……

Upon hearing this, Wang Shouzhe’s heart sank abruptly.

Although the elder from Changchun hadn’t displayed the pressure of the Purple Mansion realm, nor had he deliberately suppressed him. Yet, the elder’s casual remark still made him shiver, as if a great disaster was imminent.

“Elder, I was just joking with my junior sister, how could I really take her money?” Wang Shouzhe laughed awkwardly, decisively pulling out the ten thousand plus Top Gold and handed it to the elder from Changchun, “Please trouble elder to return this money to my junior sister.”

“Although your items are a bit expensive, they are full of creativity. Since Luwei likes them, let her have them.” The elder from Changchun didn’t care. At his level, he didn’t care about such a small amount of money. Moreover, it was Luwei’s own money, how she spent it was her own choice.

“What does the elder mean?” Wang Shouzhe was somewhat puzzled.

“Everyone, leave.”

The elder from Changchun didn’t directly answer, but glanced at the others and casually ordered.

The disciples of Changchun Valley immediately took the hint and respectfully retreated.

Suddenly, only the elder from Changchun and Wang Shouzhe were left in the Hall of Dao.

The elder from Changchun glanced at Wang Shouzhe, and Wang Shouzhe immediately felt as if he had been seen through, all his thoughts were exposed in front of him.

Wang Shouzhe’s nerves tightened instantly.

However, just when he thought the elder from Changchun was going to scold him, the elder suddenly sighed and said leisurely, “Luwei is different from the other disciples. She is not from a noble family, but a child I picked up in the wild. Because she grew up in Changchun Valley, her understanding of many things is different from ordinary people.”

He paused, his tone suddenly became serious, “She might have offended you just now, as her master, I apologize on her behalf.”

“Elder, you’re being too serious.” Wang Shouzhe quickly clasped his hands and bowed, saying solemnly, “I was just joking with junior sister Luwei. She is innocent and lively, I don’t find her annoying.”

“Hmm. Tolerant and strategic, you are indeed a good seedling.”

Seeing him like this, the elder from Changchun’s mood improved a lot.

He looked at Wang Shouzhe with a smile and praised, “You, an outsider, are even better than many of my core disciples. At such a young age, you have practiced the ‘Changchun True Scripture’ to such a level. You are truly a pearl lost in the sea.”

“Elder, you flatter me, you flatter me,” Wang Shouzhe said modestly, “I still have a long way to go compared to my senior brothers.”

“I heard you say earlier that the Wang’s Clan No.7 wheat variety cannot be cultivated a second time from the root.” The elder from Changchun beckoned Wang Shouzhe to sit down next to him, his attitude was warm, “Can you tell me about it?”

Wang Shouzhe was secretly pondering.

Could it be that the elder from Changchun already knew that the Wang’s Clan No.7 wheat variety was his doing?

Although the Wang’s Clan No.7 wheat variety is good, it’s just a small thing in the eyes of the entire academy, the elder from Changchun should not be coveting it.

Hmm, he must be just curious.

With this thought, he honestly replied, “Elder, this wheat variety was accidentally developed by me. Unlike the grain varieties cultivated by other families, my approach was to first cultivate seeds that lose their ability to reproduce after being soaked in a special liquid, and then continuously optimize them to increase yield based on this.”

“I see.”

The elder from Changchun suddenly realized, and then couldn’t help but laugh, “Your thinking is quite unique, prioritizing the prevention of others from cracking the code before considering the yield of the grain. The idea is good, but it’s a bit too petty, the vision is not high enough.”

“Elder, as the saying goes, ‘When rich, one should help the world; when poor, one should help oneself.’” Wang Shouzhe stood with his hands clasped, calmly saying, “My family is small, and we rely on these two varieties to make a living, so naturally we should be selfish first, and then considerate.”

The implication was that if the Wang’s Clan had the same strength as the Purple Mansion Academy, their ideas and vision would naturally be different.

“What you said makes sense. Your ideas are unique and not just following the crowd.” The elder from Changchun nodded in approval, “Would you like to join the academy and become one of my core disciples?”

Upon hearing this, Wang Shouzhe was taken aback.

Others are desperate to become core disciples but can’t, but he, on the other hand, hadn’t even spoken two sentences, and the elder from Changchun had already extended an olive branch to him.

If others knew about his treatment, they would probably die of jealousy.

So should he accept it or not?

Is there even a need to ask?

“I thank the elder from Changchun for his kindness.” Wang Shouzhe bowed to the elder from Changchun, giving a deep bow, “However, as the head of a clan, I bear the heavy responsibility of the family and I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay in the academy for a long time to study, I hope the elder will forgive me.”

“But, wherever the elder needs me, just give the word, and I will do my best.”

This was naturally a polite refusal.

Wang Shouzhe really wasn’t interested in studying at the academy.

