Bao Gu defended herself, “I didn’t eat anything indiscriminately, I only ate roasted wolf meat and healing spiritual medicine!”
Yu Mi was so angry she was almost jumping, scolding, “If you didn’t eat anything indiscriminately, how could your meridians be so badly damaged?” She had not taken Bao Gu’s cultivation of spiritual medicine to heart, and in just one day of not seeing her, Bao Gu had crippled herself!
Bao Gu pouted with grievance, saying, “It’s already a blessing from my ancestors that I could come back alive.” Tears welled up in her eyes, almost rolling down. Seeing Yu Mi’s displeased expression, she forcibly held back her tears and argued with a hint of defiance, “The Nascent Soul Ancestors and Elders all died there, I managed to come back alive, what more do you want from me… what else do you expect?”
Yu Mi paused, not quite understanding Bao Gu’s words. She asked, “Wait…where did you go?”
Upon hearing Yu Mi’s question, Bao Gu hurriedly poured out the grievances she had rehearsed countless times on her way back, “I went hunting and got lost. At first, I only encountered some tigers and wolves, then I passed through a particularly quiet and eerie forest, and then I reached a bamboo forest. Outside the bamboo forest, I met a short and small old woman who looked like a tree demon. She told me the bamboo forest was forbidden and asked me to leave. I suspected she was a demon, got scared, and ran deeper into the bamboo forest, where I found a long-abandoned path. Following the path up the mountain, I saw ruins. When I was about to leave, I encountered a ghostly old man who captured me and brought me into a courtyard, Senior Sister, there were bones everywhere, our Lingyun Peak had many disciples who died there, including Nascent Soul Ancestors, Elders, and our Lingyun Peak’s Master Ziguang True Monarch.”
Bao Gu’s words changed the expressions of everyone around.
Yu Mi’s face also turned extremely ugly, and she asked, “Did you go into the Death Bamboo Sea?”
Bao Gu nodded and said, “Yes, when I came out of the bamboo forest, I saw a stele that said ‘Forbidden Bamboo Sea, No Return.’ At the foot of the mountain, I also heard a Senior Brother say that it was the Death Bamboo Sea.”
Yu Mi tightly grasped Bao Gu’s hand and said, “You really went to the Death Bamboo Sea and came out alive?! Tell me the truth, don’t lie to me.”
Bao Gu asked, “Why would I lie to you? Senior Sister, I didn’t know it was forbidden to enter.”
Yu Mi thought for a moment and said, “Tell me the route you took. Start from the path you took yesterday morning, you don’t need to mention your previous routes, I know them all.”
“Eh? How do you know?”
Yu Mi glared at Bao Gu and said, “There were demonic beasts deep in the forest, could you have survived without me protecting you? Stop interrupting and answer my questions carefully.”
Bao Gu was touched by Yu Mi’s words about protecting her, and looked at Yu Mi excitedly, thinking, “So Senior Sister was secretly protecting me,” and her grievances lessened significantly. She honestly recounted how she passed through the forest and entered the bamboo forest in detail.
When Bao Gu mentioned being scared by the demon that looked like an old tree, Yu Mi rolled her eyes at her again.
Yu Mi, after hearing Bao Gu mention picking up many identity tokens of fellow disciples in the courtyard, stopped Bao Gu from continuing. She turned to the handsome young man who had been sparring with her and said, “Senior Brother Nanyi, please go and report to the acting sect leader.”
Nanyi, realizing the gravity of the situation, nodded and said, “I’ll go right away, you bring Bao Gu and follow later.” After speaking, he summoned his flying sword and soared into the sky, heading straight for a distant mountain peak.
Yu Mi summoned her flying sword, pulled Bao Gu onto it, and followed far behind Nanyi.
As they flew over the palace complex below and between two mountain peaks, she whispered to Bao Gu, “Your meridians are severely damaged, and with my abilities, I can only ensure your life is not in danger. It will be difficult for you to cultivate in the future. Being able to come out alive from the Death Bamboo Sea is a great fortune. I will ask the acting sect leader to grant medicine to save you, and if that’s not possible, we’ll have to prioritize saving your life. After I and Junior Uncle make a breakthrough, we’ll find a way to heal you.” She hesitated, then asked, “Besides the tokens, did you bring anything else out?”
Bao Gu shook her head, “Everything there was shattered to dust.”
“What about the multicolored great sword?”
“It’s gone. I didn’t see it when I woke up, and the ghostly old man had disappeared too.”
Yu Mi searched Bao Gu’s body with her divine sense again and asked Bao Gu to hand over her storage bag. She only found a bunch of useless items in the storage bag, sighed inwardly, returned the storage bag to Bao Gu, and fell silent with a stern face.
Bao Gu said, “Senior Sister, you have shown me great kindness. If I had brought out any treasures, I would definitely give them to you.”
Yu Mi exclaimed angrily, “Who wants your treasures? If you had obtained a great opportunity or treasures in the Death Bamboo Forest, the sect would definitely find a way to heal your injuries and focus on nurturing you. Now that you have nothing, you’re almost completely useless, with no value for cultivation. At most, the sect will only save your life.” After speaking, she sighed again and said with a laugh, “I didn’t expect you to be so lucky.”
It’s common to see those with five useless spiritual roots, but having complete and neat five spiritual roots is even rarer and actually even more extremely uncommon than having a heavenly spiritual root. Now that Bao Gu has come back alive from the Death Bamboo Sea, where there is no return, Yu Mi saw Bao Gu in a new light. Bao Gu could be someone with great prospects.
During their conversation, they arrived at their destination. Yu Mi steered the flying sword to land outside a courtyard.
