Chapter 39: The Scrutiny of Senior Sisters and a Surprising Revelation

Lu Xi’s gaze was as piercing as an X-ray, nearly a full-body scan.

Yet, Ye Cha met her intense scrutiny with an unwavering, gentle smile, his demeanor open and unperturbed.

‘This won’t be smooth sailing by Shen Ruotong’s side,’ Ye Cha mused, a flicker of vigilance igniting within him.

Lu Xi, clearly one of the obstacles, had to be marked as a primary target for caution.

****

“Wow, is this the new junior brother? Hehe, he’s so handsome, truly good-looking.”

Just as Ye Cha and Lu Xi were engaged in their silent confrontation, a pretty girl, adorned in a cute outfit, suddenly spoke up.

Her steps, seemingly beyond her control, drew her closer to Ye Cha, her expression one of utter infatuation, effectively breaking the escalating tension.

Interrupted, Lu Xi ceased her scanning of Ye Cha. She merely turned her head, casting a helpless glance at Xiong Ni, truly at a loss for how to handle her third junior sister.

Any disciple would naturally grow wary when their Master suddenly brought a man back, regardless of the circumstances.

But for Xiong Ni, ‘good-looking’ simply equated to ‘righteous’.

“This is Ye Cha, a registered disciple I’ve just taken in. From today onwards, you are all senior and junior siblings. I have few rules here; diligent cultivation is enough.”

Shen Ruotong couldn’t help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation at her third disciple’s infatuation.

However, she said little, simply introducing Ye Cha to her four disciples and clarifying that the rules on West Cloud Peak were indeed minimal.

Observing Ye Cha’s somewhat reserved demeanor, it seemed he would need a considerable amount of time to adapt.

“Yes, we will remember Master’s words.”

Following the disciples’ synchronized response, Shen Ruotong, preoccupied with the hidden ‘dark lure’ within her body and the items Zhou Lingling had entrusted to her, did not linger.

She turned swiftly and departed, leaving Ye Cha and the four women to stare at each other, wide-eyed.

Aside from Lu Xi, who maintained her vigilant gaze, the other three women regarded Ye Cha with unconcealed curiosity.

Every cultivator accepted as a disciple by Shen Ruotong possessed top-tier aptitude within the Lingtian Sect.

Take Lu Xi, with her Body of Silence; Li Tian’ai, with her Body of Sword Heart; Xiong Ni, with her Body of Sacred Word; and Wang Zhi, with her Body of Affinity.

Beyond their spiritual bodies, their spiritual root aptitudes were, at the very least, dual spiritual roots.

After all, as the foremost orthodox sect, the Lingtian Sect boasted an exceptionally rich foundation.

Spiritual bodies, a rarity in other sects, were not abundant in the Lingtian Sect, yet they were far from scarce.

However, Shen Ruotong, known for her stringent requirements for direct disciples, had shown exceptional leniency towards Ye Cha.

Even if Ye Cha was only a registered disciple, could a Sect Master’s registered disciple truly be compared to another’s?

It could be argued that even as a mere registered disciple, Ye Cha held a status higher than even the elite disciples of other peaks.

Thanks to Xiong Ni’s penchant for gossip, word of Ye Cha had already spread throughout West Cloud Peak over the past two days.

Thus, even without Shen Ruotong explicitly stating Ye Cha’s spiritual root aptitude, everyone knew he possessed nothing more than a five-element spiritual root.

For someone with a five-element spiritual root, the poorest cultivation aptitude, to become a registered disciple of the Sect Master was beyond an ancestral blessing; it was akin to their ancestral grave billowing with green smoke, an omen of extraordinary fortune.

“Ye Cha, why did Master take you in as a registered disciple?”

The quiet atmosphere did not last long. After Xiong Ni’s inquisitive question, the other three women also turned their curious gazes towards Ye Cha.

They were extremely eager to know what had transpired to prompt Shen Ruotong to accept Ye Cha as a registered disciple.

Despite the rampant rumors regarding Ye Cha and Shen Ruotong, when Xiong Ni had mentioned Ye Cha in front of Shen Ruotong herself, the Master’s expression had remained largely unchanged, as cool and indifferent as ever.

This very expression had made Xiong Ni deeply doubt whether the outside rumors were mistaken. Her Master, so engrossed in cultivation, hardly seemed like a woman who had fallen in love.

However, just as Xiong Ni had entertained that thought, her Master had now personally brought Ye Cha into their home.

Was it possible that in a short while, they would need to prepare for their Master’s wedding feast?

“To answer Third Senior Sister, Ye Cha was fortunate enough to rescue a distinguished guest of the Feiyun Sect, preventing them from being attacked by a ghost cultivator…”

Upon hearing Xiong Ni’s question, Ye Cha remained composed. He calmly recounted the unexpected incident during the sect’s minor competition, dispelling the four women’s doubts.

Ye Cha knew perfectly well that he hadn’t become Shen Ruotong’s disciple through conventional means, but he wouldn’t let that fact make him feel inferior or unable to hold his head high.

Even if the process differed, as long as the final outcome was the same, that was enough.

Moreover, Ye Cha sought nothing more than to swiftly advance his cultivation realm, thereby suppressing the growth of his Celestial Net Body and freeing himself from the torment of the Celestial Net Profound Poison.

He asked for so little.

Yet, fate seemed to conspire against him, never granting his wishes, instead setting up layer after layer of hellish challenges.

Nevertheless, no matter how arduous the path, he had now taken a step forward.

If the heavens wished to witness his misfortune, then Ye Cha would defy them, facing adversity head-on and letting the final result speak for itself.

He would not yield.

Nor would he be defeated.

“Junior Brother, you did exceptionally well. Having rendered such a great service, it’s perfectly normal for Master to take you as a registered disciple.”

After listening to Ye Cha’s account, Second Senior Sister Li Tian’ai’s face lit up with understanding. She finally comprehended why her Master had accepted Ye Cha as a registered disciple.

It was, after all, connected to the Feiyun Sect.

Recalling what her Master had painstakingly sought for decades, Li Tian’ai couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

‘Cultivating immortals, cultivating immortals,’ she thought, ‘is inherently a struggle against the heavens. Yet, with an uncertain future, numerous unforeseen events are bound to occur.’

Just as her Master’s cultivation path had been remarkably smooth, upon reaching the Void Refinement stage, further advancement became extraordinarily difficult, requiring a specific condition to be met.

However, it was easier said than done.

Fulfilling that condition was no simple task; they didn’t even know where to begin searching. Fortunately, the Feiyun Sect’s magical artifacts possessed a miraculous efficacy.

‘Hopefully, it will prove useful this time!’

‘Besides, Master isn’t truly old; even wasting a few centuries would be but a drop in the ocean.’

‘Perhaps cultivating a relationship with the new Junior Brother Ye Cha during this time, and experiencing the sweet taste of love, wouldn’t be such a bad thing.’

‘At the very least, if she’s in a good mood, perhaps she won’t assign us such difficult tasks, forcing us to constantly run back and forth in misery.’

“Feiyun Sect! So it was *that* thing. Did Master finally find it?”

Just as Li Tian’ai was pondering these thoughts, Xiong Ni couldn’t help but exclaim, and the words that tumbled from her mouth caused a flicker of confusion in Ye Cha’s eyes.

‘Was the item the Feiyun Sect handed over to Shen Ruotong truly that important?’