Fairy, Could You Tell Me Earlier Next Time?

Nine Dragon City in Youzhou was a moderately developed city where the person with the highest cultivation was the City Lord, an early Soul Formation stage cultivator. Rumor had it that a secret realm lay hidden outside the city, but no one had ever located it, and over time it had faded into mere legend. Apart from that, there were three renowned local sects: the Hunyuan Ancient Sword Sect, the Daylight Ascension Sect, and the Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace, all overseen by Nascent Soul eccentrics. Heavy Nascent stage cultivators like Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou could strut around Nine Dragon City without anyone daring to stand in their way. However, they were not troublemakers, and they had come here on a mission; only through secret observation could they properly evaluate a person's character. "It should be in this direction." Meng Jingzhou left Old Horse in the stables and headed out with Lu Yang to search for their target. "The intelligence report says Xie An is an orphan and lives in a dilapidated temple outside the city." Following the instructions in the report, the three arrived at this ruined temple. The archway teetered precariously, its inscription worn illegible; there was no telling how long ago the temple had been built, or what had prompted the monks to relocate. The temple consisted of just a single small room, leaking wind on all sides. The lotus pedestal was completely bare—not even a Buddha statue was to be seen. In front of the lotus pedestal lay a spread of dry straw with an extinguished campfire in the middle. Xie An was nowhere in sight; only an old beggar lay lazily on the ground, propping his head up with one hand while picking lice off himself with the other. "Should we show ourselves and ask where Xie An is?" the two communicated secretly via voice transmission, refraining from rashly revealing themselves to question the old beggar. If the old beggar knew Xie An, Xie An would learn of their presence, which would defeat the purpose of observing his character in secret. Lu Yang analyzed, "Let's wait a bit longer. Look, the bedding is neatly folded. That definitely wasn't done by the old beggar, so it's very likely Xie An's doing. That means even if Xie An left, he hasn't gone far." Sure enough, around dusk, a filth-covered Xie An walked into the temple, supported by a little girl. Seeing this, the old beggar gloated, "What's this? Went to the Hunyuan Ancient Sword Sect? I told you they wouldn't want the two of you." Xie An remained silent, but the little girl supporting him spoke up indignantly on his behalf: "They're so unfair! They didn't even test Brother Xie's root bone! Just seeing how tattered Brother Xie's clothes were, they declared he definitely had no talent for cultivation and threw him right out of the sect!" The little girl was dressed in rags, looking as if she had just been dug out of a mud pit. Lu Yang could tell that if she were washed clean and dressed up a bit, she would make quite a beauty. The old beggar yawned. "Root bone stones are expensive, and they only have a limited number of uses. As if they'd bother testing your spiritual root." Xie An furrowed his brows and said nothing. "All right, stop sulking. Look at what I scored today." As if performing magic, the old beggar conjured three large white steamed buns. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had kept watch here all day, and the old beggar hadn't moved an inch. "Steamed buns!" The little girl's eyes lit up at the sight of the food. One elder and two youngsters ate the steamed buns beside the fire pit, quiet and content. Halfway through his bun, Xie An suddenly said, "Little Sister Qiao'er, I'll go try the Daylight Ascension Sect tomorrow." Xie An's gaze was resolute. "Okay! I'll go with you, Brother Xie." The old beggar sneered, seemingly mocking Xie An for wasting his effort. After finishing the buns, the old beggar excitedly grabbed Xie An's hand and swept the straw aside, revealing a Go board scratched into stone. The old beggar fished out a handful of small black pebbles and a handful of white ones. "Come, come, come, Kid Xie, play a couple of games with me." Xie An agreed, and the old man and the youth battled on the board while the little girl named Qiao'er watched from the side. After five games ended, Xie An had won every single one, leaving the old beggar full of remorse. After a night passed, while the old beggar was still asleep, Xie An set off with Qiao'er for the Daylight Ascension Sect, with Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou trailing them in secret. At the entrance of the Daylight Ascension Sect, Xie An stated his purpose, hoping to test his root bone, but the two outer disciples on duty sneered at him. "Scram, scram, scram! Where did this little beggar come from? How could someone like you have a spiritual root?" "Even Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace, whose Nascent Soul ancestor went missing, wouldn't take you." Xie An was