"You are Zhang Junyi?"
Qin Ran sat in his chair, looking at the timid young boy in front of him, and asked the question.
The boy's body was indeed frail, looking severely malnourished. Wu Yan said he was thirteen years old, but at first glance, he looked more like eight or nine.
"Yes, Immortal Master, I am Zhang Junyi," the boy bowed respectfully. He had only one pair of eyes that would catch attention, exceptionally bright.
"I hear you want to join the Dao Sword Sect?" Qin Ran asked, "Why do you want to join the Dao Sword Sect?"
"I want to learn alchemy," Zhang Junyi replied.
"?" Qin Ran was silent for a moment, another one coming to the Dao Sword Sect to learn alchemy?
He thought of his foolish disciple and chuckled, "You should go to Zhican Valley to learn alchemy."
Zhang Junyi looked up at Qin Ran, his bright eyes filled with hesitation, but he eventually replied:
"Because Zhican Valley is an alchemy sect, they certainly wouldn't look at a single Lingfuling. But the Dao Sword Sect, I'm sure I can exchange the Lingfuling for entry qualifications, and after entering, I'm likely to be treated favorably."
Qin Ran praised, "Very clever."
But he quickly shook his head, "Unfortunately, you're mistaken about one thing."
Zhang Junyi asked, "What is it?"
"The sect recruits disciples primarily based on aptitude, among which the most important is the Spirit Root; not on the benefits you provide to the sect, such as spiritual herbs or treasures. If you have a Spirit Root, especially if it's of good quality, the sect is actually more willing to accept you than you imagine," Qin Ran explained to him, "A disciple with sufficient talent and a sect complement each other, mutually beneficial. Except in special cases, Zhican Valley wouldn't reject you."
Zhang Junyi fell silent upon hearing this.
"You're clearly very smart..." Qin Ran was puzzled, "But where did you learn such transactional values?"
This was clearly the routine of bribery in the mortal world.
Seeing Zhang Junyi still silent, Qin Ran asked, "What quality is your Spirit Root?"
Zhang Junyi extended his hand, indicating Qin Ran to check his aptitude, and said, "High-grade Water Spirit Root."
"High-grade Water Spirit Root?" Qin Ran placed his fingers on Zhang Junyi's arm, sending his spiritual power in to check, then laughed,
"You see, you don't understand the concept of Spirit Root in the cultivation world. You don't know that a disciple with a High-grade Water Spirit Root, Zhican Valley would come to personally recruit you, even without you going to Zhican Valley to seek discipleship. Plus, you seem to be from a medicinal family... Zhican Valley wouldn't reject you."
Qin Ran's words were always calm, but Zhang Junyi felt wave after wave of turmoil hitting his heart.
Regarding this statement, he keenly sensed a threat to his life, although he didn't know why, he knew that if he didn't speak the truth, the terrifying man in front of him would smile and send him away.
He finally spoke up: "Immortal Master, please be discerning!"
His voice was as calm as water, adding, "My parents were killed by cultivators from Zhican Valley."
The murder of parents was an irreconcilable hatred, but he spoke of it as if it were a story.
Qin Ran withdrew his hand, confirming Zhang Junyi's High-grade Water Spirit Root, his tone as indifferent as ever, and asked, "Why?"
Although the cultivation world was a place of the strong preying on the weak, without human morals, most cultivators wouldn't kill for no reason... What's the point of doing it if there's no benefit?
"Because of spiritual herbs," Zhang Junyi replied, "The medical scriptures passed down in my family record methods of using and collecting spiritual herbs, so my family had many spiritual herbs."
A man is not guilty; a treasure is the crime.
Qin Ran nodded, this gave Zhican Valley a reason to kill Zhang Junyi's entire family.
"You're from a medicinal family, and your family had spiritual herbs..." But he still didn't understand, "Why are you so frail, malnourished?"
"Could it be that the Immortal Master thinks..." Zhang Junyi asked, "That Zhican Valley killed my parents just yesterday?"
Qin Ran suddenly understood, that made sense. No wonder Zhang Junyi was smart but naive in some matters. He must have been struggling alone in the mortal world since he was very young.
"When I was seven years old, Zhican Valley came to my home to buy spiritual herbs, my father couldn't resist, and sold the herbs to Zhican Valley..." Zhang Junyi said indifferently, "But for me, he decided to hide a thousand-year ginseng. Then Zhican Valley found out."
"So how did you survive?" Qin Ran asked.
"They killed people, found the hidden me. They were going to kill me too..." Zhang Junyi said, "But the leader among them discovered I had a Spirit Root, and hatred, so he told me to go to another immortal sect, and then seek revenge on him."
Qin Ran looked at Zhang Junyi and asked, "So you thought it would be difficult to join an immortal sect?"
"Yes," Zhang Junyi replied, "I searched for six years to get this Lingfuling."
"Then why didn't you learn swordsmanship, or formations, Dao arts, body cultivation to take revenge?" Qin Ran asked again.
"Immortal Master, I want to destroy Zhican Valley through alchemy," Zhang Junyi said, "Zhican Valley is mainly an alchemy sect, so I'll destroy them in alchemy."
"Good!" Qin Ran nodded, "Then you can follow me!"
Zhang Junyi knelt on the ground, not getting up for a long time.
In the morning, he left Dan Peak alone, and in the afternoon, he returned with two people.
Li Shiyin widened her eyes and looked at Qin Ran, pointing at Zhang Junyi and asked, "Master... who is he?"
"He's your junior brother," Qin Ran said.
"Huh?" Li Shiyin looked at Zhang Junyi, then asked again, "You want him to be my junior brother?!!"
"He has considerable talent in alchemy..." Qin Ran explained.
"Hmph!" Li Shiyin shouted loudly, "Qiqi?!"
After a while, Long Qiqi came out of her room with sleepy eyes, leaning on the doorframe, helplessly asking Li Shiyin, "What is it? Are you going to let me sleep or not?"
"I'm giving you a disciple!" Li Shiyin said, "My master says he's very talented and can be your direct disciple."
Long Qiqi was shocked, half awake, she looked towards Li Shiyin and saw Zhang Junyi following Qin Ran, quickly replied, "No, I don't take disciples."
Li Shiyin wouldn't let her refuse, directly telling Zhang Junyi, "That's your master. From now on, you're her closed-door disciple."
Long Qiqi turned around and went back into the room, "Boom" closing the door tightly, and a voice came out, "I won't accept you," and there was no more sound.
Watching all these changes, Zhang Junyi kept his head down, eyes on his nose, nose on his heart, pretending to be a stone.
"Uh, cough..." Qin Ran was about to explain, he was planning to take Zhang Junyi as his real direct disciple, not like Li Shiyin, who went to practice swordsmanship, nor Long Qiqi, who learned things but didn't acknowledge them, but to inherit his alchemy, and even become the head of Dan Peak later.
But Li Shiyin stared coldly at him, making him unable to speak.
"Master!" Li Shiyin warned, "You, can only have me as your one and only disciple!!!"
"Ah, no, Shiyin..."
Li Shiyin didn't care, she couldn't imagine another person calling her master, she said, "Either he becomes Long Qiqi's disciple, or I'll stab him with a sword."
So Qin Ran took Zhang Junyi to the shed outside the Sword Washing Lake and told him, "There's no extra space on Dan Peak. If you want to stay on Dan Peak, you need to build a place to live here yourself. Then... you'll start as a medicinal servant, taking care of the spiritual herbs for me."
Zhang Junyi had no objections.