Am I the only good person in this cultivation world?

"This is my younger sister, Ai Lan. Lan'er, she is Senior Sister He Muran from Feixia."

Yao Han introduced them to each other, but his eyes remained fixed on the spirit beast bracelet on Lan'er's hand.

"Oh! So you're the legendary Senior Sister He with the Heavenly Spiritual Root that my senior brothers have been talking about. I've always heard that you're naturally beautiful and have an extraordinary demeanor. Meeting you today, I know the rumors are true. It's true what they say, seeing is believing. I'm Yao Ailan from Lotus Sword Island. Greetings, Senior Sister. I hope you'll take good care of my brother in the future!"

A year has passed, and Yao Ailan has grown taller and more beautiful. Her manners have become more polite and poised, and her greetings are impeccable, which is a stark contrast to He Muran.

"Junior sister, there's no need for such formalities. Putting aside my status as senior sister, I'm just an ordinary inner disciple. I can't really claim to be naturally beautiful. Since you and your brother have other matters to attend to, I won't disturb you any longer."

Ok?

No, why are you so normal when you're talking to Lan'er?

Can't we just talk things out properly?

Is there something wrong with this girl's brain?

"No, no, I'm not in a hurry. Senior Sister, please sit for a while. Since you're all here, let me show you my newly acquired spirit pet. Hehe, brother, don't be shocked when you see it. I asked my fellow disciple, Senior Brother Cheng, to buy it all the way from the territory of the Li Huo Sect..."

As she spoke, Yao Ailan quickly flicked her right hand across the spirit beast bracelet on her left wrist.

Yao Han's ominous premonition grew stronger, and he quickly reached out to stop him:

"Wait, no!"

Unfortunately, it was too late.

In a flash of inspiration, a small, fiery red snake leaped joyfully out of the bracelet, flicking its tongue and looking around.

"Hahaha, brother, what do you think? This is a Fire Cloud Serpent unique to the north of Qiansheng Kingdom. I named it Little Peach because it's special..."

Before Yao Ailan could finish speaking, she felt a gust of wind surge in front of her, and she was pulled into Yao Han's arms, being carried backward by him.

A pale golden halo emanated from Yao Han, tightly protecting the two of them. This was a divine ability that cultivators naturally acquired once they advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage—a protective aura.

"Brother, what are you doing..."

"Aaaaaaahh ...

Before the words were finished, a scream rang out from ahead, and a burst of azure light appeared. He Muran closed her eyes tightly, and the Muyue Sword in her hand danced with sword flowers. Sword light and air waves surged wildly in the cave, and various objects in the cave shattered upon contact and flew wildly in mid-air.

Several sword energies accidentally struck Yao Han's protective aura. Fortunately, the force was not strong, and the aura only trembled and flickered a few times, without causing him any actual damage.

Even so, Yao Han was still secretly sweating.

After a long while, the sword light stopped, and a blue-white escape light flashed and disappeared in the cave. He Muran was scared away just like that.

Yao Han finally breathed a sigh of relief, released the spiritual light, and put Lan'er down from his arms.

The "Little Peach" she had just released was already chopped to pieces by the invincible sword energy.

Alan stared blankly at the snake blood and bits of flesh scattered on the ground, then staggered back to where it had just been:

"My little peach..."

Yao Han looked helplessly at the mess and sword marks all over the walls, and sighed deeply.

What kind of mess is this?!

……

"My little peach... it's only at level one, and it's less than six months old..."

"Lan'er, please accept my condolences. When a person dies... oh no, when a snake dies, it's like a lamp going out. Perhaps this was its fate. It's alright, I'll give you spirit stones, we can buy another one later."

"This isn't about whether it's a spirit stone or not!"

Alan stomped his foot suddenly:

"Why did she have the right to kill my spirit pet? Does being the senior sister give her the right to act recklessly? Hmph, He Muran, is it? Just you wait. During the inner sect competition, I'll definitely teach her a lesson and avenge Xiao Tao! Fortune changes every thirty years; never underestimate a young girl's potential!"

Yao Han had finally managed to repair the cave back to its original state, and upon hearing this, he raised an eyebrow:

"Where did you learn all this nonsense...? The participants in this inner sect competition are all elite disciples from various islands, almost all of them Foundation Establishment cultivators. What are you, a Qi Refining stage cultivator, doing here?"

A year has passed, and Ailan's current cultivation level is the fifth level of Qi Refining. This progress is already extremely fast, but it is still not enough among the inner disciples.

"What's wrong with the Qi Refining stage? There are disciples in the Qi Refining stage on other islands too. Didn't you defeat a Foundation Establishment opponent when you were refining your Qi? Besides, Master said that this is a tradition of our Lotus Sword lineage. Regardless of cultivation level, every Lotus Sword disciple must participate in order to temper their character and hone their sword intent."

Yao Han looked enlightened and nodded.

"Besides, there are still two years until the competition. Maybe I'll make rapid progress and achieve Foundation Establishment in these two years."

"Even so, we still need to be extra careful. Although the rules state that it's best to stop when you've made a point, swords and spears have no eyes, and anything can happen during a fight. Not everyone can stop themselves. If you really encounter a powerful opponent, surrendering and admitting defeat is a wise choice."

"I knew you'd say that. The reason I came here today, besides to see you, was to learn your secret technique for making spirit snakes bigger. Alas, it seems I'll have to ask Senior Brother Cheng to get me another one."

Alan glanced down at the small box in her arms, which contained the snake remains she had just collected; she had finally managed to gather a few intact pieces.

"Brother, what's wrong with He Muran? Why is she suddenly acting like she's possessed?"

In fact, Yao Han also couldn't figure out what the woman was thinking. He simply recounted everything from their first meeting to what had just happened to Ai Lan.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Alan sat in his chair, clutching his stomach, and burst into laughter.

"Is it that funny?"

Yao Han scratched his nose, looking helpless:

"Maybe I'm just getting old, but I really can't figure out what these young people are thinking these days. Maybe she really didn't mean any harm and just came to apologize... Oh well, if I can't afford to mess with her, I can at least avoid her. I'll just stay away from her in the future."

Although the cave dwelling was caught in the crossfire, Yao Han was able to repair it easily, so there was actually no loss.

What's more, they even gave me a bottle of He Yuan Dan.

"Pfft. Bro, what does this have to do with whether you're old or not? I'm not making fun of you."

Alan shifted his position on the chair:

"You have no idea, this Senior Sister He has many nicknames in the sect, and each one is more bizarre than the last."

"How so?" Yao Han asked, intrigued.

"Hmm...like 'The Most Beautiful Woman of Shuiyue Palace' and 'Senior Sister Feixia,' but those are all respectable. The less respectable ones are things like 'Seclusion Maniac,' 'Goddess of Severed Love,' and 'Heartless Fairy'!"

"I could understand the first few, but what do the last two mean?"

"Because Senior Sister He is famously beautiful in the sect, many senior and junior brothers in the sect used to pursue her, but each time they were either rebuffed or chased away. Over time, they gave her this nickname."

"I thought this Senior Sister He was a cold and aloof person, but it turns out she's just not good with words, hahaha~ Could it be that she's been in seclusion for too long and has turned herself into a mute immortal?"

"Now that you mention it, she seems rather pitiful."

"Oh?"

Alan's eyes darted around:

"Could it be that you're interested in her too, brother?"

"Me? Give me a break."

Yao Han shook his head:

"I wouldn't even want a woman like that, even if she chased me. It's best to stay away from her."