Huo Wen looked over, his brow furrowing slightly. "Drive that beggar away."
With Huo Wen having spoken, the others began to act without restraint.
"Exactly. This is the recruitment ceremony, not just any place for a little beggar like you to wander into."
"Hurry up and leave, don't hold up our testing ceremony." A few of Huo Wen’s lackeys immediately began to drive Song Nianchu away.
The commotion here was so loud that even the other elders looked over.
"In our sect, no one would ever take a little beggar like you as a disciple." As he said this, one of the disciples went to shove Song Nianchu.
Song Nianchu instinctively dodged, and a voice rang out, approaching from afar.
"Who says no one will take her as a disciple?"
"Tantai Xu?" The sect elders immediately recognized the voice.
"Did I hear that right? Was that really Tantai Xu’s voice just now?"
"Doesn't Tantai Xu refuse to take on disciples?""I didn't take disciples before, but I am now." The moment Tantai Xu finished speaking, he appeared right in front of Song Nianchu.
Tantai Xu was certain that the jade talisman's aura had emanated from Song Nianchu. However, upon seeing her disheveled and bedraggled state, he paused in surprise. A flicker of astonishment crossed his eyes, followed by a growing curiosity about her. After all, it was the first time that boy Si Jiuli had ever opened his mouth to ask him to take someone on as a disciple.
With a flick of his hand, Tantai Xu cast a cleansing spell, instantly removing all the dirt and grime from Song Nianchu, leaving only her face untouched. Seeing that she was still wearing her tattered robes, he turned his gaze toward several female disciples of the sect. "Do any of you have a set of newly issued sect uniforms that you haven't worn yet?"
The female disciples were stunned. One of them reacted the fastest and immediately retrieved a brand-new set of sect robes from her Storage Ring."Put it on for her." Tantai Xu pointed at Song Nianchu and said to the female disciple, "Go back and collect another set from the sect, and put it on my tab."
The female disciple glanced at Song Nianchu and handed the brand-new sect uniform to her.
"Thank you." Song Nianchu expressed her gratitude and quickly slipped the sect uniform on over her own clothes.
"Tantai Xu, you can't possibly be planning to take in such good-for-nothing as your disciple, can you?" As Tantai Xu's arch-rival, Wu Yuanqian was gloating.
He thought of how he had just taken in a gifted disciple like Liu Rushuang.
If Tantai Xu really took in a good-for-nothing, it would be even more impossible for the man to surpass him in the future.
"A good-for-nothing?" A trace of surprise flashed across Tantai Xu's eyes as he glanced at Song Nianchu.
He immediately realized that the jade talisman must have concealed her true strength, which was why others couldn't see it.
"A person without any Spiritual Power fluctuations, what is she if not a good-for-nothing?" Wu Yuanqian said with sarcasm. "Still, you are an elder of the sect after all, how could you possibly take in a good-for-nothing?"
"Did you not hear what I said just now?" Tantai Xu was well aware of what the other man was trying to do.
However, he didn't care what others said anyway, and spoke to Song Nianchu once more, "From now on, you are my, Tantai Xu's, disciple."
"Um..." Liu Rushuang couldn't help speaking up. "She might have some issues."
Song Nianchu looked at Liu Rushuang, her eyes cold.
"What kind of issues?" Hearing this, Huo Wen asked out of curiosity.
"She..." Liu Rushuang pointed at her own temple. "There's something wrong up here."
"No wonder she hasn't said a single word since she appeared. So she's an idiot," Wu Yuanqian couldn't help mocking derisively.The other elders all looked at Song Nianchu.
Seeing her eyes clear and her expression calm, she didn't look like someone with a problem in her head at all.
Although Tantai Xu was not clear about what was going on, he trusted Si Jiuli.
Could he possibly not know what kind of character that brat was?
If he could recommend this lass to be his disciple, she must have extraordinary qualities.
"Tantai Xu, you just said you were taking her as your disciple. Surely you aren't going to refuse just because she's a fool, are you?" Hearing that Song Nianchu was a fool, Wu Yuanqian was eager for Tantai Xu to take her in immediately.
"Are you deaf? Didn't I just say she is my disciple?" Tantai Xu was very protective of his own. "You dare call my disciple a fool? Want to fight?"
Wu Yuanqian choked.
Realizing he couldn't beat Tantai Xu, a trace of annoyance rose in his heart.
His gaze fell on Song Nianchu, and he immediately said, "To enter the sect, one must pass a test. Since we are holding tests today, shouldn't you let your disciple go up and take the test?"
