My best friend asked me if I was still doing system tasks.

"This junior greets Daoist Yu Chen."

Ruan Chayan spoke frankly, "I presume that Daoist Venerable, you have also come because of the strange phenomena caused by my spirit beast's tribulation."

We are unaffiliated cultivators without any sect or school. If people were to discover our identities, we fear we would be beheaded.

The closest sect to this place is the Shiren Sect, which is why we borrowed your sect's identity.

"It is our ignorance that prevented us from recognizing Your Excellency's identity. Please do not blame us."

Luo Hanying bowed and said, "Please, Daoist Master, be lenient. It was my arrogant words, but I was forced by circumstances."

We have always admired the Daoist Master's demeanor, and we will soon participate in the Shiren Sect's recruitment assessment. If we pass, it wouldn't be wrong to say we are disciples of the Shiren Sect, wouldn't it?

Qi Huixian listened to the juniors chattering away, but didn't take it to heart. Since they said they wanted to join the Shiren Sect, she decided to take them back and keep them under her supervision.

"In that case, you should come back to the Shiren Sect with me for a few days to avoid the trouble here."

Qi Huixian seemed to be a kind and easy-going person. "It's a good opportunity to participate in our Shiren Sect's recruitment assessment in advance. If you pass, it's only right that I protect you."

If you don't pass, it's only right that I, as your senior, offer you some protection.

Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying were filled with mixed emotions as they followed Qi Huixian to the Shiren Sect: "Huh? They were forgiven so easily?" "Is Daoist Yuchen so kind and easy to talk to?" "They can just go to the Shiren Sect like this?"

Before they could get a good look at the scenery around them, they found themselves in front of a cave in just a few breaths. It seemed that Qi Huixian had used the technique of shrinking the earth to an inch.

Qi Huixian said to the two who were still confused, "This is where the outer disciples live. You will stay here for the next few days."

Please do not move around unnecessarily and take good care of yourselves. I can tell that you all seem to have some hidden ailments, especially the one who fainted; his condition is particularly bad.

"The sect leader will send someone to inform you of your ascension to the Daoist path in a few days."

He uttered these words in one breath and then flew away, leaving the two of them standing there staring at each other.

Luo Hanying looked around, but the distant objects were blurry and she couldn't see them clearly.

The two tentatively took a few steps around and concluded that they could not leave the courtyard.

The place they were in seemed to be under a spell cast by Qi Huixian, making it impossible for them to see outside or get out.

As Ruan Chayan and Luo Hanying headed into the cave, they discussed what was going on.

Luo Hanying and Ruan Chayan settled Le Shu on the stone bed, and the two sat down on the stone bench.

The peppercorns chirped and patted Ruan Chayan's calf.

She didn't have the energy to deal with it right now, so she took out a ceramic bowl, poured it some wine, and gave it a few spiritual fruits, letting it entertain itself for a while.

Looking at the carefree and excited Huajiao, Luo Hanying guessed: "Has Yu Chen taken a liking to Huajiao? Otherwise, why would he bring us back?"

"I don't think so, do I?" Ruan Chayan said. "If he really thought that Sichuan pepper was some kind of rare spirit beast, and if he really wanted it, with his high cultivation level, he could have killed them all for us to keep for himself."

If he really wanted to do something like that, who could stop him? Who could find out?

Luo Hanying glanced at the bright sunlight outside the cave and frowned: "Then what is his intention in locking us up here?"

Ruan Chayan rubbed her temples: "That's something I can't understand either."

At that time, I said that he was attracted by the commotion of Huajiao's tribulation, and he did not deny it. However, he did not ask about Huajiao afterward. I guess he didn't like Huajiao.

If you didn't like Sichuan peppercorns, what did you like?

Luo Hanying chuckled: [“Could it be that they noticed our good aptitude and want to recruit new members for the Shiren Sect?”]

"How is that possible? How can you tell if someone has good or bad aptitude just by looking at them?"

Ruan Chayan smiled and shook her head. "If his eyes were really that sharp, why would the Shiren Sect bother testing their disciples' spiritual roots? Why not just have Daoist Yuchen do it?"

【"Sigh—" Luo Hanying sighed, "A miscalculation. We should have begged those Shiren Sect cultivators back then to see if they had any extra communication jade slips.

If we add Lin Zhuzui and the others as friends, wouldn't we be able to get them to put in a good word for us?

At least we did travel with Lin Zhuzui and the others for a period of time back then.

"It's unlikely there will be any extras. Didn't Sheng Meixu say that their communication jade slips are all distributed uniformly by the Shiren Sect?"

Ruan Chayan said, "When we bought the spiritual medicines and magical artifacts, we thought that the Shiren Sect would give them away, so we didn't spend a lot of money to buy them. Even if we did buy them, we couldn't find Sheng Meixu and the others to exchange the divine sense imprints."

This is a dead end.

Luo Hanying licked her lips: [“Never mind, I just can't figure out what Daoist Yu Chen's purpose is. Let's think about what to do next.”]

Ruan Chayan said worriedly, "What else can we do? Let's keep our bodies in top condition at all times."

I don't know if Yu Chen is telling the truth or not. I'm afraid we'll suddenly be silenced, and we even have to participate in the recruitment assessment early. It's only because these cultivators are kind that we have intact corpses."

Luo Hanying thought optimistically: "Don't think so badly."

Didn't they say that many of their disciples have gone missing?

Maybe Yu Chen thinks we two are exceptionally talented? And he wants to add more elite disciples to the Shiren Sect?

The cultivators we encountered before weren't very impressive, but the Shiren Sect is a renowned sect in the Southern Yue Divine Continent. How could there be so many bad people and bad deeds here?

Ruan Chayan, finding humor in her predicament, echoed Luo Hanying's words: "It's not entirely unreasonable. Lin Zhuzui, Lu Xizhou, and Sheng Meixu, as well as the Shiren Sect disciples I met on the spirit boat, are all quite good. I haven't noticed anything wrong with them."

Luo Hanying patted Ruan Chayan on the shoulder: [“That’s right, don’t think too badly of things. I think the fact that we were able to enter the Shiren Sect so far ahead of schedule is a good sign. We’re going to be lucky!”]

Ruan Chayan shook her head and chuckled: "Alright, alright, then let's check ourselves first to see if there's anything wrong with us, Comrade Xiaoxue who's going to be lucky."

Didn't Daoist Yu Chen say that we all have hidden ailments? It must be the injury that Hua Jiao suffered when she was undergoing her tribulation.

"Once I'm healed, I'll go cook something for Huajiao. You go and help Le Shu heal her wounds."

Luo Hanying nodded in agreement: [“I want some too!”]

Ruan Chayan smiled kindly: "No problem, we'll all eat."