How could there be such an arrogant pill cultivator in this world?
Did she have any self-awareness at all that her sect had been occupied?
Or was she truly not afraid of death?
Still, the entire Nine Saints Hall was currently under their control, and all eighteen peaks were occupied by their people. On top of that, the Nine Saints Hall's elders and personal disciples were currently working for them. It was highly unlikely that a minor Golden Core cultivator like her could run far or cause any trouble.
After a moment of thought, the leader decided to let her be.
Rather than keeping her in check, the most important thing was to keep her happy so they could learn her alchemical methods.
...
Song Yao indeed couldn't do much.
Slipping the token into her pocket, she walked two laps around Baicao Peak's front courtyard and back mountain. Everywhere she looked, the herb gardens had been dug up in a chaotic mess.
The soil was pockmarked with holes. Any herb that had grown even remotely well had been completely uprooted, leaving not even half a mature spiritual plant behind.
Song Yao squatted on the ridge of a field, poked the loose soil, and clicked her tongue.
“This isn't taking over a sect to correct its ways,” she thought. “This is clearly bandits coming down the mountain to pillage.”
No wonder the elders had fled into the secret realm early on with the pill manuals and rare herb seeds. If they had been a step slower, they probably would have had three layers of soil scraped off their herb fields.
She couldn't help but sigh deeply.
“If I had known, back when I was farming corruption values, I would have learned from them and flipped the herb gardens completely upside down too.”
Needless to say about the others, Eldest Senior Brother, as a medical cultivator, would have definitely gone mad.
Shaking her head in regret, she pressed her palm against the damp earth. Her spiritual energy seeped deep into the soil along her fingertips.
Beneath the surface, some thin, weak roots remained that hadn't been fully dug up, barely clinging to life within the dirt.
As her spiritual energy washed over them with vital energy, those shriveled roots slowly unfurled, silently taking root deeper down and sprouting tiny, pale green shoots.
“Not bad.”
“At least some of them can still grow.”
Just as she withdrew her hand and prepared to look elsewhere, the sound of an argument suddenly drifted over from the direction of the western herb mountain in the distance.
Song Yao raised an eyebrow. Her divine sense spread out soundlessly, sweeping across that patch of woods.
Judging by their Daoist robes, were they disciples of the Beiyao Sect and Taiqing Pavilion?
Why were these two sides arguing?
Instantly intrigued, she casually cast a Breath-Concealing Art to mask her aura completely, then flew over silently on her spiritual sword.
Finding an ancient pine tree with dense foliage, she leaped onto a thick, horizontal branch, sat down comfortably, and peered downward.
Below the tree, two groups of people were in a tense, sword-drawn standoff. On the stone ground between them lay several wicker baskets and wooden boxes. The baskets were packed to the brim with high-quality spiritual grasses, while the herbs inside the boxes were of even higher rank, with wet dew still clinging to their leaves, shimmering with spiritual light.
The leading cultivator from Taiqing Pavilion had a cold, grim expression. Resting his hand on his sword hilt, he said in a chilly voice, “The remaining resources of the Nine Saints Hall should have been split equally between our alliance. These past few days, your Beiyao Sect has repeatedly blocked us from the other two herb peaks. I was wondering why, but it turns out you wanted to pocket these high-rank herbs for yourselves!”
The leading Beiyao Sect cultivator stood beside the baskets, his gold-threaded robes perfectly still. With a cold, hard expression, he merely raised his eyelids slightly and said, “First come, first served. Whoever claims the herb peak first naturally gets to harvest it first. Surely the fellow Daoists of Taiqing Pavilion understand this principle?”
The Taiqing Pavilion cultivator clearly hadn't expected them to be so unyielding. He couldn't help but say angrily, “We... we are allies! How can there be such talk of first come, first served?!”
The Beiyao Sect cultivator calmly replied, “If you fellow Daoists are unsatisfied, you can come earlier next time. We promise we won't act like you, throwing a tantrum just because we didn't get what we wanted.”
The Taiqing Pavilion cultivator was left speechless, his face turning increasingly unsightly. “Who are you calling throwing a tantrum?”
