Chapter 23 of 100

Chapter 23

14 min read3,572 wordsMature

Lu Xiaodeng couldn't find her senior sister anywhere else, so she returned to the residence she had chosen before, and indeed saw Lu Yaohang there.

This residence was the most exquisite on the entire Tian Dan Peak. The others were all rugged and massive, but this was a two-story small stone building. In front of the building was a natural small pond, and it was unknown whether the person who built the building was a female cultivator, but they had even constructed a stone platform extending over the water, allowing one to touch the pond water while sitting on it.

Lu Yaohang was sitting by the pond, carefully wiping her silver-threaded sword with a white handkerchief. Her expression was focused, as if she were looking at a treasure, wiping it very seriously.

"Senior Sister, what are you thinking about?" Lu Xiaodeng walked over and sat down, taking off her shoes and placing her feet in the water, gently swaying them.

"I'm thinking about when I can lay the foundation." The sword was already wiped clean, and Lu Yaohang lifted it to look at it in the sunlight, squinting her eyes as she spoke.

Hearing her words, Lu Xiaodeng said in confusion, "Senior Sister, although I don't understand much about cultivation, you're only at the initial stage of Qi Refinement. Isn't it too early to think about this?"

To her surprise, Lu Yaohang looked at her with some surprise, "As long as the Bone Washing Pill is refined, my progress will certainly not be much worse than Lu Dan's."

"Senior Sister, didn't you say that Bai Zhen has been out for more than two months and hasn't returned yet? I wonder if he has found the Twin Ginseng." To refine the Bone Washing Pill, they needed the spirit grass, but Bai Zhen had not returned. If they were to buy it with crystal beans, they probably couldn't even afford a root of ginseng.

Lu Yaohang sheathed her sword with a clang and said coldly, "Perhaps he is already dead outside."

"That won't do. Senior Sister, didn't you say that Twin Ginseng is very expensive? Do we have enough crystal beans to buy it ourselves?" Lu Xiaodeng asked worriedly. She had never cared about how many crystal beans they had; buying spirit grass and selling pills were always handled by her senior sister. If they could afford it, they wouldn't have to wait for Bai Zhen, which would be more convenient.

Lu Yaohang's brows furrowed, and she suddenly changed her tone, "I hope Senior Brother Bai can return safely. Don't die outside before bringing back the Twin Ginseng. Even if you die, do it inside the sect."

"Right, Senior Sister is correct," Lu Xiaodeng nodded in agreement.

Five days later, Bai Zhen returned to Yun Jian Sect. Last time, he had obtained the Yi Flower and wanted to find a master alchemist to help refine it or exchange it for the pills he needed, but he couldn't get away.

Those two medicine boys kept coming to find him for the Twin Ginseng, using sound transmission talismans for convenience. But they always came in person, standing at the door like debt collectors.

The older one looked like he was in mourning, and the younger one looked like a child abandoned by him, staring at him with pitiful eyes, making it impossible for him to stay. He couldn't understand why they were so idle; did medicine boys not have to work?

Unable to bear their harassment, Bai Zhen had to go out to find the Twin Ginseng and sell the Yi Flower.

This time, he had a good harvest. Besides getting the pills he wanted, he also obtained the Twin Ginseng. Thinking that he wouldn't have to worry about seeing those two at the door anymore, he felt much lighter.

When he walked along the stone path to the courtyard he had built in the mountains, he saw those two familiar figures guarding the door again.

The gate was tightly blocked by a tripod. In front of the tripod, Lu Yaohang was meditating with her eyes closed, never missing any free time to cultivate. She was a very diligent person.

Lu Xiaodeng, on the other hand, was so bored that she was chasing a small butterfly around, looking like a wild monkey.

Before Bai Zhen could get close, Lu Xiaodeng noticed him and shouted happily, "Senior Sister, Senior Brother Bai is back alive!"

What does 'back alive' mean? It's as if he went out to die. He thought unhappily, seeing Lu Yaohang open her eyes, slowly stand up, and brush off the dust on her clothes. She stood there quietly, naturally cold, making it hard to imagine her trying to be friendly.

"Senior Brother, we have been waiting for a long time," Lu Yaohang greeted him with a slight bow.

Bai Zhen frowned. These two couldn't have been waiting for him for two months, could they? That's too persistent. He said, "I just went out to find medicine. There was no need for you to wait here all the time. I would have notified you when I returned."

"No, we've only been here for five days. We've been quite idle lately, so we came here to pass the time," Lu Xiaodeng said before he could admire Lu Yaohang's determination to cultivate. He was speechless.

"Move the tripod aside. Let's go inside and talk. I've found the Twin Ginseng," Bai Zhen said.

Lu Yaohang's eyes lit up, and she quickly said, "Thank you, Senior Brother. We won't enter the house. You must be tired from your journey, so we won't disturb your rest. We'll leave once we get the Twin Ginseng."

