Chapter 13: The Girl Without a Spiritual Root

"Awesome, am I seeing things? Someone actually dared to hit a disciple of the Lingxiao Sect?"

"Now there's a show to watch. How long do you think it'll take before the Lingxiao Sect retaliates and wipes out the Heavenly Dao Sect?"

"Three days at most, I'd say. If it weren't for the fact that all the Lingxiao Sect Stewards in Yunshui City happened to be away on business, they'd probably already be here!"

"Three days? If they can last even one day, I'd call that impressive!"

The square buzzed with chatter, and many people shook their heads, as though they could already foresee the Heavenly Dao Sect's grim fate.

Over the past few hundred years, it wasn't as if no sect had ever challenged the Lingxiao Sect's standing — but the outcome had always been the same.

Total annihilation, reduced to dust in the pages of history.

A super faction ranked among the Immortal Alliance's top five hundred — how could any ordinary sect dare to look it in the eye?

Throughout the entire Great Zhao Empire, the only power with the standing to speak to the Lingxiao Sect as an equal was the Yuntian Sect — the one other faction in the Immortal Alliance's top five hundred.

Everyone else, even the imperial family, lacked that privilege.

"Master, I'm sorry. After this commotion, even fewer people will dare to join our sect," Zhuge Feng said, lowering his head with a guilty expression. At that moment, the crowd in the square had drawn back from the Heavenly Dao Sect's banner, afraid of being caught in the Lingxiao Sect's inevitable retaliation.

It seemed today's recruitment drive would end empty-handed.

Su Bai offered a faint smile. "This is good news. You've already made a name for our Heavenly Dao Sect."

"Far from being a setback, this works entirely in our favor."

"When the Lingxiao Sect finds it cannot do anything to our Heavenly Dao Sect, every eye in the land will turn toward us — and then people will be lining up to join."

"That said, what you did just now wasn't quite enough."

"Huh?" Zhuge Feng blinked, puzzled by his master's words.

He had already struck so hard — and his master still thought it wasn't enough?

"With people like that, you should beat them within an inch of their lives."

"Remember this: the only thing that counts is having a harder fist."

"The more you show weakness, the more others will trample on you. The more unyielding you are, the more others will hold you in awe."

"If you act like a coward, people will walk all over you and treat you as less than human."

"Remember — that is the way of this world. The strong always reign supreme."

Su Bai said this in a calm, detached tone.

"I… I understand, Master." Zhuge Feng's eyes hardened with resolve, as though something had clicked into place within him.

"No matter who the other party is — as long as the fault isn't yours, your Master will handle everything." Su Bai added.

Those words stirred something deep in Zhuge Feng's chest.

If only he could have a fraction of his master's strength!

At that thought, he clenched his fists.

He had no taste for a mediocre life. He craved battle, craved growing stronger, craved becoming a supreme fighter so that no one could ever bully him again.

"So cool!" Xiao Lingxi clapped her hands with excitement, her bright eyes fixed on Su Bai.

She recalled the moment Su Bai had struck down the Lingxiao Sect's Steward earlier.

Decisive.

Swift.

Without a shred of hesitation.

Simple, direct, clean, and efficient.

And undeniably cool.

* * *

At the entrance to the Hundred Sects Assembly, a peculiar young girl appeared.

She was about fourteen years old, dressed in rags no better than a beggar's, her frame thin and frail, her skin pallid.

She moved with a halting, unsteady gait — either her legs were giving out or she had gone without food for a very long time. Her complexion was alarmingly weak.

Yet between her brows burned a stubborn defiance, like a tenacious little sapling pushing through cracked earth, giving off an impression of quiet resilience.

The moment she entered, she dropped to her knees, holding up a battered wooden sign in both hands. On it, in crooked, uneven strokes, were written the words:

"Seeking immortal arts that can be cultivated. Willing to serve as a servant or maid."

The instant she knelt, the crowd around her reacted in different ways — some turned away in disdain, some showed a flicker of sympathy, and others remained expressionless.

Voices murmured around her.

"Poor child. She's been kneeling here for five days straight. If she keeps this up, her legs will be ruined."

"These sects are places that swallow people whole. Without money, how could anyone ever get in?"

"I've seen this girl before. She had a sister with her — where did the sister go?"

"Three days ago, a kindhearted Immortal took pity on her and wanted to take her as a disciple, but when they tested her, they found she has no Spiritual Root at all — no cultivation aptitude whatsoever."

"What a pity. This girl has had a hard life. She was abandoned as an infant and has been living with her sister ever since. Now even the sister has gone missing."

"There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Without money or connections, how could anyone ever have a chance at immortality?"

The onlookers sighed and shook their heads.

Hearing the voices around her, the girl's clouded eyes stirred faintly, but she remained kneeling with unwavering resolve, not moving an inch.

Little did she know that her approach would earn her nothing more than the sympathy of a few ordinary passersby — no sect would ever respond.

Near the banners of several recruiting sects, a handful of disciples watched the spectacle with amusement.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Even a random passerby has at least some Spiritual Root. A complete absence of any Spiritual Root — that's just a mortal body. A Mortal's fate for life."

"Having no Spiritual Root doesn't make cultivation impossible — it just means the pace is so slow that she'd probably never get past the Third Level of the Qi Refining Stage in her entire lifetime."

"If she had silver taels, maybe — throw enough resources at her and there might be a slim hope of reaching the Late Qi Refining Stage. But she has no money."

"Which sect would take in a money pit like that? They'd go bankrupt."

"If she had a better figure, she could at least be sold to a High-class Brothel to earn some silver taels. But look at her — sallow and gaunt. Which High-class Brothel would take her?"

They talked without restraint, not giving a single thought to whether the girl could hear them.

After all, they were "Immortals." Why would they care about the gaze of a Mortal?

This scene, naturally, did not escape the eyes of Su Bai and his companions.

"That poor little girl — Master, let's take her into the sect. I'll look after her myself. Would that be alright?" Xiao Lingxi said softly, unable to hold back.

But when she turned to look at Su Bai, she found he had already vanished from her side.

When she looked again, Su Bai's figure had already appeared before the kneeling girl.

Su Bai looked at the girl kneeling on the ground and spoke. "What is your name?"

The girl raised her head. Her face was smeared with grime, dirty and unremarkable — yet within her weary eyes glimmered a faint, fragile light.

She answered in a dazed voice: "Ye Qingyao."

"Ye Qingyao — a fine name," Su Bai said warmly. "Are you willing to join my sect?"

"Me?"

Ye Qingyao froze, as though she wondered if she were hearing things.

Someone… was actually willing to take her in?

"But… the Immortal said… I have no Spiritual Root… just a mortal body… unworthy of entering an immortal sect…"

Ye Qingyao bit her lip and forced the words out one by one.

Last time, an Immortal had taken pity on her too — but after testing her and finding no Spiritual Root, he had simply shaken his head and walked away.

That Immortal had declared with certainty that she was fated to have no connection to the path of immortality, and that she should abandon the idea entirely.

But if she had no path to immortality… where else could she go to find her sister?