Public Enemy Of The Inner Sect

'Gone?'

'What do you mean gone?'

'It's a courtship of romantic love. How could they be gone?'

'Don't tell me…'

'I see that Zongzhi Mountain's Yue Belles are one more thrilling than the other!'

Xiao Ran dared not delve further into it and decided to… stay true to his duty, stay devoted and filial, and never ever change!

Lin Yunzi asked with concern when he saw Xiao Ran's pale face, "What's the matter, Junior Uncle?"

As he shook his thoughts away, color returned to Xiao Ran's face and he replied, "Nothing, go on."

Lin Yunzi picked his words again to avoid going too far lest he scared his mortal Junior Uncle, who had just joined the sect.

"When the new rules of the Cultivation Alliance came, we thought that Elder would pick a pretty fairy to become her Direct Disciple, only for her to pick you, Junior Uncle. This stirred jealousy in countless handsome men in the sect and instigated the resentment of many girls too. Basically, you're like the public enemy of the inner sect now, Junior Uncle."

Public enemy of the inner sect?

'That does not sound too bad!' Xiao Ran thought.

Seeing that his Junior Uncle was engrossed in deep thought, Lin Yunzi took the chance to add, "So, if there's not an important reason, it would be best if you showed yourself less in the inner sect, Junior Uncle. Although safety's not a concern in the sect, someone will surely want to humiliate you when they get the chance."

Xiao Ran turned to glance at him.

"And if I have an important reason? What do I do?"

Lin Yunzi grinned with a cupped fist.

"If you have anything important to do, you can ask me to do it."

All this just to express this intention of his? He would make a good salesman!

Nonetheless, Xiao Ran was suddenly interested in the Inner Disciples now that he'd heard Lin Yunzi's exaggerated foreshadowing.

"Which of the Inner Disciples do you think dislikes me the most?"

It was as if Lin Yunzi was prepared for this question, as he slowly raised three wrinkled fingers.

"There are three of them."

"So many?"

"The first is Ye Fan, Senior Brother Ye, who just joined the sect 10 years ago. Senior Brother Ye looks average, has average talent, and is usually given the cold shoulder. What's odd is that Senior Brother Ye has been leveling up rapidly after joining the sect and reached the Foundation Establishment in just 10 years. He's a disciple from the younger generation that Junior Uncle Ji Yunzi regards highly."

A protagonist template. Nothing odd about that!

Xiao Ran thought that this fellow must have dug up some golden finger in a cave or have a genie in his ring. It was not even impossible that he had awakened the system…

"Why is Junior Nephew Ye hostile to me then?"

"A few days ago, Senior Brother Ye recommended himself to become the Sword-Wielding Mountain's Direct Disciple, but Elder Lingzhou declined the request politely."

"The reason being?"

"I think it was… his looks."

"…"

Wow! Xiao Ran thought that his grudge with Ye Fan was really there. There was no way to dissolve it!

"What about the second person?"

Lin Yunzi's wrinkly eyes glowed with mirth.

"This second person is outstanding in appearance. Too bad she's a woman. It's said that Elder Lingzhou likes her a lot and she sees the Elder as her idol too."

Xiao Ran was confused.

"Then why didn't Master select her as the Direct Disciple?"

Lin Yunzi sighed. "Because this Inner Nucleus Disciple named Jiang Chuyan isn't just outstanding appearance-wise. She's equally outstanding when it comes to talent and formed a core just over 100 years ago…"

Xiao Ran was even more confused now.

"She doesn't want someone talented? What in the world?"

Lin Yunzi said honestly, "Elder said that Senior Sister Jiang Chuyan was exceptionally talented and could level up even if she just lay there. It wouldn't show her teaching standards if she took her in as her Direct Disciple."

"…"

Goodness!

There and then, Xiao Ran was finally sure of something: His foolish master had not picked him because she'd predicted his identity as a transmigrator or because he was some uncut jade among flowers. There was no other reason besides the fact that he was enough of a loser. Teaching him would be pointless, so she might as well not teach him. When there was no result after a few years, the sect might concede and leave her alone…

She had obviously underestimated the degree of the Cultivation Alliance's seriousness this time!

Of course, Xiao Ran was not qualified to doubt his master.

