“This scene is quite a beautiful sight.”
Jiang Yuebai laughed with rare cheerfulness, flipped her fingers, and shot a beam of green light to stop Lu Li’s nosebleed.
“Haven’t gotten used to it yet, have you?”
“Yes, it’s only been a few hours, and most of the time I’ve been cultivating without paying much attention to my body’s changes.”
Lu Li nodded and washed the blood scabs on his chest with water.
“But Senior Sister Jiang, I do have some questions.”
“Cultivation questions? But I don’t think I can help you anymore.”
Jiang Yuebai stood up, preparing to walk toward the hot spring.
“I was wondering… how do we clean these clothes we change out of… and where do we get new clothes?”
Lu Li followed closely, trotting along, but the weight and swaying on his chest made him uncomfortable.
“I don’t understand these things.”
“True… you only just joined a few days ago.”
Jiang Yuebai tied up her hair, then crouched down and tested the water temperature with her finger.
“You should remember that near your residence, there are some girls in white robes, right?”
“Yes.”
Lu Li nodded.
“When Senior Sister Qing Luo brought me here, there were a few girls by her side.”
“Precisely speaking, they are miscellaneous service disciples of the Yin Yang Sect.”
Jiang Yuebai slowly entered the water.
“Junior Sister Lu, the water temperature is just right today.”
“Although I can understand that term…”
Lu Li looked around.
As dusk fell, the various rippling and surging waters were gathering places for female disciples.
The occasional spreading ripples and rising bubbles were far more interesting than the calm surface.
“Although everyone understands, using that form of address might invite criticism.”
Jiang Yuebai watched Lu Li cautiously enter the water.
“It seems Junior Sister Lu has never bathed in a hot spring before, is that right?”
“I’m from an ordinary family, so naturally I haven’t had such an experience.”
Lu Li imitated Jiang Yuebai, tied up his hair, removed his clothes, crouched down, and felt the warmth envelop his body.
“But this is indeed comfortable and pleasant.”
“It’s not a bad thing to experience it now… By the way, we were just talking about miscellaneous service disciples, right?”
Jiang Yuebai reached out and scooped up a handful of hot water.
“For disciples with miscellaneous spirit roots or mortal spirit roots, if they cannot advance to Qi Refining within a year, they will do odd jobs in the Yin Yang Sect.”
“I see… That’s not really different from an escort agency.”
Lu Li felt more familiar with it after hearing that.
“Even though there are many rules in immortal cultivation that can bind us, in the end, it all comes down to strength. The stronger one’s power, the stronger one’s voice.”
As Jiang Yuebai spoke, her gaze swept across Shen Zhaoxue in the distance.
She also noticed Jiang Yuebai’s gaze and glanced back.
Just as she was about to say something, her eyes locked onto Lu Li, and she stared blankly for a long time before snapping out of it at the reminder of her female companions.
“Junior Sister Lu, you’ve caught the attention of another senior sister.”
Jiang Yuebai smiled calmly.
“It’s only because she hasn’t realized it’s me. We agreed to meet at the Grand Tournament this morning.”
Lu Li could only smile wryly at this. The warmth of the hot spring helped to dissipate his bad mood.
“But in a few days, I’ll switch back to a male form.”
“What, not used to it?”
“Yes, and I feel uncomfortable in many ways.”
Lu Li let out a long sigh. Looking at the various girls in the hot spring, this scene should have only appeared in his fantasies.
But now that it was actually before his eyes, he felt somewhat unaccustomed.
After a simple bath, Lu Li followed Jiang Yuebai’s instructions and went to the room to collect clothes.
Then, somewhat uncomfortably under the surprised gazes of other senior and junior sisters, he changed clothes and quickly returned to his familiar small courtyard.
Looking at the bamboo grove under the night sky and the familiar tables and chairs, a faint warmth rippled in his heart.
If it weren’t for the girl sitting on the stone stool staring at him with a resentful gaze.
“Senior Sister Lu, you really are beautiful.”
Qing Luo pouted.
“And your cultivation has already reached the Seventh Layer.”
“Well… appearance itself can’t be helped, and the cultivation just increased unconsciously.”
Lu Li could only laugh it off.
