Chapter 3: Meeting the Runaway Disciple for the First Time

“Little miss, may I borrow your hand for a look?” After some thinking, the storyteller finally had an idea.

Ye Wenxin looked at the storyteller with confusion, not understanding why the he wanted to look at her hand.

Seeing Ye Wenxin’s vigilance, the storyteller rubbed his nose and explained, “I mean no harm. It’s just that I happen to have a magic tester tool that can determine whether you have immortal destiny.”

Ye Wenxin suddenly recalled that there was indeed this kind of magic tool, but because they were extremely valuable, very few people possessed them. However, this storyteller, who seemed quite ordinary in every aspect, could not possibly have such an extraordinary magic tool, which only made Ye Wenxin more puzzled.

Despite her reservations, she still extended her hand. The storyteller fumbled for a moment and then pulled out a palm-sized eight trigrams mirror from his pocket dimension pouch.

The eight trigrams mirror was exquisitely crafted, engraved with yin and yang symbols, with a spirit stone embedded in the center. The spirit stone was white, seemingly of the lowest grade.

“This is a magic tool I crafted myself, capable of detecting whether you possess the ability to become a cultivator,” the storyteller explained, rubbing his nose again, seeming quite nervous.

“I’m not some sort of guinea pig, am I?” Ye Wenxin could not help but ask, and was met with the storyteller’s puzzled face. “Miss, this is a magic tool, not a guinea pig,” he replied earnestly.

Ye Wenxin felt particularly embarrassed. Even now, she could not shake off her habit of using her original world’s speech. She quickly explained, “By ‘guinea pig,’ I mean an experimental subject. What I meant to ask is whether this magic tool you created can truly succeed?”

The storyteller became even more confident. “Of course, otherwise, why would I dare to bring it out?”

With that, Ye Wenxin extended her hand, and the storyteller immediately placed the eight trigrams mirror in her palm. “Alright, hold onto it for as long as it takes to light an incense stick.”

Ye Wenxin felt a rush of excitement in her heart. This principle reminded her of a thermometer. By measuring the temperature of the body’s surface, one could gauge the value of spiritual energy within. And this low-grade spirit stone was probably meant to display this indicator.

Realizing that this item could indeed be used to measure one’s aptitude, while the storyteller was distracted, she infused her power into the stone. She felt the white spirit stone instantly turn red.

“It’s not a low-grade spirit stone, but an energy storage stone.” Ye Wenxin infused more power, and it turned blue, then gold, entirely responding to her energy at will.

It must be said that this storyteller indeed had some talent, but unfortunately, he was born in the wrong era.

Ye Wenxin watched the storyteller gaze at a beautiful woman in the distance, then made the stone revert to its original color before continuing her questioning. “Sir, may I ask, which color signifies aptitude?”

“All except for white,” he replied.

The storyteller’s response was rather perfunctory, and Ye Wenxin could not help but give a wry smile. Despite being in this world for quite some time, she was completely clueless about the basic theories.

“Well then, what color do you think looks good?” She thought it was just a small test, but she still worried about revealing too much and ending up having to eliminate the first person she encountered after fleeing.

“Yellow,” the storyteller blurted out, his attention fixated on the beautiful woman in the distance.

Ye Wenxin also noticed the woman sitting not far away, dressed in apricot-colored garments, radiating a vibrant and captivating aura, like a blooming sunflower. Compared to Ye Wenxin, who was still not fully mature, most people’s gazes were drawn to her.

The woman seemed accustomed to being observed, holding a long sword in her hand, her gaze darting back and forth as if she were expecting someone.

“Isn’t this girl Huang Hanyan?” The storyteller seemed to have completely forgotten about helping Ye Wenxin with the test, as he casually mentioned the girl’s name.

Ye Wenxin was particularly curious. She searched her memory for the names of disciples within the immortal sects, but had never heard of the name Huang Hanyan before.

“Who’s that?”

“You might not know since you’ve just ran away, miss, but this Junior Sister Huang Hanyan is quite the recent celebrity,” the storyteller said, noticing Ye Wenxin’s interest. He then proceeded to explain Huang Hanyan’s identity.

“Do you know of the Demon Lord?”

Upon hearing her name mentioned again, Ye Wenxin felt a bit uneasy but still responded, “Of course.”

The storyteller then began narrating in the typical style of storytellers about the matter concerning Huang Hanyan.

“Huang Hanyan was originally the disciple favored by the Demon Lord. Somehow, she ended up coming to Azure Wings Sect to protest.”

Ye Wenxin’s lips twitched. Suddenly, she realized that she should indeed be familiar with this Huang Hanyan. It was this conniving little thing who went to seek out Fairy Fengya, only to fall head over heels upon seeing her and immediately betray Ye Wenxin, leading to her being ridiculed by everyone once again.

That was right. Once again!

The disciples she had painstakingly raised were all snatched away by that demoness, Fairy Fengya! How could Ye Wenxin possibly not be furious and want to kill her.

So, she sent her disciples to test Fairy Fengya’s strength, but who knew that her disciples would succumb to Fairy Fengya’s beauty. As a result, they each betrayed their sect, and now they had all gained fame in the righteous sect, hunting demonic cultivators every day.

The more Ye Wenxin thought about it, the angrier she became. The pressure emanating from her body was released uncontrollably, causing difficulty in breathing for those in her proximity. Ordinary people had already begun to fall to the ground, coughing up blood.

