Chapter 48: Am I a Hot Commodity?

“Sorry, sorry, this child’s nature is just too pure. She really didn’t mean to do something like this.”

Fortunately, the ladies in the flower shop were quite kind-hearted. After Huajian was dragged back, they quickly separated the two of them, with some soothing the girl while others comforted Huajian.

It was only then that Huajian learned these senior disciples were all stationed at this outpost from Wanling Sect, and the girl who had pulled her over was a Zhǔndìzǐ temporarily entrusted here by an elder of Wanling Sect.

The elder originally planned to take this girl back to Wanling Sect to officially take her as a disciple, but had suddenly received an urgent mission nearby and had no choice but to leave the girl here while going to handle the matter.

“She has no name or surname. When the elder found her, she was surrounded by Caidié, so we just call her Caidié.”

“This child seems to have never had any interaction with others before. We had to put in a lot of effort just to teach her basic communication, but sometimes she still does some out-of-line things. We’re really sorry.”

As the Wanling Sect senior sisters explained, they stuffed flower seeds—the kind sold as merchandise—into Huajian’s hand.

“We don’t have anything else to offer as compensation, so just accept these flower seeds. Plant them in the soil, and in a few days, you’ll have beautiful, fragrant flowers.”

With such a sincere attitude of apology, the little resentment in Huajian’s heart dissipated instantly.

She was actually an easy-going girl. As long as the other party admitted their mistake sincerely, she didn’t mind forgetting these minor unpleasantnesses.

Besides, Caidié really hadn’t done anything too overboard—just smelled her and then pulled her over, saying she smelled nice.

If this had happened with someone else, Huajian might have suspected they were taking liberties, but Caidié’s clear, black eyes held no other emotions.

Huajian thought no one’s acting could be that perfect—who could pretend to be that clueless? She’d rather believe that little Caidié was genuinely naive.

Meanwhile, Caidié was being scolded back and forth by several senior sisters. In the end, they even pressed her to come over and apologize to Huajian.

Yet after apologizing, the child still stubbornly added, “Huajian sister really smells much better than these flowers!”

Huajian groaned inwardly.

“Even if that’s true, you still can’t just drag someone over,” one senior sister said helplessly, tapping Caidié on the forehead before curiously looking at Huajian.

“But our Passionflower is the most fragrant and beautiful flower, developed over decades of research by several inner disciples under the Fēngzhǔ’s guidance. How could it be overpowered by a person’s scent?”

Muttering this, the senior sister came closer to Huajian and sniffed the air around her.

Then, Huajian saw her eyes suddenly light up.

“This… this fragrance, oh my! Little sister, are you interested in joining our Wanling Sect’s Lingcaifeng? I think the Fēngzhǔ will definitely like you…”

“Sister, calm down!”

“You’re about to scare the poor girl to tears!”

The excited girl was held back by a few others.

Huajian was already dumbfounded. Why did she feel things were going a bit off?

Caidié smelled her and insisted on dragging her over, and now the senior sisters were sniffing her like they were possessed, trying to pull her into Wanling Sect.

Counting on her fingers, Huajian realized she had received three offers from Sacred Sects within just a few days. Was she really such a coveted treasure?

“Sorry, sorry, sister got a little too excited…”

“I’m not joking. Her scent is purer and more complex than the Passionflower. This is exactly the ultimate floral fragrance the Fēngzhǔ has been striving for!” The senior sister struggling under the others’ restraint continued, “If she joins Lingcaifeng, she will definitely become the Fēngzhǔ’s personal disciple!”

Inside Wanling Sect, the organization wasn’t monolithic but divided into several peaks, each like a college faculty specializing in different fields.

The Lingcaifeng where these senior sisters belonged specialized in cultivating spirit herbs and spirit flowers. The current Fēngzhǔ’s obsession with spirit flowers had reached its peak, vowing to cultivate the world’s most fragrant spirit flower.

The Passionflower sold at this flower shop was the Lingcaifeng’s milestone achievement.

“That’s how things are. Sister was pushed into a corner. We’re truly sorry.”

“But sister’s not entirely lying. If Huajian is willing to join Lingcaifeng, the Fēngzhǔ will surely accept you as her personal disciple!”

After hearing the whole story, Huajian scratched her head, unsure how to respond.

Was it really this easy to join a Sacred Sect? She just happened to smell a little fragrant and could be taken as the personal disciple of a Fēngzhǔ?

“No, Huajian, you’re underestimating yourself. Your floral fragrance surpasses that of the Passionflower, which means your constitution is extraordinary,” one senior sister explained seriously.

Huajian’s scent was no ordinary fragrance—it easily outshone the Passionflower that the Lingcaifeng Fēngzhǔ had spent decades cultivating.

Such a natural floral fragrance couldn’t come from an ordinary cultivator. Anyone with this level of scent must have an extremely rare constitution.

And what did a rare constitution mean? They didn’t need to explain that further.

“Although we don’t yet know exactly what constitution you have, since you can attract Caidié, a spirit beast, and overpower the Passionflower’s scent, it must be related to spirit flowers. Your compatibility with Lingcaifeng is undoubtedly very high!”

“Besides, you’re only sixteen and have already self-taught your way to Lingshi Realm. Such talent, no matter which Sacred Land, would at least qualify for inner sect training.”

The Wanling Sect senior sisters weren’t like those from Penglai or Yaochi, who liked to keep things under wraps. They told Huajian bluntly: your talent is amazing, we Wanling Sect want you, just nod your head and your future will be bright!

Just as Huajian was at a loss, an irritated voice interrupted.

“What are you all doing?!”

Su Xiaoxiao stormed over, rescuing Huajian from the crowd of admiring flowers.

“What’s wrong? We meet a cute little girl, and suddenly we can’t express our feelings?”

Seeing Su Xiaoxiao wearing Penglai disciple robes, the Wanling Sect sisters immediately bristled. Huajian’s forehead didn’t have Penglai’s name written on it—who were you protecting your turf for?

Geniuses like Huajian were always fought over, and for talents of her caliber, Lingcaifeng would never let go!