"Did you see that? The servant disciple defeated the outer sect disciples. Haha!"
"Yeah, Yang Ye really stood up for us servant disciples. Who dares to call us lowly now? Haha!"
"Outer sect disciples! I told you before that Yang Ye is extraordinary. He will soar like a true dragon from the abyss. Do you believe it now?"
"You idiot, did you say that before?"
"..."
On this day, the disciples of the servant peak were all discussing Yang Ye's feat, neglecting their duties. Many servant disciples were too engrossed in the conversation to carry out their tasks.
Qilian Peak.
Qilian Peak was the training ground for outer sect disciples. It had seven practice areas: Golden Armor Formation, Wooden Man Lane, Thousand Waves Pond, Magma Cave, Gravity Abyss, Yin Wind Ridge, and Thunder God Valley. However, access to Qilian Peak was not freely granted. Besides the top ten ranked individuals on the outer sect rankings, others could only exchange their contributions to the sect for practice time.
To obtain sect contribution points, one needed to venture into the Ten Thousand Mountains and hunt profound beasts or undertake certain tasks assigned by the sect. These sect missions were extremely difficult, and most outer sect disciples didn't dare to accept them. Only those with exceptional talent and strong abilities would dare to undertake sect missions.
Although there were thousands of outer sect disciples, only less than fifty could enter Qilian Peak. These fifty individuals were the most powerful among the outer sect disciples.
"Big Brother Qingyu, Yang Ye has become a Profound Master and even defeated Duan Jun, an Eighth Rank Profound Master!" In the Wooden Man Lane, an outer sect disciple spoke solemnly to a white-robed man in front of him.
The white-robed man was none other than Liu Qingyu, who ranked sixty-fifth on the outer sect rankings. He was hailed as the most dazzling genius in Annan City and had become an Innate Expert at the age of seventeen.
Upon hearing the disciple's words, Liu Qingyu furrowed his brows and said, "That waste has become a Profound Master? When I arrived at the Sword Sect, my father told me to deal with Yang Ye if I had the chance. But when I came here, I realized that Yang Ye wasn't an outer sect disciple anymore. He became a servant disciple, known as the number one waste in history. So I didn't bother dealing with him because he's not worth my time. But now, I never expected him to become a Profound Master."
"Yes, but it seems like he's still not an outer sect disciple. Should we deal with him?" the disciple asked.
Liu Qingyu pondered for a moment, then shook his head, a cold light flashing in his eyes. "No, let's go and meet this waste who has become a Profound Master!"
Qingfeng Valley.
"Little servant, take this ring. There are some energy stones inside," Bao'er said with a smile, handing the exquisite ring she had extorted from Feng Yu to Yang Ye by the water pool.
As Yang Ye saw the ring, his eyes widened, and after a moment of contemplation, he shook his head. "Bao'er, this ring is too precious. I can't accept it!" A ring like this, a spatial treasure, would be hard to resist, but Yang Ye had his principles.
"Little servant, don't be like that. Bao'er won't be happy!" Bao'er frowned at Yang Ye and said, "It's just a ring, not something extraordinary. Besides, without you, Bao'er wouldn't have won so much. If you refuse, Bao'er will just throw it away!"
Upon hearing Bao'er's words, a warm feeling surged through Yang Ye. He couldn't refuse any longer and accepted the ring from Bao'er's hand. However, he quickly thought of something and took out the powerful talisman he had crafted from his pocket, offering it to Bao'er. "Bao'er, this is a high-grade talisman that I made. It's for you!"
"Mmm!" Bao'er nodded with a smile as she saw Yang Ye accept the ring. Suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise. "You... You... You said you crafted a powerful talisman in half a month, and it's even a high-grade one?"
"Yes!" Yang Ye nodded and replied, "I failed many times before. I wasted a lot of the materials you gave me. But finally, I succeeded!" He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed as he mentioned his failures.
Bao'er looked at Yang Ye strangely, thinking to herself, "Grandfather is such a big liar. It took me three months to craft a talisman, and it was only of medium-grade quality. But he claimed I was a genius. He must have been lying to me. Humph, just wait until you come back. I'll pluck all your whiskers!"
"What's wrong? Am I not good enough?" Yang Ye asked when he noticed Bao'er's silence.
Bao'er's face turned even stranger, but after a while, she regained her composure and looked at Yang Ye, nodding. "It took you half a month to craft a talisman. Your talent is... well, just average, slightly inferior to Bao'er!" After speaking, her cheeks inexplicably turned red.
