Chapter 13: Meeting the Plastic Sisters

After noon, the sunlight slanted over the mountain peaks, casting a golden glow that resembled shattered pieces of glazed glass from the heavens, shimmering on the rocks below.

But it was a bit too sunny.

When leaving the spirit herb garden, Ye Qingning found Bai Wei waiting outside the garden.

Bai Wei wasn’t a new disciple of the sect. She had already attended the “Introduction to Symbol Drawing” lesson before. The reason she was accompanying Ye Qingning today was because she heard that the instructor was a direct disciple of the sect, and she wanted to see what a direct disciple was like.

“Reviewing old lessons to learn new things,” she thought.

On their way to the lecture hall, with time still plentiful and Ye Qingning having already obtained the spiritual stones, the two of them made a detour to the Dao Yuan Pavilion.

Dao Yuan Pavilion was a place where the outer sect disciples of the Penglai Sect could purchase cultivation supplies.

When Bai Wei learned that Ye Qingning had borrowed 2,000 high-grade spiritual stones from Jiang Shaoling, she was quite shocked.

In most sects, direct disciples receive a monthly salary of 80 high-grade spiritual stones, but Penglai Sect, being more established, pays its direct disciples 200 high-grade spiritual stones per month. The 2,000 high-grade spiritual stones Ye Qingning had borrowed was equivalent to nearly a year’s worth of salary.

Bai Wei couldn’t help but admire Ye Qingning’s courage to ask for such a large sum. Most disciples wouldn’t have the nerve to borrow that much, and she certainly wouldn’t have had the courage herself.

She secretly thought: “Ye Sister is really bold. She will definitely make great achievements in the future!”

Inside Dao Yuan Pavilion, redwood shelves were lined with various cultivation supplies. Not only were there symbol paper and brushes, but there were also ready-made talismans, medicinal pills, and a variety of spiritual treasures and magic tools such as swords and shields.

One side of the shelf was filled with an array of cultivation manuals, enough to make one’s head spin.

Ye Qingning noticed that many disciples were currently buying symbol paper and cinnabar ink, probably because there was a talisman course to attend soon.

As fate would have it, Su Ruoxi and Yun Mengyao were also there.

[What terrible luck! How did I run into this pair of plastic sisters? (#－.－) Are they also going to the lecture? But I remember Su Ruoxi was a sword cultivator in her past life.]

Ye Qingning noticed Su Ruoxi, who was wearing the clothes of a menial disciple and was selecting a talisman brush. It seemed that, like her, Su Ruoxi was headed to Cloud Cliff Peak for the class.

In other sects, menial disciples had no qualification to attend lectures; they were only there to do menial work. But in Penglai Sect, even menial disciples were allowed to attend classes, making them far more privileged than menial disciples in other sects.

Seeing Yun Mengyao was a bit more impressive. She wore the blue robes of an outer disciple. Although she hadn’t yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage, she had managed to gain favor with Elder Qiu and become an outer disciple just a day later than Ye Qingning.

As the system mentioned, Su Ruoxi had indeed been a sword cultivator in her past life, so Ye Qingning couldn’t help but wonder if Su Ruoxi had come to the talisman class because she had some information about the trial assessments.

It was also possible that the direct disciple giving the lecture today was the sect’s chief disciple, Shen Xuanli. Su Ruoxi had fallen for him at first sight, and if Shen Xuanli was teaching, that might explain why a sword cultivator like her was interested in talismanic arts.

“Eh, isn’t that Ye Sister?” Yun Mengyao noticed her first as soon as Ye Qingning entered Dao Yuan Pavilion.

After all, although Ye Qingning appeared fragile and sickly, her beauty was undeniable, and people couldn’t help but notice her.

Yun Mengyao was surprised to see that Ye Qingning seemed to be in better health than before, her complexion looking much improved, almost as if she had returned to life.

Ye Qingning returned her trademark fake smile. “Congratulations, Yun Sister. You’ve become an outer disciple so quickly. As for Su Sister, don’t just focus on cleaning up after the spiritual beasts. When will you be promoted to an outer disciple? You should work harder, Su Sister!”

“Ye Qingning! Shut your mouth!” Su Ruoxi snapped, but only managed to say this one line.

Cleaning up after the spiritual beasts was a sore point for Su Ruoxi. At this moment, Dao Yuan Pavilion was full of outer sect disciples, and yet Su Ruoxi was still wearing the gray robes of a menial disciple. She felt inferior and humiliated.

She knew that if she argued with an outer disciple now, she would quickly be criticized. After all, in Penglai Sect, the hierarchy was strict, and menial disciples who didn’t show respect for outer disciples were punished just as severely as outer disciples who disrespected inner disciples.

So, she gritted her teeth and refrained, but could only mock Ye Qingning, “Ye Qingning, you’re a fake daughter of the Ye family, and you don’t even have a storage bag. The Ye family probably didn’t even give you a single low-grade spiritual stone. How can you afford to come to Dao Yuan Pavilion?”

At her words, everyone in the pavilion turned to look at Ye Qingning.

“Ah, so she’s the fake daughter sent by the Ye family? I heard that her spiritual root was tested to be a dual thunder-fire spiritual root with over ninety percent purity, but unfortunately, her heart meridian is incomplete, wasting such good talent.”

“Wait, but isn’t it strange? How is she already at Foundation Establishment? I thought she couldn’t cultivate properly because of her heart meridian?”

Foundation Establishment?!

Su Ruoxi and Yun Mengyao stared in shock, their eyes widening. They were both too stunned to believe their ears.

The rumors had said that someone with an incomplete heart meridian could never reach Foundation Establishment, and yet here was Ye Qingning, who had somehow managed to do so. How was that even possible?

Quickly piecing it all together, they realized that Ye Qingning must have already reached Foundation Establishment by the time she returned that night. They hadn’t been able to sense it because their cultivation was still lower than hers.

The two women’s faces darkened. They had always seen Ye Qingning as a waste, a poor little thing without even a storage bag. They had mocked her multiple times before, but now, it felt as if they had been slapped in the face.

As for Ye Qingning, she didn’t want to comment on her Foundation Establishment. The matter regarding the Life-Sustaining Stone was not something she could discuss openly.

But Su Ruoxi’s words earlier—she had to respond to them.

“Who said I don’t have any spiritual stones? Su Sister must have been cleaning up after the beasts for so long that your eyes are getting blurry. Can’t you see the large storage bag in my hand?”

When she mentioned the storage bag, Ye Qingning had to thank her past life’s arch-nemesis. When Jiang Shaoling lent her the spiritual stones, he had generously given her a storage bag to carry them.

Though it wasn’t as good as his mustard seed ring, Ye Qingning decided that once she had enough spiritual stones, she would need to get one herself.

Su Ruoxi stared at the storage bag in Ye Qingning’s hand, and for a moment, her mind went blank. She couldn’t understand how Ye Qingning, who had come here without even a storage bag, suddenly had one now.

She was so angry, her teeth ground together. She was certain there weren’t many spiritual stones in the bag anyway!

Just as she was about to mock her again, Ye Qingning said, “Su Sister, were you interested in this Cold Jade Talisman brush earlier?”