Chapter 36: When Have You Ever Been Human

After encountering the blockade, Xie Jiuniang knew that her money-making had caught people’s attention.

She put aside the thought of selling more jerky and alternated between using Agility Talismans and Flying Talismans to hurry on her way.

Since she had walked this path countless times in her previous life, she could avoid all the natural dangers even with her eyes closed.

In just three days, Xie Jiuniang covered a distance that would take others half a month and successfully reached the mountain gate of the Tianxu Sect.

In front of the mountain gate was a vast, flat square paved with rocks, capable of accommodating millions of people at once.

Surrounding it were towering mountains. 

The peaks were majestic and steep.

To the north, a massive mountain rose from the ground, lofty and magnificent, its height reaching ten thousand zhang. Its imposing aura pierced straight into the clouds. At the foot of the mountain stood a colossal archway carved with ancient auspicious Qilin beasts.

Once one passed through the archway, they would encounter the Stairway to Heaven, seemingly extending from the clouds, with countless tiers of steps that appeared to stretch on endlessly. It was one of the iconic structures of the Tianxu Sect.

Every sect disciple had to climb it once before entering the sect.

Atop the mountain stood the opulent Dongxu Hall^[1]East Rising Hall, serving as the sect’s public face, typically used to entertain visiting guests.

The outer sect of the Tianxu Sect was located over twenty miles from the mountain gate, while the inner sect was more than a hundred miles away. The core restricted areas extended deep into the heart of the mountain range. As for the secret sites where the Deity Transformation experts secluded themselves, they were even more mysterious. Apart from the Sect Master and a few Peak Masters, only those who reached that level could know of its location.

When Xie Jiuniang arrived, she deliberately rolled a couple of times on the grass to make herself look a bit disheveled. Otherwise, she would appear out of place.

Of course, this small action of hers couldn’t be concealed from the Nascent Soul elder in charge of the assessment.

The Nascent Soul elder couldn’t help but praise, “This little girl is not bad.”

“Too profit-oriented, not taking the assessment seriously,” the ever-upright and strict Daoist Gu Zheng disapproved. “Elder Chaoyan, this trend cannot be encouraged.”

“Haha, Gu Zheng, you’re just too serious.” Elder Chaoyan didn’t take Daoist Gu Zheng’s words to heart.

If a cultivator was overly aloof, where would their cultivation resources come from? By being noble?

The little girl doing some small business and trading with others is entirely voluntary. It’s not an issue at all.

What Elder Chaoyan was most satisfied with was that the little girl knew when to stop and how to conceal her abilities.

Another female Daoist laughed, “She looks just over ten years old and has already learned to earn spirit stones and resources on her own. In comparison, those disciples who are taking the assessment seriously but are on the verge of starving… Hehe.”

When compared side by side, the difference in quality was evident.

Even Daoist Gu Zheng couldn’t find anything more to say.

Xie Jiuniang was unaware of the conversation among the bigshots atop the mountain. When she arrived at the open space in front of the mountain gate, she saw that several hundred disciples had already arrived before her.

“Xiao Jiu, Ninth Little Sister!” Xie Siniang waved at her.

Following the voice, Xie Jiuniang looked over and saw a dozen people sitting together in a corner, none other than the Xie family’s younger generation.

Not a single one was missing!

Xie Jiuniang walked over. “Fourth Sister.”

Facing Xie Xu, she respectfully greeted, “Little Uncle.”

Xie Xu smiled and said, “Xiao Jiu is doing well.”

“Haha, not at all. Everyone is faster than me.” Xie Jiuniang’s smile was as radiant as a flower.

Like a little girl without a trace of guile. Extremely sunny and extremely beautiful.

Elder Chaoyan, whose divine sense happened to be focused on this side, raised his brows slightly. 

This little girl had something special. Perhaps… should he take on a disciple this year for fun?

Suddenly, Xie Jiuniang shivered. Hmm? Who was trying to scheme against her?

Seeing this, Xie Siniang asked with concern, “Xiao Jiu, are you injured?”

