Miao Xuan shook his head and spread his hands, indicating he was of no help.
He was just a disciple, and this question was beyond his scope.
Lin Qing sighed helplessly and looked at Su Xi beside him, comforting her, "Don't worry, I promised to take you as my disciple, and that will never change."
"You don't have cultivation talent, I'll find a way to solve it for you."
"If we lack initial cultivation resources, we'll earn them ourselves."
...
After Lin Qing finished his grand speech, he led Su Xi away from the place where her aptitude was tested.
Unnoticed by others, he retrieved the talismans from the table. He wouldn't expose such a talented disciple too early.
A talent that stands out in the forest is bound to be destroyed by the wind; he had seen too much of this over the years.
Miao Xuan looked at Lin Qing's retreating back, his head filled with even more confusion, unable to understand why Lin Qing would do such a thing.
Su Xi didn't seem to care much about her inability to cultivate.
After all, she relied on technology, not mutations.
As long as she had sufficient resources, the laboratory within her body could defeat any enemy in this small world. What she lacked now was only resources.
Along the way, Lin Qing introduced Su Xi to the basic situation of the world they were in.
Through Lin Qing's narration, Su Xi learned that this world was called the Fengming Continent. The powers on the continent could be broadly divided into humans, demons, and devils.
The north was occupied by humans, becoming their main stronghold. The south was divided into two, becoming the strongholds of demons and devils. To deal with the annual invasions of demons and devils, humans formed alliances of various sizes. The Five Great Immortal Mountains were the most famous among these alliances, composed of five major sects.
In terms of cultivation aptitude, a single spiritual root was more conducive to cultivation. However, those with mixed spiritual roots generally did not achieve beyond the Foundation Establishment stage, which was what ordinary people called trash. The ranks, from low to high, could be divided into Qi Refining stage, Foundation Establishment stage, Golden Core stage, Nascent Soul stage, Deity Transformation stage...
As they chatted, Lin Qing led Su Xi into the Penglai Mountain barrier.
Upon entering the barrier, Su Xi's expression instantly turned grim, and her gaze towards Lin Qing was filled with confusion.
Outside the Penglai Mountain barrier, purple mist swirled, exuding an air of immortality.
Why was there only a dilapidated hall covered in cobwebs inside the barrier? It lacked the grandeur and magnificence one might expect, nor the crowds of disciples.
The run-down place before her made her doubt if she had entered a refugee camp, were it not for the knowledge that she was in Penglai Mountain.
Was this considered an immortal mountain?
Seemingly noticing Su Xi's bewilderment, Lin Qing spoke up to explain, "We cultivators should cast aside external distractions and focus on our practice."
Hearing Lin Qing's words, Su Xi nodded, a look of sudden understanding on her face.
"Have you comprehended?" Lin Qing looked at Su Xi, feeling a little relieved in his heart.
Su Xi shook her head, her eyes filled with disdain, "I just think you, Master, are talking utter nonsense with a serious face, and it's really annoying."
She wasn't a little girl of a few years old to be deceived by such a crude remark.
If all cultivators needed to live a life of hardship, then the place where they tested aptitudes would not have been so luxurious.
It's poverty, why find excuses.
"Hehehe." His lie exposed, Lin Qing's expression remained calm.
He had encountered many embarrassing situations over the years, and his composure had been greatly honed.
He very skillfully changed the subject, "Our Penglai Mountain primarily cultivates the art of talismans, so your poor spiritual root is not important."
"You must know that our Penglai Mountain has had many ancestors like you with five-element spiritual roots who became peerless experts."
Su Xi could no longer stand listening and looked at Lin Qing helplessly, "Just say what you want, don't try to sugarcoat it."
"Alright." Lin Qing's eyes lit up, and he pointed in a certain direction, saying, "Your Master wants you to take on more missions..."
Lin Qing was also very helpless.
The Five Great Immortal Mountains had a long-standing rule: all resources were to be obtained through points earned by disciples completing missions.
Due to a lack of disciples, the Penglai Mountain sect had not earned any points for a hundred years.
According to the rules of the Five Great Immortal Mountains, if they still had no points this year, the Penglai Mountain sect would be disqualified from the Five Great Immortal Mountains.
Fearing that Su Xi might go back on her word, he took out a book from his embrace and handed it to her, explaining, "These are the cultivation items to become strong, and I've also prepared a guide for you."
"Heh heh." Su Xi glanced at Lin Qing, clearly not believing him.
As a modern person, she had never heard of such ridiculous cultivation methods.
However, even though she saw through Lin Qing's trick, she did not expose it.
Before she had the strength to protect herself, being low-key was the best way to survive.
After Su Xi had a general understanding of the rules of the Five Great Immortal Mountains, she headed to the mission hall.
Not only was it Lin Qing's hope, but she also yearned to become stronger herself.
The mission hall was majestic and grand, stretching as far as the eye could see. The words "Mission Hall" at the entrance were written with flowing strokes, subtly emitting a golden light. From different angles, the calligraphy of each character was different.
Su Xi thought of the poor state of Penglai Mountain and couldn't help but sigh.
Since this was the path she had chosen, she had to walk it.
As soon as she entered, she saw three natural-looking jade slabs floating in the hall. On these jade slabs of varying sizes, text rolled by in succession.
"Hunt Tier 1 demonic beasts in the back mountains, reward 500 points."
"Exterminate demons at the foot of the mountain, reward 200 points."
"Help the old grandmother get home, reward 10 points."
...
Looking at the text, Su Xi recognized these three jade slabs as the Tongling Stones mentioned in books, used to post missions.
After careful consideration, Su Xi walked towards the middle Tongling Stone.
The missions posted on the leftmost Tongling Stone were simple, but the rewards were too low. The missions in the middle were somewhat challenging, but with the latest interstellar technology laboratory she had, she could handle it as long as she didn't encounter a monstrous spider like last time.
Just as Su Xi was about to choose a suitable mission, she suddenly smelled a pungent fragrance from afar. Immediately after, a woman with a seductive gait walked over.
The woman had apricot-shaped eyes and a face as delicate and red as a lotus flower. She wore a light crimson embroidered skirt, her shoulders slender and her waist slim, outlining her perfect figure.
Her appearance instantly made her the center of attention. Many men with weaker cultivation bases instantly stared blankly, as if their souls had been lost.
Liu Piaopiao was accustomed to such a scene. She let out a scoff and, ignoring the men who had lost their composure, walked directly towards the jade screen on the far right.
It had taken her so much time to gather information; she absolutely couldn't let anyone else get ahead.
She placed her hand on the jade screen and accepted the mission. Suddenly, her gaze fell on Su Xi not far away.
Although Su Xi lacked the blessing of cultivation techniques, her unadorned face, combined with her pair of deep, dark eyes, possessed a rather unusual charm.
Who is this person?
In the Five Great Immortal Mountains, were there other women whose beauty rivaled hers?
"Who are you?" Liu Piaopiao disliked beautiful women, and even more so, women who were more beautiful than her.
"And who are you?" Su Xi liked beautiful women, but she didn't like rude ones.
Even the Lord of the Stars couldn't make her submit, let alone a woman from a small world like this! To make her submit would require an afterlife.
Liu Piaopiao was stunned by Su Xi's retort.
She hadn't expected that someone in the Five Great Immortal Mountains would ask her who she was?
Was it boldness, or foolishness?