Chapter 305

The look of shock on his face had not yet faded.

Upon hearing the news that Xu Yang had reached the minor success stage of Marrow Cleansing, he had rushed back to his family to report the news, and he remained in a state of shock even now.

The person who had been turned away by the Ding family simply because he refused to enter into a marriage alliance had actually broken through to the minor success stage of Marrow Cleansing only a few days after the Du family’s genius, Du Chuan.

Ding Yuan was heartbroken: "What else can be done? Do you expect me to go and apologize to him in person? Just prepare a gift and send it over."

Ding Xu bowed and turned to leave.

"It is I who ruined the Yuan family!"

Yuan Qiang was so depressed he could have vomited blood; if anyone among them was the last to retreat, it could only be him.

Such a genius, whom he had once recruited for two hundred silver taels and one Profound Origin Qi-Transforming Pill—such talent, such a price—could be said to be no different from dismissing a beggar.

Yet he was still unsatisfied, wanting to form a marriage alliance to truly make the other party a member of the Yuan family, which ultimately led to them parting ways.

Before, he felt Xu Yang didn't know what was good for him, but if he said that now, people would only call him an idiot.

"He reached the minor success stage of Marrow Cleansing?"

At Beast King Peak, when Cao Jin heard from the fellow disciples who had returned that Xu Yang had already reached the minor success stage of Marrow Cleansing, he felt as if his scalp were about to explode.

Reaching the minor success stage of Marrow Cleansing within three years of entering the sect—such talent made him tremble with fear; the so-called status of a Cao family disciple was worth nothing in the face of such talent.

He had spent three years in the outer sect and five years in the inner sect, totaling eight years, and he was still struggling with the bottleneck of the minor success stage of Marrow Cleansing.

Most importantly, he had threatened Xu Yang—he had threatened a genius who had reached the minor success stage of Marrow Cleansing in three years.

For a moment, Cao Jin even had the impulse to flee the Purple Sun Sect and find a place to hide, never to show his face again.

"Is this what you meant when you said Xu Yang had no talent?"

At Medicine King Peak, Elder Changchun glared fiercely at his disciple, Sun Jian.

Reaching the minor success stage of Marrow Cleansing within three years of entering the sect—he had never even taken in such a genius disciple. Originally, he had even considered taking Xu Yang in, but after Sun Jian's analysis, he had given up on Xu Yang.

Not only had he missed out on a genius, but he would also become a laughingstock for those old fogies, who would mock him for being blind and failing to recognize a treasure.

Such a genius, even if he had no talent for alchemy, he would still be willing to take him in and cultivate him with resources.

"Master, he hid himself too deeply; this disciple's judgment was flawed. I ask for Master's punishment." Sun Jian kept his head bowed low.

He hadn't been targeting Xu Yang back then; he had simply analyzed based on the intelligence he had, and Master had agreed with it.

Now that Xu Yang was displaying astonishing talent, Master was blaming him in turn.

In truth, he also felt some regret. He had known Xu Yang not long after Xu Yang entered the sect, but he hadn't taken Xu Yang seriously, and whenever they met, he would make a few mocking remarks about Xu Yang overestimating himself.

If he had known Xu Yang had such talent, he would have put in a good word for Xu Yang before Master, letting Master take Xu Yang in. Now, Master would be praising him for his insight, and Xu Yang would be grateful to him.

Now, however, he was pleasing neither side.

"Forget it, what use is punishing you? It just benefits that old thing, Huoyun." Elder Changchun shook his head.

It was a decision he had made himself, so he was just venting; he couldn't bring himself to actually punish Sun Jian.

Sun Jian secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, Master. By the way, Master, Xu Yang has a younger sister in the outer sect who is currently tending to medicinal herbs in the herb garden. She has applied to learn alchemy several times but was rejected. Should we do Xu Yang and Elder Huoyun a favor?"

He had known before that Xu Qing was Xu Yang's sister, but he hadn't paid any attention. Now that Xu Yang had reached the minor success stage of Marrow Cleansing and revealed extraordinary talent, he wanted to show some goodwill.

Xu Yang might not be much right now, but what about in ten or eight years? If you wait until someone becomes a big shot to suck up to them, they won't even look at you straight.

"His own sister?" Elder Changchun asked.

Sun Jian nodded.

"Go handle it now, and keep an eye on her in the future. Give her some convenience. If her talent for alchemy is decent, report it to me immediately," Elder Changchun instructed.

"Yes!"

Sun Jian bowed and hurried away.

"Only one hundred plants left, and today's task will be finished."

In a herb garden, Xu Qing was busy channeling Green Wood Qi—the Green Wood Gang Qi she had cultivated herself—into the medicinal herbs one by one.

Only after being converted by a special technique did the Gang Qi become gentle instead of overbearing, allowing the herbs to grow better.

Of course, cultivating spiritual herbs didn't just rely on one method; it also required coordination with other things.

The work of cultivating spiritual herbs was very hard; most of the Gang Qi she cultivated every day had to be fed to the herbs, but she never complained to Xu Yang.

Her brother had already gone through a lot to raise her to this point; she couldn't add to his troubles because of a little bit of hardship.

"Xu Qing, how much more do you have left?" A woman's voice sounded from not far away.

Xu Qing looked back and saw Senior Sister Zhang Juan, who was also cultivating spiritual herbs in the garden, and said, "Senior Sister Zhang, I have one hundred plants left."

"Come over and help me finish mine first, then you can slowly finish yours. I have something to do and need to leave early today," Zhang Juan said.

In reality, she had nothing to do; she just wanted to be lazy.

The female disciples who could take on tasks at Medicine King Peak all came from families with significant influence and had been exposed to medicinal herbs since childhood, which was why they were chosen to cultivate and look after the herbs.

Xu Qing had no background, so Zhang Juan would order Xu Qing to do her work every few days so she could slack off.

Xu Qing had a soft personality and knew she couldn't afford to offend her, so basically, whenever Zhang Juan asked, she would grit her teeth and help.

"What? You don't want to help Senior Sister?" Seeing that Xu Qing didn't walk over immediately this time, Zhang Juan's tone turned unpleasant.

"Senior Sister Zhang, I have something to do today. I'll help you next time," Xu Qing said, gritting her teeth.

She hadn't seen her big brother Xu Yang for over a month. Especially since she heard these past few days that he had left the sect and been sent to hunt down the Blood Lotus Sect demons, she was even more worried. She planned to finish her work early today and then go to Li Huo Peak to ask about the situation.