With her hands behind her back, Lu Yaoyao stood tall with a serious expression on her chubby face. “I’ll tell you a secret.”
Wen Zixing was very supportive and even pretended to whisper, “What secret?”
“I’m already eighteen years old, and I’m now at the Golden Core stage!” Lu Yaoyao raised her little chin, looking very proud.
“Oh, eighteen years old and in the Golden Core stage?” Wen Zixing repeated, then burst into laughter.
Chao Muxue and Du Qianshan weren’t as exaggerated, but they couldn’t help but suppress their laughter.
Hmph! No one believed her when she told the truth! Feeling frustrated, Lu Yaoyao emphasized, “I’m telling the truth!”
“Then why don’t you show us your Golden Core cultivation?” Wen Zixing barely held back his laughter.
Lu Yaoyao: “…” Did they think she didn’t want to? But the conditions didn’t allow it!
Du Qianshan bent down, reached out, and placed his hand on Lu Yaoyao’s head, comparing their heights. “Eighteen years old?”
Lu Yaoyao put her hands on her hips. “This is the world of cultivation. What’s so hard to believe? I reached the Foundation Establishment stage when I was four years old.” She had broken through into that level even before she learned how to properly cultivate!
“I can’t demonstrate my cultivation level right now for a reason.”
“We won’t make fun of you, but children shouldn’t lie,” Du Qianshan reassured her.
They didn’t doubt their friend; it was just that her words were too far-fetched. If she were really eighteen and in the Golden Core stage, wouldn’t that have been detected during the entrance trial?
Her bone age had been measured, and it was clearly around four or five years old. Furthermore, she had the lowest five spiritual roots and hadn’t even managed to draw aura into her body until now.
After Wen Zixing finished laughing, an absurd idea crossed his mind. Could it be that Yaoyao was telling the truth?
He still wasn’t sure whether this little girl who, just like him, did not exist in the original story was a fellow transmigrator or not. He couldn’t directly ask because if she wasn’t, he might inadvertently expose himself. He had subtly tested the waters, but she hadn’t reacted at all.
If she were like him, she should know… right?
No, no, no! How could someone be so abnormal as to reach the Foundation Establishment stage at the age of four? Even Dao Venerable Hengwu couldn’t do such a thing. How could Yaoyao be even more abnormal than His Venerable?
Wen Zixing took a good look at the little girl. Her chubby face was pouting with anger due to her friends’ disbelief. There was no way she could be eighteen!
Lu Yaoyao was indignant. Forget it — she thought to herself. She didn’t have any proof, anyway. Words alone wouldn’t convince anyone. After all, who would believe that she was a once-in-a-millennium genius? She decided not to argue with her ignorant friends. She had already spoken the truth. When her seals were lifted in the future and she could prove herself, she would definitely show them that she did not lie!
“Shall we go see Dazhuang?” Lu Yaoyao changed the subject.
Chao Muxue and Du Qianshan hadn’t had time to react when Wen Zixing suddenly jumped up, reacting greatly, “No!”
“…Why?” Lu Yaoyao asked, puzzled.
Chao Muxue also said, “It’s been a long time since we saw Dazhuang. We don’t know how he’s doing now.”
They had formed their team of five during the entry trial, during which they had passed through each stage together and formed a strong bond in the process. Among the five of them, four had entered the inner sect and attended classes together, deepening their relationship, but only Dazhuang had gone to the outer sect. It had been a month since they last seen each other. Now that they thought about it, they felt guilty and awkward. They felt as though they had excluded Dazhuang from their close-knit group of five.
Lu Yaoyao was surprised by Wen Zixing’s reaction. “What’s wrong?” Did Dazhuang offend Xingxing? In her opinion, Dazhuang was just a simple guy. How could he have offended anyone?
Several pairs of eyes turned to Wen Zixing, who blushed and couldn’t find the right words to say. He couldn’t just say that he had read the original novel and knew that Dazhuang wasn’t a good person, right? After all, Dazhuang was a deeply hidden spy of the demon race, and his true identity hadn’t been revealed yet. If he abruptly distanced the others from Dazhuang, they might think he was being snobbish because Dazhuang was an outer sect disciple.
In the end, Wen Zixing reluctantly said, “It’s nothing.” Anyway, as long as he was around, he wouldn’t let Dazhuang harm anyone.
“Alright guys, let’s do it sooner than later. We’ll go see Dazhuang today!”
“Sure, let’s go after class.”
Everyone agreed without any objections. So, after class, instead of immediately returning, Lu Yaoyao and her friends entrusted messages to disciples from their respective peaks and went to the outer sect together.
The treatment of outer and inner disciples was vastly different. Outer sect disciples made up the majority of the sect’s population, and the monthly cultivation resources they received from the sect were fewer compared to inner sect disciples. Outer sect disciples also couldn’t focus solely on cultivation, unlike their counterparts in the inner sect, who could fully dedicate their time focusing on their study and education.
Outer sect disciples were responsible for various miscellaneous tasks within the sect, such as cleaning rooms and courtyards, planting spirit rice and medicinal herbs, and raising spirit beasts. Each of them had to take on a specific duty in order to receive cultivation resources.
Cultivation Realm was already a survival of the fittest. In contrast, the Guiyuan Sect already provided a relatively fair environment for its disciples. It offered various pathways for outer sect disciples to enter the inner sect and provided opportunities for cultivation, but competition was fierce. Undeniably, the sect’s resources were more inclined toward those with better talent.
Lu Yaoyao and her friends arrived at the residence of the outer sect disciples, which were located on the outskirts of the sect’s territory, noticeably less rich in spiritual aura compared to the inner sect.
They asked around and finally found out where Li Dazhuang was located, and they went together to find him.
“Hurry up and sweep these steps clean. Senior Brother Zhang is coming to inspect soon.”
On a long staircase, a tall man was diligently sweeping away fallen leaves. Standing beside him were two disciples, one fat and the other thin, acting as if they were overseers.
The fat disciple ordered arrogantly, “Hurry up!”
“Senior Brother Zhao, if we make him do all the tasks, won’t he report us?” The thin disciple was somewhat uneasy. He and the disciple surnamed Zhao were responsible for cleaning this area, and if they were seen bullying a newly arrived outer sect disciple, they might face punishment.
“What’s there to be afraid of? It’s not the first time anyway,” Zhao Biao said with an arrogant expression. He had been observing the newly arrived outer sect disciples for a while, and this one didn’t join any group, preferring to be alone. On top of that, he was obedient and didn’t resist when others took advantage of him. People like this were the easiest to bully.
After Zhao Biao targeted Li Dazhuang, he initially tried asking him for help, and when he saw that Li Dazhuang was willing to assist without complaint, he started giving him orders without hesitation.
“You’re helping me because you see how hard I’m working to clean the steps, right?” He asked with a mocking tone rather than gratitude.
Li Dazhuang grinned, “Yeah, I came to help you.”
Seeing this naive and tall figure who didn’t seem to realize he was being bullied, Qian San’er squinted his eyes and began to formulate various schemes.
“Hurry up and finish this area. I have a lot of other tasks for you to do,” Zhao Biao said with a sneer.
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Bullies are always so quick to act…
Thank you for your translation !
I can’t tell if Li Dazhuang acts like a loner who is naive because he’s simply trying to make himself not stand out in order to fulfill his spy duties or if he’s actually a human who is just a naive introvert. Hopefully it’s the latter!
Thanks for the chapter! 😀