53: Chapter 53 Once Stinky, Now Fragrant

Everyone watched as Cao Ben's figure disappeared at the end of the mountain path, and only then did Deacon Wu turn his head and look Xia Shaoxin up and down, as if he wanted to get to know him all over again.

Senior Brother Shao Junwei had been holding back for a long time and finally muttered, "This Fellow Daoist Cao must be over sixty, right? He couldn't even handle Junior Brother Xia, who just reached the Qi Refining Realm, and his cultivation is only at the first level of the Qi Refining Realm. He hasn't made any progress in all these years."

Deacon Wu glared at him fiercely: "Don't badmouth people behind their backs."

Senior Brother Shao Junwei chuckled: "Fine, next time I'll badmouth him to his face."

"Don't joke around. If you really did that, you'd easily bring trouble upon yourself." Deacon Wu was very displeased.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran hurriedly pulled Senior Brother Shao Junwei away and laughed, "Deacon Wu, don't take it to heart. Senior Brother Shao just loves to tease."

Deacon Wu was not in the mood for teasing and turned to ask Xia Shaoxin, "Did you really only succeed in reaching the Qi Refining Realm today?"

"Yes. When you were calling for me outside the prison cell, a current of heat surged within my body, and I fell into a Void Realm. It was at that moment that I had my Breakthrough."

Deacon Wu said with emotion: "It is truly heaven's will. If we had come to arrest you earlier, or if you hadn't stepped into the Qi Refining Realm today, Fellow Daoist Cao would have taken you away."

Wang Xinhao asked: "Did Fellow Daoist Cao intend to kill him from the beginning?"

Deacon Wu gave a cold snort: "This kid killed several officials in the Yue Kingdom. If it weren't for the incompetent and bureaucratic head of the Punitive Division, he wouldn't have even made it to the Chiyan Sect!"

Senior Brother Shao Junwei laughed, saying it was heaven's will that the Chiyan Sect gained another Inner Sect Disciple.

Deacon Wu circled around Xia Shaoxin and said with great confusion: "Strange, Bug Catchers are eroded by poisonous miasma, which clashes with Spiritual Qi. How were you able to successfully Cultivate to the Qi Refining Realm?"

Xia Shaoxin quickly said: "I just followed the requirements of the Introductory Cultivation Method and Cultivated day and night."

Wang Xinhao laughed: "Did you eat some kind of Medicinal Pill?"

Xia Shaoxin spread his hands: "I haven't even seen a Medicinal Pill. If I have to say I ate anything, it was only jade bamboo spirit leaf."

This statement was true; not a single word was false.

It's just that other Utility Disciples ate one leaf a month, while he ate several a day.

Eating that much and only breaking through today—his Aptitude was truly poor.

Fortunately, he had finally broken through to the Qi Refining Realm and was now on safe ground.

Wang Xinhao thought of something strange and, resting his chin on his hand, pondered: "You spent a long time learning the Introductory Cultivation Method, and with such poor Aptitude, you were still quite fast at reaching the step of Circulating the Heavenly Cycle once you learned it. You were only in prison for a few months, and yet you managed to have a Breakthrough to the Qi Refining Realm..."

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran and Senior Brother Shao Junwei instinctively exchanged a look.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran had helped him learn the Introductory Cultivation Method, but at the time, they had just felt sympathy for Xia Shaoxin and were helping him learn the technique to fulfill his wish.

They absolutely never expected him to truly succeed in reaching the Qi Refining Realm.

There were indeed suspicious points here, and the two of them understood this tacitly, not wanting to discuss it there.

"Cultivation speed is naturally fast sometimes and slow at others. Although it is miraculous, it is still plausible," said Deacon Qin Wen.

"Hmm, right, that's true." Deacon Wu nodded, glanced at Xia Shaoxin, and said with a chuckle, "Perhaps he doesn't have anything else, but he just has good luck."

Xia Shaoxin quickly said: "I also think it was luck."

Once the answer turned to luck, there was nothing left to discuss.

Deacon Wu stopped dwelling on the matter and turned to look in the direction of the Chiyan Sect's main hall.

"We need to tell Elder Huang, who is on duty this month. Whether you can stay depends on him saying the word... but generally, he won't object."