"That goes without saying." After saying this, Tantai Xu looked at Song Nianchu with an expression that could only be described as amiable and gentle, speaking in a soft voice, "Lass, do you see that crystal ball? Put your hand on it and channel your Spiritual Power so your master can have a look, alright?"
Hearing this tone used to coax a child, Song Nianchu couldn't help twitching the corner of her mouth.
Was her newly acquired master really trying to coax her like a fool?
Thinking this in her heart, Song Nianchu had already walked toward the crystal ball.
There were five sections on the crystal ball:
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
Song Nianchu placed her hand on the crystal ball and slowly channeled her Spiritual Power.
Of the five sections projected above the crystal ball, the fire section slowly lit up.
Immediately afterward, the wood section also stirred.
"No way, is this little beggar an alchemist?"
"And a rare alchemist who can become one through her own innate ability?"
"So this little beggar is not trash?"
"Wood and fire dual attributes are trash? Then I'd want to be trash like that, too," someone chimed in with a sour tone.
Hearing these people's discussions, Liu Rushuang almost crushed her silver teeth.
Her sense of superiority as an alchemist was instantly shattered by Song Nianchu at this moment.
Liu Rushuang still did not know at this moment that blow after blow was yet to come.
After the wood section fully lit up, the water section also slowly began to glow.
Tantai Xu, who had originally worn a casual expression, straightened his body upon seeing this scene, his gaze fixed intently on the crystal ball.
The others were the same.
The elders of the Nine Stars Sect had never encountered such a situation either.
The way they looked at Song Nianchu changed as well.
A three-attribute genius?
A three-attribute genius had actually come to their sect?
Such a genius had to belong to the Nine Stars Sect.
The elders all looked at Tantai Xu simultaneously, a thought popping into their minds: Is it still too late to fight Tantai Xu for this disciple?
However, thinking of Tantai Xu's temperament, the elders knew very well that unless Tantai Xu let go, if any of them dared to snatch her, Tantai Xu would tear up their foundation.
Liu Rushuang's eyes stared fixedly at the glow of the water attribute, and she instinctively clenched her hands tight."No, it cannot be." Seeing the wood-element area growing brighter and brighter, Liu Rushuang felt a trace of panic flash across the depths of her eyes, and she muttered to herself, "She is an idiot. Even with good talent, so what? She can't cultivate at all."
Except for Huo Wen beside her, everyone else's attention was focused on Song Nianchu, and they had no idea what Liu Rushuang had just said.
Song Nianchu felt that her Spiritual Power was still very abundant, and she was unsure whether the other two areas would light up as well.
However, judging from the original owner's memories, possessing three elements was already defying the heavens.
She could not afford to stand out too much.
She even less wanted to become a target.
With this thought, Song Nianchu wanted to pull her hand away from the crystal ball.
Yet she felt a sudden binding force coming from it, preventing her from moving her hand away.
At that very moment, Tantai Xu appeared.
With a wave of his hand, he forced Song Nianchu's hand away from the crystal ball.
This cheap master reacts really fast. Song Nianchu felt a wave of relief in her heart.
"Well? Has my disciple passed the test?" Tantai Xu asked, casting a calm glance at Wu Yuanqian.
Wu Yuanqian's expression was extremely ugly.
"Even if her test passed, her intelligence is still flawed." Liu Rushuang knew very well that with three elements, Song Nianchu could not be allowed to enter the sect.
Only if Song Nianchu failed to enter the sect could she find a way to deal with her.
Although she wasn't clear about why Song Nianchu hadn't died—and seeing her declare just now that she came back alive had also made her feel that something was amiss—things had reached this point, and she no longer had the luxury of dwelling on her doubts.
Since she could deal with Song Nianchu the first time, she could deal with her a second time.
The prerequisite was that Song Nianchu could not enter the Nine Stars Sect.
"Is this the disciple you just took in?" Tantai Xu swept an icy gaze over Liu Rushuang. "I think she's the one whose brain is flawed."
Liu Rushuang had never expected a sect elder to speak to her like that, and her face instantly flushed red with humiliation.
"Judging by Song Nianchu's appearance, she doesn't seem to have any intelligence issues." One of the elders was still somewhat envious of Song Nianchu's three elements.
If speaking a few nice words could make the other party change masters, that seemed like a pretty good idea.
"Of course my disciple's intelligence is fine. It seems to me that someone saw how great my disciple's talent is and, driven to desperation like a dog leaping over a wall, wants to throw dirty water on her." Tantai Xu only distinguished between his own people and outsiders.
As for outsiders like Wu Yuanqian and Liu Rushuang, he cared not a whit whether Liu Rushuang was a delicate young maiden; when he was protecting his own, his attacks were absolutely indiscriminate.