shoved to the ground once again. He remained silent, quietly enduring, biting his lip until it bled. Today's humiliation shall be repaid a hundredfold! By evening, Xie An was once again helped back by Qiao'er, and the old beggar still wore that same gloating expression. "Told you long ago, someone like you won't be wanted anywhere." Once again, it was eating steamed buns and playing Go, and the old beggar lost consecutively. Just as he was about to lose the fifth game, the old beggar suddenly said, "Kid Xie, do you truly want to cultivate?" Xie An nodded forcefully. "Little girl, what about you? You were rescued from bandits by Kid Xie and have been following him ever since. Do you want to cultivate too?" "Wherever Brother Xie goes, Qiao'er goes!" The old beggar stared into Qiao'er's eyes, then burst into hearty laughter. "Good, good, good! This old man truly didn't misjudge you! You are natural-born prime seedlings for cultivation!" Like performing magic, the old beggar pulled out a token and tossed it to Xie An. "This is...?" Xie An's eyes filled with confusion. "Take this token to Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace tomorrow. Let's see who dares not accept you!" With that, the old beggar's form dimmed, gradually fading away. "Wait! Who on earth are you?" Xie An reached out to grab the old beggar, but caught only a wisp of white smoke. "Once you join Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace, you'll naturally know who this old man is, hahahaha!" The old beggar vanished. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou remained silent. What beggar could there be? This was clearly the missing Nascent Soul ancestor of Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace, who had run into Xie An here and conceived the thought of taking him as a disciple. If they didn't show themselves now, Xie An would end up belonging to Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace, and the Dao Seeking Sect couldn't very well stoop so low as to contest a disciple with such an insignificant, low-rate sect. Space rippled, and the two stepped forward, their immaculate, splendid attire completely at odds with the ruined temple's surroundings. "Who are you!" Xie An looked at Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou warily, covertly shielding Qiao'er behind him. Lu Yang smiled warmly. "Don't panic. We are disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect..." In the spiritual space, the Immortal Fairy suddenly chimed in, "Huh, this kid is a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator in disguise." Lu Yang's smile froze. Fairy, could you please tell me earlier next time? "You even saw him at the sect celebration. If this immortal recalls correctly, he's Venerable Wuji, Supreme Elder of the super-rank Wuji Sect." Do all you big shots have nothing better to do than pose as mortals all day? Upon learning Xie An's true identity, Lu Yang figured out the entire sequence of events: Based on how things stood, if not for them, Xie An would have joined Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace. The disciples there would humiliate Xie An in all sorts of ways, maybe even suspecting he had picked up the token off the street. Then Xie An would cultivate diligently, beat the living daylights out of the disciples until they submitted, and shock everyone. Then, climbing from outer disciple to inner disciple, the elders would try to frame Xie An over conflicts of interest. The weak Sect Master wouldn't be able to protect Xie An, and right at that moment, the old beggar would make his grand entrance, taking Xie An as his disciple before everyone's eyes and shocking the entire crowd. After that, Xie An would lead Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace to conquer the other two major sects, turning it into the strongest sect in Nine Dragon City. He might even discover the secret realm hidden outside Nine Dragon City, obtain opportunities, and find new excuses for how he was growing stronger so quickly. Soaring to the heavens from that point on. While Meng Jingzhou was still cordially asking Xie An whether he wanted to test his root bone, Lu Yang suddenly spoke up: "Are you Venerable Wuji?" Meng Jingzhou froze, quietly taking a step back. He knew that when it came to matters like this, Lu Yang never misjudged. Xie An's face went cold. "As expected of a disciple taught by Yun Zhi. To think you could see through this seat's true form." Speaking of Yun Zhi, Lu Yang suddenly recalled what Third Senior Sister had once mentioned: some mighty figures, having suffered devastating setbacks, experienced a shattered Dao heart. In order to rebuild their Dao heart, they would start over from the mortal stage, playing the underdog just to show off and slap faces. Was Venerable Wuji in that kind of situation? That didn't make sense either; the timeline didn't add up. Lu Yang asked tentatively, "Shouldn't you have already regained your Dao heart? Why start all over again?" A cruel smile crept onto Xie An's face. "This seat got addicted."