The new disciples inside the hall had all been thoroughly bamboozled by Sect Master Chang’s theory of the Five Elements Dao Body.
The crowd outside the hall, observing the ceremony, remained unaware of Sect Master Chang’s deep worries about the young apprentice.
So, apart from Tian Laokou and a few others, no one fully understood the meaning and weight behind Yun Miao’s promise.
However, those with sharp eyes saw the scene where Yun Miao cast a spell to send flowers.
Even though the water flow was thin and delicate, it was still undeniably Water Control Technique!
Because loud noise was forbidden at the moment, the people outside could only exchange shocked glances and subtle gestures, causing the message in the open-air disciple communication zone to spike visibly and rapidly.
As the Sect Master’s first disciple, Qi Shubai was watching quietly in a corner of the main hall.
When he saw that stream of water, he paused for a moment before his expression softened, and a pleased look brightened his eyes.
The recruitment ceremony ended quietly amid this silent commotion.
Huaxin noticed the eager and watchful gazes of the crowd outside and quietly pulled Yun Miao two steps back into the hall before asking how exactly she had done it.
Yun Miao briefly recounted her ‘great achievements’ from the previous night and took the opportunity to teach them how to use the Dizi Ling, ensuring they could contact her whenever needed.
Huaxin frowned so tightly she might have crushed a fly, while the dim-witted Tan Xiaobai’s eyes lit up as he thought he’d caught the key point: “So just copying the inscriptions can open the Purple Mansion?”
The disciples inside and outside the hall immediately perked up and listened attentively.
Qi Shubai had wanted to wait until Yun Miao finished talking with her friends before approaching, but upon hearing this, he could no longer stay seated.
“This young junior brother is mistaken.”
He greeted the young disciples politely, then seriously warned them that such a method was crude and dangerous—nine out of ten times it was fatal, and the sole survivor had a 99% chance of becoming a fool.
Yun Miao survived partly because of her exceptional innate talent.
That was evident from how she had briefly resisted the Windchant Patriarch’s deception and how, even in the Qi Refining stage, she could use her naked eyes to read and memorize the inscriptions on the Zhufeng Pillar.
Secondly, it was because the discovery and rescue happened just in time.
Thirdly, everyone knew the Dan Peak Lord of Xuantian Sect was one of the very few Dan Kings in the world.
“Given her condition at that time… if it weren’t for Junior Uncle Tian’s intervention, she would have surely died—no chance to become a fool even.”
Tian Laokou flew down from the high platform and shot the crowd a malicious smile. “Whoever wants to become a fool can go ahead and imitate her.”
“When that happens, I’ll tie up your lives and make you all big fools, dragging your runny noses to farm for me every day. If anyone dares slack off, I’ll have Old Ox whip you!”
“No, no!
“Master Tian is joking!”
“We’d never do such a foolish thing.”
The crowd outside immediately dispersed in a clamor, afraid that if they hesitated, Tian Laokou would drag them off to farm at Dan Peak.
Everyone knew that the sect missions from Dan Peak were mostly about farming—hard, exhausting work that paid few contribution points. They would rather shovel dung on Shou Peak than plow fields.
Tan Xiaobai shook his head like a rattle, swearing he definitely wouldn’t do anything foolish.
At that moment, Qian Duoduo, Fu Peak Lord, also flew down from the platform, gave Tan Xiaobai a playful bonk on the head, telling him not to get ahead of himself, and then took him away.
Seeing this, Qi Shubai also took his leave with Yun Miao and Huaxin.
He frankly told them that Yun Miao only looked healthier because she had taken medicinal pills; in reality, the cracks in the Purple Mansion couldn’t be repaired overnight.
So he intended to take her back to Yao Lu again and have her rest there for the next month.
Hearing this, Huaxin immediately pulled out her Storage Pouch and asked him to help retrieve the Ling Stones Yun Miao had stored with her.
As for the meat buns she had stored before…
The summer heat was too intense, and Yun Miao hadn’t emerged from the Dengtianti since entering it.
To prevent the meat buns from spoiling, Huaxin had all the Steward Hall disciples deliver them to Little Black to eat.
Yun Miao thought to herself: Storage items without preservation functions really aren’t convenient; she needed to find a way to get a higher-level Storage Pouch soon.
***
After returning the Ling Stones, Huaxin reminded them once more:
“Yun Miao tends to run off if not watched and likes to pick and eat poisonous mushrooms from the ground. Senior Brother should keep a closer eye on her to prevent any more trouble.”
Guan Dahai and Gao Zhu nodded seriously and gave examples of Yun Miao’s ‘great deeds’ at the ruined temple and on the immortal ship, adding weight to Huaxin’s words.
Qi Shubai nodded earnestly. “Thanks for the reminder. I’ll be careful.”
Yun Miao was about to protest but suddenly saw Shang Mancang, who was leaving with the Array Peak Lord, stop nearby.
She looked up and whispered something to the Peak Lord, then turned and walked toward her.
“Junior Sister Yun, I’m sorry, and… thank you.”
Shang Mancang admitted she had acted selfishly before, nearly causing Yun Miao to die while copying the inscriptions, yet Yun Miao still offered her advice without resentment—a truly kind and noble person.
At the end, blushing, she hugged Yun Miao shyly but firmly: “Even if we can’t do business together, I’m definitely making you a friend. I’ll make sure to get rich together with you someday!”
