"Is it a little fat man and a girl? Yes, that's Xu Ying!" As one of the four people who were first admitted as inner disciples, Murong Xue naturally recognized Xu Ying.
"Yes, where are they?" Yuanxiao asked anxiously.
"What a coincidence! I just ran into them. They walked in from the fork on the right. It wasn't long ago!" Murong Xue pointed to the right.
"Thank you! Remember not to expose your harvest when you return to the square." After Yuanxiao said that, he immediately followed the direction of Murong Xue's finger.
Fortunately, there were no forks in this section of the passage. After running for about an incense stick, Yuanxiao saw a light on the platform ahead from afar. It was most likely the little fat man and his companions. So he put away the night-shining pearl, took out four low-grade spirit stones and prepared them. He raised his hand and threw out the feather of invisibility, concealing himself.
Yuan Xiao had his own reasoning behind only giving four low-grade spirit stones. He had spent several hours in the mine without finding a single low-grade spirit stone, and neither had Wang Yin's trio or the fat and thin duo.
Even Murong Xue, who came from a family of cultivators, only found two with the help of the treasure compass. Moreover, Murong Xue had been admitted as an inner disciple and did not occupy the top three spots.
Although Yuanxiao hadn't seen the others, it was estimated that most of them came empty-handed. If he gave too much, it would easily arouse the suspicion of the sect elders, and if the fat man was not good at explaining it, it would easily cause problems.
So these spirit stones must be given, but not in person.
If Fatty and Sakura knew that they were given the spirit stones by him, although his secret might not be exposed, he would have to explain a lot of things.
If the sect elders asked about it in detail, and if the fat boy couldn't justify his explanation, it would easily lead to complications. If the sect decided to investigate the matter in detail, his plan to stay at the old site would be difficult to realize.
"Do you think these sect elders are playing tricks on us? We've been searching for half a day, our eyes are almost popping out, but we haven't found a single low-grade spirit stone!" the little fat man said angrily.
"We should still have three or four hours, let's keep looking. The middle-aged Taoist priest who presided over the selection test has an immortal look and doesn't look like someone who would fool us." Sakura said.
The little fat man thought about it and realized that the middle-aged Taoist priest who was in charge was also one of the elders. He could faintly smell the fragrance of medicine when he approached. He must be someone who had been in contact with elixirs for many years. He had an otherworldly temperament, which was in line with the image of an immortal in the little fat man's mind. He really didn't look like someone who would fool others.
"Forget it, I'd better be an outer disciple with peace of mind. Outer disciples can participate in the annual competition within the sect after three years. If they perform well, they can be promoted to the inner sect. As long as I stay, my chances are still quite good. For a cultivator, three years is not a long time. I, the little fat man, still have confidence!" The little fat man Hu Lai rarely gets stuck in a dead end and is very open-minded about most things.
"Hey, Sakura, look what this is?!" the little fat man suddenly shouted.
Sakura leaned over to take a look and saw four white spirit stones poking out from the corner of the platform, near the base of the wall. Half of them were buried in the soil, and half were exposed. Under the illumination of the night pearl, they emitted a bright white luster.
The little fat man was almost dumbfounded. He had searched for a long time without seeing any, and now he found four at once. He picked them up and held them in his hands, comparing them with the low-grade spirit stone samples given by the sect. He confirmed that they were indeed low-grade spirit stones, and they seemed to be even better!
"Come on, Xiaoying, let's have two each!" The little fat boy stretched out his hand and handed over two, saying happily. "If I see Yuanxiao later and he can't find it, I'll give him another one!"
"Hu Lai, why have you suddenly become stupid? We both don't need it. The presiding elder said earlier that even if the four of us who have been admitted as inner disciples get the top three places in the search for spirit stones, it will not take up the quota. Moreover, these spirit stones must be handed in, and those who find them do not belong to us."
"On the contrary, you, with these four spirit stones, should be able to enter the top three, and then you can be admitted as an inner disciple like us!" Sakura was also very happy.
"That's true!" Among the three of them, I was the only one who was accepted as an outer disciple. If I could get into the top three in the test with these four low-grade spirit stones, I would also become an inner disciple! What a wonderful thing!
Thinking about becoming an inner sect disciple, the little fat boy suddenly felt elated. Now he didn’t have to go back to inherit the family fortune!
The little fat boy didn't act pretentiously and collected all four spirit stones and put them into the cloth bag.
At this time, the little fat boy was in high spirits. He patted his belly and shouted, "Let's go and keep looking!" which also amused Sakura.
The two of them gradually walked away.
Yuanxiao then emerged from the darkness and put away his invisible feathers. This little fat man had also made him laugh.
Of course, Yuanxiao had placed the four low-grade spirit stones there. To make it seem more realistic, he even half-buried them in mud, making them believe they had found them by sheer luck. That way, even if the sect elders questioned them, they wouldn't be timid or panic.
When telling the truth, your expression and tone are the most real and credible.
After completing this second major task, there was only one last thing left: after the sect test was over, how to find a way to stay at the old site of the Yunhai City Mountain Gate so as to make the most of the money from the mine in the back mountain.
People like Yuanxiao who were recruited as inner disciples still have one year of outer sect service. If they can stay here for a year, they should be able to get most of the wool from the mines!
Yuanxiao took out the night pearl, chose a different passage from Xiaopang and the others, and walked in to continue searching for the miscellaneous spirit stones.
Three hours later, Xiaopang and his companions no longer saw any "piles of spirit stones" in the wild.
Yuanxiao, on the other hand, had a bountiful harvest, picking up a bunch of miscellaneous spirit stones and throwing them into his ring. Figuring the gathering time was approaching, Yuanxiao decided to return to the square via the other mine passage when he encountered the next fusion intersection.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the platform ahead, followed by a series of chewing sounds, but no light from the night pearl shone through. Was there someone there?
This is the mountain behind the mountain gate, which should be a very safe place. Yuanxiao raised the night pearl in his hand and walked over bravely. When he looked out, he met the eyes of a little guy!
Spirit-eating marten!
It is very similar to the spirit-eating marten raised by the Fourth Elder, except that the Fourth Elder's one is completely gray, while this one is golden, but the tip of its tail has a little red.
It was probably a young Spirit-Eating Marten, as it was smaller than the Fourth Elder's. The Fourth Elder's was also small, standing on a person's shoulder. This golden Spirit-Eating Marten was even smaller, easily fitting into a sleeve and making it invisible even when carried.
The golden little food-eating spirit mink stood there in a daze like an ignorant child, holding a piece of miscellaneous spirit stone in its hand and half of a miscellaneous spirit stone in its mouth. It looked like a child whose meal was interrupted, funny and cute.
It was not until Yuanxiao got closer that he dropped the spirit stone in his hand and ran into the small hole dug next to him, but he still stuck out his little head and curiously observed Yuanxiao, the visitor.
