When Miss Hua Jian woke up from a sweet dream, she heard a rather unpleasant piece of news.
“What do you mean I was drunkenly hopping around to find Shijie Xiaoxuan to act cute, begging her to let me enter the Secret Realm, and even hugged her to get some good stuff!”
“It’s not that bad. Shijie Xiaoxuan just happened to come looking for you, and you were drunk at the time…” Su Xiaoxiao tried hard to keep a straight face, speaking words that didn’t quite feel natural under the pressure of two spiritual auras pressing down behind her.
Hua Jian, don’t blame me for lying to you. Ma Shijie and Shijie Xiaoxuan are definitely not people I can afford to offend. Besides, going into that Secret Realm is actually quite good, and Shijie Xiaoxuan gave you some pretty decent gear…
“This Storage Pouch contains the things Shijie Xiaoxuan left for you. She said they were items she used to use but can no longer.”
Su Xiaoxiao attempted to divert Hua Jian’s attention, shifting her focus from being publicly outed to the nice things Xiaoxuan had given her.
First was a Storage Pouch meant for storing equipment. Its craftsmanship was far superior to Hua Jian’s own, and the capacity was larger—naturally, the more items it could hold, the better.
The spiritual seal on the Storage Pouch had been erased, so anyone could open it. Su Xiaoxiao took out several spirit items one by one.
A light green long skirt, a translucent white Veil, and a slightly slender Ling Sword—that was all inside the Storage Pouch.
“Is this a Spiritual Garment?” Hua Jian looked at the skirt in Su Xiaoxiao’s hand, surprise flashing in her eyes.
Xiaoxuan actually gave her such an important item?
“It’s not a real Spiritual Garment. It can only self-purify and provides some negligible protection. The Veil can conceal your aura to some extent,” Su Xiaoxiao shook her head. Ma Shijie had secretly told her not to let Hua Jian develop too much affection for Xiaoxuan.
So she had to subtly downplay the usefulness of the items Xiaoxuan left for Hua Jian.
“The Ling Sword is pretty ordinary, too. Hmm, these things Xiaoxuan gave you look just like the entry-level equipment taken by Yaoci outer disciples.”
Su Xiaoxiao rummaged through the Storage Pouch again and pulled out a small bottle of pills.
“A Qi Gathering Pill! Yep, this is definitely an entry-level item!”
“Ah?”
After Su Xiaoxiao’s explanation, Hua Jian realized that these things she thought were quite good were actually just the standard welcome package for Yaoci’s outer disciples.
No matter what cat or dog it was, being recruited as an outer disciple by Yaoci meant you could get such a welcome package for free. There was really nothing surprising about it.
In Hua Jian’s previous life, it was like a university freshman kit—you couldn’t really say something like that was valuable.
“None of these things have been used. Shijie Xiaoxuan really just handed you a Storage Pouch filled with entry-level items.”
“Look, it even has Yaoci’s Anti-Counterfeit Pattern on it. Xiaoxuan must have found it troublesome and just gave it to you.”
Hua Jian narrowed her eyes and looked at the small embroidered patterns on the clothes and the Storage Pouch pointed out by Su Xiaoxiao. So these were Yaoci’s Anti-Counterfeit Patterns…
But more than that, she was curious about something else.
“Is it really okay for Shijie Xiaoxuan to just give me these things?”
Would these items with anti-counterfeit patterns cause people to misunderstand her identity?
Hua Jian wasn’t bold enough to blatantly impersonate Yaoci using the Saint Sect’s name.
“They’re not really representative items. As long as you don’t go around claiming you’re a Yaoci disciple or use that identity to swindle people, Yaoci won’t care if some outer disciple’s supplies fall into the hands of a wandering cultivator,” Su Xiaoxiao paused, lowering her voice to warn Hua Jian.
“But Hua Jian, you need to be careful. Shijie Xiaoxuan is being a bit too good to you—she might have taken a liking to you.”
Taken a liking to me? Hua Jian instinctively wrapped her arm protectively around her chest. Taken a liking to me how?
Xiaoxuan was such a cold and aloof Protectorate Supervisor—surely she wouldn’t do something like forcibly snatching women.
“I mean she’s taken a liking to your talent. She gave you the Secret Realm entry qualification and these things to subtly brand you with the Yaoci mark, so that you unknowingly step into her trap.”
“Then, finally, capture you inside Yaoci…”
Su Xiaoxiao stopped there, as if entering Yaoci didn’t seem like a bad thing for Hua Jian.
Almost every female cultivator in the world dreamed of entering Yaoci, but the recruitment requirements were extremely high. Their cultivation methods only excelled in the Wood and Water elements.
Many other-element female cultivators had to settle for entering other Saint Sects instead, and Penglai was full of such disappointed people.
“Ahem, anyway, Hua Jian, be careful. Think carefully before making any decisions,” Su Xiaoxiao coughed lightly to cover the abnormal tone in her words. She almost said, don’t be tempted by Yaoci.
“Our Penglai is pretty good too,” she winked at Hua Jian.
If Yaoci can recruit, so can Penglai!
Hua Jian hurriedly shook her head. She still wanted to consider joining a sect for now, and there was something she found very strange—why were two Saint Sects suddenly interested in her?
“I’m just a very ordinary and useless cultivator. Why do both Shijie Xiaoxuan and Miss Hua Jian want me to join your sects?”
None of her skill points were for direct combat. Logically, the Saint Sects shouldn’t be paying attention to someone like her.
Su Xiaoxiao’s answer made Hua Jian feel somewhat speechless.
“Honestly, I don’t know why either. But Shijie Xiaoxuan must have her reasons for liking you. She’s an Inner Sect Senior Sister of Yaoci, her insight is definitely better than ours.”
“As for why she’s interested in you… maybe it’s because you have a good relationship with that Saintess Linglong?”
Hua Jian was close to Linglong. They had formed a deep bond in the Secret Realm. Through Linglong’s channels, Xiaoxuan learned of Hua Jian’s existence and thought she had the talent to enter Yaoci. Everything fell into place!
“Tch, that must be it,” Hua Jian exhaled sharply. She recalled how Linglong would occasionally hint and ask about her joining a sect when they were in the Secret Realm.
So that was when Linglong had already set her sights on her! No wonder Linglong had been so nice to her—it was because she had taken a liking to her!
This time, Hua Jian completely understood why Linglong let her go, why Linglong stayed by her side—it all made sense.
It wasn’t that Linglong was bored or liked her, but that Linglong was observing her, planning to recruit her into her own sect as a junior sister.
“Wow, she’s so scheming, I never saw it coming.”
“Do you still want these things?”
“Yes, of course! Why would I refuse free Spirit Stones!”