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Just as a disciple struck the Trial Stone with his sword, it only left a faint white mark.

Qin Shu fell silent. Alright then, wooden sword it is. Maybe her sword energy was just... different.

Under Qin Shu's lead, the disciples diligently practiced swordsmanship the entire day.

Some collapsed from exhaustion and sat by the edge of the arena, only to watch Qin Shu repeat the same move dozens of times. Unable to stay idle, they gritted their teeth and stood back up to continue practicing.

The elders of Sword Sect were both pleased and a little helpless. Their sword cultivators were actually being led by a disciple from the Pill Sect?

But on second thought, Qin Shu was now formally apprenticed to Wangjian Zhenren, so she counted as their Sword Sect disciple after all.

At the very least, when the end-of-year sect competition came around, their performance would surely shock the other sects.

What they didn't expect was that after just three days, Qin Shu disappeared.

When the disciples didn't see her at the Trial Stone Arena, they felt like they'd lost their motivation. Whenever they wanted to slack off, a glance at Junior Sister Qin would always reignite their determination.

Junior Sister would also occasionally help soothe their muscles with her wood spiritual energy. In just three days, she had already sparked huge changes in Sword Sect.

Some elders frowned when they learned about this. "How can sword training be so inconsistent? This young disciple is still too immature."

One elder, Bu Kun Zhenren, stroked his beard and said, "Actually... with how hard she's been pushing, a couple of rest days seem reasonable."

Wangjian Zhenren: "..."

In fact, Qin Shu had asked him for leave—she was headed out to complete a mission.

His first reaction was, "She's probably broke again." Truly, no sword cultivator could escape the fate of being penniless.

Meanwhile, in the arena, the disciples sat in a circle around Xiong Jun, who nervously held a transmission jade slip. Everyone was green with envy.

He actually has Junior Sister Qin's spiritual signature?! They all regretted being too shy to approach her earlier.

As they silently scolded themselves, Xiong Jun excitedly raised the jade slip and announced, "Junior Sister replied! Quiet, everyone, let's hear what she said!"

The arena fell deathly silent—you could hear an ant crawl.

As Xiong Jun activated the jade slip, Qin Shu's voice rang out, "Senior Brother, I'm out on a mission. Sword techniques need to be honed through real combat."

At that moment, Qin Shu had just finished a grueling battle against a Hidden Flame Spider and successfully extracted its demon core when Xiong Jun's message arrived.

She casually explained her absence with that one sentence.

But that single sentence nearly paralyzed Sword Sect's entire mission board.

Sword Sect always took on the most missions in the sect, but now, every disciple—already diligent—took it to another level. Some were taking on three missions at once and leaving the mountain.

The once-bustling Sword Sect halls were now eerily empty.

This matter soon reached the Sect Master.

Qi Nan summoned Wangjian Zhenren to his chamber. The latter, who had just taken on a few missions himself, was on his way out to fight monsters when he was called back.

As soon as he entered, Qi Nan gave him a concerned look.

Wangjian Zhenren shifted uncomfortably and awkwardly asked, "Sect Master, what's the matter?"

Qi Nan sighed. "Junior Brother Wangjian, is our Sword Sect in dire straits?"

Wangjian Zhenren: "?"

He was confused. His sect's disciples were more motivated than ever, working hard to earn resources, and their coffers were fuller than usual. Why did the Sect Master think they were struggling?

"What makes you say that, Senior Brother?" he probed.

Qi Nan poured him a cup of tea. "I heard Sword Sect is nearly empty— even the new disciples who just reached Qi Condensation Stage are out taking missions. Are things really that bad?"

Wangjian Zhenren was about to brush it off, but then an idea struck him.

With a gloomy face, he said, "Sect Master, you may not know this, but sword cultivation eats through spirit stones and pills like crazy. I recently built two medicinal pools to help the disciples, and the costs have skyrocketed... The juniors are just being sensible and trying to help the sect out."

He sighed dramatically and added, "It's my fault as an elder—I'm broke and can't support them."

Qi Nan's brows furrowed deeper.

He hadn't expected that even a top-eight sect like theirs would have sword cultivators living in such hardship.

"You should've informed the sect about constructing the pools. While I can't favor Sword Sect alone for resources, this kind of infrastructure is something the sect can handle."

Wangjian Zhenren inwardly grinned—mission accomplished.

Outwardly, he stayed humble. "I didn't want to trouble you, Senior Brother."

Qi Nan waved him off. "It's no trouble. How much did you spend?"

"Two thousand top-grade spirit stones."

Qi Nan smiled. "I'll cover the two thousand stones."

Wangjian Zhenren beamed. "Thank you, Sect Master!"

Qi Nan continued, "Next time, submit your monthly herb needs along with Pill Sect's orders."

"Yes, understood!"

Thinking he'd scored a great deal, Wangjian Zhenren happily carried the spirit stones back.

Upon returning to Sword Sect, he couldn't wait to show off to the other elders.

"These spirit stones will be used for the disciples' body cultivation," he declared.

Then he turned to Bu Kun Zhenren. "I'm heading out for a mission—hold onto these for me."

Bu Kun Zhenren quickly said, "What a coincidence. With all my disciples out on missions too, I figured I'd take a few tasks myself."

The other elders all shook their heads in agreement.

Wangjian Zhenren sighed. "Fine, I'll just take them to Lingxu Zhenren. When Pill Sect places their next herb order, they can pick up ours too."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Thus, after stealing two of Lingxu Zhenren's disciples, Wangjian Zhenren swaggered back to his door once again.