“Please do not take it personally, fellow Daoists. We certainly mean no offense.”
The Beiyao Sect group was much calmer by comparison. The leader even spoke as if handing out charity, “We are allies, after all. If you really want them, you can pick one or two stalks from the spiritual grasses we harvested and take them.”
The Taiqing Pavilion cultivators: “...”
Were they really lacking just one or two stalks of spiritual grass?!
These people were clearly insulting them!
Seeing that they didn't respond, the Beiyao Sect leader waved his hand. The two cultivators behind him immediately stepped forward, hoisted the wicker baskets, and turned to walk down the mountain without pausing for a second, clearly too lazy to waste any more words.
The Taiqing Pavilion disciples were instantly furious and annoyed. However, constrained by their alliance, they couldn't actually make a move. They could only watch the figures recede in the distance, each of them gripping their sword hilts tightly, their chests heaving with anger.
In the midst of their frustration, an indignant voice suddenly drifted down from the ancient pine branches above: “For them to do this is simply going too far!”
The Taiqing Pavilion cultivators were all startled. They reflexively gripped their sword hilts and looked up.
Amidst the overlapping pine branches sat a young cultivator in blue and white Daoist robes. Her features were delicate, her frame slender. Her face was puffed up with anger, looking thoroughly outraged on their behalf. “They are clearly taking advantage of Pavilion Master Ye's absence to intentionally marginalize and bully you!”
Question marks popped up over the heads of the Taiqing Pavilion cultivators.
This girl looked slightly familiar. Where was she from?
Why had she suddenly appeared to speak up for them?
A disciple in the middle suddenly called out, “Lin Mu?”
Song Yao was thoroughly enjoying her performance when her name was suddenly called out. Squinting, she stared at him for a moment before finally recognizing him. “Wen Wumian?”
He was the younger brother of the sibling duo from the Wen family who often followed Ye Chang'an around. The last time she had seen him was at the Wen family residence.
“I wonder how the Wen family is doing now.”
As random thoughts swirled in her mind, another Taiqing Pavilion cultivator beside him frowned and asked, “You are Lin Mu? That personal disciple of the Nine Saints Hall? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at Wangyun Peak receiving instruction?”
Song Yao was taken aback.
“Receiving instruction at Wangyun Peak?”
She immediately understood.
It seemed Feng Qing's attempt to extract the pill recipe from her was being conducted secretly behind Taiqing Pavilion's back.
She couldn't help but curl her lips into a slight smile.
“Well, well.”
This Feng Qing was quite crafty. She had agreed with Taiqing Pavilion to lead the initial attack, but took advantage of Ye Chongguang's absence to hoard all of the Nine Saints Hall's resources beforehand.
No wonder she hadn't hesitated to subject Moqi to such a heavy punishment just to coax her into handing over the pill recipe first. She was surely afraid that if things dragged on too long and Ye Chongguang arrived, she would lose her say in the matter.
When two such massive sects encountered the stage of dividing the spoils, it was almost impossible not to have conflicts.
Song Yao found it highly amusing. She leaped down from the tree trunk, leaned against the tree with her arms crossed, and let out a long sigh, feigning distress. “I would love to stay at Wangyun Peak to receive instruction, but those pill cultivators from the Beiyao Sect are simply too dim-witted. I've been teaching them alchemical methods for half the day, and not a single one can grasp it. I had no choice but to come out for some fresh air.”
The Taiqing Pavilion cultivators were stunned. They quickly exchanged glances. The leading cultivator's brow furrowed tightly into a knot as he took half a step forward, his tone suddenly growing much heavier. “You are teaching them alchemical methods?”
“Yes. Sect Master Feng heard that Mingdan Pavilion had taken an interest in my pill recipe, so she wanted her sect's pill cultivators to learn it too.”
Song Yao nodded, her eyes clear as she looked at them with a completely innocent and pure expression. “Didn't you know? Sect Master Feng said she had already informed your sect beforehand. But since your Taiqing Pavilion primarily focuses on the sword path and formations and has little interest in alchemy, you wouldn't care for this pill recipe.”
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