Chapter 2

Xie Hong was startled by her and saw that all the pills on the ground had been dirtied. He paused, then angrily scolded the new disciples who were staring with open mouths, "You actually waste the pills like this, it looks like you don't even need to take them!"

"Uncle Master, it's not like that!" Seeing the situation was getting out of hand, a quick-witted young disciple hurriedly explained, "These pills were already dirty, they didn't just fall on the ground now; they were dirty before."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Xiaoding sobbed and said, "I understand, the pills I touched are all dirty, they will taint everyone's mouths..."

"Uncle Master, I'll take these dirty pills back, I can only owe everyone this time." She knelt on the ground, pitifully picking up the Taihe Pills, looking as if she had been bullied by the whole world.

Xie Hong stared at the new disciples, his face dark like a cloudy day. He walked over with his hands behind his back and sternly said, "Sword cultivators not only need powerful strength, but also righteousness! If you use your strength to bully the weak, what makes you different from beasts!"

His sharp gaze made each of the children shiver involuntarily, lowering their heads and not daring to meet his eyes. Among them, some were stubborn and refused to bow, insisting that the pills falling on the ground had nothing to do with them.

"Each of you take one Taihe Pill and swallow it!" Xie Hong shouted sternly. The sect didn't have many pills, and the better ones all had to be bought from outside. These guys still wanted to waste them, thinking that being a sword cultivator was all about looking cool! Hard times were ahead, and it was the alchemists, not the sword cultivators, who would be wealthy.

Lu Xiaoding had already picked up all the Taihe Pills, tears still in her eyes, standing cautiously beside him, not daring to go over to distribute the pills.

"Start from you, come over and take the Taihe Pills, and take them right here." Xie Hong stood with his hands behind his back, watching to see who dared not come to take the pills.

Everyone had to line up and take the mud-covered Taihe Pills. They were very不服气 (unwilling), wondering what this had to do with them. The pills falling on the ground was entirely the fault of the medicine boy, yet they were the ones being scolded, which was very unfair.

When they took the pills, they all wanted to glare at Lu Xiaoding, making her remember that she had offended them. But they saw her pick up each Taihe Pill, wiping it hard on her clothes, trying to remove the mud, with a worried and apologetic look.

"Sorry, I dirtied the pills, please don't mind." Lu Xiaoding looked at them sincerely, handing over the pills that were still covered in mud after wiping them on her clothes for a long time. Her sincere apology made it impossible for them to scold her, and pursuing the matter further would make them seem unreasonable.

Reluctantly taking the pills, under Uncle Xie's stern gaze, the new disciples wiped the pills on their clothes before swallowing them. They then stood uneasily, unsure what changes would happen to their bodies.

Seeing that they had all taken the Taihe Pills, Xie Hong snorted coldly and glared at the two teaching disciples, saying, "Since you are in charge of disciplining them, you should do it properly. If this happens again, go to Siwu Peak to receive punishment!"

"Yes, we understand our mistake," the two disciples bowed, but their faces showed little fear. Disciplining new disciples was a minor offense that wouldn't result in punishment, otherwise they would be out of control.

Only then did Xie Hong leave, satisfied, though his lecture was not yet finished.

Seeing Uncle Xie leave, the two senior disciples folded their arms and looked at the young disciples, speaking coldly, "You have forgotten all the rules. You must not make loud noises in public places, and you have forgotten this completely. Since you just took the Taihe Pills today, we will let you off this time, but tomorrow everyone must clean all the halls of Zhichu Hall."

"Clean all the halls?" Everyone looked up, and Zhichu Hall had nine study halls and over a dozen buildings for everyone to live in. Not to mention, the courtyards of the senior disciples and masters were also there; they couldn't possibly clean those too, right?

"It's just Zhichu Hall, the courtyards of the masters and senior disciples don't need to be cleaned. But the stone paths on the mountain must be cleaned, not a single piece of dirt allowed." The two senior disciples kindly reduced their workload, as the courtyards of the masters and senior disciples were off-limits, and cleaning them was a way for direct disciples to curry favor, which no one would dare to do.

The disciples reluctantly agreed, knowing they wouldn't be able to finish the cleaning in one day, and the next few days would be tough.

The two senior disciples took this opportunity to assign the cleaning tasks that should have been done by their own courtyards to these young disciples. Seeing their unwilling faces, the two senior disciples exchanged glances, and one of them said, "The Taihe Pills will take effect soon, and we will guide you in absorbing them. Once you clean the halls, we will teach you the basic cultivation technique, 'Sleeve of Infinity.'"

"Senior Brother, is this true!" Everyone's gloom instantly lifted, looking excitedly at the senior brother.

The 'Sleeve of Infinity' was a technique that all cultivators must learn, using oneself as a medium to open a space between heaven and earth. It could be used to store small items or even mountains and rivers, making it essential for travel and daily life.

Of course, storing mountains and rivers was beyond their reach. They just wanted to be able to pull out many items from their sleeves like the senior disciples, which to ordinary people looked like magic tricks, where a wave of the hand could produce many items. As long as they didn't encounter powerful cultivators, even if they died, their items wouldn't be lost, providing absolute protection against theft.

