"Hey! Where did this little brat pop out from, sticking her nose into other people's business!" one of the girls said with an expression of displeasure, shouting loudly.
"That's right! If you know what's good for you, get lost right now. Don't get in our way, or we'll deal with you too!" the other girl chimed in, her tone full of threats as she gave Qiyue a shove.
Qiyue involuntarily stepped back a few paces, but she did not cower. Her inner sense of justice gave her the courage to talk back. "You guys are going way too far! What kind of skill is it to gang up on someone?"
Yet, Qiyue's body trembled involuntarily; after all, facing three aggressive people, she still felt somewhat afraid inside.
At that moment, Liao Qing'er gently tugged at her sleeve from behind and whispered, "Miss, thank you for your kind intentions, but you really shouldn't get involved in this. I'd hate to bring trouble upon you."
Hearing Liao Qing'er's words, the anger in Qiyue's heart burned even brighter. She straightened her back and said firmly to the two bullies, "Don't you dare pull any tricks! I'm not afraid of you!"
She took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and continued, "I just heard you say you're here to participate in the selection to join a sect. But the selection hasn't even started yet, and here you are bullying others at will. If the people of Qingtai Mountain find out about this, how do you think it will affect your image as candidates?"
Qiyue's words made the two girls pause for a moment, as if they realized things could become troublesome.
One of them still stubbornly retorted, "Hmph, do you think we're scared? It's just a little selection, what's the big deal!"
"Exactly! Who do you think you are, daring to threaten us?" the other girl said angrily, her voice filled with disdain and mockery.
With that, they rolled up their sleeves, preparing to lay hands on Qiyue once again.
"Stop!"
Right at that moment, Zhao Qian, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, finally spoke.
She slowly stepped forward and cast a cold glance at Qiyue—a look that made Qiyue's skin crawl, leaving her wondering what Zhao Qian was about to do.
Suddenly, Zhao Qian snatched the basket right out of Qiyue's hands with such speed that Qiyue had no time to react at all.
"Hey, what are you doing? That's my stuff. Give it back!"
Qiyue shouted anxiously, trying to rush forward and grab her basket back. However, the moment she moved, the two bullying girls reached out and blocked her path.
Zhao Qian looked into the basket, then picked up the items inside and inspected them closely.
"Mushrooms? Wild vegetables?"
Zhao Qian frowned, a trace of confusion crossing her face. She looked at Qiyue, then glanced in the direction Qiyue had just emerged from, before holding the basket up and asking with puzzlement, "What are these for? Weren't you out digging for yams?"
"Of course not, these are food for me to take back and cook," Qiyue hurriedly explained.
"Cook? Are you a mortal? Or a cultivator?"
Zhao Qian continued pressing, the doubt in her eyes undiminished. She seemed deeply interested in Qiyue's identity, wanting to figure out what kind of person she really was.
"I—I'm still a mortal for now, but I'm going to become a cultivator very soon."
Even though Qiyue was terrified inside, she tried her best to put on an arrogant facade.
"You? You want to be a cultivator?"
One of the bullying girls scoffed with utter disdain.
"No kidding! She'll probably get eliminated the second she goes up there, right?"
The other bullying girl chimed in, her tone dripping with contempt.
"Heh heh heh—" Both girls burst into mocking laughter at the same time.
Faced with such ridicule, Qiyue did not back down. She straightened her posture and said loudly, "I—I won't get cut! Senior Brother told me I'm just going through the motions; I've already been pre-selected by my master."
As soon as those words left her mouth, the scene fell instantly silent.
Everyone stared wide-eyed, looking in sheer disbelief at this plainly dressed, utterly ordinary girl.
They could never have imagined that such an ordinary girl would be pre-selected. After all, becoming a cultivator required immense connections and background—let alone being pre-selected, considering how extremely limited the available slots were.
By comparison, Zhao Qian had only managed to come here through her family's connections. Although she was guaranteed admission, which master would take her under their wing remained unknown.
"You? No way!" one of the girls blurted out in skepticism.
"Right, absolutely impossible!" the other girl agreed, shaking her head in disbelief.
Both girls spoke in unison, expressing complete certainty that it could not be true.
At that very moment, even Liao Qing'er standing behind Qiyue began to gaze at her with suspicion, as if questioning whether she had simply made up these excuses to shake them off.
Could such a claim really be convincing? An inexplicable sense of tension welled up in the air, leaving one to fear that her true colors might be exposed at any second.
"Pre-selected? Could your master be Daoist Yunhe?" Zhao Qian asked thoughtfully, turning her gaze toward the direction Qiyue had appeared from earlier.
"Mhm, mhm! Exactly," Qiyue nodded without hesitation, affirming firmly, "Daoist Yunhe is my honored master!"
"Ah! It's actually him!" one of the girls cried out in surprise.
The other let out a contemptuous sneer. "Hmph, and here I thought it was some bigshot! Turns out he's just a good-for-nothing Daoist on Qingtai Mountain." Her words were full of contempt and scorn.
Hearing this, the overwhelming jealousy and frustrating sense of rejection vanished completely, replaced instantly by an even more intense wave of contempt and mockery.
"What did you just say? You are not allowed to insult my master!" Qiyue yelled angrily at the two girls, fire flashing in her eyes. She could not tolerate anyone showing such disrespect toward the master she respected.
The two girls rubbed their ears from the force of her shout.
"What are you yelling for? Everyone knows he's the most powerless guy on Qingtai Mountain! His three junior brothers have all reached the Early Golden Core stage, while he's been stuck at the Late Foundation Establishment stage for over a hundred years. If he isn't a good-for-nothing, who is?"
"Seriously, only you treat him like some kind of treasure."
"My master is a late bloomer; he'll rise up sooner or later," Qiyue retorted angrily upon hearing the two girls talk about her master that way.
"Him? I think you'd better forget it! His own abilities cap out right there. Whoever becomes his disciple is just plain cursed."
"No kidding. I heard that the seven disciples following him have barely had any room for upward mobility all these years. If you stay stuck between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, forget about cultivating immortality—even your lifespan gets shortened, and you'll kick the bucket anywhere between two to six hundred years old."
"You, you guys..."
Furious, Qiyue clenched her fists and prepared to fight the two girls to the death.
"Enough! You two take Liao Qing'er and head back first! I have things to discuss with her!"
"What? We're just letting her off like this?"
"Yeah! And we're making Liao Qing'er go back too? Weren't we going to kick her off the mountain?"
The two girls asked Zhao Qian in confusion.
"Why do you have so many questions? Just do what you're told!"
Seeing the young mistress lose her temper, the two girls dared not say anything else. Instead, they vented their frustration together onto Liao Qing'er.
"What are you standing around for? Didn't you hear Xiao Qian? Hurry up and get moving!"
Liao Qing'er looked helplessly at Qiyue and whispered, "Y—you need to be careful. Zhao Qian herself is already a Level 2 Qi Refining cultivator."
Hearing Liao Qing'er say this, Qiyue couldn't help a shock running through her heart. She had originally thought they were all mortals entering the sect for the first time, never imagining that Zhao Qian was already a cultivator.
Watching the three of them recede into the distance, coupled with Zhao Qian's cold and unreadable gaze, panic gradually began to creep into her heart.
"S-she isn't going to murder me when nobody's looking, is she?!"
Though she cursed her wretched luck inwardly, things had reached this point with no turning back. Come blessing or curse, she just had to bite the bullet and face it.