Scenes from Yuanling City (Five)

The fat, richly dressed cultivator opposite him smiled contemptuously. He first raised his hand to bow to the surrounding crowd before speaking to the thin cultivator:

"Liu Chun, you should have a conscience. You have been in the Wu Household for ten years, and in these ten years, the Wu Household has never mistreated you. We have always given you enough monthly offerings. I never expected that you would turn around and accuse us. This has truly opened my eyes!"

You say our Wu Household promised you a spot in the Heavenly Profound Sect? Is that even possible? Tell me, in the entire Yuanling City, which Lineage would be so generous as to hand over a spot in the Heavenly Profound Sect to an outsider?

Upon hearing this, the surrounding onlookers nodded in agreement.

"That's right. Those spots in the Heavenly Profound Sect are incredibly rare. I heard that even the most powerful Lineage only manage to get five or six spots every few decades. The rest have to go through the proper channels to get in, based on their aptitude."

There were also those who were new to the place and didn't quite understand the ins and outs of it, and they had questions:

"Since there are normal channels for recruiting disciples, why are the extra spots provided by the Heavenly Profound Sect so precious?"

"Alas! Fellow Daoist, you are unaware of this. If you follow the normal channels, even if you enter the Heavenly Profound Sect, you'll likely only ever be a menial disciple, or at best, an outer disciple. But the extra spots the Heavenly Profound Sect provides are directly inner disciple spots! The difference is enormous..."

"So, this fellow Daoist named Liu Chun is really delusional, isn't he? The Wu Household family didn't withhold his salary, yet he wants to extort a spot from the Heavenly Profound Sect. This is truly..."

Hearing the whispers and murmurs around him, Liu Chun felt a surge of shame and anger. He retorted indignantly:

"You, Wu Sanbao, are spouting nonsense! It was clearly your Wu Household that promised me a spot first, and even said that my salary wouldn't be waived. Otherwise, why would I have given up the once-in-a-century Talisman Master Assembly to become a talisman worshipper for your insignificant Wu Household!"

This statement surprised many people.

Who would have thought that this person is such a formidable figure aiming for the Talisman Master Assembly!

The Talisman Master Assembly is a grand event jointly held by the Southern Spirit Domain and the North Spirit Domain. Its purpose is to discover the most talented talisman masters in the two domains. After being recognized by the Talisman Master Assembly, the conference will issue corresponding title tokens to these talisman masters according to their level. The holders of the highest-level tokens can even join the legendary Talisman Sect!

Therefore, many exceptionally talented talisman masters aim to participate in the Talisman Master Assembly. Moreover, since the Talisman Master Assembly is held only once every hundred years, and its assessment is extremely rigorous, basically only a dozen or so people are able to obtain the title token at each Talisman Master Assembly. So unless one is truly exceptionally talented, very few people would actually make it their goal and work hard for it.

That's why some people say that.

However, the obese cultivator known as Wu Sanbao sneered and said:

"Liu Chun, how can you be so shameless? Don't you feel ashamed? You dare to say you originally planned to participate in the Talisman Master Assembly?"

We, the Wu Household, only extended a helping hand to you because you looked pitiful and destitute, and gave you a position as a retainer in our Wu Household. We never expected that we would raise such an ungrateful wretch like you!

Look at you! You were already at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage when you joined the Wu Household, and now, after all these years, your cultivation hasn't improved an inch. You still have the nerve to say that you once aspired to the Talisman Master Assembly? It's utterly laughable!

"You!" Liu Chun was already furious at his words, his eyes blazing with rage.

"Don't you know why my cultivation hasn't progressed at all!"

If it weren't for your promise to give me a spot, how could I have spent all these years making talismans day and night, thus neglecting my cultivation!

I never imagined you would not only go back on your word, but also turn around and accuse me! Fine, fine! From this day forward, I will never forgive your Wu Household Wu Household!

Upstairs, Lin Xiao was still intently watching the standoff between the two. Each had their own version of events, and for a moment, the onlookers couldn't tell who was telling the truth.

Lin Xiao wasn't sure either. After all, he wasn't familiar with the atmosphere of the Immortal Cultivation Realm, and people are all different. He thought it was possible that the Wu Household, as local bullies, were abusing their power. But it wasn't impossible that Liu Chun was disguising himself as the weaker party to gain sympathy for his own benefit.

Lin Xiao had no intention of getting involved in this matter. Having watched the commotion for a while, he was about to close the window and go back to continue eating his roast suckling pig when he heard a clear and melodious voice coming from the private room next door.

"You two each Heavenly Mandate Oath, saying that what you say is absolutely true, and that's it, isn't it?"

The clear, crisp female voice seemed to be imbued with Spiritual Power, spreading throughout the entire hall.

The surrounding crowd echoed in agreement:

"Yes, yes, since you two have different versions of events, why don't we make Heavenly Mandate Oath?"

"This Heavenly Mandate Oath isn't something you can just swear so easily—"

Seeing that the previously conflicting accounts might be about to reverse, Lin Xiao was preparing to wait for further developments Liao Pantu suddenly waved his hand and closed the window in front of him.

"I'm full. It's too noisy here, let's go."

Lin Xiao turned to look at him with some surprise:

"No, senior, wait a little longer, let me see the result."

Liao Pantu his eyes at him:

"What's the point of looking at the outcome? There's no need. Regardless of who's right or wrong, the Wu family will definitely Wu Household in the end. Alright, let's hurry up and leave. Let's avoid these upsetting things; they won't ruin my good mood."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao felt that there seemed to be something more to his words. After thinking for a moment, he didn't ask further, nodded, and walked to the table, saying:

"Alright, since you don't like it, let's go."

As he spoke, he put his half of the roast suckling pig and the untouched plate of eight-crisp Silver-Tailed Fish into his private stash. Liao Pantu also shrank back into his Soul-Nourishing Pendant and floated into Lin Xiao's arms.

There were quite a few onlookers outside, filling the main hall in layers. Lin Xiao had to squeeze through the crowd to get out of the Immortal Fragrance Pavilion.

After coming out, he pondered for a moment and then asked Liao Pantu telepathically:

"Senior, do you still want to go back to your cave abode?"

Liao Pantu said:

"You don't need to accommodate me; just do what you want."

So Lin Xiao smiled and replied to him:

"Alright. I plan to stay in the city for the next few days before heading to the Icefield Mystic Realm, instead of going back. This will save me time traveling back and forth, and it will also make it easier for me to gather new information. I'll also see what preparations everyone usually makes before going to the Secret Realm..."

--

In the few days since Lin Xiao left, in the quiet Xiushui Village, Sun Yigao's private school officially began enrolling students after the custom-made desks and chairs arrived.