Where does that wicked woman get her conscience?

Chi Rong, her companion spirit pet.

She clearly perished before being reborn, so how did Chi Rong also get reborn? And in this form at that?

Will everything inside her compete with her for spiritual energy in the future?

Thinking of this, Guan Xun rubbed her temples and cursed inwardly, "How am I supposed to cultivate now?!"

"Greed is not a good habit. If you continue like this, believe me, I'll refine you along with me!" she warned. Unfortunately, the warning was ineffective. The newly awakened Chi Rong was still in a state of emptiness and had not yet gained any intelligence.

Guan Xun felt somewhat helpless; she really had no way to deal with it at the moment.

… …

The capital city, the Ling family.

In a spacious courtyard, maids and doctors hurried about, and a tense atmosphere permeated the courtyard, making it look like a mess.

Intermittent cries could be heard coming from inside the house.

"Squeak~"

The door was opened from the inside, and a doctor with a full head of white hair stepped out, looking somber and shaking his head and sighing repeatedly.

Just then, a middle-aged man in official robes hurriedly entered the courtyard. Upon seeing him, the white-haired physician quickly bowed.

"What's going on?!" The middle-aged man's voice was deep and his tone carried an unspoken authority.

"Reporting to the Left Prime Minister, the Second Young Master is seriously injured. He has lost too much blood, which has weakened his vital energy. There is also blood clots in his chest. He was killed without hesitation."

The air around them suddenly froze, so cold that the white-haired doctor couldn't help but shiver. His beard twitched, and his voice became much less confident: "If you can get through tonight, young master will surely have good fortune in the future."

The middle-aged man ignored him, pushed open the door he had just closed, and rushed inside.

"Mo'er!" the voice cried out urgently, filled with unspeakable worry.

The noblewoman, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed sobbing, could no longer suppress her emotions when she saw the middle-aged man enter, and burst into loud sobs.

"Master! You've finally made it back! Mo'er... Waaah..."

The middle-aged man stepped forward and gently put his arm around the noblewoman's shoulder. Looking at his son's lifeless face on the bed, he was filled with grief.

"Who? Who could be so ruthless?!" he said angrily.

The pretty girl, squatting by the bed, sniffed her reddened nose and held the hand of the person on the bed, her fingers trembling slightly: "Father, my eldest brother will be alright, won't he?"

"Don't worry, Ruan'er, everything will be alright." Looking at his daughter's tear-streaked face, he felt heartbroken.

"Where is he?! Who brought the second young master back?"

The middle-aged man shouted at the door, and several guards dressed in black stepped forward.

"Master, after receiving the distress signal from the young master, I led my men to provide assistance. When we arrived, the scene was already in complete chaos."

"The second young master is seriously injured. Only the young master of the Li family and his few followers are present." The guard paused, his face also showing anger. "The key to the beast cage is under the young master of the Li family's foot, and the beast inside the cage has disappeared."

"It must have been them! They tried to steal the monster, but it escaped!" The girl named Ruan'er immediately stood up, her pretty face flushed with anger.

"This is outrageous! Where are they all?" the middle-aged man asked.

"They're all imprisoned in water dungeons."

"Good, very good! The Li family has some nerve! They dared to hurt my son; they'll make them pay!"

...

"The herbs cost a total of seven silver coins plus thirty copper coins. The shopkeeper said that some of the herbs were rarer, which is why they were a bit more expensive. The herbs from the demon beasts were cheaper, and they only cost eleven copper coins."

Dongyang opened the tightly wrapped cloth bag and poured out coins of various sizes: "A total of seven silver coins and forty-one copper coins."

After a whole day of hard work picking crops, this is all the money I get? That's far too little!

Guan Xun couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache, but then he thought that Dong Yang's wages for his previous work were only three coins, so it seemed that prices here weren't expensive.

Thinking of the jade pendant still hidden in her clothes, she hesitated. She had originally planned to pawn the jade pendant at the pawn shop in town after Dongyang returned.

