Chapter 6: Special Eyes, Testing Her Knowledge of Spirit Herbs

Jiang Shaoling stared in shock at Xuan Yangzi, feeling that his master must be crazy about taking on disciples!

“You’re good at alchemy, but your medical skills are mediocre. You can’t treat her incomplete heart pulse. Besides, with me and my two senior brothers acting as your disciples, is that not enough? Why are you still addicted to picking up disciples?”

Xuan Yangzi stroked his beard without getting angry. Instead, he smiled lightly. His three disciples had indeed been “picked up” by him.

“Yes, I’m addicted. I just haven’t brought back a little junior sister for you. But now, here she is, no need for me to go out and pick one!”

Jiang Shaoling: …So you’re just being lazy, huh?

But she has to have some ability, as becoming an inner disciple of the Penglai Sect isn’t easy.

Ye Qingning, unintentionally overhearing the conversation, was rather surprised.

The system excitedly pecked at Ye Qingning’s mind, speaking eagerly: [Ningning! Ningning! If you can become a disciple under the Grand Elder, you can go directly from a menial disciple to a direct disciple!]

[Direct disciple! You won’t have to share a room with others anymore! This is such great news! Of course, it’s also because of your extraordinary talent that the Grand Elder is even considering taking you in!]

Ye Qingning, as usual, remained calm, a sharp contrast to the system’s excitement.

She had heard of Xuan Yangzi in her previous life.

This man was a widely recognized saint of alchemy in the immortal cultivation world. In the realm of alchemy, if he called himself second, no one would dare claim the top spot.

However, alchemists were different from doctors. Xuan Yangzi was not a medical cultivator, so he couldn’t cure her incomplete heart pulse. Even if he wanted to take her as a disciple, it would remain a mere wish.

As for the system’s claim that she could directly advance from a menial disciple to a direct disciple, that was impossible.

In her previous life, she had heard that nearly all disciples of Penglai Sect began as outer sect menial disciples.

To advance from a menial disciple to an outer sect disciple, a senior elder’s endorsement was required. To go from an outer sect disciple to an inner sect disciple, one had to pass a trial assessment.

The trial could be taken once every three months, and the requirement was that one must reach the Foundation Establishment stage and pass the test to become a true inner sect disciple.

As for becoming a direct disciple, one had to place highly in the sect’s grand competition or enter the Immortal Gate’s Young Heroes Ranking to have a chance to be chosen by the sect elders to become a direct disciple.

Compared to other sects, the disciple promotion system of Penglai Sect was the strictest and fairest.

There was no case of a weak disciple with five spiritual roots being chosen as a direct disciple simply due to their family background.

Everything was based on true capability.

This was why children from prestigious families could remain in the outer sect for decades, and their family status was essentially useless in Penglai Sect.

So, even though Xuan Yangzi wanted to take her as a disciple, it wasn’t something that could be done just by saying a word.

At the very least, she had to prove herself with her own strength to enter the inner sect, enter the Hall of the Sect Master, and then be accepted by Xuan Yangzi as a disciple.

But that aside, there was still Jiang Shaoling to deal with.

The next moment, Jiang Shaoling spoke, “No, I don’t like her. I don’t want a delicate, sickly girl as my junior sister.”

“Besides, I don’t care whether she can fix her heart pulse, whether she has extraordinary talent, or whether she has the ability to enter the Sect Master’s hall. If she doesn’t pass the test today, I’ll kick her out of the Spirit Herb Garden.”

“Well then, if you’re so interested in her, let’s see if she has what it takes to stay in the garden, so I won’t have to kick her out and have you accuse me of bullying her.”

Xuan Yangzi, hearing this, became spirited.

“Alright, alright, we’ll do it your way. I’ll stay in the garden today and see if this girl can pass your test.”

“If she does pass, can I take her as a disciple?”

Jiang Shaoling sneered, “Are you the master or am I the master? Why are you asking me about taking disciples?”

“Hey! You little brat, you’re asking for a beating!” Xuan Yangzi said this but didn’t actually act on it.

Instead, he called toward the garden entrance, “Girl, you heard everything, right? Whether you stay in the garden or not depends on you.”

Suddenly being called out, Ye Qingning stood up awkwardly, taking small steps into the garden.

She placed the stack of books she was carrying on the ground and greeted, “Disciple Ye Qingning greets the Grand Elder, and greetings to Senior Uncle Jiang.”

Xuan Yangzi nodded slightly and then stroked his beard while looking Ye Qingning up and down.

It turned out that he hadn’t seen such a good-looking young girl before.

Although her complexion was a bit poor, she was still a beautiful sickly girl.

At just fourteen, who knew how beautiful she would become in a couple of years?

This little brat, what’s the deal? He doesn’t want such a beautiful girl as his junior sister?

Could it be that he likes ugly girls?

This mischievous kid has really special tastes!

And then, there’s this stack of books—did he think she was intentionally making things difficult for the girl?

Jiang Shaoling cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed.

He had been so caught up in talking to the old man that he hadn’t noticed someone had come into the garden.

The old man didn’t even inform him that someone was coming. All those things he said were overheard!

But he just didn’t like delicate, sickly girls. Was he wrong? He was just speaking his mind!

“Did you remember everything from last night?”

Jiang Shaoling’s tone was not friendly. After saying this, he was met with a glare from Xuan Yangzi.

Seeing Ye Qingning nod, Jiang Shaoling felt that she was just putting on a brave face. There was no way she could have memorized everything in the books.

He curled his lips and said, “Follow me.”

Ye Qingning followed him, already guessing that Jiang Shaoling was going to test her knowledge of the spirit herbs in the garden.

For alchemists, being able to correctly identify spirit herbs was one of the basic skills. If one couldn’t even identify the herbs, how could they refine the right medicinal pills?

Walking along a winding stone path, Ye Qingning arrived in the center of the Spirit Herb Garden.

In front of her, a rippling stream extended like a silver ribbon throughout the garden.

On both sides of the stream, low stone railings neatly separated the garden into several small spirit fields. Each spirit field contained different spirit herbs, all carefully cultivated.

Jiang Shaoling lowered his gaze and casually pointed to a partially bloomed purple flower, asking, “Tell me, what spirit herb is this?”

Ye Qingning glanced at it briefly and immediately answered, “This is the Purple Frost Flower. It’s currently in its peak blooming period in March, and it has the effects of calming the mind and enhancing cultivation.”

Jiang Shaoling raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his eyes. “Oh? How did you identify this as the Purple Frost Flower?”

He was certain she wasn’t just guessing.

Ye Qingning gave a slight smile, her gaze dazzling.

“The Purple Frost Flower is different from other purple flowers. While many purple flowers have light purple petals, only the Purple Frost Flower’s veins have a faint silver thread flowing through them. This is its unique characteristic, so it’s easy to identify.”

Jiang Shaoling snorted inwardly, thinking it was just a coincidence that Ye Qingning had seen the record of the Purple Frost Flower in the books last night.

But soon, he was slapped in the face.

He asked her about more than a dozen spirit herbs, all of which were recorded in the ten books. To his surprise, Ye Qingning answered them all correctly, without any hesitation.

Especially with that “bring it on” expression on her face, it drove Jiang Shaoling crazy, his forehead throbbing in anger.

On the other hand, Xuan Yangzi’s eyes were full of approval. The more he looked at Ye Qingning, the more he liked her.

Every time he asked about a spirit herb, she was able to answer in just a few breaths, proving her deep understanding of the herbs, far beyond what could be achieved by merely flipping through a few books.

But this mischievous kid still wasn’t giving up.