The elder from Changchun looked at him surprisingly, his expression seemed a bit regretful, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.

“If that’s the case, then forget it.”

He just saw that Wang Shouzhe had some potential and couldn’t bear to see a pearl covered in dust. Since the other party was not interested, he, as an elder, would not invite him again.

“But you do have some potential.” The elder from Changchun said again, “Since we have the chance today, and I have drunk your spiritual wine, I will give you half an hour. Do you have any questions about cultivation?”

Wang Shouzhe was overjoyed.

He thought that refusing the elder from Changchun might anger him, but he didn’t expect him to be so easygoing. Not only was he not angry, but he was also willing to give him guidance.He immediately sorted out his thoughts and shared all the confusion, doubts, and bewilderment he had encountered over the years while practicing the Longevity True Scripture.

The Longevity True Man, like a kind and patient teacher, answered each of Wang Shouzhe’s questions one by one.

He spoke in an orderly manner, often dispelling Wang Shouzhe’s doubts with just a few sentences, giving him a sense of sudden enlightenment.

As time passed, Wang Shouzhe’s respect for the Longevity True Man deepened.

He was indeed a venerable elder.

It was said that he was also one of the oldest elders.

The two of them exchanged questions and answers, and half an hour passed quickly.

All the questions that Wang Shouzhe had accumulated in his heart were satisfactorily answered, and all the puzzling and obscure points were clarified.

Out of gratitude, he took out the gifts he had prepared for the Longevity True Man from his storage ring one by one.

Before coming here, he had made various assumptions and had pestered Ancestor Xuanfu to get a rough idea of the preferences and temperaments of the elders in the Purple Mansion Academy.

However, Ancestor Xuanfu was not good at this, and what she said was vague. Wang Shouzhe could only guess and understand half of it, and he had prepared several gift plans accordingly.

The Longevity True Man was the oldest elder in the Purple Mansion Academy.

Having lived for a long time and seen many things, his desires naturally faded.

According to Ancestor Xuanfu, the Longevity True Man was most at peace with the world, had a calm nature, and appeared to be free of desires.

Therefore, Wang Shouzhe could only manage to prepare some fine spirit wine, some white jade spirit rice, and some red crystal spirit rice seeds. These seeds were not the latest varieties developed by Wang Shouzhe, but were discarded during the research and development process.

But even the discarded ones had their unique features.

“Elder,” Wang Shouzhe presented these local products one by one, “these are all produced from our Wang’s Clan’s own land, just to express our gratitude to you.”

The Longevity True Man looked at them and indeed, they were all small trinkets.

To this, he was actually pleased and said, “You are thoughtful, child.”

With his temperament, if Wang Shouzhe had brought out a pile of valuable things, he would probably have been kicked out immediately.

His fondness for Wang Shouzhe increased a bit more.

There were not many seeds of white jade spirit rice and red crystal spirit rice.

The Longevity True Man glanced at them and said, “These two are common spirit rice, but they are slightly larger in size. I presume they are new spirit species cultivated by your family.”

Wang Shouzhe explained to the Longevity True Man the features of these two new spirit rice species. They had larger grains and increased yield. The biggest feature was that they could be bred twice.

“You are quite clever, child,” the Longevity True Man said, “Many noble families have cultivated two kinds, and they often cherish their own brooms. In this way, these two kinds of spirit rice species. I will study them for reference and will not spread them out.”

In his life, he had seen countless spirit species, many of which had been improved. Wang Shouzhe’s two kinds, although they had their features, there were many more powerful ones in some top Basalt clans.

“Since it’s a gift to the elder, how to dispose of it is up to the elder.” Wang Shouzhe said indifferently.

The things that could be given away were naturally because there were better ones. And he was very clear that as long as he was given time, the future Wang’s Clan would have more powerful spirit species.

These were just primary spirit species.

“By the way, since your surname is Wang,” the Longevity True Man suddenly remembered something, “You wouldn’t happen to know Long Yan, would you?”

He asked this casually, after all, there were many people with the surname Wang in the world. But these days, the Ice Wave Elder said he wanted to take Long Yan back to the sect, and he had expressed some opposition. Suddenly remembering this, he casually asked.

Uh…

Wang Shouzhe was a bit confused and somewhat apprehensive, and couldn’t help but cautiously ask, “The person the elder mentioned… is my great-aunt, is there any problem?”

Any problem?

The Longevity True Man’s immortal-like demeanor faltered, and he suddenly fell silent.

After a while, he deflated and said, “Forget it~ You are a foreign disciple, these traditions in the academy have nothing to do with you.”

“Never mind, this matter has nothing to do with you, you can leave now.”

With that, he waved his hand, seemingly unwilling to talk more.

