Inside the Immortal-Guiding Pavilion, the moment the crimson and deep blue phantoms slammed together and annihilated one another, everyone’s expectations were crushed to dust alongside them.
“Foolish! Stupid! Utterly idiotic!” The Examining Elder slammed the Spirit-Testing Disc onto the table, his voice thick with bitter regret. “I don’t care what Secret Art you used to force a Water Spirit Root into your body, don’t you know water and fire destroy each other?! You’ve squandered peerless innate talent for nothing. You practically courted your own ruin!”
Of course Yan Ling knew.
Not a single waking moment passed without her feeling as though two rabid beasts were tearing each other apart inside her, shredding her former Cultivation Base to ribbons.
So she forced an indifferent expression, though a faint tremor crept into her voice despite her best efforts. “Oh, is it that serious? It can’t be that bad, can it? Just remove the Water Spirit Root. Aren’t you supposed to be the number-one sect under heaven? Don’t tell me you can’t even manage that!”
“Remove a Spirit Root? How brazen!” The Elder let out a cold sneer. “Ripping out a person’s Spirit Root is worse than gouging out their heart and tearing out their soul! Since ancient times, the only way to pull that off without crippling yourself is to reincarnate!”
At his words, the whispers around them pierced like poisoned needles. The very disciples who had crowded around flattering her moments ago now wore faces full of shock, pity, and even scorn and mockery.
“Has she lost her mind? Having two mutually destructive Spirit Roots makes it a complete Waste Spirit Root! That’s the biggest taboo in the Cultivation World!”
“Probably not by choice. I heard her family fell victim to Evil Cultivators, maybe someone did it to her?”
“Who cares how it happened? Either way, she’s a cripple now! And she had the nerve to challenge the Iceberg just now? Talk about asking to die.”
Even Senior Sister Xia Yinxi wore a conflicted, troubled expression. In the end, she shook her head slightly, as though she had made up her mind.
Even an Orthodox Xuanmen Sect can’t fix it?
Yan Ling raised an eyebrow, clenching her fists so tightly her nails dug painfully into her palms, yet she still refused to give up. “If water and fire won’t work… what if I abandon my family’s Path of Fire Cultivation and focus solely on my Wind Spirit Root? You might not believe it, but aside from my Spirit Root, my comprehension and learning speed are terrifying. Give me enough resources, and I’ll still soar!”
The Examining Elder looked her up and down as if inspecting a dusty, defective piece of junk. “Discard two of your Three Spirit Roots? After chopping off your own arms like that, you still expect the sect to pamper you as a True Disciple? Do you think our resources grow on trees?
“Right now, you aren’t even on par with an Ordinary Disciple. If you insist on staying, you can be a Servant who’s only allowed to audit lectures.”
An insult like that would have made even an Ordinary Disciple burn with shame and fury, let alone a famed Heavenly Prodigy.
Yet to everyone’s astonishment, this former prodigy grinned brightly and agreed without a shred of hesitation. “Great, great! Servant works for me! I love hard labor! I love maid outfits!”
My Spirit Root has a teeny-tiny issue, sure, but as long as I still have the System, the future holds infinite possibilities. First, though, I have to stay inside a cultivation sect packed with cultivators, or where else am I supposed to draw cards?
“Hmph…” Seeing a once-great Heavenly Prodigy reduced to such shameless buffoonery, the Elder couldn’t be bothered to waste another breath. He flicked his sleeve and rose to his feet. “Stay if you want. Sect rules state that the weaker a Spirit Root, the higher the tuition fee. For a case like yours, two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Not a single stone less, or don’t even think about stepping through the gate!”
With that, he turned and strode off. He had originally hoped to curry favor with a peerless newcomer, which now looked like a complete waste of time. Tossing the rest of the paperwork to a Steward Disciple, he never once looked back.
Two hundred?
Yan Ling’s smile froze on her face. So many? They’re clearly trying to make things impossible for me!
She patted her pockets—completely empty. With her family wiped out, she couldn’t scrape together even a fraction of that astronomical sum.
As things stand, it looks like my only option might be to borrow the money from someone.
Her gaze swept across the hall, yet everyone shrank away from her as if avoiding the plague.
Who would lend money to a washout with no future? Worse still, she had just provoked that dangerous Iceberg, Yi Hanyue; getting tangled up with her meant inviting endless trouble.
Finally, Yan Ling’s eyes came to rest on Xia Yinxi—the Senior Sister who had risked her life to save her, and her last remaining hope.
Too bad.
“Senior Sister Xia, um… could you lend me a little—” The moment Yan Ling actively approached the girl who had been so warm to her all the way back, her fingertips barely brushed Xia Yinxi’s sleeve before she froze.
[Ding! Target experienced “Moderate Guilt + Avoidance.” Successfully drawn: White Talisman Card — Low-Grade Spirit Qi Talisman Card x2!]
The System’s cold prompt acted like a bucket of ice water, snuffing out her final sliver of hope. Behind that gentle, smiling face, the decision to cut ties had already been made.
Xia Yinxi took half a step back, avoiding her gaze entirely. “Sorry, Miss Yan Ling, I… I’m just an Ordinary Disciple, I don’t have much money… I can’t help you…”
Yan Ling pulled the corners of her mouth into a faint smile.
