"Senior Sister Gao, what are you doing here?" Yang Kai was startled. He spoke while surreptitiously scanning the area outside to make sure no one had noticed, then quickly shut the Spirit Sword Hall's doors.
Gao Xueting frowned. "Why are you being so secretive? What are you plotting?"
Yang Kai widened his eyes. "What could I possibly be plotting? More importantly, you were grounded by Senior Brother Qiu for three months—how dare you run around like this? If Senior Brother Qiu finds out… he'll deduct your Elder Contribution points until you're dead."
Gao Xueting scoffed. "That old fossil only locked me in confinement; he never said I had to stay on Purple Bamboo Peak. This is the Divine Hall territory—I can go wherever I please."
"You can do that?" Yang Kai was stunned, though what truly shocked him was the way Gao Xueting referred to "that old fossil."
He felt he truly needed to reassess his impression of Gao Xueting.
Gao Xueting smirked coldly. "Sooner or later I'll steal his position as Elder of the Punishment Hall… and let him taste what it's like to have his Elder Contribution points deducted and to be locked away."
Yang Kai's feelings were somewhat complicated. He couldn't help but wonder whether his decision to agree to Gao Xueting's request to join the Clear Sun Divine Hall as a Guest Elder had been the right one.
As the saying goes, if the upper beam isn't straight, the lower ones will be crooked. He had always assumed Gao Xueting was a noble and virtuous woman, but now it seemed that having been raised single-handedly by Wen Zishan, her childhood memories warped beyond repair, her mind and heart never developing in a healthy way—how noble and virtuous could someone like that truly be?
Her previous image had been nothing but a façade. Once you truly got to know her, your entire worldview was shattered.
"Oh, right, Senior Sister Gao—what do you want with me?" Yang Kai had no interest in discussing her plots to usurp power and hastily changed the subject.
"Mm, there's a matter." Gao Xueting nodded earnestly, then flipped her palm, producing a spatial ring, which she handed to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took it with a suspicious look, swept it with his spiritual sense, and raised an eyebrow. "This many Emperor-grade spirit herbs? Could this be a perk for becoming a Divine Hall Elder? How thoughtful of the Hall. Though I already have plenty of spirit herbs—I don't really need these."
Gao Xueting looked at him and replied evenly, "You've misunderstood. These aren't your perks—Spirit Sword Peak is your perk. Mm, if you'd like, you can also ask Junior Sister Chen Qian for some working disciples to manage Spirit Sword Peak and tend to the flowers and grass. That counts as part of the perks as well. As for these spirit herbs…"
"What are they for?"
"Refining them into spirit pills," Gao Xueting answered.
"Refining them into spirit pills?" Yang Kai's face darkened. "This many Emperor-grade herbs—surely you don't mean Emperor Pills?"
"That's right—Emperor Pills." Gao Xueting nodded. "Our Hall doesn't have its own Emperor Pill Master, but we've accumulated quite a stock of Emperor-grade herbs. Now that we've finally got you on board, naturally we'll hand them over to you."
"Why me?" Yang Kai said, completely deadpan.
Gao Xueting chuckled. "The capable take on more, Junior Brother. Back when you were in the Four Seasons Land, you already refined something like the Grand Mystery Pill. Though years have passed and others may have forgotten, as the team-leading Elder, I remember that quite clearly. I've made inquiries, and if you could produce the Grand Mystery Pill, that means you were already close to the caliber of an Emperor Pill Master at the time. After several more years, your alchemy must have improved further. Who else could handle these herbs? Are we supposed to let the Hall's Elders chew through them like cattle, wasting a priceless treasure? Oh, and by the way—the other day at my Purple Bamboo Peak, you apparently opened your furnace and refined a batch of Emperor Pills. Tsk, tsk—done in half a day, truly impressive. These herbs may be numerous, but I'm confident that with your abilities, a retreat lasting a year or so should be enough to finish them all."
Yang Kai was silent for a moment, then said gravely, "Can I refuse?"
"Of course." Gao Xueting nodded. "No one's forcing you."
"Then I refuse!" Yang Kai pushed the ring back toward her.
Gao Xueting took the ring, turned around, and began to walk away, sighing as she went. "Oh well, offering help in good faith only to be turned away. Fine, fine. Then the Divine Journey Mirror—you probably won't set foot in it for the rest of your life."
Yang Kai immediately raised his hand. "Senior Sister, wait!"
Gao Xueting turned her head, smiling at him. "Does Junior Brother have further instructions?"
Yang Kai cleared his throat with a light cough into his fist. "Senior Sister, now that you mention the Divine Journey Mirror, I almost forgot—the other day when I said I wanted to go into the Divine Journey Mirror, you told me someone was using it and it couldn't be disturbed. When exactly can I go in?"
"Do you have any Elder Contribution points?" Gao Xueting shot back.
"No."
Gao Xueting let out a derisive snort. "It costs two thousand points per entry. You don't even have a single point to your name, yet you dream of entering the Divine Journey Mirror? You must still be drunk."
"But last time…"
"Last time, you weren't a Divine Hall Elder yet. Now that you are, you naturally have to follow the rules. Otherwise, if anyone could just waltz in whenever they pleased, the Divine Journey Mirror's training wouldn't be nearly as precious."
"How can you do this to me, Senior Sister?" Yang Kai was absolutely heartbroken.
Gao Xueting turned back and spoke with deep sincerity. "Junior Brother, with greater ability comes greater responsibility. As our Hall's only Emperor Pill Master, you have to bear the duty of refining Emperor Pills for the Divine Hall."
Yang Kai gritted his teeth. "So when you lured me into becoming a Hall Elder the other day, this was your plan all along! I'm so young—how could you bear to deceive me like that!"
Gao Xueting smiled. "I've had this plan ever since you refined that Grand Mystery Pill back then."
"This has truly blinded me…" Yang Kai lamented with genuine anguish, as though something beautiful had been shattered before his very eyes. It was the heartbreak of waking from a dream, his face a portrait of tears and betrayal.
Gao Xueting said, "Don't be angry. If you don't want to refine pills, there is another way."
Yang Kai clenched his teeth. "Please enlighten me, Senior Sister!"