Yun Miao hugged her back with equal determination. “Definitely! I could tell by your face you’re destined for rare wealth. Good friends, never forget each other in fortune or hardship!”
Shang Mancang’s cheeks turned even redder. “Then I’ll take that as a blessing.”
***
Yun Miao had thought Senior Brother was just teasing her, but on the way back to Dan Peak, she suddenly began bleeding again, realizing that his words were not empty threats.
When she lay back down in Yao Lu’s bed, she had already turned pale and half-dead again. The negative debuff that had vanished had returned.
Little Black rubbed against her face as if greeting her.
Yun Miao wiped the fresh blood dripping from her eyes and nose and weakly stretched her hand toward Tian Laokou, her voice faint.
“Junior Uncle, help… cough cough… I feel like I’m bleeding out, I’m not going to make it… quickly… give me a thousand pills of your Nine-rank Spirit-nourishing Pill to take internally, a thousand to apply externally, and a thousand for bathing…”
“I think you’re doing fine; you still have energy to joke.”
Tian Laokou rolled his eyes.
“I’ve been alive so long and haven’t refined a single Nine-rank pill, but you—eat them like meals, and not just internally but externally and in baths? Why don’t you just get the Dan Sage of Medicine Valley to personally massage your feet too?”
Yun Miao wiped her bloody tears on the struggling Little Black, only to smear blood all over her face, looking like a white-clad ghost howling from hell.
“Cough cough cough. You’re my real Junior Uncle; you can’t stand by and watch me die!”
“Junior Sister, you really aren’t lungs… ah, forget it, just drink more water.”
Qi Shubai helplessly poured her a cup of tea, then looked at Tian Laokou. “Junior Uncle…”
“Enough, enough. Everyone spoils the kids these days, raising them wild and unruly. You’ll be the cause of future headaches.”
Tian Laokou sighed and flung his sleeves, producing from thin air a small medicine gourd about the length of a forearm and a tiny porcelain bottle the size of a fist.
“The porcelain bottle contains Three-rank Spirit-nourishing Pills, and the gourd holds Three-rank Rejuvenation Pills. What’s most important now is rest. You’ll recover naturally after a month.”
Qi Shubai precisely caught the two pill containers.
Yun Miao scoffed, “Only three ranks?”
Tian Laokou glared at her. “An ignorant brat like you still dares to complain? Three-rank pills are enough for those in Qi Refining. Taking more would just be wasted because your body can’t absorb it!”
Did that mean taking higher-grade medicines would have adverse effects on her?
Yun Miao casually wiped her nosebleed with the motionless Little Black. “I’ll try my best!”
Tian Laokou’s round face was expressionless. “If you mean you’ll work hard on your cultivation, I’m relieved.”
“But if you mean you’ll work hard on your cultivation and keep bleeding from all seven orifices to come to me for high-grade pills, then I have one word for you: scram!”
Qi Shubai sighed, rescuing the struggling Little Black from Yun Miao’s grip, then used a water current to wash away the bloodstains on both of them.
Finally, he pulled out a handkerchief and placed it in Yun Miao’s hand.
“Let it go; it’s not your handkerchief.”
Yun Miao immediately pulled Little Black back and argued righteously, “It’s not! This is just how I show my love for him, and Little Black likes it too, right?”
Little Black, lifted into the air, looked at her with amber eyes and slowly shook its head firmly.
Yun Miao paused, then helped Little Black nod with her hand. “Senior Brother, see? Little Black says it likes it too.”
Little Black:
Qi Shubai could only shake his head helplessly and poured out one pill each from the gourd and bottle, placing them before Yun Miao.
“Take your medicine.”
Yun Miao obediently swallowed the pills, but the weakness and fatigue remained.
According to the realism level of Wen Dao Three Thousand, she wouldn’t be in this sickly state for an entire month, would she? This would seriously delay her exploration of the map.
Tian Laokou, being a Peak Lord with many responsibilities, soon left Yao Lu. No sooner had he gone than Yun Miao’s eyes darted toward the shabby yet strangely enticing medicine cabinet nearby.
Outside.
Before she could move, Qi Shubai covered her and Little Black with blankets, tucking the edges carefully so only their heads remained uncovered.
“Junior Sister, Senior Brother needs your help with something.”
Yun Miao blinked. “Okay.”
Was Senior Brother about to assign her a task?
Qi Shubai hesitated. “You’re not even asking what help I need?”
Yun Miao smiled confidently. “Whatever Senior Brother wants, I’ll help, so no need to think about it.”
How’s that? Isn’t Senior Brother impressed by the vastness of the player’s heart? Affection points are skyrocketing!
Qi Shubai smiled at the corner of his eyes. “What if I said… I want you to refuse our master’s help and complete this punishment on your own?”
Yun Miao: “Fine. Then I’ll get Tan Xiaobai to help me.”
Qi Shubai frowned. “Tan Xiaobai is your friend, right? Won’t he be mad?”
Yun Miao confidently explained, “No, he won’t. Tan Xiaobai is my junior… basically, I’m his boss. Juniors have to obey their seniors to survive in this harsh cultivation world.”
Qi Shubai:
“…Didn’t expect you to have that kind of status. But that won’t do.”
He poured another cup of tea and placed it on the bamboo nightstand beside the bed.
“Though our master is our master, he’s also Sect Master of Xuantian Sect. If he really sent a puppet to help you finish your punishment, it would be unfair to the others and surely cause dissent among the disciples.”