Hearing Bao'er's words, Yang Ye breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good to hear. By the way, Bao'er, I'm not very familiar with talismans of other attributes. Can you teach me?"
Bao'er pretended to hesitate and put on a difficult expression. But seeing Yang Ye's nervousness, she quickly said, "Well, that depends on whether you agree to a condition!"
"What condition?" Yang Ye became excited. Becoming a runemaster would bring tremendous benefits to his strength and future prospects.
"I will be your grandfather's disciple on his behalf. If you agree to be my grandfather's disciple, well, that makes you my junior martial sibling. How about it?" Bao'er looked at Yang Ye, her lively eyes shimmering with a peculiar light.
"Be your junior martial sibling?" Yang Ye was taken aback.
"What's wrong? Don't want to?" Bao'er said with a hint of displeasure.
Yang Ye quickly shook his head and said, "No, the more accomplished should come first. I'm definitely willing to be your junior martial sibling. But, Bao'er, is your grandfather willing to accept me as his disciple? What if he's not willing...?" Yes, he still had some concerns. Every runemaster was extremely powerful, and if Bao'er's grandfather didn't think highly of him, it would be quite embarrassing.
Upon hearing this, the unhappy expression on Bao'er's face vanished instantly, and she smiled. "Don't worry about him. As long as I'm willing, it's enough. Alright, from now on, you're my junior martial sibling. I'll take care of you. It's getting late today. When I have time, I'll come to find you. In the meantime, you should study talismans of other attributes. Consider it a task. Next time I come, I'll test you. Understand?"
Yang Ye didn't dare to shake his head and quickly nodded.
Seeing Yang Ye's agreement, Bao'er nodded satisfactorily and said, "It's getting late, I'll leave now. I'll take this powerful talisman back with me to examine it. Yes, just to check it. No need to accompany me." After saying that, Bao'er ran towards Qingfeng Valley. At that moment, a smile bloomed on her serious little face, and she thought to herself, "I've struck gold. Haha, I discovered this treasure. And now he's become my junior martial sibling. Hehe..."
Seeing Bao'er's demeanor, Yang Ye couldn't help but feel that something was off. Bao'er was about the same age as Xiao Yao, but she had a mischievous air about her. She had definitely concealed something from him earlier.
"Forget it, she definitely doesn't have any ill intentions towards me!" Yang Ye smiled and shook his head, dismissing the strangeness of Bao'er. He shifted his gaze to the ring Bao'er had given him, the Xumi Ring. As he looked at the ring in his hand, Yang Ye's mood grew slightly excited. This was the Xumi Ring, something that even the lord of Annan City might not possess!
After playing with it for a while, Yang Ye immersed his spiritual energy into the ring. When he saw the spatial interior of the ring, his heart skipped a beat. The space inside the ring seemed unusually large, spanning about twenty yards in both length and width. Moreover, there were numerous energy stones inside the ring, totaling at least tens of thousands!
Recalling Bao'er's words earlier, Yang Ye twitched at the corner of his mouth. Bao'er had mentioned that there were a few energy stones inside, and he thought there would only be a few hundred. But he hadn't expected it to be over ten thousand!
"This is a huge favor!" Looking at the energy stones, Yang Ye shook his head with a smile. This time, he truly realized what it meant to be wealthy and generous.
Slipping the ring onto his finger, Yang Ye set aside his thoughts and took out the high-grade Xuan Iron Sword given to him by Elder Feng Yu. The Xuan Iron Sword was about one meter and six centimeters long, two fingers wide, emitting a chilling radiance throughout its entire body. It was exceptionally sharp and, with a casual swing, produced a faint sword hum.
"What a good sword!"
Looking at the Xuan Iron Sword in his hand, Yang Ye's eyes glimmered with joy as he softly said, "I had planned to go to the Sword Pavilion after becoming an outer disciple to choose a sword, but I didn't expect Elder Feng Yu to gift me with a sword, and a high-grade Xuan Iron Sword at that. Finally, I won't have to practice sword techniques with tree branches anymore."
"In twenty-eight days, it will be the biennial assessment for the outer disciples of the Sword Sect. With my current strength, it shouldn't be difficult to become an outer disciple, but if I want to rank in the top ten, I still have some room for improvement. I must enhance my abilities." As Yang Ye looked at the sword in his hand, he murmured softly.