Ye Lingtian: "..."
So they were dumping the trouble on him? He had only come to go through the motions and coast through the assignment. Now, for no reason, he had another person to watch over. How did that suit someone like him who hated trouble?
But the sect master had given the order, so refusing would be useless. He could only accept it helplessly.
"What about resources?" Ye Lingtian asked again. She had Metal-Fire Dual Spiritual Roots, after all. They couldn't let that go to waste.
"Once she joins your Sword-Seeking Peak, that will naturally be up to you. Before Junior Sister Xie left, she said you had full authority over Sword-Seeking Peak," came the sect master's faintly amused voice.
"All right, then." Ye Lingtian shrugged and looked at Qian Renxue.
Qian Renxue waited a good while without hearing anything. Just as she was wondering why, Ye Lingtian looked up at her and spoke in a flat tone. "Metal-Fire Dual Spiritual Roots, a pure physique... You'll join Sword-Seeking Peak and come back with me."
The other peak masters raised their brows at his words. Dual Spiritual Roots were good, but surely not good enough to accept her outright.
But in the next moment, a voice transmission from Ye Lingtian reached them. The peak masters finally understood and glanced at Qian Renxue suspiciously.
Qian Renxue's heart leaped with joy. She was just about to answer and bow when Ye Lingtian continued, "Not as a disciple. My Sword-Seeking Peak has been neglected for a long time and needs a maid. Are you willing? If not, you're free to leave."
Ye Lingtian had given Qian Renxue a choice. If she left, everyone would be happy; if she stayed, she would have to put up with it. He gave Qian Renxue no second choice at all.
The other peak masters remained silent. They were only Dual Spiritual Roots. Though rare, the Primordial Sect had no shortage of them.
The people on Douluo Continent were dumbfounded when they heard this.
"I thought Dual Spiritual Roots were a great talent. How did she end up becoming a maid?" Ning Rongrong was full of disbelief. Another person with Dual Spiritual Roots had appeared just now, but the difference in their treatment was enormous.
Yu Xiaogang, however, laughed. "I knew someone who didn't dare show her true face would never amount to anything! Sure enough, she can only be a maid who waits on others. How can she compare to my Tang San? He's bearing humiliation and carrying a heavy burden to infiltrate the demon's lair. Sooner or later, he'll accomplish great things!"
Qian Daoliu's blood surged with anger when he heard this. His granddaughter had actually been reduced to becoming a maid in another world. This sect was utterly unreasonable.
"Xiao Xue, you mustn't agree," Qian Daoliu said hopefully, holding back his anger. How could his proud granddaughter become someone else's maid?
Bibi Dong watched the scene with great interest, completely unconcerned that her daughter was going to become someone else's maid.
Xue Ye was overjoyed. "Haha, I had him pretend to be my crown prince, and now look at him! Hahahahaha!"
Laughter rang out endlessly in the imperial court.
Qian Renxue, who was there in person, froze when she heard this, her face full of disbelief.
"What?"
She could scarcely believe her ears.
A maid? They wanted her, Qian Renxue, the angel holy maiden of Spirit Hall and the crown prince who had spent decades undercover in Heaven Dou, to be a maid to a strange young man?!
A surge of shock and fury rushed to her head. But when she looked up and met Ye Lingtian's calm, indifferent gaze, she forcibly swallowed the angry rebuke on her lips.
She had just arrived and had no one to rely on. Being able to stay in the Primordial Sect was already a rare opportunity. If she made a scene and was driven out, she wouldn't even have a place to shelter.
Besides... that inexplicable flutter deep in her heart had somehow extinguished most of her towering rage, leaving only a little shame and annoyance lodged in her throat.
Qian Renxue bit her lower lip. In the end, she lowered her head and answered hoarsely, "...Yes."
Crack! With a splintering sound, a pillar in the Worship Hall suddenly split open. Qian Daoliu stared in bewilderment at Qian Renxue on the sky screen.
"How did it come to this? How did it come to this?"
Seeing Qian Renxue agree, Ye Lingtian nodded to her and pointed to his side. "Come stand here. Once all the disciples have been tested, you'll return to Sword-Seeking Peak with me."
Qian Renxue took a deep breath and suppressed her surging emotions, walking step by step to the side of the young man in blue. The mountain wind swept the mist toward her, carrying the faint, delicate scent of bamboo from him.
Her cheeks grew slightly warm despite herself. She quietly raised her eyes and glanced at the tall figure beside her. Somehow, her earlier shame and annoyance quietly faded a little more.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the sky screen, Tang San had just finished speaking on the river valley altar when the relaxed expression on the smiling Soul-Devouring Zhenren's face vanished in an instant. Black-red killing aura, vast as mountains and seas, crashed down straight at Tang San!
Tang San felt as though a boulder weighing ten thousand jin had smashed into his chest. The taste of blood welled up in his throat, and the pressure of his opponent's cultivation left him barely able to breathe. He fell to his knees on the spot.
"You blind little wretch, you dare shamelessly ask this old man for a cultivation method?" Soul-Devouring Zhenren's voice was ice-cold, and dark demonic Qi had already gathered at his fingertips. "You're courting death."
At that critical moment, a black-robed figure strode out of the ranks and bowed to Soul-Devouring Zhenren. It was the demonic cultivator who had refined infant souls in the ruined city earlier.
"Please calm your anger, cult master," the demonic cultivator said with his head lowered. "This lad really is one of us. Back in the ruined city, this subordinate caught his scent."
"He looks like an untrained newcomer who's just started out, with no one to teach him the rules. There's no need for you to lower yourself to his level, cult master."
"We still have to assemble and set out before the Primordial Sect's people find their way into the river valley. If you really make a move, exposing our whereabouts for nothing would be less than ideal."
"Oh, you know him?" Soul-Devouring Zhenren glanced at the demonic cultivator in surprise.
"Yes. He once let me have an infant."
Hearing this, Soul-Devouring Zhenren said nothing. He glanced at Tang San kneeling on the ground, then slowly withdrew his killing aura.
He snorted and cursed, "Count yourself lucky. There's important business today, so I'll spare your life for now. Follow the group. If you dare play any tricks, I'll refine you into pill bait."
With that, he turned back and continued laying out the itinerary for the demonic cultivators, paying Tang San no further attention.
Only when the demonic cultivator saw that the cult master's anger had subsided did he quietly pull Tang San to the rear of the group. He glanced around, and seeing that no one was paying attention, lowered his voice.
"Do you have a death wish? The cult master hates wild cultivators who come empty-handed and ask him for cultivation methods more than anything. What you said just now nearly cost you your life. From now on, talk less and do more, understand?"
Tang San kept his expression unchanged and slowly nodded to him. "Thank you for the warning, brother. This junior will remember it."
Seeing that he was obedient, the demonic cultivator said no more and turned to rejoin the ranks, considering the earlier favor repaid.
Only Tang San remained, his hands clenched at his sides until his knuckles turned white, icy killing intent churning in his eyes.
He, Tang San, had lived two lives. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?
He was nothing but the leader of a band of demonic cultivators from another world, yet he dared suppress and persecute Tang San like this. Tang San would repay today's humiliation a hundredfold someday. This Soul-Devouring Zhenren was already a dead man on his chopping board; he already had a way to die.
The people on Douluo Continent saw this series of twists and turns. The crowd in Shrek Square, whose hearts had been clenched tight just moments before, finally let out a slow breath of relief.