My ancestors were spiritual plant growers, so it's not surprising that I hunt demons every day,

The next day at dawn, just as the sun was rising in the east.

Cui Ying had just finished a round of cultivation when she sensed her mother lingering outside her room.

"Third Girl, are you awake?"

Cui Ying slowly opened her eyes and saw that Cui Yue inside was covered in sweat, so she used her Frost Technique to condense two ice bricks and placed them in the corner.

Just before leaving, she turned back to tuck the blanket around her. Finally, she looked at the little iron-eating beast curled up in the corner of the bed, shook her head helplessly, and lifted it up a little more.

"What's wrong, Mother?"

Wang Rong stood at the doorway, her face showing some surprise and uncertainty. She pointed to the closed courtyard gate and hesitated before saying:

"Third girl, I was just about to make you breakfast in the kitchen, but when I got to the yard, I felt like there was an unfamiliar presence outside."

At this point, Wang Rong pursed her lips, forcing a smile with a hint of embarrassment:

"The breath was very weak, and Mother was unsure what to do and didn't dare to open the door. She thought you would get up soon, so she came to call you."

"It's alright, Mother, you go ahead and do your work."

Unlike her mother's panic, Cui Ying remained calm and composed, as if she had known about this all along.

"Okay, what do you want to eat today? Mom will make it for you."

Wang Rong glanced at the magic array enveloping the courtyard and cursed herself for being so useless. She then relaxed and found herself in the mood to think about today's dishes.

"It's getting late, Mother, please make something simple."

It was still dark, with a faint golden glow peeking through the hazy light.

Cui Ying persuaded her mother to leave, then went into the courtyard. She stood quietly under the jacaranda tree for a moment before walking out and opening the courtyard gate. She gradually saw the unfamiliar presence that had appeared in front of her courtyard since midnight.

The aura was emanating from a little girl who was kneeling on the steps in front of Cui Ying's house, dozing off, her little head nodding.

Judging from his appearance, he must have been kneeling in front of her house all night.

Cui Ying frowned slightly and said coldly, "Changsun Yi, get up!"

The girl, who was about ten years old and was called Changsun Yi by Cui Ying, suddenly woke up from her sleep. She was so frightened that she trembled all over. After seeing Cui Ying in front of her, she quickly crawled up the steps on her knees. When she reached the threshold of the Cui family's house, she slammed her forehead heavily against the blue bricks.

"Bang! Sister Cui Ying, I beg you, please take me as your disciple and teach me how to hunt demons!"

Cui Ying frowned. If she remembered correctly, in her previous life, Changsun Yi should have become a disciple of a Ningyuan Elder of Lingxiao Pavilion. Although it was still early for him to become a disciple, he shouldn't have appeared in front of her house like this.

While she was pondering, Cui Ying simultaneously released a wisp of spiritual energy, which made Changsun Yi, who had just kowtowed, unable to continue bowing.

"Sister Changsun Yi, what are you doing?"

Changsun Yi twisted her body, and finding she couldn't break free, she raised her head and said:

"Sister Cui Ying, I came here specifically to find you. Please have mercy and take me as your disciple. If you are willing to accept me and teach me how to hunt demons, I am willing to make a heavenly oath to serve you for all eternity."

Wang Rong, who was busy in the kitchen, overheard a few words and immediately came to the front of the courtyard, worried. When she saw Changsun Yi with a determined look on her face, she sighed and pulled her to her feet.

“Miss Changsun, your sister Cui Ying is only a few years older than you. How could she possibly be a teacher? Look at you, you're soaked with dew. Get up quickly.”

"Aunt Wang."

Seeing Wang Rong come over to pull her away, Changsun Yi, with a strength she didn't know she possessed, broke free from Cui Ying's grasp and quickly kowtowed to Wang Rong, her voice choked with emotion as she said:

“Aunt Wang, you are a good person. Last year, my sister and I were scavenging for food outside, and all the cultivators drove us away. Only you took pity on us and let us scavenge fallen spiritual rice in the harvested spiritual fields to fill our stomachs.”

