“This… is for me?”

Wang Ba stared at Ye Lingyu in disbelief.

How did she know I wanted a Spirit Beast Bag?

Wait, that’s not the point. This is a Spirit Beast Bag! It’s worth seven or eight hundred Spirit Stones!

Despite the sudden windfall, Wang Ba didn’t let greed cloud his judgment. He hesitated, then waved his hands in refusal, not daring to reach out.

“Immortal, this lowly one is merely a Laborer Disciple. I have no Spiritual Power. I cannot use a Spirit Beast Bag.”

“I know that,” Ye Lingyu replied, her tone matter-of-fact. “But you have a Spiritual Root, don’t you? Once you become a disciple and learn Qi Refining, you’ll have Spiritual Power. Then you can use it!”

Wang Ba froze.

He stared blankly at the girl, who still wore that innocent, slightly foolish expression.

Inside, his mind spiraled into chaos.

How does she know I have a Spiritual Root?!

He had never breathed a word of this to a living soul. Even Senior Brother Zhao Feng hadn’t detected it.

Strictly speaking, one’s aptitude for cultivation wasn’t something that could be seen with the naked eye. It required specific Talismans or specialized techniques to test.

So, how did she find out?

In that instant, Ye Lingyu’s simple, naive image shattered, replaced by something profoundly mysterious and unnerving.

Ye Lingyu, oblivious to his internal panic, continued cheerfully.

“Once you succeed in Qi Refining, Uncle, you can officially become a disciple of our Sect! Then I’ll beg Master to take you in as well… Huh, wait. That wouldn’t work. You’d have to call me Senior Sister then?”

She furrowed her brows in distress. “But I should call you Uncle…”

After a moment of deep contemplation, she waved it off.

“Forget it, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there! Uncle, are you worried you can’t become my Master’s disciple? Don’t worry. Although Wen Xie said your Spiritual Root is kind of trash, Master doesn’t care about aptitude when accepting apprentices…”

“Wait! What did you just say?”

Wang Ba suddenly cut her off, his voice sharp.

Ye Lingyu blinked, startled. “I just said… I just said my Master doesn’t care about aptitude when—”

“No, the sentence before that.”

Ye Lingyu frowned, thinking hard. “Uh… although Wen Xie said your Spiritual Root is trash… is that it?”

That’s it!

Ye Lingyu was still Ye Lingyu; the variable was that third-grade magic sword.

A realization dawned on Wang Ba. He cast a wary glance at the sword strapped to her back and asked cautiously, “It… can see Spiritual Roots?”

Ye Lingyu immediately lifted her chin, radiating pride.

“Of course! Wen Xie is super sharp! It can sense all sorts of things!”

“But if it’s too far away, it can’t feel anything. It secretly told me you had a Spiritual Root back when you were standing right next to me. Don’t worry, I promise I won’t tell anyone else.”

As she spoke, her excitement dimmed. She lowered her head and pouted, looking annoyed.

“It’s just that sometimes Wen Xie doesn’t listen. It’s always dragging me flying all over the place, making me apologize to Junior Brothers and Sisters who are much older than me.”

Hearing this, the knot in Wang Ba’s chest loosened slightly.

He couldn’t help but recall the earlier scene—elderly cultivators in their seventies and eighties bowing respectfully to this teenage girl. It was, in hindsight, almost comical.

“Here! Take it! Consider it a thank you gift for helping me bargain, Uncle!”

Ye Lingyu shoved the Spirit Beast Bag into his hands again.

This time, Wang Ba hesitated only for a heartbeat before accepting it.

“Many thanks, Immortal.”

“Aiyaya, I told you, just call me by my name! Besides, what is there to thank me for?” Ye Lingyu grumbled discontentedly.

Wang Ba smiled but remained silent.

He had refused earlier because he desperately wanted to hide his potential.

He didn’t know the owner of the Hundred Beasts Garden. If he had taken a bag from a stranger, there was a non-zero chance of being tracked or extorted later. But Ye Lingyu was different. She already knew his secret.

Hiding it from her now was pointless.

Since the cat was out of the bag, and he genuinely needed the item, he might as well accept her goodwill.

This was fundamentally different from his earlier moral dilemma. He wasn’t exploiting her trust to trick her out of an item; he was accepting a gift she insisted on giving, fully aware of the context.

It might seem like a convoluted distinction, but to Wang Ba, it mattered. This was his code.

The Spirit Beast Bag felt cool to the touch, like metal, yet possessed the smooth texture of fine silk.

Surrounded by prying eyes, Wang Ba dared not examine it closely. He quickly tucked it into the folds of his robe.