Ye Wenxin finally snapped out of it, suddenly missing the times when she used to bully the demonic cultivators every day. At least then, Ye Wenxin never worried that they would die under just a bit of pressure.

“What’s going on?”

“Could a powerful master be passing by?”

The crowd became even more befuddled, and then they sensed movement outside the door. A woman dressed in a purple dress and wearing a veil approached slowly, revealing only a pair of eyes. However, just one glance from those eyes set their hearts aflutter. She was another rare beauty, and her strength was definitely outstanding for someone her age.

The storyteller widened their eyes, as if finding the appearance of this woman in purple incredibly unbelievable.

“It can’t be. Could the rumors be true?” The storyteller’s voice rose, leaving Ye Wenxin even more bewildered. She could not understand why this woman’s appearance left these people in such awe.

“If I’m not mistaken, this young lady should be Long Qing’er, the only daughter of the Golden Age Dynasty’s current Emperor.” Ye Wenxin heard the surname Long and immediately thought of Eldest Princess Long Qingyue. She could not help but glance at this woman a few more times so as to avoid accidentally beating up the Eldest Princess’s niece, otherwise the princess might hunt her down to kill her.

“She is an inner disciple of Fairy Fengya, but recently there have been rumors that she might become Fairy Fengya’s first direct disciple.” The storyteller offered a brief explanation, slightly concerned that Ye Wenxin might not understand, then continued with another question, “You know the Demon Lord, so you should know about Fairy Fengya, right?”

It seemed he truly regarded Ye Wenxin as a wealthy young lady who had run away from home, explaining things to her in great detail.

“The demoness… Of course I know of her.” Ye Wenxin could not help but curse Fairy Fengya again. It was all because of that damn Fairy Fengya that she had to tread fearfully on the antagonist path. One could imagine the state of her resentment.

The storyteller quickly made a hushing gesture, looking uneasily towards the distance, as if fearing something.

Upon closer inspection, Long Qing’er seemed unaware of them, chatting and laughing with the girl named Huang Hanyan.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed? Don’t you know how much Long Qing’er adores Fairy Fengya?” The storyteller felt increasingly perplexed of Ye Wenxin’s intentions, finally taking down her eight trigrams plate and shaking it a few times.

“Yellow, it seems you have the Golden Spirit Root, indicating some potential for cultivation. However, your color is too faint. Whether you can pass the examination will depend on fate.” The storyteller seemed to have forgotten the discussion about how much Long Qing’er adored Fairy Fengya just a moment ago, naturally shifting the topic.

Reminded by the storyteller’s words, Ye Wenxin recalled she had infused power into the eight trigrams plate just a while ago. Perhaps because some time had passed since then, the color had dimmed. Luckily, this dimness helped conceal Ye Wenxin’s strength.

“Let’s put that aside for now. You mentioned this little fangirl… no, this Princess Long Qing’er. How much does she actually like Fairy Fengya?” Ye Wenxin continued to inquire, finding this gossip quite interesting and potentially a topic for future casual conversations with Eldest Princess Long Qingyue.

Although Ye Wenxin was unsure if the Eldest Princess would be furious if she found out about her niece, Long Qing’er’s feelings.

She decided she would ask anyway.

“I’m just an outer disciple, but I’ve heard rumors that Senior Sister Long openly declared she wants to be Fairy Fengya’s Dao companion. And whenever there’s a suitor for Fairy Fengya, Senior Sister Long beats them half to death, making all the disciples who have desires lack the courage to act on them. Long Qing’er thought this would deter anyone from having designs on our sect leader, but unexpectedly,” he laughed, “one by one, Demon Lord Gu Qingcheng’s disciples fell in love with Fairy Fengya and switched sides.”

The storyteller became more and more animated as he spoke, finding the story of Fairy Fengya and Demon Lord Gu Qingcheng’s disciples even more interesting than common gossip and mythical tales.

As long as there were those who cared, they would know the story of Fairy Fengya alongside Demon Lord Gu Qingcheng.

Even though she was somewhat thick-skinned, Ye Wenxin now felt like punching the storyteller.

“I really would like to know what kind of face the Demon Lord would make when she finds out.”

“My face.” Ye Wenxin gritted her teeth. The storyteller thought Ye Wenxin was jesting, unaware that the little girl before him, who appeared to be only twelve or thirteen years old, was actually the Demon Lord Gu Qingcheng herself.

Even as he kept laughing, the storyteller continued to watch Long Qing’er and Huang Hanyan.

One was the heavenly beauty Long Qing’er, who was crazily devoted to her master, and the other was the young genius who had recently gained fame, Huang Hanyan. No matter how you looked at it, these two coming together would be big news.

But the storyteller kept staring even as he continued, saying, “Miss, don’t worry too much. Although the exam is extremely difficult, I have some methods up my sleeve. When I return to the sect, I’ll inquire to see if there’s any way to get you through the back door.”

With those words, the storyteller set down his teacup, then swiftly placed a silver ingot on the table and hurried out the door. From his demeanor, it seemed that storytelling was just a hobby; in reality, he was staying here to fulfill a mission.

Although Ye Wenxin had received a promise from the storyteller, she was accustomed to handling everything herself. She raised her hand and called the waiter over to settle the bill, casually tossing over the silver ingot that had just been left by the storyteller.