“No!” Xie Jiuniang stretched her limbs. “Just a bit tired.” 

After making jerky every night, it would be strange if she wasn’t tired.

Xie Siniang thought she was exhausted from the assessment and quickly had her sit down to rest, even pouring her a cup of spiritual tea.

The disciples who arrived early were considered qualified, but they still had to wait here temporarily until the assessment concluded.

Everyone wouldn’t just sit around doing nothing. Those who were familiar with each other gathered to chat and ate and drank. No one would bother them.

Xie Jiuniang felt her entire body relax after finally taking a sip of hot tea. She asked, “You all passed quite early?”

“Not that early, just almost eight days,” Xie Siniang replied casually.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent, and everyone turned their heads to look in the direction of the Xie family’s younger generation.

The corner of Xie Jiuniang’s mouth twitched.

Xie Xu quietly used his tall figure to shield Xie Siniang. If he didn’t hide her now, he feared that Xie Siniang’s head might be stuffed into a sack at any moment. 

This mouth of hers was too good at drawing aggro!

Xie Siniang also realized that something was off and couldn’t help but feel frustrated. “I had a small isolation formation, but unfortunately, it got damaged during the assessment.”

Xie Jiuniang said offhandedly, “How did it break? Take it out and let me have a look.”

Xie Siniang took it out. Xie Jiuniang examined it and discovered it was only a minor issue with a few lines of the formation patterns broken. She casually took out an engraving tool and completed the formation patterns with a few strokes.

After inserting a handful of spirit stones, she successfully activated the formation, enclosing the Xie family’s younger generation within.

Once the small isolation formation was activated, those inside could see the outside, but from the outside, one couldn’t discern the situation inside. It was just a hazy white, as if obscured by white fog.

Xie Jiuniang put the tool back into her storage pouch. “Alright, now you can say whatever you want.”

“Oh?” Xie Siniang touched the formation plate. “Xiao Jiu, when did you learn formations? Who taught you?”

Xie Jiuniang readily replied, “It’s in the family’s library. Haven’t you all read it before?”

The dozen or so people suddenly fell silent.

Read it? Of course, they had!

The question was, could they master it just by reading?

Xie Siniang couldn’t hold back her words. “Didn’t the elders from the Youwu Hall say that we should focus on our cultivation first and learn other things after reaching Foundation Establishment?”

“The elders aren’t wrong. I just learned it casually. It’s not difficult. As long as you’re willing to do it, you can.” The more Xie Jiuniang spoke, the more she infuriated others.

Xie Siniang regretted asking her question earlier.

Learning it casually and still being able to master it, wasn’t that too crushing?

The other family members no longer wanted to chat. They pretended to be very busy, as if they didn’t know Xie Jiuniang at all.

Xie Jiuniang had a helpless expression. “Hey, hey, this… is really not hard.”

“Shut up. Sister doesn’t want to hear you speak for now.” Xie Siniang put on a cold and aloof demeanor, snorting and turning her back to Xie Jiuniang.

Xie Jiuniang poured herself another cup of spiritual tea and chatted with the sword spirit while drinking. “Little Jianjian, I didn’t say anything wrong, right?”

“Hmph, when have you ever been human?” The sword spirit snorted coldly.

Xie Jiuniang had a look of “don’t try to wrong me.” “How am I not human? Are people not allowed to speak the truth these days? By the way, how many spirit stones did you earn in total?”

The sword spirit immediately asked suspiciously, “What do you want to do?”

“I’m just asking. With your reaction… Oh my, you’ve hurt my young heart. It needs compensation to heal. Not much, just a hundred spirit stones will do.” As soon as Xie Jiuniang finished transmitting her thoughts, she heard a crunching sound.

Was someone eating rocks?

Then, the sword spirit gobbled up all the spirit stones. “Indeed, only in my stomach could they be safest.”

Xie Jiuniang: “…”

How did you, a sword, make a crunching sound while eating?

Also, where’s your stomach?!

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