Chapter 8

The grand ceremony for forming the core was quite boring, not much more than the sect leader coming out to talk about grand plans. Then, he would thank all the friends for their presence, hinting that the Yunjian Sect would soon be able to produce its own elixirs and would have many high-level cultivators.

Yu Xiudan had already changed into new clothes. Although the robes he used to wear all day were also dark blue, they only had white patterns, which were just a bit brighter than the black patterns of ordinary disciples.

Now, he looked much more impressive, wearing two layers with a shiny silver border, giving off an inexplicable sense of authority.

The grand ceremony went smoothly, and Lu Xiaodi did not cause any more trouble. Qinghua Zhenjun was invited away by a peak master; they were old acquaintances who had traveled together in their youth, and this was a good opportunity to catch up.

After the ceremony, Yu Xiudan called the two of them to a secluded place and instructed them, "Yaohxiang, you must keep a close eye on Xiaodi. I am going to enter seclusion and won't come out until next year. Master Lümu will help manage the Wuyao Hall, which will recruit many disciples and start to develop. You two are my alchemy assistants, so you don't need to worry about the affairs of the Wuyao Hall. Now that someone is taking over, you can take a break for a while."

"Master, I want to take Xiaodi to the Zhichu Hall to study," Lu Yaohxiang looked at him, her eyes very serious.

Yu Xiudan hesitated for a moment, then sighed, "Your talent is too low now, and the number of your spirit meridians is too few. According to the rules of the Zhichu Hall, they won't accept you. Wait until I come out of seclusion and refine some elixirs for you to open your spirit meridians, then you can go."

"Yes." It seemed she couldn't enter early, so Lu Yaohxiang could only agree. Her master had just advanced to the Core Formation stage, and it wasn't good to make too many demands. When he came out of seclusion and took over the Wuyao Hall, he would have real power, and such a small matter shouldn't be a problem.

However, she wasn't sure. Who knew what would happen after seclusion? If her master focused solely on refining elixirs and researching alchemy, wouldn't the Wuyao Hall be managed by Daoist Master Lü all the time?

Thinking about her master's lifelong love for alchemy, this was quite possible. If the sect leader said he would help find elixir formulas and spirit herbs and not deal with trivial matters, he would likely agree immediately. If he were given a few talented and clever alchemy assistants, he might forget about her and Xiaodi.

"Senior Sister, what are you thinking about? Master has already left." Lu Xiaodi tugged at her clothes, leaning forward curiously.

Lu Yaohxiang then realized that Master had already left and said, "Xiaodi, let's go to the sect's market."

"Great, we can buy things. Last time, Senior Sister gave me crystal beans, and I haven't used them yet. I want to buy windmills, colorful balls, and fighting wooden dolls." Hearing they were going to the market, Lu Xiaodi immediately became excited, counting the things she wanted to buy on her fingers.

Lu Yaohxiang, however, extended her hand in front of her, looking elsewhere and said, "Xiaodi, let me see your crystal beans."

"Okay." Lu Xiaodi readily took out a small pouch from her chest, shook out a few colorful stones she had picked up, and handed the only crystal bean to her.

Seeing that she still carried small stones, Lu Yaohxiang said speechlessly, "What do you keep the stones for?"

"Senior Sister, don't you think they are beautiful?" Lu Xiaodi picked up a stone, squinting her eyes to look at it in the sunlight, "When you look at it against the sun, it shows beautiful colors. It must be a treasure."

Lu Yaohxiang directly took the crystal bean and then walked forward with her hands behind her back, "There are many such treasures by the stream. I'll take you there another day, and you'll find many that are even more beautiful."

"Great, I'll pick up a lot." Thinking about picking up many beautiful stones, Lu Xiaodi happily followed, forgetting about the crystal bean.

The two didn't go to other markets but returned directly to Zhishang Peak. Each peak had nearly a thousand disciples, and they would often find things to sell. Taking everything to the sect's market was too troublesome, so less valuable items were left in the small markets on each peak, benefiting the fellow disciples.

All new disciples started in the Zhichu Hall, and in the first year, they wouldn't have much to sell. But by the second year, things were different. Sometimes they would go on missions with senior disciples from Zhishang Peak and might bring back some items if they were lucky.

Although the library was not yet open to them, some were eager to learn other cultivation techniques. Senior disciples would sell their outdated techniques, as keeping them was just taking up space. It was better to sell them to junior disciples for crystal beans.

"Senior Sister, isn't it the same whether they sell techniques or pass them on?" Lu Xiaodi didn't understand the difference between passing on and selling, as both involved giving something to others.

Lu Yaohxiang whispered, "The passing on I'm talking about is learning others' insights and essence. They would explain their understanding of the techniques or directly guide you. This is much better than just giving you a book, as some things are hard to understand without an explanation."