At first glance, the courtyard seemed even more shabby than Bao Gu’s. At least Bao Gu’s courtyard was a large wooden structure, while this one only had two small thatched cottages and a circle of fence walls, occupying even less land than Bao Gu’s. If there were experts in formations present, they would realize that the plants in the courtyard were rare spiritual treasures, and the inside and outside of the courtyard were protected by formations.
Yu Mi stood on the small path outside the fenced courtyard and whispered to Bao Gu, “Don’t speak out of turn when you meet the acting sect leader.”
Bao Gu nodded vigorously, looking pitifully at Yu Mi. Although she had saved her life, she didn’t want to become a cripple who couldn’t cultivate. If she had always been a mortal, being unable to cultivate due to damaged meridians wouldn’t matter to her, but now that she had started cultivating, the thought of becoming a mortal again was unbearable.
The door of the thatched cottage opened, and Nanyi walked out to Yu Mi and Bao Gu, saying, “Master invites you in.”
Bao Gu followed Yu Mi and Nanyi into the thatched cottage. She looked around the cottage and was astonished. The acting sect leader’s room was even poorer than hers. The wooden floor was simply covered with a few straw mats. The acting sect leader was sitting on a straw mat in the center on the left side, with four straw mats on each side of him.
The acting sect leader looked to be in his early thirties, with long black hair casually draped behind him, wearing a black brocade robe that faintly shimmered with scale-like patterns, very handsome, and would definitely be considered a refined scholar in the mortal world.
Bao Gu noticed that the cultivators she had seen in the cultivation world were all good-looking, with almost everyone having fair and tender skin, and well-proportioned features. She guessed that only those with good talent could cultivate, and naturally, good talent meant good looks, so there were no ugly ones.
Yu Mi bowed with her hands clasped and said, “Greetings to the acting sect leader.” Seeing Bao Gu staring blankly at the acting sect leader without moving, she quietly kicked Bao Gu’s foot.
Bao Gu turned to look at Yu Mi, and upon seeing her gesture, she quickly followed suit and bowed, “Greetings to the acting sect leader.”
The acting sect leader waved his hand, “Dispense with the formalities!” He looked at Bao Gu and said, “Tell me everything about your venture into the Death Bamboo Sea.”
Bao Gu replied, “Yes!”
Outside the cottage, another voice called out, “Wu Yuanzi seeks an audience with the acting sect leader!”
The acting sect leader said, “Let everyone in!” As his words fell, he stood up and went to the cottage door.
A large group of people entered one after another, totaling more than a dozen, including five or six old men.
Yu Mi and Nanyi quickly turned to face the group entering the door and bowed their heads.
Bao Gu also bowed her head, but she was curious about the newcomers and slightly raised her head to sneak a peek at them, only to find that they were all looking at her.
After the group entered, they each found a spot to sit cross-legged. The old men sat on the straw mats, while the rest scattered and sat on the wooden floor of the cottage.
Nanyi also moved to sit near the door, leaving only Yu Mi standing with Bao Gu.
The acting sect leader signaled Bao Gu to recount her experience in the bamboo sea.
Bao Gu started from the eerily quiet forest she passed through. When she mentioned the old woman who looked like a tree demon, she noticed everyone looking at her strangely. She remembered that when she had called her a tree demon earlier, Yu Mi had also glared at her. Bao Gu nervously asked in a low voice, “Isn’t that short old woman a demon?” As soon as she finished speaking, she found everyone’s gaze on her even stranger.
Yu Mi, unable to contain her frustration, said sternly, “That’s Lingyun Peak’s Guardian Granny! Didn’t I tell you on the first day you were brought up the mountain that Lingyun Peak has a Guardian Granny?”
Bao Gu gasped in shock, then almost burst into tears. She didn’t know that was the Guardian Granny! If she had known that wasn’t a demon, she wouldn’t have gone into the bamboo forest, and she wouldn’t have encountered the ghostly old man or damaged her meridians to become a cripple.
Yu Mi said, “Don’t cry, tell the rest of your story in detail.”
Bao Gu recounted everything that happened after entering the bamboo forest, not omitting a single word, including her speculations and the reasons why she picked up the tokens. She felt very nervous, as everyone’s gaze seemed to see right through her, not daring to be vague in the slightest. She didn’t feel ashamed of being scared in that place; picking up the tokens to signal her fellow disciples was also a way to give herself encouragement and hope for life.
After Bao Gu finished her story and handed over the tokens she had collected, the acting sect leader said she had unraveled a great mystery that had plagued the sect for tens of thousands of years and had made a great contribution to the sect. He then promoted her to an inner disciple of Lingyun Peak and allowed her to leave.
Yu Mi knelt down and pleaded with the acting sect leader, the Elders, and the Nascent Soul Ancestors present to treat Bao Gu’s meridian injuries.
The acting sect leader said to Yu Mi, “Lingyun Peak is not short of miraculous medicines. Your breakthrough to the Golden Core stage is imminent. Once you break through, why worry about not being able to heal her?” As he spoke, he flipped his palm, and a small jade bottle appeared in his hand, saying, “Here are three Golden Core Pills, take them.” After speaking, he waved his hand, and a jade bottle containing the three Golden Core Pills landed in front of Yu Mi. He then looked at Bao Gu and said, “Cultivating with five spiritual roots is extremely difficult, but if you can break through to the Nascent Soul stage, you will be an extraordinary talent. Treat hardships as a whetstone, and cultivate diligently.” With a flick of his sleeve, he dismissed the two of them, and waved his hand to Nanyi to leave as well.
After Nanyi, Bao Gu, and Yu Mi had left, the acting sect leader asked, “What are your opinions?”