“Ah, I won’t keep a straight face anymore.”
Qing Luo let out a long breath and flopped onto the stone table, turning sideways to look at Lu Li.
“Lu Li, you’re definitely going to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the future, right.”
“Probably, at this rate.”
Seeing Qing Luo’s mood improve slightly, Lu Li sat down stiffly, which made Qing Luo laugh out loud.
“With a face that could topple nations, but still acting like the careless person you were.”
Qing Luo giggled, stood up, and helped Lu Li adjust the skirt that was caught.
“But that’s fine. Unlike other Yin Yang Sect disciples, you don’t have experience as a miscellaneous service disciple.”
“Then maybe I should become a miscellaneous service disciple.”
Lu Li said, feeling Qing Luo gently tidy his clothes.
Pulling and adjusting made it indeed look much neater.
“Who would dare pull our Saintess to be a miscellaneous service disciple? Only those of us whose cultivation can’t improve will go.”
Qing Luo sat back in front of Lu Li and sighed again.
“I’m currently at Qi Refining Seventh Layer. If I make no progress in three years, I’ll return to being a miscellaneous service disciple.”
“To reduce the sect’s resource consumption?”
Lu Li recalled the life of running around in Hundred Immortals Town and immediately understood the key.
“Yes, but it wasn’t always like this…”
Qing Luo nodded.
“Just like you, Lu Li, you entered the Yin Yang Sect at 18 years old. Before that, because of special circumstances, we were all taken into the sect as children.”
“The Yin Yang Sect has Dual Cultivation Techniques, so over the past decades, the sect’s reputation has been gradually affected… Although Master forbade us from practicing when we were young…”
Qing Luo spoke softly, her finger tracing a line of water from a distant pond.
“But that’s also unavoidable.”
“Is the Yin Yang Sect in trouble?”
“Big trouble. When the Beast Tide erupted in the Southern Region, the Yin Yang Sect, as the head of the three sects, naturally bore the brunt. But it lost several Nascent Soul Patriarchs and Golden Core True Persons.”
Qing Luo thought for a moment, then took a thin book from her Storage Ring.
“After that, the Yin Yang Sect became very cautious in its actions.”
“After the Beast Tide, the Yin Yang Sect only had one Nascent Soul Patriarch and three Golden Core Elders. If it were an ordinary sect, that would be fine, but as the head of the three sects, lacking sufficient strength is a great danger.”
Qing Luo opened the book and pointed to the corresponding text.
“From then on, the Yin Yang Sect stopped limiting age and began seeking talented individuals.”
“No wonder. That’s how Senior Sister Jiang and you, Qing Luo, were recruited.”
Lu Li nodded.
“But a few decades is hardly enough time.”
“Definitely not enough, but under normal circumstances, it would be sufficient to train some Foundation Establishment cultivators as pillars. But it seems in recent years we’ve only added a few Foundation Establishment cultivators, and most have lower or middle-grade spirit roots.”
Qing Luo pushed the book to Lu Li.
“That’s why I was so excited when I saw you. That’s also why Master Su Wanqiu basically doesn’t interfere with you.”
“Because I have a rare high-grade spirit root.”
Lu Li also felt the huge difference in cultivation speed.
“I’ll work hard.”
“Master is probably just waiting for you to say that.”
Qing Luo stood up.
“Alright, time to sleep!”
“Indeed, it’s time to rest…”
Lu Li watched Qing Luo’s retreating figure waving at him until the courtyard was empty.
“Even in times of peace, there are always all kinds of disputes.”
Lu Li sighed and returned to his room.
However, he didn’t plan to rest for now.
He had finally entered the immortal sect, so he would focus on cultivation.
Here, at least he wouldn’t have to live a life of feasting and fasting.
“Alright, time to cultivate.”
Lu Li sat cross-legged on the bed.
As his Divine Sense expanded, the surrounding spiritual energy obediently approached, filling key acupoints and rapidly increasing his cultivation.
Time passed.
When the next morning arrived, Lu Li, unlike other cultivators who would be exhausted after staying up all night, was instead full of energy.
“Huff…”
Lu Li opened his eyes, feeling the cool current flowing through his meridians.
“And I’ve already reached the Eighth Layer.”