"Senior Brother, we will definitely clean Zhichu Hall, you can rest assured!"

The two senior disciples smiled and nodded, thinking how easy it was to deceive children with a little benefit.

Lu Xiaoding stood to the side, biting her finger, watching the senior disciples deceive the others. She couldn't perform any techniques and was very eager to learn the 'Sleeve of Infinity.' The main reason was that she wanted to store the cauldron, so she wouldn't have to carry it everywhere.

She glanced at the cauldron, thinking how hard it was to be an unowned spirit. She felt weak when she was more than a hundred feet away from her body, and if she went further, she would be sucked back. But compared to other spirits, she was quite fortunate, as she could freely carry the cauldron around, even though it was heavy.

When she was found by her master Yu Xiudan, she had already told him that she was a furnace. But she was often mistaken for a female cultivator, and no one thought she was a spirit.

Thinking back, Lu Xiaoding realized how foolish she had been to try to explain to others that she was a spirit. No matter how she described herself as a furnace, mentioning that she was a spirit made her feel as if her throat was being tightly gripped, making it impossible to speak.

Not being able to say she was a spirit was one thing, but she didn't even know why she had a physical body. If other spirits saw her, they would surely be envious to death.

"Sleeve of Infinity..." She enviously watched the new disciples sit on the square, listening to the senior disciples' guidance as they began to absorb the Taihe Pills, then sniffed and turned to leave, carrying the cauldron.

The Wu Yao Hall was on the top of Zhishang Peak, with a large medicinal garden at the back. To make it convenient for the new disciples to work as free farmers, the Wu Yao Hall was built here. Even tasks like monitoring the fire during alchemy were assigned to the new disciples who had been in the sect for a year.

On the surface, it sounded good, providing an opportunity for the disciples to learn alchemy and to select talented ones for cultivation. But in reality, they hadn't found a talented one in decades, and now it was purely to save labor, not wanting to have too many people eating idle meals in the Wu Yao Hall.

The Wu Yao Hall truly belonged to only three people: the late-stage Foundation Establishment Hall Master Yu Xiudan and his two medicine boys.

Lu Yaoyang came out of the steaming alchemy room, holding three jade bottles, which contained the pills she had refined today. Her daily job was to collect the pills, then place the herbs in the empty furnace according to the formula, and the task of monitoring the fire was given to the new disciples of Zhichu Hall.

Using this method, high-quality pills couldn't be refined. After all, the Hall Master was only at the late-stage Foundation Establishment, and the formulas he taught were all below the third grade, purely a waste of resources.

Looking at the jade bottles in her hand, she frowned slightly, "Do I really have to be a medicine boy for life?" At that moment, she heard someone call, "Senior Sister!"

Lu Yaoyang looked up and saw Lu Xiaoding, carrying the large cauldron, panting as she ran up. She had mixed feelings about this little junior sister. If she ignored her height, she could almost say she had raised her.

When Lu Xiaoding came half a year ago, her level of idiocy was almost higher than that of a one-year-old infant, knowing nothing, and almost driving her crazy. Thinking about how the furnace room built into the mountain wall almost caught fire due to her, Lu Yaoyang felt incredibly lucky to still be alive.

Seeing her junior sister's hurried appearance, she said impatiently, "What's wrong again?"

"Senior Sister, I want to learn techniques, teach me the 'Sleeve of Infinity'!" Lu Xiaoding ran up to her, looking at her with pleading eyes.

Lu Yaoyang looked at her speechlessly, "Why do you want to learn this? You carry the cauldron everywhere, so you can just put things inside. This cauldron is much larger than the 'Sleeve of Infinity' of ordinary disciples."

"Senior Sister, but you can do it, right?" Lu Xiaoding remembered clearly that her senior sister never carried a bag, and things appeared out of nowhere just like her master.

"That's because I have a bit of a spirit vein, so Master taught me this technique, and I have to work. Besides, to learn techniques, you need a complete soul. You only have one soul and two spirits, so you can't learn it." Lu Yaoyang didn't know why her junior sister's soul was so incomplete yet she could still be lively, unlike others who became half-dead.

Lu Xiaoding was extremely disappointed. Did she really have to carry the cauldron for life? She said stubbornly, "Senior Sister, I must learn techniques, please teach me. Even though I only have one soul and two spirits, I'm still better than those who have none."

"Those with no soul are dead, and compared to the dead, you are indeed accomplished." Lu Yaoyang rolled her eyes, this big idiot.

"Senior Sister, the cauldron is too heavy, please teach me!" To walk faster, Lu Xiaoding pulled on her senior sister's sleeve, not letting go.

It was really a difficult situation. Lu Yaoyang slapped her hand away and said coldly, "If you want to learn, go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you. And I only know this technique, so don't keep pestering me to teach you others."

"I knew it, Senior Sister is the best!" Seeing her agree, Lu Xiaoding cheered happily.