"I didn't..." Liu Rushuang refused to admit it, tears streaming down her face. "She and I grew up together since childhood. How could I not know what kind of person she is?"
"Junior Sister Liu, is what you said true?" Huo Wen chimed in from the side.
"What she said is indeed true." Song Nianchu finally spoke up. "Except that it's probably not the kind of growing up together you imagine."
Hearing Song Nianchu's words, Liu Rushuang felt that sense of doubt grow even stronger.
At the same time, a bad premonition rose in her heart.
Song Nianchu's cold gaze fell upon Liu Rushuang. "This Miss Liu, taking advantage of my soft heart and kindness, deliberately approached me..."
"I didn't..." Liu Rushuang hurriedly interrupted Song Nianchu, taking the lead to accuse her with the tone of someone wronged by a heinous crime. "Song Nianchu, we are good sisters. How could you think of me like that?"
"Good sisters?" Song Nianchu sneered. "Would good sisters cripple my father's cultivation? Would good sisters turn my eldest brother into a vegetative state, paralyze my second brother so he's confined to a wheelchair, poison my third brother, and damage my fourth brother's divine sense?"
Hiss!
Hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.
Tragic!
Far too tragic!
When everyone looked at Liu Rushuang again, their gazes had completely changed.
Tantai Xu also cast an icy glare at Liu Rushuang. "She looks like a delicate and frail young maiden, yet her heart is as venomous as a scorpion."
"No, she's framing me." Liu Rushuang was panicked to the extreme.
She had no idea what was going on with Song Nianchu.
Clearly an idiot.
Why had her thinking suddenly become so clear?
Could it be that something she didn't know had happened in the Forbidden Land?
What on earth was going on in that Forbidden Land?
Instead of killing Song Nianchu, it had actually made her so formidable.
"Little girl, do you have any evidence for what you just said?" Although Wu Yuanqian was unsure whether the matter was true or false, he felt deeply uncomfortable that a disciple he had just taken in would become embroiled in such a mess.
Song Nianchu was a clever fox to begin with.
Hearing Wu Yuanqian ask this, she caught the clear tone and underlying hint of dissatisfaction toward Liu Rushuang in his voice and eyes.
"None," Song Nianchu replied crisply and decisively. "However, Liu Rushuang knows very well what she has done. I am also putting my words out here today: there is an irreconcilable feud between Liu Rushuang and me."
Sweeping her gaze across the crowd as if taking an oath, Song Nianchu dropped four ringing words: "Only death will end this!"
"Good." Tantai Xu was extremely satisfied with the momentum Song Nianchu was exuding at that moment. "Master supports you."
With that, he turned to the others. "Now, do any of you still doubt my disciple's intelligence?"
The crowd: "..."
If they still doubted, they would probably have to admit that their own intelligence was flawed.
The intense hatred radiating from every fiber of Song Nianchu's being made them feel that—even without evidence—this matter was most likely true.
Liu Rushuang had a sinking feeling that the situation was very bad, and her complexion was atrocious.
"Master..." Liu Rushuang looked at Wu Yuanqian with a plea for help. "What she said is false. That's not how things happened at all."
Wu Yuanqian finally felt a pang of regret for taking Liu Rushuang as his disciple.
Carrying such a reputation, and with a talent inferior to others, was Liu Rushuang even salvageable?
Thinking about how early he had come today, fighting and contending, only to snatch up such a piece of work, Wu Yuanqian could no longer maintain the expression on his face.
"Huo Wen, handle the rest of the arrangements for your master." Wu Yuanqian flicked his sleeve, dropped those words, and strode away.
"Master..." Liu Rushuang wanted to chase after him, but was held back by Huo Wen beside her. "Junior Sister Liu, Master is upset right now. Don't go looking for trouble."
"Senior Brother Huo..." Liu Rushuang looked at Huo Wen with tear-filled eyes. "I didn't do it. She framed me..."
"All right, stop acting over there," Tantai Xu interrupted impatiently. "The disciple-recruitment ceremony is over, and the rest is about taking in Inner Disciples. Shouldn't we be leading our direct disciples to the Treasure Pavilion?"
The Nine Stars Sect had a rule: anyone who became a direct disciple was qualified to go to Arya and select a treasure from the Treasure Pavilion.
As a master who fiercely protected his own, how could Tantai Xu possibly forget this?
Upon hearing this, Elder Wusheng, who was in charge of the recruitment, immediately looked at the other elders who had taken in direct disciples.
Liu Rushuang's complexion turned even uglier in an instant.
Everyone else was being led by their masters, and only she was being led by a fellow apprentice like Huo Wen.