Chapter 39: Outer Sect’s Fourth Peak

Inside the Tianxu Sect’s inner sect, on the Alchemy Peak, the formation at Mo Chuan’s cave abode was always activated.

A brocade-clad man with an ethereally beautiful appearance was examining a wooden hairpin when suddenly, he applied a bit of force with his fingers, and the hairpin snapped with a crisp “crack.”

“It is indeed an ordinary pear blossom wood…” When Mo Chuan learned that the news of him purchasing the hairpin had spread, he immediately sensed something amiss.

This time, it was most likely Lin Wangchen’s scheme. He suspected that the disappearance of the Qi-Condensing Lingzhi was also his doing.

Not only did he lose the Qi-Condensing Lingzhi and the Seven Leaf Flower, but he also lost over 500,000 spirit stones.

So with a dark expression, Mo Chuan took out a piece of Nourishing Soul Wood^[1]Nourishing Soul Wood: A rare and precious type of spiritual wood used to nourish and heal a wounded soul of a cultivator. of the youngest age and with a sharp knife, he carefully carved it in the style of the wooden hairpin.

Now, he had lost another piece of Nourishing Soul Wood.

Once the same style was carved, only the final crucial step remained. He needed to disguise the Nourishing Soul Wood as an ordinary wood, which involved some things that took the cost to another level…

Thus, when news spread in the Tianxu Sect that Mo Chuan, the top disciple of the Alchemy Peak, was a sucker who spent hundreds of thousands of spirit stones on a wooden hairpin worth only ten spirit beads, people who didn’t usually visit the Alchemy Peak came in droves.

Soon, someone witnessed with their own eyes that the seemingly ordinary hairpin in Mo Chuan’s hand, once the disguise was removed, turned into a priceless piece of Nourishing Soul Wood.

In the market, a finger-sized piece of Nourishing Soul Wood sold for 880,000 spirit stones, and it wasn’t even guaranteed to be available for purchase. Mo Chuan had gotten a great deal by buying a Nourishing Soul Wood hairpin for just over 500,000 spirit stones.

This piece of news spread rapidly, and the tide turned. The sucker transformed into a man with a discerning eye.

Some sect disciples even purposely ran to the mountain gate, hoping to find a bargain. Unfortunately, they didn’t encounter Xie Jiuniang’s stall.

In the Dongxu Hall, the three elders, including Chaoyan, had dazed expressions. Could it be that they had misjudged?

When Lin Wangchen received the news, his first thought was that it was impossible. He had clearly instructed someone to investigate thoroughly, and the wooden hairpin was only carved from an ordinary pear blossom wood. It couldn’t have turned into Nourishing Soul Wood in the blink of an eye.

However, someone had personally witnessed the removal of the disguise on the wooden hairpin.

Could it be that he had made a mistake? After all, he hadn’t personally verified it.

Lin Wangchen sat quietly at the tea table, holding a teacup without moving, deep in thought. Initially, he had dismissed his suspicions about Xie Jiuniang, but he immediately decided to observe for a while longer.

Xie Jiuniang, who was cultivating inside the small isolation formation, was unaware that Mo Chuan had unknowingly set her up. She had drawn upon Lin Wangchen’s renewed attention.

Seeing Xie Jiuniang cultivating, the others followed suit and found a spot to meditate. For Xie Jiuniang, at such a young age to be working so hard, it was no wonder she advanced four levels in a year. So they also had no reason to waste time.

Therefore, in the last few days, more and more disciples gathered in the square in front of the mountain gate, but the Xie family’s younger generation was nowhere to be seen.

Until the final day, when the small isolation formation was deactivated, and the thirteen members of the Xie family’s younger generation appeared together.

Many people in the square used formation plates, so their actions weren’t particularly eye-catching. However, some people were waiting for them.

The twelve people with Xie Xu didn’t sense it deeply, but Xie Jiuniang immediately noticed something different. Dozens of spiritual senses swept towards her, and the fact that she could easily detect them meant that there were cultivators of the same level among them.

Xie Xu took the lead, using his spiritual sense to block most of the probing for her. He had the intention but lacked the strength to deal with the few at the Foundation Establishment stage and above.

Xie Jiuniang laughed in anger and was about to step forward to scold them when Xie Siniang stepped out first, hands on her hips, and angrily shouted, “Enough, certain people! Hasn’t anyone taught you that it’s forbidden to probe others with spiritual sense? Or do you deliberately want to provoke us and make us your enemy?!”