With the business concluded and his pockets heavy with gains, Wang Ba bid her farewell.

Ye Lingyu didn’t hold him back. Having finally secured her High Grade Spirit Poultry, she had her own tasks to attend to.

However, she insisted on escorting him to the mountain gate.

On the way back down, Wang Ba couldn’t resist glancing back at the distant peaks and palaces.

Immortal clouds drifted lazily, and mist coiled around the celestial heights. Occasionally, a cultivator would streak across the sky on a flying sword, or a flock of spirit cranes would spread their wings in unison. It was a scene of breathtaking, prosperous grandeur.

He stole look after look, his eyes greedy for the sight, before finally forcing himself to descend the mountain.

He felt a mix of reluctance, regret, and a strange sense of relief.

“What a pity… I didn’t get to see that ‘Fan Ming Sitting on the Mountain’.”

…

When he returned to Ding Ninth Village, Wang Ba was surprised to find the daily chores had been largely completed.

Tao Yi spotted him and immediately ran over, his face a mask of nervous guilt. He began patting Wang Ba down, checking for injuries.

Wang Ba dodged the groping hands. “Immortal, please! This lowly one doesn’t swing that way!”

“Get lost!”

Tao Yi spat on the ground. Seeing Wang Ba was intact, his tension finally broke.

“You brat, looks like you aren’t missing any parts… I was worried sick! I was the one who brought you there. If something had actually happened to you…”

Sensing that Tao Yi’s concern was genuine, Wang Ba offered a faint smile. “What could happen? I was just acting as a guide… Did you clean all this up for me?”

Tao Yi nodded, then shook his head. “The danger wasn’t the job, it was that sword… Sigh. I don’t know why Elder Qin spoils that disciple so much. Giving her his own third-grade magic sword for protection? It’s unheard of.”

“Elder Qin?”

The name was unfamiliar to Wang Ba.

“Elder Qin is the Head of the Evil-Punishing Hall. It’s said that within our Sect, his cultivation and combat strength are second only to the Sect Leader.”

Mentioning this name brought a visible shadow of fear to Tao Yi’s face. “He’s infamous for his severity. He’s run the Evil-Punishing Hall for years, and rumor has it he’s personally executed countless disciples who broke the rules. Anyway… there isn’t a single Outer Sect disciple who isn’t terrified of him.”

“Not just us. Even the other Elders walk on eggshells around him.”

Listening to the description, Wang Ba quickly sketched a mental image: a middle-aged cultivator with a face as cold as Senior Brother Zhao’s, but with methods far more ruthless and bloody.

“Enough! Keep running your mouth and the Evil-Punishing Hall will come drag you away for real!”

The cultivator surnamed Stone, hearing the commotion, stepped out and barked a warning.

Tao Yi shut his mouth instantly, looking resentful.

Ever since Tao Yi had subtly thrown shade at Stone in front of Zhao Feng, the atmosphere between the two had been volatile. Wang Ba was used to it by now.

Lin Yu was nowhere to be seen—likely off chasing after that Senior Brother Jing again.

Stone saw Wang Ba and immediately put on a warm facade, inviting him into his room to read. He subtly probed for details about the trip to Wind Sun Market with Ye Lingyu.

Wang Ba answered the questions seriously but carefully omitted the purchase of Talismans, the cultivation manual, and the Spirit Beast Bag.

Even with the sanitized version, Stone’s eyes dripped with envy.

“You… you really are going places! You have to cherish this opportunity! To be lifted up by an Inner Sect disciple, tsk tsk…”

Despite his words, if Stone had been asked to guide the way, he would have refused without hesitation.

A bright future was useless if you were dead. Walking next to an unstable third-grade magic sword? Who knew when it might decide to chop you in half? wouldn’t that be a wrongful death?

Not everyone had this Laborer Disciple’s luck—protected by the Outer Sect’s Senior Brother and favored by an Inner Sect disciple.

Stone had enough self-awareness to know his limits.

Consequently, his attitude toward Wang Ba became even more enthusiastic. It was a classic case of ‘currying favor by proxy’—hugging the thigh of the guy who was hugging the bigger thigh.

Wang Ba read for a while before excusing himself.

He was desperate to return to his room and test his Spiritual Root. The fact that he had managed to sit calmly and read for this long was a testament to his formidable mental fortitude.

Stone tried to keep him, even suggesting they dine together, but Wang Ba used the excuse of unfinished village work to make a smooth exit.

As he walked out of the mountain villa, he happened to run into Lin Yu, who was just returning.