"You two are really something. You don't even want to be polite and just want to take the goods and leave," Bai Zhen was truly impressed by their straightforwardness. If they were not medicine boys and had to travel, they would surely offend people.

He waved his hand, grabbed a jade box, and tossed it over. Lu Yaohang caught it, held it with both hands, and infused a weak divine sense into it. It took several breaths to penetrate the jade box and see a spirit-filled ginseng inside. The ginseng was divided into two parts, each as thick as a finger, but it emitted a dense spiritual aura.

After confirming it was the Twin Ginseng, she put the jade box into her sleeve and thanked Bai Zhen, "Thank you, Senior Brother. If I have any questions about cultivation in the future, I hope you can guide me."

"I don't think it will be long before you won't need my guidance," Bai Zhen, a normal cultivator, said politely.

To his surprise, Lu Yaohang nodded firmly, "Senior Brother is right. I will catch up to you and surpass you."

Bai Zhen was taken aback and laughed, "What a big mouth. I'll see when you can lay the foundation and become a disciple."

"It won't be long," Lu Yaohang's smile was even more confident, almost naturally exuding a cold and indifferent aura. Then she left with Lu Xiaodeng.

"What a pity..." Bai Zhen said regretfully. Some things can't be achieved just by having ideals and working hard; one also needs talent and luck. From her, he only saw effort and ambition, but not the other qualities.

When Lu Yaohang and Lu Xiaodeng returned to the Tian Dan Hall, they closed the door and discussed how to refine the medicine. Before they started, they heard Lu Dan standing outside, somewhat angrily asking, "Why do you two keep going to Shi Lai Peak? The medicine boys need to be managed, and there's a lot of work to do. Why don't you come and help?"

Lu Yaohang opened the door, looked at the frowning Lu Dan, and pinched his face, "You've been learning for several months, and I've already taught you everything. Now you are the senior brother of Tian Dan Peak. Shouldn't these medicine boys and new disciples be managed by you?"

"Then you two should listen to me and do the work," Lu Dan said. These two were becoming more and more out of line. They always left the work to him in the past, and now they were completely ignoring it.

"Why are you angry, Junior Brother?" Lu Xiaodeng asked, blinking her eyes and pretending to be confused. She started using her usual tactic of feigning ignorance. Lu Dan reminded himself not to fall for it, not to be soft-hearted, and not to let them idle around.

But unexpectedly, Lu Xiaodeng frowned, sniffed, and said in a strange voice, "Now that Junior Brother is the senior brother, he doesn't care about us anymore. Senior Sister wants to cultivate, so we are looking for spirit grass to refine some pills to help her spirit meridians. If you insist we work, we won't refine the pills and will go to work right away."

"Xiaodeng, don't say that. The senior brother has no choice. He just became the senior brother and needs to establish his authority among the new medicine boys. Since we are the only two old medicine boys in the Tian Dan Hall, we just need to endure it for a while," Lu Yaohang said in a pitiful tone, but her voice was cold and her expression stiff, making her performance terrible.

But Lu Xiaodeng didn't think it was bad at all. She nodded vigorously and said, "Senior Sister, I will endure it. No matter how hard it is, I will work to help the senior brother establish his authority."

Lu Dan was pushed to the limit and finally couldn't hold back, "Enough! You two can do whatever you want from now on. I won't call you to work anymore!"

As soon as he said that, Lu Xiaodeng shouted excitedly, "Great, long live Junior Brother."

"How despicable!" Seeing their triumphant looks, Lu Dan was furious. He now suspected that when they insisted on picking him up, they actually planned to find someone to take over the work.

They had broken all the rules of Tian Dan Peak, and Lu Dan was about to use his senior brother status to scold them. But a new medicine boy ran over, shouting in alarm, "Senior Brother, it's not good! The tripod is emitting black smoke!"

"Don't shout. When a pill is ruined, this happens. I'll go and check," Lu Dan heard about the ruined pill and, without scolding them, hurriedly followed the medicine boy to the alchemy room.

Seeing him leave, Lu Xiaodeng sighed in relief, "Junior Brother has only been the senior brother for five days, and he already has authority. It's like he was born to be a warden."

"What warden, that's called a leader. Some people are like that; as long as they get the chance, they can show their abilities. Don't think he's naturally introverted just because he always frowns and looks serious like an old man. In fact, when it comes to managing things, he is as capable as those strict and boring uncles. He should be considered talented," Lu Yaohang said. Compared to herself, Lu Dan was more dedicated to managing the Tian Dan Hall and handled things well.

Lu Xiaodeng tilted her head and asked skeptically, "Senior Sister, is calling Junior Brother a boring old uncle a compliment?"

"Of course, the uncles are all capable people," Lu Yaohang explained casually, not caring if it would corrupt her.

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