Xie Siniang’s words were loud and clear, resounding through the air.

The other family members instinctively stepped forward, surrounding Xie Jiuniang in the middle, even though some of them had lower cultivation levels than her.

In an instant, those spiritual senses retreated immediately.

In the cultivation world, probing others with spiritual sense was a great taboo and considered a provocative act. If a higher-level cultivator forcefully probed a lower-level cultivator without regard for martial ethics, the probed person could only accept their misfortune. However, if a lower-level cultivator used their spiritual sense to probe a higher-level cultivator, it was pure suicide.

Higher-level cultivators possessed a powerful spiritual sense. If they wished, they could easily severely injure the soul of a lower-level cultivator. When that happened, there was nowhere to seek justice. Who asked you to provoke them first?

Xie Jiuniang narrowed her eyes slightly. Being probed casually by others as if she were weak was unpleasant, but the feeling of being protected was quite nice.

In her previous life, only one or two family members had passed in the end, so today’s events didn’t occur. Unknowingly, many things had changed…

“Hmph!” Elder Chaoyan snorted from above, releasing the oppressive aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator, warning the sect disciples who were observing the new disciples.

Those who had just probed Xie Jiuniang with spiritual sense were almost all sect disciples. Their curiosity had been piqued by the various rumors in recent days, so they had purposely come to watch.

The various rumors centered around one person. For example, she was the first person who dared to do business during the sect’s examination, earning the title of “Little Profiteer.”

She sold a wooden hairpin at a high price, and when Senior Brother Mo Chuan bought it, it turned out to be Nourishing Soul Wood!

Even more shocking was that she had successfully broken through the blockade of over a dozen sect disciples by herself, even though those disciples were also in the Qi Refining stage and had higher cultivation levels than her.

Elder Chaoyan spoke, “The first round of the examination has ended. Those who have not reached the mountain gate at this moment are considered eliminated. The final step of the examination is to walk up the mountain. As long as one safely reaches the top, they will become an outer sect disciple of the Tianxu Sect.”

After one round, seven out of ten were eliminated. Over 10,000 disciples had passed.

Xie Jiuniang noticed that it was better than in her previous life when nine out of ten were eliminated.

As long as one passed the first round of selection, it was equivalent to having one foot in the sect. As for the 10,000 foot Heavenly Staircase mentioned by the Nascent Soul elder, it wasn’t a big deal at all.

The Heavenly Staircase was just for show. Righteous cultivators with good physical abilities could easily climb it. On the contrary, for evil cultivators, demon cultivators, and the like, every step on the stairs would be fraught with difficulties, and their true nature would quickly be exposed.

The sect’s biggest test was the first round, from Xian City to the mountain gate. Within a month, those with poor character would basically be eliminated. Even if someone was capable, the sect’s examination personnel would play tricks to prevent them from reaching the mountain gate within a month.

Of course, these insider details wouldn’t be openly stated. In her previous life, Xie Jiuniang had only learned about them by chance.

As Xie Jiuniang guessed, the Xie family’s younger generation easily ascended the Heavenly Staircase without encountering any illusion formations.

Upon reaching the mountaintop, someone arranged for the new disciples to have their spiritual roots re-examined, registered, and receive their identity tokens, sect manuals, and disciple robes.

Just as Xie Jiuniang finished receiving her items, she heard a cry of surprise behind her. She quickly turned around and saw a human-shaped blood mist explode in the air.

It was Elder Chaoyan using spiritual power to lift a person high into the air and violently crush them, leaving not a single trace behind.

Xie Jiuniang’s heart skipped a beat. “What happened?”

“A demon cultivator tried to sneak into the sect. It happens every time new disciples are recruited. It’s nothing new.” The sect disciple distributing the items explained.

Xie Jiuniang hadn’t encountered this in her previous life. It was very likely that in her previous life, this demon cultivator didn’t survive the first round.

“Fourth Sister, let’s go to the Immortal Crane Garden and rent an immortal crane to go to the Fourth Peak of the outer sect.” Xie Jiuniang pretended to flip through the sect manual and pulled Xie Siniang along.

If they wanted a good place to stay in the outer sect, they had to hurry. First come, first served. If they were late, they could only pick from the leftovers others had rejected.

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