“Master, please calm down. It’s all my fault, I misjudged his spiritual root. Please punish me as you see fit,” said Liu Qinghan, bowing in apology.

She had never seen Master Chi Yunzi lose his composure like this. She stepped forward and asked for his forgiveness.

“Sigh, Qinghan, it’s not your fault. Even I, when I first saw this boy, mistook him for having a six-petal single fire attribute spiritual root,” Chi Yunzi said, his tone gradually calming.

After years of cultivation, the sect leader of Xuan Yue Sect, Chi Yunzi, finally managed to compose himself and accepted the fact that the rumored six-petal fire attribute spiritual root was actually a first-grade five-element root.

He paused, then stared directly at Lin Hao, his voice stern. “Tell me, where did you find that fire-red fruit you ate?”

Lin Hao, following the instructions from the Long Life Immortal’s soul, responded cautiously, “Master, three years ago my hometown was ravaged by disaster, and I was forced to flee for my life. I found the fruit on an unnamed mountain during my travels. I can’t remember the exact name of the mountain, but it was within the Xuancheng region.”

“Xuancheng?” Chi Yunzi’s brows furrowed.

There were countless mountains in the Xuancheng area. Finding an unnamed one was like looking for a needle in a haystack. And after three years, there was no way to know if the tree that bore that extraordinary fruit still existed.

With that thought in mind, he sighed, giving up on the idea of searching for the fire attribute treasure.

“Let’s go. We’ll head back,” Chi Yunzi ordered, clearly frustrated. He didn’t want to stay in the cave for another minute and waved his disciples to follow.

“Master, with his talent, even if we give him ten thousand taels of silver, he still wouldn’t qualify to join our Xuan Yue Sect,” said one of Chi Yunzi’s trusted inner disciples, who held an administrative position. He asked carefully, “What should we do with him?”

“Although his talent is poor, the fruit he ate is extraordinary. He should be able to reach the Qi Condensation stage from level three to five without any problems,” Chi Yunzi said, after a moment’s thought. “Since we’ve already accepted him into the sect, it’s his fate. Let him remain as a miscellaneous disciple. Don’t treat him any differently.”

After making the decision regarding Lin Hao, Chi Yunzi didn’t spare him another glance and left the cave in a hurry, clearly in a bad mood, with his disciples following him.

“Turns out it’s just a first-grade five-element root. I thought he was something special!”

As the Xuan Yue Sect leaders departed, the expressions of the miscellaneous disciples in the mine changed from envy to mocking sneers.

“This kind of waste, if he hadn’t eaten the extraordinary fruit and looked like he had a six-petal fire root, he wouldn’t even be qualified to join Xuan Yue Sect, even if he paid a huge sum of silver,” they whispered, deriding him.

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Though Lin Hao had mentally prepared for such treatment, it still stung to hear the insults.

“How should I handle those who mock, slander, insult, laugh at, belittle, and despise me?” Lin Hao thought to himself.

“Just endure them, let them be, avoid them, tolerate them, respect them, and ignore them. In a few years, we’ll see who has the last laugh.”

Lin Hao remembered a famous quote from Earth, and his gloomy mood lifted a little.

“As long as I’m not kicked out of Xuan Yue Sect and forced to become a rogue cultivator, that’s the best outcome,” he thought, clenching his fists. “With the Long Life Immortal’s soul and the Five Elements Longevity Technique, I believe I won’t need much time before I can make these people shut up.”

In the half month he had been at Xuan Yue Sect, Lin Hao had already witnessed the intense conflicts among the miscellaneous disciples. Cultivating required resources, and the power struggles within a sect were often more vicious than those in the mortal world.

If he wanted to make a good life for himself, he knew he needed not only connections but also enough strength.

“Boss, are you okay?”

Wang Fu, the plump boy, hesitated before stepping forward to check on Lin Hao.

Lin Hao was a bit surprised by Wang Fu’s concern. After learning that Lin Hao had a first-grade five-element root, Wang Fu had not ridiculed him like the other miscellaneous disciples. He still called him “Boss.”

“I’m fine,” Lin Hao shook his head.

“Boss, now that Yan Heng knows you’re not a genius, he’ll probably try to cause us trouble. Maybe if we apologize publicly, we can avoid a beating,” Wang Fu said, his face full of concern.

Without Liu Qinghan as their backing, and no more way to flaunt their status, their situation was likely to get worse.

Lin Hao frowned when he heard Wang Fu mention Yan Heng. He looked up and saw Yan Heng in the distance, smiling cruelly as he stared in their direction, clearly waiting for his opportunity to take revenge.

Yan Heng had been upset for half a month because he hadn’t been able to get any of Lin Hao and Wang Fu’s spirit porridge, and he was now clearly holding a grudge.

“If we apologize, he probably won’t let it go,” Lin Hao thought, analyzing Yan Heng’s expression. He knew that some people would take advantage if you backed down.

“Boss, what should we do?” Wang Fu asked anxiously.

Wang Fu had seen Yan Heng beat up other new miscellaneous disciples in the past. The guy was ruthless, and once he had a grudge, he didn’t stop until the victim was seriously injured.

Lin Hao understood Wang Fu’s fear. He himself had been the leader of mountain bandits for a while and had learned a few things about how to deal with such people. He smiled coldly and said, “We’ll take it one step at a time. If it comes to it, we’ll fight him.”

“But, Boss, Yan Heng reached the first stage of Qi Condensation two months ago. Even if we fight him, we can’t win,” Wang Fu sighed.

“Let’s just mine for now. There’s no use thinking about it right now,” Lin Hao said, picking up his mining tools.

With his cultivation at the first stage of Qi Condensation, Lin Hao’s strength had greatly increased. By noon, he had already mined ten jin of spirit iron, which was enough to exchange for two bowls of spirit porridge.

“Wang Fu, let’s go eat,” he said, smiling.

“Boss, I only mined two jin of spirit iron, that’s not enough for a meal,” Wang Fu said.

“Don’t worry, I mined ten jin. We can exchange that for two bowls of porridge. I’ll give you one,” Lin Hao offered.

Wang Fu hesitated. He knew that if they went to the dining hall now, they would likely face Yan Heng’s retaliation. But whether they went now or later, they couldn’t avoid it. They’d only delay the beating.

“Well... okay, Boss. I’ll go with you,” Wang Fu said with a sigh.

Lin Hao and Wang Fu collected their mining tools and exchanged the iron they had mined for two meal tickets. They headed out of the mine.

Yan Heng had been waiting for them, and when he saw them come out, his face twisted into a sinister grin. He immediately swaggered after them, ready to make his move.

This action made Wang Fu shiver as they walked, and Lin Hao’s expression grew serious as he prepared to deal with Yan Heng’s retaliation.