It was so complicated that Lu Xiaodi didn't understand but nodded as if she did, "Senior Sister, you're only four years older than me, but why do you know so much?"

"It's simple, because you're stupid." Lu Yaohxiang said without hesitation. Both were picked up by their master, but Xiaodi was extremely stupid.

"Right, Senior Sister is much smarter. When you jumped from the seventh level of the earth fire platform, you must have thought it through, that was amazing." Lu Xiaodi said thoughtfully, full of admiration. She was so brave that day. Not getting hurt must have been because she was smart.

Lu Yaohxiang stopped and glared at her with the corner of her eye, then said coldly, "If you mention this again, I won't take you to pick stones, and I'll paint your cauldron."

"No, I won't say it again. Please don't paint my cauldron; it's hard to wash off." She was immediately scared and shook her hands, not wanting to be covered in paint. Seeing her fear, Lu Yaohxiang let it go.

The small market was next to the Luoxian Platform on Zhishang Peak. It seemed they had come at the wrong time, as only a few disciples were there. Lu Xiaodi walked over and saw about forty small bamboo tables scattered on the ground, but no one was manning them.

"It's always like this. Why have I never seen the stall owners here?" Lu Xiaodi squatted in front of a table, looking at the items and searching for something interesting.

Each small table had a mix of items, with prices written on them and a small bamboo tube next to them. If you took something, you just put the crystal beans in the tube. The tube had a simple restriction, so you could only put things in, not take them out without removing the restriction.

Everyone sold cheap items, so they weren't worried about theft. They were all fellow disciples, and no one would take advantage of such a small matter.

Lu Yaohxiang saw Lu Xiaodi pick up a small stone from the ground and toss it into a bamboo tube, then clapped her hands and laughed happily.

"This is fun, let me throw another one." She picked up another stone and aimed at a tube five tables away, wanting to throw it again.

"What are you doing, why are you doing such a boring thing!" Lu Yaohxiang rushed over and pulled her back by the collar.

Lu Xiaodi was very disappointed, "Senior Sister, why do you act like an old person?"

"Shut up, behave yourself." If she didn't stop her, she might fill the tubes with stones, and the disciples would be furious when they returned.

There were no windmills, colorful balls, or fighting wooden dolls, only beast skins, bones, and low-level spirit herbs. Lu Xiaodi followed lazily, finding the market boring without any fun items.

There were also cultivation techniques with worn pages, all basic sword techniques or qi cultivation methods, with the cheapest costing ten crystal beans. Lu Yaohxiang looked through them, shaking her head and not buying any.

"Senior Sister, buy the most basic one first. You don't know anything, right?" Lu Xiaodi looked at the titles of the techniques, which were all similar. She just needed to pick one that looked new.

Lu Yaohxiang looked around and, seeing that the few disciples had left and no one was around, leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I've already listened to the content of these techniques, so there's no need to buy the basics. I'm looking for sword techniques."

"Wow!" Lu Xiaodi was surprised. Her senior sister had already listened to all of them, five techniques in total. She must have listened to them while passing by the door. She must have been doing this since she was young.

"Don't be so surprised. Remember, when others say you're not qualified to do something, you can try it first. If it's something you truly want to do, nothing can stop you, but be careful not to let those who oppose you find out. Of course, I'm not talking about doing bad things." Taking this opportunity, Lu Yaohxiang started teaching her some miscellaneous things.

Lu Xiaodi listened very carefully, remembering everything. Her senior sister taught her that when bullied, she should strike first and turn black into white. She should put herself in a weak position and use the gap between her and the other person to get everyone on her side.

She thought this was a good strategy. She knew nothing and couldn't fight, so she would act pitiful and turn things around. This strategy worked well for Lu Xiaodi, with her innocent and cute appearance, making her the best protected. However, it didn't work well for Lu Yaohxiang, whose face was too cold and attitude too bad.

Of course, she never remembered these things. Even if she made others suffer, she would greet them happily the next day, making it hard for them to hate her. For a small matter, who would take offense with someone lacking soul, whose brain didn't work well. Saying strange things and doing out-of-line actions were not surprising. If she acted like a normal person, it would be strange.

"Did you find any techniques you haven't listened to?" Lu Xiaodi was very concerned. If she could find one, it would be good to buy it, and her senior sister would become powerful.

Lu Yaohxiang said casually, "No, you said you wanted to refine elixirs, so let's buy some spirit herbs." She said this, but her eyes glanced at a technique, which cost thirty crystal beans, making her reluctant to pick it up. She had saved for over ten years and only had fourteen crystal beans, one of which she had just taken from Xiaodi.

Thinking about it, she felt the treatment of Yunjian Sect attendants was too low!