“Your family are all good people. I know I shouldn’t do this, but my father is dead, and we don’t have any spirit stones to pay next month’s rent for the spirit fields. According to the Lei family’s rules, the village chief will not only take back the spirit fields we rented, but also our house, and then kick us out of the village. We can’t survive anymore. I want to beg Sister Cui Ying to take me in. I have hands and feet, and I can work. I just beg you to take me in and give us a way to survive.”

"Oh dear, you little brat! No matter what's wrong, don't kneel here in the middle of the night. What kind of behavior is that?"

Wang Rong went over and tried to pull her up, but Changsun Yi refused to get up no matter what. Wang Rong was afraid of hurting her, so she didn't dare to use too much force.

“Unless Sister Cui Ying is willing to accept me as her disciple, I will kneel here even if it means I die today.”

Wang Rong was stunned for a moment, her face unusually serious. She opened her mouth, but in the end, she looked at Cui Ying without saying anything.

Cui Ying's expression remained unchanged; in fact, it could be described as extremely indifferent.

"If she wants to kneel, then let her kneel."

She simply waved her hand and said calmly:

"With so many rogue cultivators in the world, if everyone couldn't make a living and just knelt down at the residence of a high-level cultivator like she did, and their wishes could be fulfilled, wouldn't that lead to chaos?"

Although she had previously adopted some children with decent cultivation potential and then selected and nurtured them, now was not the time.

Moreover, although she had been reborn, she didn't really want to meddle in other people's fates. This Changsun Yi was just like her in her previous life; her father was a rogue cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining, and her mother and younger sister were mortals.

It goes without saying how difficult it must have been for Cui Ying to support her family in her previous life.

After Changsun Yi's father died, she was the only cultivator left in the family who had just begun to cultivate Qi. After her mother and younger sister were humiliated and died one after another, she finally killed her enemies.

Although Cui Ying didn't know how she, with only the first level of Qi Refining, could kill a cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining.

But just as the cultivator's family had tied up Changsun Yi, intending to skin him alive, a Nascent Soul Elder from Lingxiao Pavilion descended from the sky and publicly announced that he would take Changsun Yi as his disciple.

What followed, naturally, was a one-sided massacre.

Thinking of this, Cui Ying closed her eyes, unwilling to recall those unbearable past events.

Wang Rong reached out to help Changsun Yi up again, and kindly advised her:

"Tell Aunt Wang how many spirit stones your family is short, and she'll lend them to you, but don't tell anyone else."

Changsun Yi wiped her nose, tears streaming down her face, and sobbed uncontrollably:

“Aunt Wang, we can stay in our house for another half month. But my father is gone. I want to learn skills. I want to become a great sword cultivator like Sister Cui Ying, so that I can protect my mother and sister, instead of waiting for you to lend our family spirit stones.”

"You don't even want spirit stones? You've got some backbone."

Upon hearing this, Cui Ying's icy eyes finally flickered.

"That's enough, come in with me."

"Has Sister Cui Ying agreed to take me as her apprentice?"

Changsun Yi suddenly raised her head and asked with a look of surprise.

Cui Ying didn't say anything, but simply pulled her mother and walked directly into the yard.

Changsun Yi, who was still kneeling outside the door, looked around, hesitated for a moment, then decisively stood up from the ground and limped inside.

After Cui Ying sat down at the table under the jacaranda tree in the courtyard, Wang Rong quickly gave Changsun Yi a wink, then turned around and brought out two large bowls of steaming sweet potato porridge from the kitchen.

"Here, have a bowl of hot porridge to warm yourself up."

Changsun Yi stood quietly beside Cui Ying, her hands at her sides. Upon hearing this, she subconsciously licked her dry lips, but did not accept the gift. Instead, she stubbornly looked at Cui Ying.