Senior Brother Shao Junwei said: "Let's go together. The Chiyan Sect has added a new Qi Refining Realm Disciple today, and I want to soak up some of his good luck."

Everyone laughed and walked toward the main hall.

Deacon Wang walked at the back, looking at Xia Shaoxin's back, stroking his beard and smiling: "In the past, when I saw him, I felt he wasn't good at social interaction and was too stubborn, making him hard to like. Seeing him today, he has an extraordinary air of heroism; the younger generation is truly formidable."

Senior Brother Shao Junwei spoke bluntly: "In the past, he was just a Utility Disciple, so you wouldn't have even looked at him properly. Now that he has successfully reached the Qi Refining Realm and is on equal footing with us, you see him as fragrant."

Deacon Wang was very helpless and glared fiercely at Senior Brother Shao Junwei: "You are quite right. I see Xia Shaoxin as fragrant, and I see you as stinky."

Everyone laughed all the way.

Xia Shaoxin felt very emotional inside.

Senior Brother Shao Junwei's words were blunt, but they were correct.

It is the same with Mortals; as long as one has money, even if one looks ugly, one is considered good-looking.

Not to mention Deacons and Inner Sect Disciples, even the surrounding Utility Disciples who were watching the excitement used to look at him like they were seeing something dirty, not even glancing at him properly. Now, one by one, they all showed expressions of fear.

After all, they had stayed in the Sect since childhood and developed the delusion that they were noble, looking down on Xia Shaoxin, who had been recruited purely as a Utility Disciple.

He suddenly noticed that all his former roommates were gone; they probably didn't dare to appear in his line of sight anymore.

...

Arriving at the Chiyan Sect's main hall, Elder Huang was listening to a report from another deacon and was very confused to see Deacon Wu bringing a group of people over.

After the other deacon finished speaking, Deacon Wu and the others led Xia Shaoxin in.

Elder Huang did not recognize Xia Shaoxin.

At this moment, Xia Shaoxin was still wearing the clothes of a Utility Disciple. Elder Huang was very confused: why bring a Utility Disciple to me?

"Elder Huang, this person is a Utility Disciple of our Chiyan Sect who just broke through to the Qi Refining Realm today." Deacon Wu pointed at Xia Shaoxin and introduced him.

Elder Huang was stunned for a few seconds, even more confused in his heart. Although breaking through to the Qi Refining Realm is a happy event, there was no need to bring him to me specifically, right?

"Good, very good."

Elder Huang's tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed, and his face was full of smiles.

"What is your name?"

"This Disciple is named Xia Shaoxin."

Elder Huang was stunned: "Eh, this name, why does it sound a bit familiar?"

Glancing at the official document for Cao Ben that was still on the table, he picked it up and looked at it, saying in surprise: "Aren't you a fugitive from the Yue Kingdom?"

Deacon Wu hurriedly reported the subsequent events.

"I remember you are also a criminal of the Chiyan Sect!"

Xia Shaoxin stepped forward personally and briefly recounted the bullying he had suffered at the hands of Nangong Yi and the others.

"Oh, so that's how it is."

Deacon Wu quickly said: "Xia Shaoxin was originally a Utility Disciple. Now that he has broken through to the Qi Refining Realm, according to the rules, he should become an Inner Sect Disciple, but because it involves a case with the imperial court, I have come to ask for the Elder's instructions."

Only then did Elder Huang understand the purpose of Deacon Wu bringing him here.

After pondering for a moment, Elder Huang made a decision: "This is heaven's will. You were not raised here as a child, but you broke through to the Qi Refining Realm within the Chiyan Sect, so you can be considered part of our Chiyan Sect's legitimate lineage. From now on, you shall stay in the Chiyan Sect."

Xia Shaoxin let out a long sigh of relief and said in a clear voice: "Many thanks, Elder Huang."

He was filled with deep emotions. Who would have dared to believe that a year and a half ago, he was still on Dawu Mountain catching Poisonous Insects and fighting a life-and-death struggle against people from the Gu Bureau, who were even more terrifying than the insects?

In just one year, not only had he successfully reached the Qi Refining Realm, but he had also become an Inner Sect Disciple.

It is no exaggeration to say that even if he made no further progress from now on, he could still live comfortably in the Chiyan Sect.

Compared to his life on Dawu Mountain, this could be considered ascending to heaven.