But now...

Looking at Dongyang, who was still immersed in joy, she tentatively asked, "If we sold it in the capital, the price would probably double, right?"

"Ah... probably." Dongyang tilted his head to look at her and said, "The junior manager of the purchasing office is the head manager's younger brother. I heard that he went to the capital before. Things there are very expensive. The fish I bought for you before cost several copper coins each."

"Last time I bought three and it only cost three coins. The people there are really rich."

Dongyang had never left this small town since he was a child, and he couldn't help but click his tongue as he spoke.

Guan Xun's reaction was completely different from his. Her eyes lit up and she secretly made up her mind.

One month later, in the Illusion Forest.

"Little Xun!"

Guan Xun slowly opened her tightly closed eyes, raised her hand to look at the sunlight filtering through the leaves, and then jumped down from the tall tree trunk.

Seeing Dongyang carrying a bulging sack on his back and beads of sweat on his forehead, she blinked. "Gone?"

"Hmm." Dongyang walked straight ahead, his back straight despite carrying a sack on his back, as if it wasn't heavy at all.

He has grown taller and gained weight in the past month. His cheeks and eye sockets are no longer sunken, and his skin is no longer as sallow as before.

With sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and a face as handsome as jade, he had the appearance of a refined young gentleman, looking in no way inferior to those pampered young masters from aristocratic families.

"The recruitment team is in town, so now is the perfect time to go."

The town is already bustling with people, and this spot was packed with them.

Dongyang had mentioned that the recruitment team would select one of the several towns as the recruitment center.

They were lucky to be chosen; the usually unremarkable town was now bustling with activity.

Of course, most people just came to join in the fun, since these places with weak spiritual energy can't nurture many talented children.

Guan Xun and Dong Yang weaved through the crowd, while two men stood beside them discussing the registration process.

"Why are you here this year too?!" a slightly taller man exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, that's right. The kids are registering, they're lining up over there," the pockmarked man replied with a smile, seemingly in a good mood.

"Register? Or should we register at Qianshan Academy?"

"Yeah, let's try our luck."

"He's sixteen, isn't he? Why not apply to another college instead of sticking to just one?"

"Not yet, it'll be sixteen in a few days, just in time to catch the tail end, hehe."

"Why bother? If you don't pass, you'll just have wasted your registration fee. It's a whole silver coin! I'm telling you, you're so stubborn..."

"What are you talking about!" The pockmarked man's face darkened instantly, interrupting the other person, "Who said it can't be done? It definitely can be done!"

… …

So, the admission requirements for other colleges are indeed more lenient. Guan Xun raised an eyebrow, surprised that there was an application fee; she had thought it would be free.

One silver coin? It might not mean much to those recruiting students, but it was definitely expensive for these ordinary people.

There were several long queues on the wide street.

The admissions office was not decorated in an overly complicated way; there was only a simple long table and chairs, with tall flags next to it, all displaying the college's name.

The wooden table was divided into two sides. Guan Xun carefully examined the two signs hanging on the side of the table, one red and one green. The green sign indicated the Physician Recruitment Office, while the red one indicated the Spirit Master Recruitment Office.

The line for doctors was significantly longer than the line for spiritualists.

It seems that the admission requirements for doctors are even easier?

However, that was the truth. Guan Xun specifically asked a mother who was waiting for her child's school admission results to get a general understanding.

The entrance exam for doctors only requires them to be able to distinguish the properties and effects of drugs.

Generally speaking, most apprentices who graduate from a medical clinic can pass the exam, and the age limit is quite lenient; teenagers under the age of twenty can apply, which explains why so many people are lining up.

"I see." Dongyang was quite confident in this. He pointed to the direction of Qianshan Academy marked on the flag and walked over. "Let's go over there."

The blazing sun shone on the crowd, intensifying the already lively atmosphere; the enrollment process had begun.