Chapter 17: The Seven Deadly Gossips

After a restful sleep, Ji Yao felt refreshed and quietly cheered herself on—once today was over, everything would be a brand new beginning.

Guangqiong City was bustling as if celebrating the New Year; the square in front of the City Lord’s mansion was packed with people. The center of the square was divided into seven sections. Except for the area of the Nine Buddha Temple, which was somewhat deserted, the other six all had long queues.

After all, no one hoped their promising child would spend their youth in the company of ancient lamps and Buddha statues. Yet the Nine Buddha Temple still managed to recruit disciples regularly; Ji Yao suspected this had something to do with their unique methods of accepting students and cultivating them.

The temple cared not for spiritual roots but instead sought those with affinity for the Buddha and wisdom. As for what constituted 'affinity,' well, that was determined at their discretion. Thus, the temple’s disciples were usually children of poor families or orphans with no worldly ties, most of whom joined simply to fill their bellies.

Of course, there were exceptions—some were brought in through less honest means. Ahem, correction: some were enlightened by the temple’s high monks during their travels.

Don’t assume all monks are honest and docile. Those who reach higher levels of cultivation are invariably shrewd, eloquent, and persuasive. Without such qualities, how could the Seven Great Sects reserve a place for the Nine Buddha Temple?

The rivalry between Daoism and Buddhism is ancient, and the temple’s standing among the sects attests to its true strength.

The temple’s area was easy to spot: all bald heads, all greeting the children coming for testing with warm smiles and the manner of accomplished monks.

It was said that the disciples sent out for recruitment always wore the smiling face of the Buddha, which left a pleasant impression—whether this was an illusion or not depended on one’s perspective.

Next in prominence was the Gu Yue Sect.

Their recruiting disciples were all ethereal, fairy-like figures. Not that they were all beautiful women, but their uniforms—peach-pink silk robes—lent every movement a celestial grace.

Bathed in spiritual energy, the world of cultivation rarely produced truly unattractive people, barring congenital defects. Female cultivators paid special attention to their appearance—ask the Medicine Immortal Valley, whose best-selling pills every year always included those for maintaining beauty.

Gu Yue Sect was a long-term client of Medicine Immortal Valley. In any era, women’s money was the easiest to earn.

Watching the Gu Yue disciples stand gracefully, Ji Yao couldn’t help but marvel.

The Gu Yue recruiting line was full of chattering little girls, drawn by their innate love of beauty. It wasn’t that the sect had no male cultivators, but their standards for recruiting men were particularly high.

First, they required handsome features, and as for other conditions, Ji Yao hadn’t bothered to listen—she could never endure such a sect.

At this moment, Ji Yao wasn’t standing in line but weaving through the crowd, absorbing gossip about the Seven Great Sects.

Such as the claim that a high monk of the Nine Buddha Temple was once a male disciple of Gu Yue, but after unrequited love and heartbreak, he renounced the world and became a monk.

Or the story of a master craftsman from the Mysterious Mechanism Sect who spent decades forging a qin-type magical artifact just to win a smile from Gu Yue’s Jade Qing Fairy.

Then there was the tale of Gu Yue’s saintess, who, to overcome her tribulation of love, left for worldly experience, causing several elite male disciples from various sects to fall for her. Once her tribulation was complete, she departed, leaving the men in heartbreak.

Listening along, Ji Yao couldn’t help but admire the power of Gu Yue’s women. In the cultivation world, those who could stir up such storms weren’t just beautiful—they were highly capable.

Even if not ten out of ten, eight out of ten were so. If you added peerless beauty and refined temperament, they’d surely be marked as the dream girls of every cultivation world homebody.

Just on the strength of these women dominating the sects’ topic boards, Ji Yao felt Gu Yue deserved its place among the Seven Great Sects.

But one piece of gossip particularly ignited Ji Yao’s curiosity. Among all the tales of female cultivators, there was one romantic anecdote about a male, impossible to ignore.

The story went that the daughter of the Qingyang Sect’s leader had fallen for the chief disciple of the Lingyun Sect. Unfortunately, the two sects had long been rivals, neither yielding to the other. Though the leader’s daughter was lovesick, she dared not express her feelings openly.

Though neither party had spoken publicly, everyone in the cultivation world knew the story.

Moreover, this chief disciple was indifferent to most female cultivators, save for a junior sister from Medicine Immortal Valley, with whom he was particularly close.

At the same time, Xuan Yang Fairy of the Spirit Talisman Sect and Clever Heart Fairy of the Mysterious Mechanism Sect had both challenged him to three hundred duels, each ending without a victor.

When Gu Yue’s saintess heard of the Qingyang leader’s daughter’s affection, she dismissed it with the words “overestimating oneself,” which so infuriated the leader’s daughter she nearly bit through her teeth.

From then on, whenever she saw the Lingyun chief disciple, she would challenge him, hoping to earn his respect. Yet every time, she lost to his Wind and Thunder Twin Swords.

Ji Yao thought, even if half these rumors were exaggerated, this Lingyun chief disciple was remarkable.

For among all this gossip, not a single word disparaged him; male disciples from all sects spoke only with admiration, not a trace of envy.

Ji Yao, a veteran consumer of gossip in her previous life, found this highly unusual!

With so many famous fairies involved, surely some would have admirers, yet not a single voice of resentment appeared.

Thus, it was clear this so-called chief disciple was either extraordinarily outstanding or a master of diplomacy.

This saga could easily be woven into a great male lead drama! Ji Yao feasted on the gossip, her heart utterly satisfied.

It turned out cultivators were adept at entertaining themselves; compared to the relentless news cycles of her previous life, they were no less dramatic.

Ji Yao had never imagined she’d one day be the subject of such gossip herself and become part of these side stories—but that was a tale for another day.

After hearing all the rumors, the recruitment lines were nearly at their end, so Ji Yao walked toward the Lingyun Sect queue.

Passing by the three great sects specializing in the Four Arts of Cultivation, she observed that practical people abounded in every era. With a skill in hand, one need never worry, so these three sects never lacked disciples.

Comparatively, the Mysterious Mechanism Sect’s line was longer, given its fusion of formation and artifact disciplines, offering more choices.

Moving past Qingyang Sect, Ji Yao joined the end of the Lingyun Sect queue, noting that the two sects were evenly matched in numbers. The only difference was that the Lingyun queue had plenty of sword-carrying youths her age.

She hadn’t stood long before noticing many eyes from both queues fixed on her.

Had she worn the wrong clothes? Ji Yao looked herself over carefully—nothing seemed amiss. She looked up at those staring, utterly confused.

Finally, a little boy in the Qingyang Sect line spoke up, “Sister, are you a sword cultivator?”

“Not yet,” Ji Yao replied stiffly, suddenly realizing the issue.

“Then why are you joining Lingyun Sect? You should be in Qingyang!” the boy insisted, even waving her over.

Little brother, you haven’t even passed the entry test yet.

Why are you so eager to recruit for Qingyang Sect?

Do you expect to be rewarded with spirit stones for this?