Wang Shouzhe was puzzled and apprehensive, but he dared not disobey, so he could only bow to the Longevity True Man and say, “In that case, I will take my leave.”

This left him puzzled.

Why did the Longevity True Man’s attitude towards him suddenly become cold when he mentioned Ancestor Long Yan?

Could it be that Ancestor Long Yan had offended the Longevity True Man? But that shouldn’t be the case.

After all, there was a big gap between the two in terms of status and cultivation.

…

Just a little earlier.

At another end of the Purple Mansion Academy.

A towering mountain stood among the peaks, standing out like a crane among chickens.

Thin wisps of mist wound from the mountainside to the top, and from a distance, the entire mountain seemed to be shrouded in a hazy veil, full of vitality and immortal aura, making people forget the mundane world upon seeing it.

This mountain was called the Carefree Peak.

On the Carefree Peak, there was a Carefree Palace.

The Carefree Palace was located on the edge of a steep cliff, majestic and grand, fully displaying the charm of the immortals.

It was where one of the elders of the Purple Mansion Academy, Elder Xuan Yao, resided.

Among all the peaks, valleys, and palaces, the Carefree Peak was not the most powerful lineage. This was because Elder Xuan Yao was the youngest among the elders, and he was not yet five hundred years old.Therefore, when he recruited disciples, he often lowered the threshold, accepting more disciples to boost his prestige. However, this resulted in a mixed bag of disciples at Xiaoyao Peak, with both good and bad among them.

Moreover, he had ascended to the Zifu realm less than two hundred years ago, and only two or three of his disciples were personally taught by him. There were only about twenty or thirty core disciples, but there were a large number of ordinary and excellent disciples.

Every time the academy started recruiting disciples, a large number of new disciples were admitted. However, only a few of them were outstanding. Overall, even if they were not the worst, they were at most mediocre.

There was a tradition in the Zifu Academy. Every three years after the recruitment conference, seniors from each peak, valley, and hall would take their juniors to visit other peaks and valleys to gain some experience.

The official reason was to introduce them to the disciples of other sects. In reality, it was to show off the strength of their own sect and the excellence of their new disciples.

Based on this unspoken rule.

A unique feature naturally emerged, that is, the seniors would only take their juniors to visit those sects they could defeat.

As for those they couldn’t defeat, they were usually the ones being “visited”.

The sect of Master Xuan Yao was usually the one visiting others, and also being visited by others.

But this time, everything was different.

Inside the Xiaoyao Hall, disciples from Xiaoyao Peak were gathered together.

Master Xuan Yao was sitting high in the main hall, looking down at the disciples on the steps below.

He was in his prime, with his eyebrows furrowed and a dignified demeanor.

Incense smoke rose from the brass incense burner beside him, blurring his figure, but it couldn’t hide his towering presence, like a mountain range, majestic and grand.

A huge stone sword was embedded in the wall behind him. It looked simple and unadorned, but it seemed to emit a chilling sword aura.

Under the backdrop of this stone sword, Master Xuan Yao’s aura seemed to be even more profound and sharp, making people feel intimidated at first sight, not daring to look directly at him.

The ones gathered in the main hall were the core disciples of Xiaoyao Peak, as well as some potential core disciples, totaling more than thirty people. Except for some core disciples who were on assignments elsewhere for special reasons, everyone was present.

This time they were all very excited, discussing with each other, this year was obviously different.

“Brother Xiuping,” a spirited young man said, “Last time it was you who took the juniors out for experience. This time it should be my turn.”

“Brother Yuanbai, don’t you remember what happened last time? None of the new disciples were reliable.” Brother Xiuping said indignantly, “I wasn’t taking them for experience, we were the ones being experienced.”

“This time we finally have a peerless genius, a turning point, you can’t steal my chance for revenge.”

The top-ranking core disciples were all looking at each other, discussing who should lead the new disciples this time.

In the end, they all turned their eyes to their master, Master Xuan Yao.

It seemed they were waiting for the master’s decision.

Master Xuan Yao slowly stood up, his hands behind his back, his dignified face revealing a hint of excitement that he couldn’t hide: “Stop arguing. This time, I will personally take the new disciples to visit other sects.”

His expression was calm, but he was laughing in his heart, laughing loudly.

With such a disciple, such a glorious momentum, how could he miss it? How many years had it been, how many years had his sect been suppressed?

The core disciples had no choice, if the master was going to go, what could they do? They could only try to follow, to share in the glory.

A disciple asked curiously, “Master, which sect are we going to visit first this time? We’re not going directly to Xuanbing Hall, are we?” Xuanbing Hall was always a popular choice for visiting other sects.

“Hmph! This time, we must go to Xuanbing Hall. But as usual, let’s go to Changchun Valley first, to warm up.”

“Master is wise.”

Everyone responded in unison, their faces all showing excited expressions.

…