for junior martial brother to refuse any further. Taking in this little girl is fine, but I have one condition."
Hearing this, Xiao Fansheng instantly beamed with joy. "As long as you take her, name whatever condition you have."
"This is both my first disciple and my last disciple, and I ask senior martial brother to grant this."
Xiao Fansheng agreed without even thinking.
Finding a disciple for the junior martial brother was originally intended to give him some emotional attachment so he would not become obsessed through cultivation and sever all ties with his kin.
The other elders watched these two go back and forth in a few sentences to decide Xue Fuyao's destination, angry yet daring not to speak.
What could they do? One of these two was the current sect master, and the other was the sect master's junior martial brother. Among everyone present, his cultivation was the highest, so who dared to utter a single dissenting word.
Do not be fooled by Xie Yichu's high-and-mighty flower appearance, for everyone present knew that while he was indeed a high-and-mighty flower, he was also an absolute reigning king of chaos who would beat you and leave you with nowhere to seek recourse.
Just at that moment, Xue Fuyao finally crawled to the end of the Heaven-Questioning Stairway, collapsing entirely onto the ground, panting heavily from exhaustion.
After a long while, she mustered the strength to climb up from the ground. By this time, quite a few people had already gathered here.
However, unlike Xue Fuyao, they had either given up continuing to climb after reaching a certain number of steps, or had been rescued after falling into illusions and being unable to walk out.
The gazes these people cast toward her held surprise, envy, and jealousy.
Xue Fuyao did not greet these people, instead finding a corner to quietly recover her physical strength.
Upon reaching the summit, the seal on her body was lifted, and her cultivation accordingly recovered, but the physical fatigue still had not vanished. Xue Fuyao only felt that her legs were currently trembling.
She circulated spiritual qi into the palms of her hands, then bit by bit dredged the meridians in her legs, alleviating the exhaustion brought on by climbing the stairway.
The number of people around was growing larger, but those who successfully climbed up on their own were not very many, numbering only five people including Xue Fuyao.
They were led into the grand hall by a disciple wearing Inner Sect Disciple attire.
The carved balustrades and jade masonry of the palace stood towering and lofty, reaching into the clouds with majestic grandeur. Every part of the palace exuded its extraordinariness, and every corner permeated a powerful aura.
Of course, the most eye-catching among them was naturally the Sect Master sitting high on the seat of honor, alongside Zhao Lao and several Deacon Elders.
As everyone walked into the hall, the inner sect disciple responsible for leading the way for them bowed toward the people sitting in the seats of honor, speaking respectfully, "Sect Master, esteemed elders, Deacon Elders, the newly entered inner sect disciples this time have been brought here."
"Mm, thank you for your hard work, you may withdraw first."
"Yes!"
"Greetings, Sect Master, esteemed elders, Deacon Elders."
The disciples of the immortal-cultivation lineages took the lead in paying respects to the people in the seats of honor, and the rest of the people followed suit upon seeing this. Xue Fuyao concealed herself in the middle, neither drawing attention nor falling behind, her performance proper and conventional.
With the cultivation of Xiao Fansheng and the others, even when intentionally reined in, that inadvertently leaked aura was enough to make everyone present tremble and bow their heads without daring to make a single sound.
"Little ones, do not be nervous," a white-bearded elder said gently.
Next was the disciple-taking ceremony.
Among the people present, those taken under the wing of an elder would become Personal Disciples, while the remaining ones would be assigned under the other Deacon Elders to become ordinary inner sect disciples.
Although both were inner sect disciples, the gap between these two was as wide as heaven and earth.
On the high platform, Xiao Fansheng glanced at Xie Yichu beside him, who had his eyes closed, and nudged him with his elbow to wake him up.
? ?The master is not the male protagonist
Before you continue