Cultivation: Starting with Sterilizing My Own Father

Tianci is very adaptable. He was quite scared when he saw that big scorpion yesterday, but he's much better today: "Sister Xiaoyin said scorpions don't bite, so Tianci isn't afraid either!"

Xu Ruosheng carefully protected Tianci, watching him slowly step forward and try to touch the Sand Scorpion Earth Spirit, which had already removed all the flower garlands.

While protecting his younger brother, Xu Ruosheng apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, Xiaoying, it's not that I don't trust Tuling, it's just..."

Wei Zhiying waved her hand dismissively, "It's alright, I understand. Tianci is still young. If the earth spirit moves and Tianci gets frightened, it could cause an emergency."

Xu Ruosheng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Wei Zhiying didn't seem to care at all. Xu Tianci, a small boy, tightly gripped his brother's robe with his left hand, his eyes closed, looking as if he were ready to die.

Seeing this, Wei Zhiying hesitated and said, "Tianci... how about... let it go? There's plenty of time later, no need..."

"No!" Xu Tianci reached out and carefully touched it, but since his eyes were closed, he couldn't touch the earth spirit after several attempts. "Tianci can do it!" Xu Tianci carefully opened his eyes a crack, and after confirming the location of the sand scorpion, he slowly reached out and finally gently placed his hand on the sand scorpion's back.

Tu Ling, having finally met him after so long, was bored and wanted to yawn and stretch his legs, but when he turned around, he saw Wei Zhiying gesturing to him to stay still, so he had no choice but to endure it.

Gong Huaijin and the other two boys slowly approached Tu Ling and began to stroke the little creature.

After getting to know each other, everyone gathered around Wei Zhiying's little spirit beast. Most of the skilled beast tamers in the sect were in the inner sect, and they were not usually seen, since they usually chose spirit beasts from secret realms or training grounds to select those with good appearance.

Most outer disciples do not have spirit beasts. After all, the spirit beasts in the vicinity are just common ones like sand scorpions and sand ants. The better ones are some cubs of spirit beasts, but it is very difficult for them to advance. Basically, not many outer disciples will focus their attention on taming beasts.

Although a cultivator can form contracts with multiple spirit beasts, the disciples must pay for the spirit beasts' food themselves. The spirit stones provided by the sect are not enough even if they are all used for cultivation. Except for Senior Brother Yu Xian, none of the outer sect disciples want to enter the inner sect. Naturally, they use most of their resources to improve their cultivation. Easy-to-raise and inexpensive spirit beasts are too common, while good spirit beasts require corresponding resources. If resources are not abundant enough, advancement also depends on luck. Therefore, raising a spirit beast in the outer sect is not worth the effort.

Therefore, it was quite a rare thing for a fellow disciple to keep a spirit beast. When Feng Qianxue and Feng Yuexi went out, they saw a group of people gathered there touching scorpions. The two sisters backed away in unison: "Why keep a scorpion of all things? It's disgusting! I hope it's not poisonous and doesn't bite us."

As the saying goes, "A dog must be leashed when walking it; civility is for everyone." Although Tu Ling isn't a dog, as a spirit beast with an owner, it naturally needs to be kept under closer watch. Wei Zhiying naturally knew this, but seeing the other party's disdain for her spirit pet still made her very unhappy: "Yes, yes, you two don't need to worry. My Tu Ling is a very civilized little scorpion and would never bite anyone indiscriminately. Of course, I already went to Master Ying this morning to register Tu Ling's information and collect scorpion venom. If anyone tries to kick my spirit beast out and does something like that, I certainly won't let them get away with it."

Xu Ruosheng said leisurely, "The scorpion is one of the five poisonous creatures. The ancients used its potent venom to fight poison with poison. Moreover, during the Dragon Boat Festival, we often wear scorpion totems to ward off evil and prevent poisoning. Furthermore, the word for scorpion sounds like 'carrying a child,' so in some places it symbolizes the arrival of a precious child, carrying everyone's hope for a prosperous and numerous family. Besides, Xiaoying's earth spirit is very obedient; keeping it at Yunyin Lodge will surely bring us good fortune."

Feng Yuexi rubbed her arm, feeling goosebumps all over her body: "Since ancient times, everyone has been talking so nicely, but have you ever seen a household that raises scorpions? Apart from the Gu Poison Sect, who would raise an insect as a spirit beast?"

"This is disgusting, sister, let's go."

After the two sisters left, Wei Zhiying was already in a bad mood. Although he could understand that the spirit beast he raised was a bit strange, there was no need to say it like that.

Wei Zhiying secretly pulled up the favorability chart of her fellow disciples in her mind. Sure enough, even Feng Xiuyan, whom she didn't usually interact with closely, had a favorability rating of around 50. In this situation, as long as the questions she asked weren't too difficult, she would usually not be refused. In addition, with the Xu brothers around, they would definitely answer her 100%, and even if their favorability rating was low, they would still say a few words.

"By the way, since you all come from all over the country, there's something I'm curious about." Wei Zhiying thought of her mother who raised her for five years: "Have you heard any stories of palace maids or noble ladies being abducted in your countries?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell into thought, and Wei Lanyin also looked intently at everyone, her eyes shining with anticipation.

Xu Ruosheng shook his head apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, I haven't heard of such a thing happening in Tiansheng Kingdom. Palace maids all leave the palace at the age of 25. Although palace maids in Tiansheng Kingdom are allowed to take leave to go home and visit their families during this period, they always travel in groups of five before they are allowed to leave the palace. Moreover, noble ladies generally don't leave their homes and are always surrounded by maids and servants when they go out, so it's impossible for them to be abducted or lost. I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

"Oh, it's nothing, it's nothing."

Gong Huaijin shook her head as well, becoming even more certain of Xu Ruosheng's words. Helian Ye asked, "There are far too many common women, but if you say palace maids or noble ladies, the range narrows down considerably. But do you know when they were abducted?"

Wei Zhiying counted on her fingers: "About... um... I was abducted when I was around ten years old, more than 30 years ago."

Helian Ye shook his head: "No, so much time has passed, it's uncertain whether those who were abducted are still alive. Don't listen to the nonsense in those picture books. In the Southern Han Kingdom's palace, if someone suddenly disappears, let alone a palace maid, even a eunuch would be investigated. We need to find them alive or dead. After all, even the Empress can't arbitrarily kill palace maids or eunuchs. And if the missing person is a spy planted by another country, it would be too careless to not investigate just because she's a palace maid or a eunuch of low status. If she's a noblewoman, she'll definitely have influence in one of the parties. She could just go to a shop and shout, and even if it's not true, people would have to investigate first. After all, it's better to be safe than sorry."

Feng Xiuyan also shook his head: "In the Western Liang Kingdom, so far there have been no cases of palace maids under the age of 25 going missing. After they turn 25, they leave the palace and are no longer taken care of, so I don't know the situation. As for noble ladies, I haven't heard of any. If a noble lady goes missing, her father will definitely petition the court to severely crack down on these human traffickers, but when I was studying in the Imperial Study, I never heard my father issue any such decree."

"Huh? Really?" Wei Zhiying was stunned. She exchanged a glance with her sister. After all, her mother used to talk most about the Western Liang Kingdom, but none of the princes of the Western Liang Kingdom had ever heard of such things. Could it be because Feng Xiuyan was too young?

It seems I still need to work hard to enter the inner sect. Once I'm in the inner sect, I can apply to go out for training and then go to the Western Liang Kingdom to see for myself.