Chen Xia looked at the apprentices with the eyes of a fellow disciple. After all, there wasn't much distance between them, so it was normal to see each other. Chen Xia's outfit was also very eye-catching. In the Blue Sky Sword Sea, other than Chen Xia, probably no one else could wear such tattered clothes.
"Damn, there's a beggar!" Seeing Chen Xia, the apprentice yelled in surprise.
This made the other apprentices stop their conversations and hurry over to take a look.
A beggar in the Blue Sky Sword Sea?
This was rarer than a mighty cultivator in the Heaven Mending Realm!
The apprentices' eyes wandered over Chen Xia's body again and again.
To be honest, there was nothing particularly remarkable to be seen, other than the tattered clothes and downtrodden appearance. There was nothing outstanding about him.
He didn't even have three eyes or four arms. He looked just like the weakest of humans.
"Damn, he really is a beggar!"
"That's not right. How could there be a beggar in the Blue Sky Sword Sea? And he's a human. See how soaked he is? Could it be that he just swam over?"
"Swam from where? Could it be he swam through the Sword Sea? Since he came to the apprentice area, could he be a fellow apprentice? Do any of you recognize him?"
"Who the hell recognizes a beggar?"
The apprentices all shook their heads.
Li Yang and the petite woman on the platform also turned to look at Chen Xia, their eyes examining him again and again.
"Is he a new disciple?" the petite woman asked in puzzlement.
"Probably." Li Yang replied.
It was common for new apprentice disciples to join the Blue Sky Sword Sea every decade or so. Thus, this unfamiliar "beggar" was likely a newly arrived apprentice disciple.
"How pitiful." The petite woman sighed and lifted her bottom off the stool, walking straight towards Chen Xia. She gently asked,
"Are you a new apprentice disciple?"
Chen Xia dug at his ears, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, as if water had gotten into his brain. He slapped his head, trying to shake the water out, and vaguely replied,
"Just got out of prison."
"?"
The petite woman didn't quite catch what he said. Assuming he had acknowledged it, she smiled and said,
"You must be living quite poorly looking like that. Don't worry, as long as you join our camp, I can send you some living allowance every month so that you can get by."
"Things like cultivation resources, talismans, pills and the like."
The petite woman even held up her fingers, thoughtfully listing things for Chen Xia.
Chen Xia heard this sentence clearly. He couldn't help but be shocked, looking back and forth at the petite woman.
He had seen many vicious debt collectors, but a living bodhisattva was a first.
Now he faced a dilemma - should he nod in agreement and collect money lying down, or shake his head in refusal to maintain some dignity?
What would others choose?
Chen Xia didn't really know, but if he could get money just by agreeing, he was very amenable to that.
After all, he wasn't truly a beggar. Real beggars might have reservations.
Chen Xia had no reservations!
At worst, he would do as much work as he was paid for.
Just as he was about to nod in agreement, an apprentice suddenly shouted,
"It's not right to use our membership fees to support such a useless person, is it?"
This was an Ultimate Seed from Mahayana Peak, wearing black and white yin-yang robes, questioning it.
The petite woman turned her head and glanced at the Ultimate Seed, her expression slightly cold, and reproached him,
"I said I would pay out of my own pocket, it's none of your business!"
Being reproached like this, the Ultimate Seed couldn't hold face. After all, he was considered one of the most talented among this batch of apprentice disciples. He questioned again,
"But how can you guarantee that? We've gathered together precisely to huddle for warmth, to establish our power in the Blue Sky Sword Sea."
"This is the most critical time. There are threats from other apprentice disciples, and we need to get on Elder Xiaolong's good side. On top, there are formal disciples who often come to collect money."
"Instead of leading everyone well, you want to spend money on someone who looks like this - what is the meaning of that?"
The petite woman's brows knotted tightly as she angrily rebuked, "It's my own money, what business is it of yours?!"
Chen Xia also felt that the Ultimate Seed was meddling too much.
"Alright." Li Yang on the platform called for a stop. With arms crossed, his gaze lingered on Chen Xia as he said,
"You can join our association and receive a salary, but the more you receive, the more you have to work. If you don't work, you get nothing."
Chen Xia frowned.
Oh, so it wasn't free money after all.
He had been hoodwinked.
Just as he was about to refuse, the petite woman next to him quietly said,
"My money doesn't count as theirs."
Chen Xia was taken aback.
Damn, a true goddess incarnate.
With hands behind her back, the petite woman's snowy dress seemed to shine. She smiled and said,
"I feared poverty ever since I was young and suffered quite a bit too. I understand the feeling of destitution. Although I don't have much money myself, I can't stand seeing others live in hardship. Haha."
Chen Xia was silent for a long while before saying,
"Even Buddha would have to kowtow before you."
"Oh stop, no need to exaggerate." The petite woman laughed with a wave of her hand. She then asked, "By the way, what's your name?"
"Chen Xia, summer of the seventh month's wildfire."
The petite woman was startled at first, then nodded with a smile, "Summer as in the season, right?"
"Yes." Chen Xia nodded and started cleaning the seaweed off himself.
"I'm Liu Qing, green of the colors red, orange, yellow, green."
Chen Xia nodded, now knowing her name.
Liu Qing's eyes glanced around and she curiously asked again, "What's that pitch black ring?"
She felt it seemed mysterious and, being of a curious nature, asked about it directly.
Chen Xia wiped the pitch black ring clean, placed both hands on his waist, and stood tall and proud.
"Medal of Honor!"
This was a month after Chen Xia got out of prison.
Nothing had happened in the Blue Sky Sword Sea, nor were there any rumors of someone getting beaten up.
Some speculated that Chen Xia had changed his ways, after all, five hundred years of imprisonment in the Sword Sea was not easy.
Another half month passed and the Blue Sky Sword Sea remained utterly tranquil, same as usual.
Some formal disciples had already headed to the apprentice area, seizing the opportunity while other formal disciples didn't dare make a move, and extracted protection fees on a large scale.
Counting the spirit stones in their money pouches, their smiles were about to split their faces open.
This was a huge sum! Equal to their labor over the past few years, without having to compete with other formal disciples.
The few formal disciples all had satisfied smiles on their faces. Although they had reached the Mountain Moving Realm, there was still some distance before breaking through to the Sea Inversing Realm. They were most lacking in spirit stones.
Generally, only lower level formal disciples like them would demand spirit stones from apprentices.
The cherished scions and exceptionally talented formal disciples had no lack of spirit stones.
Only they, who were middling, with neither good background nor talent, were the most pitiful.
Becoming a formal disciple with great difficulty, yet unable to keep up with the real geniuses, unwilling to be left behind, they could only think of every possible way to catch up.
Demanding spirit stones from apprentices was one method.
One of the formal disciple's eyes suddenly lit up. He saw another figure in white robes ahead drinking tea in the pavilion. He led his group quickly forward and shouted,
"Senior brother has come, why haven't you hurried to offer senior brothers some spirit stones?!"
Chen Xia's hand holding the teacup paused. His head turned back in puzzlement and he asked,
"What?"
The few formal disciples' bodies instantly stiffened. The leading formal disciple reacted the fastest, directly offering his money pouch forward and kneeling on the ground.
"Long live your fortune!"
Their worldview expanded in that moment!