If his master had not tried to gloss the entire matter over, he would not have had the opportunity to take a cultivation step and would not have awakened the system in his entire life.

Serendipity and coincidence were the way to go.

Others could doubt his master, but Xiao Ran could not.

The only thing he could do was be more devoted and reap DP off his master harshly to vent his filial frustration…

Xiao Ran could understand why Jiang Chuyan saw him as a foe, as her idol had been snatched.

"What about the third one?" he asked.

"The third's even better!"

"Better how?"

"One year ago around this time, Junior Uncle Chen Gongxing was still Senior Brother Chen. He had a Nascent Soul cultivation base and his talent could definitely make him a qualified Direct Disciple, but he insisted on staying in the normal disciple cohort of the inner sect. He did not even want to be a Nucleus Disciple."

"Was he so low-profile?"

"No, he was ensuring quality. Senior Brother Chen asks that Nucleus Disciples ascending into the inner sect and even Direct Disciples be better than him in a certain aspect, or else he'll look for ways to put the others down to the point of no return and recover their Dao heart…"

"There's such a person?"

"Senior Brother Chen is loyal and loves the sect. Even the usually strict and fussy Commandment Elder respects him. It's because of him that rich men's sons who become Nucleus Disciples by pulling strings in the Cultivation Alliance have been kicked out of the sect one after another. He's the one who ensures the quality of the Nucleus and Direct Disciples in the sect, allowing capable people to ascend to high positions, so there's a last sliver of hope for Zongzhi Mountain's future."

"However, due to the Cultivation Alliance's pressure, Senior Brother Chen was forced to be promoted to Inner Sect Nucleus Trainer last year. As the test hurdle of our sect's Nucleus Disciples, however, he's never changed."

Chen Gongxing, huh…

Xiao Ran was impressed and felt an impulsive rush to get to know him for no reason.

In the Dao-Ending Period, true heroes were the ones who showed their true colors.

The wind blew from south to north and the paper kite carried by Xiao Ran flapped and crackled by making noise, resounding in the mountains and valleys.

Lin Yunzi asked carefully, "Do you have the confidence to get through Junior Uncle Chen?"

"Who knows?"

As they chatted, they arrived at Gargan-Grain Mountain.

…

Gargan(tuan).

Grain.

Mountain.

Based on its name, Gargan-Grain Mountain was gargantuan. There were plain valleys and spiritual valleys, but what it did not have was… a mountain.

It was an extensive stretch of slopes. It was because the other mountains on Zongzhi Mountain had been named something-Mountain that it had followed the trend and gotten named Gargan-Grain Mountain.

Gragan-Grain Mountain went on for kilometers, rising and falling in slopes covered by yellow spiritual grains, golden barley farms, a red sea of flowers, and an emerald tea plantation…

Wide rivers flowed from the top of the slopes as they nourished and soaked the valley before surging up the opposite direction to another slope and branching into the rising planes.

Lin Yunzi said that this valley used to produce spiritual grains that were exported far away to be supplied to big neighboring nations and sects. Now, it could barely keep up with the supply to their sect. Only during a peak season could they give some to the smaller nations around.

The reason was simple. The thin spiritual energy had caused the production rate of the spiritual farm to plummet.

This was the Dao-Ending Period!

Xiao Ran could hear the sorrow in Lin Yunzi's tone.

Both of them went to the granary of Gargan-Grain Mountain.

The granary was a short and wide cylindrical wooden tower with most of its storage located underground.

There was a small tower up front where the caretaker of the granary was. He was an elderly man who was much older than Lin Yunzi but looked younger. Wearing a small cone hat, he was resting while counting rice.

From the looks of it, both his hands were counting rice grain by grain, but soft snores came from under the cone hat.

Lin Yunzi cupped his fist respectfully and said, "Outer Sect Trainer Lin Yunzi meets Junior Uncle Baili."

"Outer sect?"

The old man responded, slurring his words as he continued counting grains, not missing even one.

"No grains for Outer Disciples without an Inner Disciple as a guide. The same applies to Outer Sect Trainers."

"This disciple's brought Junior Uncle Xiao from the Sword-Wielding Mountain to buy some grains and will leave after this."

The wrinkly hands that were counting the rice halted.