"Many thanks, Saintess! Many thanks, Saint Attendants!"
Liu Wanwan, having just broken through, couldn't yet perfectly conceal the aura radiating from her body. However, the wound on her hand had already healed completely, leaving no trace of injury.
She had no mind for trivial matters at the moment. Gratefully, she bowed deeply to the crystal ball, and then bowed to the four Saint Attendants.
The Saint Attendant waved her hand, dismissing her. "Next."
"Me! I'll go!"
"I'll go first!"
"Choose me, Esteemed Saint Attendant."
"..."
Chen Long pushed his way through the crowd, raising his arm high, hoping to be chosen by a Saint Attendant.
However, there were many others doing the same, so he could only be submerged in the throng.
The Saint Attendants did not call out names one by one anymore. Instead, they selected over a dozen people at once to offer their blood.
This time, only three people elicited a spiritual light reaction.
Those chosen were overjoyed, ecstatic. Those not chosen hung their heads, looking dejected.
"You need not be discouraged. After joining the Saintess Cult, every year, you will have an opportunity to pledge your loyalty to the Saintess, and you may even receive the Saintess's blessings."
The Saint Attendants' words indeed revitalized those who had been disheartened.
They had missed this opportunity, but perhaps next time, they could be like Liu Wanwan, becoming one of the fortunate ones favored by the Saintess.
The cultivators who had yet to participate also felt a sense of reassurance upon hearing this.
With the Saint Attendants' promise, hope would always exist in their hearts.
"Xu Yi, have you thought of a plan? They've already started."
Xiong Zhuangzhuang was restless.
He had just turned his head to observe Xu Yi's reaction when a strange figure suddenly appeared beside him, startling him.
Not only Xiong Zhuangzhuang, but Yin Li, Zuo You, and the others were also startled by this person who had appeared so silently beside them, their eyes widening.
Where did this person come from?
"You don't need to be nervous. This is a puppet I refined," Xu Yi said with a smile, patting the puppet beside her.
"A puppet?"
Xiong Zhuangzhuang looked incredulous. His gaze swept over the puppet from top to bottom, and finally, he reached out and pinched the puppet fiercely. After confirming that it had no reaction, he somewhat believed that this was indeed a puppet.
"Senior Sister Xu, you're too amazing! How did you refine it?" Fei Hua's eyes sparkled.
His focus wasn't on cultivation; he was very interested in unorthodox arts.
Although he couldn't refine artifacts, seeing how exquisite this puppet was piqued his interest.
"The hardships in refining this puppet are unimaginable," Xu Yi sighed softly.
Strictly speaking, this puppet wasn't refined by Xu Yi, but was one of the many failed products previously created by the Artifact Demon.
After Xu Yi took over the secret realm, she found all the failed products from the Artifact Demon.
Compared to the Artifact Demon, her personality was undoubtedly much more frugal. She didn't think these puppets were entirely useless.
For instance, this puppet was already close to perfection. It was just that the Artifact Demon had been a bit heavy-handed when sculpting its face, making the puppet look somewhat ugly, which led to the Artifact Demon discarding it. However, this did not affect its function.
Xu Yi picked it up, improved it according to her own ideas, and finally, this puppet came to be.
The puppet looked no different from a real person on the outside, with exquisite details. The only imperfection was that it lacked the unique agility of human cultivators; if used for too long, it would be exposed.
However, Xu Yi only needed it for a short while.
"Junior Brother Fei, I'll need to borrow your Treasure-Seeking Mouse for a moment later."
"Senior Sister Xu, what do you want Little Bao to do?" Fei Hua asked nervously.
Like master, like pet.
Little Bao's personality was almost the same as his – greedy for food and play, but lacking in strength.
Fei Hua was worried that Xu Yi would ask the Treasure-Seeking Mouse to undertake dangerous tasks.
"Don't worry, I just want it to create a commotion, so I can send the puppet in unnoticed."
Xu Yi smiled coyly and took out a spiritual pill from her storage bag, placing it into the puppet's embrace.
"This pill is..."
"You'll know in a moment. The most important thing now is to get him into that crowd."
Xu Yi kept them in suspense, but felt a little regretful. If she had known that the Saintess Cult would be doing such things, she should have put the puppet into the crowd from the very beginning.
"Cause trouble? No problem, Little Bao is best at that."
Fei Hua grinned and woke the Treasure-Seeking Mouse, which had been sleeping in his sleeve. Then, he lowered his head and whispered something into its ear.
The Treasure-Seeking Mouse nodded with a serious expression, then took the storage bag containing the puppet and burrowed into the ground.
Fei Hua said proudly, "Don't worry, leave it to Little Bao, and it will be absolutely fine."
Both he and Xu Yi, and others, expected a commotion to break out soon, triggered by the Treasure-Seeking Mouse. However, a commotion did occur, but it wasn't caused by the Treasure-Seeking Mouse as they had imagined.
"Fellow Daoists, do not be deceived by the Saintess Cult's deceptive words! They want your blood with ill intentions!"
"That's right! We should unite and resist the evil deeds of the Saintess Cult!"
"The Saintess Cult deceives the masses with their words and will surely suffer retribution!"
Suddenly, fierce shouts erupted from several directions, stunning everyone.
The cultivators who had been cutting their flesh to offer blood stopped their actions, looking around blankly.
The four Saint Attendants, however, appeared as if they had anticipated this. "You finally couldn't wait!"
"If you hadn't gone too far, why would we have intervened!"
The Saint Attendants were answered by a man who looked rather ordinary among the crowd.
The cultivators standing beside the man quickly retreated several steps, distancing themselves from him and exposing him to everyone's view.
At the same time, several figures from the crowd emerged from all directions to join the man.
"Who are you? Why are you here to cause trouble for my Saintess Cult? Quickly reveal your true faces!"
"Fellow Daoists, we are disciples of Lingyun Mountain in Rongzhou. The Saintess Cult's origins are unknown, and their intentions are insidious. You must not be misled by them and waste your lives!"
The man who spoke unfastened his robes, revealing the attire of a Lingyun Mountain disciple to prove his identity.
"Ah! So it's people from Lingyun Mountain!"
"What they're saying doesn't seem unreasonable."
"Disciples from Lingyun Mountain have personally come forward. Could there really be something wrong with the Saintess Cult?"
Rongzhou was a remote region, and its sects were few compared to other prefectures.
Among the sects in Rongzhou, Lingyun Mountain was undoubtedly the most famous.
The founding ancestor of Lingyun Mountain was a cultivator in the late Tribulation Stage, who was once a renowned immortal cultivating great power in Rongzhou.
Lingyun Mountain had strict disciple selection and a very rigorous sect tradition. Its disciples often acted righteously, and their reputation in Rongzhou was excellent.
Therefore, when these cultivators heard the name Lingyun Mountain, they began to waver.