“Master! He nearly killed our Youngest Sister! Why won’t you let us get revenge for her?!” Wenya shouted at her master.
“It’s just some lowly Gate Guardian, isn’t he? Or is his background more significant than we think?” Xia was just as confused and pissed off as Wenya, despite the two normally being at each other’s throats.
“How big could it be that he doesn’t even have our master in his eyes...?” Jia Li quietly pondered.
“Of course, his background is deep girls. Otherwise, I would’ve torn him apart right then and there.” Ai Ju explained, slightly calming the worked-up girls.
“But wouldn’t the sect have labeled you as a traitor or something?” Wenya questioned worriedly.
Ai Ju only gave a small laugh at that. She was Ai Ju, one of the greatest disciples in the sect. As the eldest disciple of a Head Elder, her potential and standing were too great to be thrown away for a mere gate guardian. Sure, she might have been punished by the elders for killing a Gate Guardian but it would basically be a slap on the wrist due to her position in the sect.
It was the fact that he didn’t recognize her or any of the other girls. They might have been gone for a few months but that didn’t mean that all news of them would not be spread. Not to mention, to be a Gate Guardian is to undergo strict scrutiny from the sect. Your background was investigated, your character was investigated, and even those you associate with were questioned. Every single bit and piece of a Gate Guardian was placed under review by the Serpent Hall. That hall deals with the internal problems of the sect.
For someone to be accepted by the Serpent Hall in only a matter of a few months was nothing short of a miracle or unbelievable bribery. Ai Ju was only able to deduce this after cooling her head once she had a small chat with her master when she stabilized Yanhui’s condition. She looked to her master, interested in seeing if her guess was correct. No doubt, she had her own methods far superior to her own in gaining information inside and outside the sect. It was because of that, that they managed to acquire many rare plants for her out on their mission. Ai Ju’s master knew the sellers, all she had to do was ensure payment was paid and no one tried to cheat them because they were women.
“That Gate Guardian isn’t just a Gate Guardian. Your guess was almost accurate, Xiao Ai.” Elder Ru calmly smiled.
In front of Elder Ru were hundreds and hundreds of spirit plants that would take centuries and millennia to grow. The smile on Elder Ru’s face threatened to split her lip as she looked at the immeasurably valuable stock of spirit plants growing in her garden. A feat only possible thanks to the incredibly small plot of soil taken from a very unusual little disciple. If information about the types of plants in her garden was spread to the outside world, it wouldn’t take long for the world to single-handedly come together to rob and wipe the Golden Serpent Sect off the face of the earth.
“Almost?” Ai Ju wondered what she missed.
“I don’t blame you for not knowing. After all, you girls were gone for quite a while. A new group of disciples recently appeared in the sect. A very interesting group of disciples.” Elder Ru continued to smile.
“Is that Gate Guardian a part of that group?” Wenya guessed.
“You’re also close but not quite there.” Elder Ru answered. “I don’t believe he’s a main member but he is surely associated with them.”
“How could you tell? Do they have something that sets them apart?” Jia Li asked.
“That’s right, they do. Does anyone want to guess what that might be?” Elder Ru gave them a chance to test their critical thinking skills.
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“His attitude?” Wenya suggested.
Elder Ru gently shook her head. The other girls continued to think back on their experience with the arrogant Gate Guardian. “Was it his lack of knowledge about us?” Xia asked next. Elder Ru shook her head to that answer as well.
“His weapon.” Ai Ju suddenly realized. Elder Ru gave a small nod, indicating her to explain further. “When have you ever seen a Gate Guardian using a weapon that wasn’t a sword?” She asked the others. To their amazement, they genuinely couldn’t think of a single time when entering or leaving the sect that the Gate Guardians didn’t have a sword on them.
“I didn’t think much of it at the time because of how furious I was but it makes sense...” Jia Li added.
“So, their group uses weapons people don’t use often?” Wenya tried to simplify it for herself.
“The method of identifying them isn’t 100%, but I've found success in using it so far. The cute little group managed to infiltrate themselves quite deeply in the sect. As far as I know, I'm one of the very few people aware of this internal disaster just waiting to happen.” Elder Ru revealed.
“Why hasn’t anything been done yet then? Have you not told anyone, Master?” Jia Li was confused.
“No, and I don’t plan to. It was only because of their leader that this,” She gestured to all the spirit plants. “is even possible.” Elder Ru let the realization settle into their heads.
“So, we’re not going to wipe them out?” Ai Ju couldn’t hide the anger in her voice.
“You can certainly try but I doubt it would end well for you all.”
“Don’t you care about what happened to Junior Sister, Master?!” Wenya couldn’t help but be displeased by what her Master was suggesting.
“I never ordered her to investigate them. She took it upon herself to satisfy her own curiosity. In fact, I wouldn’t have been upset even if she died, as long as she didn’t implicate me in her own foolish mission. Let me tell you here and now, I am perfectly content with the way things are unfolding in the sect.” Elder Ru stated plainly for all her disciples to hear as she gently caressed an incredibly rare spirit fruit grown from the soil previously owned by the sect’s little monster.
The disciples could barely believe what they were hearing. Surprise, sorrow, and betrayal were reflected in their eyes. While their Junior Sister was rash, did she really deserve to die over it? Did their master even care about them?
“Don’t look at me like that you foolish girls. Do you understand the value of what I've gained from their group compared to you all? I’ve spent years molding, training, and teaching you all but not a single one of you was gifted enough in pill refining for me to pass down my secret refining techniques to you. I took you all in on account of your potential in alchemy but none of you had the drive or motivation to continue improving yourselves in refining. You took the easy way out and focused on the martial path while benefitting from my pills, herbs, and position within the sect. I’ve gained more from that little monster in a day than I have taking care of you for dozens of years!” Elder Ru glared at the four girls.
“Then why even keep us around...?” Ai Ju glared at her Master with pain in her eyes. The others were on the verge of tears.
“I’ve wasted all this time taking care of you so far. I might as well keep at it, hoping you’ll do something to pay back all the years and resources I put into you. However, if any of you do something as stupid as Yanhui did and implicate me again in some harebrained scheme, I'll be the first one to hand them over to the little monster.” Elder Ru answered fiercely.
“Did we really mean that little to you...? Just because we didn’t want to become Pill Masters like you...” Ai Ju asked.
“You don’t mean little to me, girls. Look, I apologize. I should’ve made myself clearer. The value of you all, does not reach even 1% of this tiny plot of soil. If it came between choosing you and the path of immortality that every cultivator desires, I would choose this soil ten times out of ten. If you are upset by that, simply become more valuable. The world has no use for useless people when there is a better alternative.” Elder Ru simplified.
The disciples were soon shooed out of the garden as Elder Ru went back to happily taking care of her babies. Elder Ru planned to support the sect’s little monster with everything she had. That strange plot of soil that she got from who knows where was enough to satisfy Elder Ru’s core desires as a pill refiner. An infinite amount of materials to make an infinite number of pills. Soon her breakthrough to immortality will only be in a matter of decades thanks to Jing. The Golden Serpent Sect’s future was limitless and placing that little monster as the new sect leader would eventually place them as the #1 sect in the world with the pills she was going to make.