The female supporting character in the cultivation world only wants to grow flowers and become stron

The outer sect senior sister, in particular, made no attempt to hide her dissatisfaction, complaining, "Junior Sister Lin, why are you only coming back now? We've been waiting for days!"

Lin Yitang clasped her hands in greeting and said, "I'm sorry, Senior Sister, I encountered a little accident along the way, so I'm late."

However, the senior sister didn't seem to be convinced. Her gaze swept over the disciples behind Lin Yitang, and her tone became increasingly unfriendly: "I don't care what happened to you, or how big the accident was. Do you know that if you don't come back, our mission cannot be completed? This is a major matter concerning our cultivation! Are you deliberately trying to prevent us from improving?"

Another male captain nodded in agreement, snorted coldly, and said disdainfully, "I've long heard that Senior Sister Lin is slow and unreliable. Seeing her today, I can confirm it. I think it's because of her poor command that the team members were put in danger, which is why it's so late."

He sized Lin Yitang up and down, then sneered, "Don't you even know your own limitations? You dare waste our time? You're all tired of living!"

Lin Yitang frowned, not understanding why these two people were so malicious.

But I can understand their frustration at having their cultivation disrupted. Anyone whose cultivation is hindered would be filled with resentment.

She ignored their sarcastic remarks and quickly arranged for the team members to rest on the spot and reorganize their ranks.

A moment later, an elderly man dressed in the robes of a senior elder from the main peak slowly walked over.

His gaze was piercing, and he exuded a faint aura of power. After looking around, he saw that Lin Yitang's team of outer disciples had all returned safely and nodded in satisfaction.

He walked slowly to them and said, "Lin Yitang, the person in charge of recruiting disciples in the south, and the other outer disciples, you have worked hard. This recruitment of disciples has been quite troublesome for you, but thankfully you are all safe and sound."

After saying that, he changed the subject and asked, "I just don't know why you're so late? Did you encounter any difficulties on the way?"

Lin Yitang respectfully replied, "Elder, we did encounter some minor troubles on the way. We encountered several small beast tides, but they were all led by second-tier demonic beasts and were not large in scale. We successfully repelled them and they are nothing to worry about."

The other two team leaders were stunned by Lin Yitang's words.

They never expected that Lin Yitang's team would encounter a beast tide on their way to recruit disciples! Although it was only a small beast tide, it was still extremely dangerous.

They couldn't help but secretly rejoice that they were lucky enough not to have encountered it.

However, this group from the south was truly arrogant. They actually considered a beast tide led by a second-tier demon beast to be nothing to worry about. Although they were shocked, they remained outwardly calm, merely sneering and secretly cursing Lin Yitang's arrogance.

The elder nodded after listening, and after a moment of contemplation, said, "That's good. Southern Team Captain, after you've finished inspecting the new disciples, take some of the outer disciples from your team and come with me to the main peak to recount the events in detail."

The elder frowned and said to himself, "Three of the four teams from the east, west, south, and north have arrived, and one is still missing. Could it be that we've encountered some major crisis?"

Lin Yitang and the others also frowned.

Now all the disciples know that small beast tides are sweeping across various regions, and they are worried that the entire Western Squad has been wiped out, since not a single one of them has come.

Just as everyone was discussing this, a huge immortal ship that had clearly been attacked slowly approached.

The surface of the celestial vessel was covered with scratches and dents, and in some places it was so badly damaged that the skeleton inside was exposed. It landed shakily on the square, and it was the Western Squad.

The members of the Western Squad disembarked from the celestial ship one after another. Most of them were dressed in disheveled clothes, some even in tattered garments. Some bore gruesome wounds, clearly indicating that they had been through a fierce battle.

The leader of the group was a male cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining. He was walking unsteadily, clearly having suffered a serious injury.

He forced himself to stay alert, cupped his hands in greeting to the elders of the main peak, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Elder, we have completed our mission of accepting disciples, but we encountered some...minor troubles on the way."

The pitiful state of the Western team shocked all the outer disciples present. They knew perfectly well that these people must have encountered a beast tide. Otherwise, given the strength of the Taique Sect disciples, they would not have ended up in such a sorry state.

Lin Yitang and the others exchanged glances, a sense of foreboding creeping into their hearts.

They knew that while the beast tide was dangerous, it wasn't insurmountable for Qi Refining stage cultivators if they were well-prepared. However, the Western team's return in such a state suggested that the beast tide they encountered was far more dangerous than they had imagined.

The leader of the Western team swallowed hard, his face pale and still somewhat frightened, and continued, "Reporting to the elders, the reason we arrived so late is because we encountered several beast tides led by second-tier demonic beasts on the way! Each time it was a second-tier demonic beast leading hundreds of first-tier demonic beasts. We were simply too exhausted to deal with them, which is why we arrived so late."

"Moreover, some of the beast tides were led by peak second-tier demonic beasts. We suffered great losses at their hands, and even lost many disciples. In order to escape, we spent a lot of energy and barely managed to get away unscathed, which is why we are in this state now."

After speaking, the Western leader looked tremblingly at the elders and those around him, waiting for their reaction.

However, to his surprise, the people around him did not react much to his words; on the contrary, they seemed somewhat surprised.

The people present looked at him strangely; some were looking at him, while others were looking at Lin Yitang, as if comparing the two.

It's no wonder they were surprised. Everyone had just heard what Lin Yitang said. The Southern Team had also experienced several beast tides led by second-tier monsters. How come the Southern Team was unharmed, while the Western Team was beaten into such a terrible state?

Even the leader of the Southern team was only at the eighth level of Qi Refining, while the leader of the Western team was at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Upon hearing this, the female cultivator leading the northern group frowned, her face full of doubt.

She snorted coldly, crossed her arms, and said aggressively, "How is this possible? Both teams encountered a beast tide, so how come the Southern team is unharmed while the Western team is so badly injured?"

She turned her head and looked directly at Lin Yitang, her eyes filled with obvious hostility: "Junior Sister Lin, you'd better explain yourself clearly. You saw how badly the Western team was beaten, so how come you didn't suffer any losses? Are you lying, and you didn't actually encounter a beast tide at all? Or is it just a small beast tide led by a first-tier demon beast that you've exaggerated?"

As she spoke, she looked Lin Yitang up and down, as if trying to find a flaw in her face.

As she said these words, the others also turned their gazes to Lin Yitang, their expressions filled with disbelief.

It was obvious that everyone was more inclined to believe the northern team leader's statement, thinking that Lin Yitang was lying just to save face.

They hoped to get an explanation from Lin Yitang.