It’s understandable. Of course it’s understandable…
Even blood kin can betray you in the blink of an eye. Xia Yinxi is just a Senior Sister I met by chance—it makes total sense she won’t help.
She only stepped in to save me earlier for the sect mission reward anyway…
Who pours their heart out for a stranger for no reason?
Nobody ever owed me a helping hand in the first place…
And yet…
How could I just take this lying down?!
Get kicked out of the Immortal-Guiding Pavilion just like that?
Have my one and only path to immortality severed right here?!
The Spirit Qi Talismans she had just drawn flashed through Yan Ling’s mind. She lunged half a step forward and clamped a hand around Xia Yinxi’s wrist, squeezing hard.
“Oh, very nice! Just a minute ago you were sweetly calling me ‘Junior Sister,’ and the moment you hear my Spirit Root is ruined, it’s ‘Miss Yan Ling’? Didn’t we promise to look out for each other? You liar!”
Her voice dripped with deliberate bitterness, yet beneath it lingered a trace of genuine grievance she couldn’t quite suppress.
She wanted to cling to this final thread of a chance to stay in the sect! She wanted to squeeze enough emotion out of her to draw another card!
[Ding! Target experienced Intense Guilt! Obtained: Blue Talisman Card — Basic Primordial Chaos Heart Method: Meditation and Breathing Chapter Card!]
“Don’t do this!”
Xia Yinxi yanked her arm back sharply, effortlessly shaking off the grip of a mere Mortal.
She stumbled back two steps before catching her balance. Turning her face away, her voice trembled slightly, yet she forced out the words fast and harsh, as if trying to force Yan Ling to give up—or trying to convince herself. “What’s the point of staying here as a Servant?! Do you really think clever tricks can make you an immortal?! Impossible! Cultivation today runs on resources and connections! What do you have?!
“You have nothing!”
Hearing that, Yan Ling’s urge to keep farming cards gradually went cold.
She knew full well that no matter how hard she milked her, she would never gather two hundred Spirit Stones in time.
“Enough! Quit putting on a show! If you don’t have the money, get lost!” Unlike the Elder, who at least had to keep up appearances, the Steward Disciple waved his hand impatiently. “Stop blocking the hall and holding up everyone else’s registration! Somebody throw her out!”
Two Disciplinary Disciples stepped forward at once, looking at her with disgust as if eyeing a pile of unwanted trash.
Seeing that she was about to be dragged out the pavilion doors, her path to immortality cut off for good…
In that fleeting instant, a hundred thoughts surged through Yan Ling’s head, tangling in her chest like weeds of despair.
Am I really going to be kicked out like this? My real cultivation hasn’t even started yet, and it’s already over…?
With no one to rely on from here on out, what am I supposed to do?
In this chaotic world, I might not even manage a hot meal, and I’ll probably freeze to death on the streets one day…
Even if I somehow survive three years, once the Heavenly Devil Mission expires, where am I supposed to go?
Still, I suppose I won’t have to worry about that Miss Iceberg cleaving me in half on the Fighting Arena anymore…
After all, as an ordinary mortal, I’ll probably never see that fairy-like girl again.
The more she thought, the more panicked and tangled her mind grew, until a self-mocking smile tugged at her lips. Well, I guess that counts as one “silver lining.”
Yet right as that fairy-like girl crossed her dazed thoughts, her voice drifted into Yan Ling’s ears as if in a hallucination.
“Wait. I’ll pay her fee.”
That familiar, frigid voice—crisp as ice beads hitting a jade platter—shattered the clamor filling the hall.
How could she possibly pay for me? Wait… why did everyone go quiet? Could it be… I’m not hallucinating?!
Yan Ling snapped her head up. Yi Hanyue, who had left earlier, was standing in the doorway.
Her pristine white hem brushed the floor, carrying a bone-deep chill that somehow lent a touch of clean stillness to this snobbish Immortal-Guiding Pavilion.
She tossed a pouch casually to the Steward. “There’s a High-Grade Spirit Stone inside. Is that enough?”
The Steward caught the pouch, weighed it in his palm, and instantly plastered an obsequious grin across his face. “Enough, enough, more than enough! Junior Sister Yi is truly generous!”
Yan Ling stood frozen. Why did the person who treated me best refuse to lift a finger, while the girl who nearly drew her sword on me a moment ago suddenly stepped in to help?
Is she here to watch me make a fool of myself?
Yet the gaze turned toward her remained as cold as ever, carrying an unmistakable trace of disgust—without a shred of contempt.
“Why… did you help me?” Yan Ling couldn’t stop herself from asking, not putting on an act this time, just asking in pure bewilderment. “Don’t you know what I am right now…?”
Yi Hanyue glanced at her, her tone as flat as when they first met. “I don’t care what happened to you. I, Yi Hanyue, have never broken a promise in my life. So I will be waiting for you on the Fighting Arena to settle who comes out on top. Or… are you planning to go back on your word?”
“No, no, no! How could I ever tear up an important pact with you?! I just wanted to say…”
Pulled back from the brink, Yan Ling shook her head furiously, looking into Yi Hanyue’s eyes with gratitude so fiery it nearly made the Iceberg look away.
“I just wanted to say… all of a sudden, I think you’re really cute! I like you more and more!”
Yi Hanyue’s brows furrowed sharply, her voice rising half a pitch. “Huh?!”
