"Fenghe pays respects to the Master, the Uncle, and all the Elders."
Ban Fenghe was dressed in a white robe. Her long, black hair cascaded smoothly down her back, and she had a neat bun on her head, secured by a cyan jade hairpin.
There was a smile in her eyes. The corners of her eyes slanted downward, and her long eyelashes fluttered, making her look weak and innocent.
"By the order of the Sect Master, Fenghe has come to welcome all of you back to the sect," she said, then turned to look at Shen Qing and Li Xian. "I presume these two are Fellow Daoist Shen and Fellow Daoist Li. The Sect Master already knows of your arrival. Please follow me to pay respects to the Sect Master."
Just as Shen Qing was about to respond, she heard Jiang Zhiyun snort and say, "The Sect Master clearly sent me to welcome them. Shen Qing and Li Xian should be brought by me. What are you doing here?"
Ban Fenghe gave a weak smile, but her eyes glanced at Elders Lianqiao and Lianshan, looking a bit aggrieved.
"Sister Jiang left in a hurry. The Sect Master still had some things to explain, so the Sect Master sent me here in a hurry."
Jiang Zhiyun rolled her eyes. "The Sect Master clearly told me to step back. When did she have anything else to say? You just wanted to come and used the Sect Master's name as an excuse!"
Shen Qing watched Ban Fenghe and Jiang Zhiyun bickering silently. Her eyes sized up Ban Fenghe unobtrusively. After her experience in the Beast Taming Sect, it was hard for Shen Qing not to suspect whether Ban Fenghe was from the Main Shrine.
She had called the Master as soon as she arrived, but Shen Qing didn't know whether her Master was Elder Lianqiao or Elder Lianshan.
Shen Qing wanted to turn to ask Li Xian, but saw that Li Xian was staring intently at Ban Fenghe, with an unclear emotion in his eyes.
Seeing that look in Li Xian's eyes, Shen Qing suddenly felt a bit stuffy in her chest, and unconsciously tightened her fists a little.
She nudged Li Xian with her elbow and asked, "What? Are you attracted to her beauty?"
Li Xian lowered his head. Seeing Shen Qing's pouting look, he knew that Shen Qing was a bit jealous, and suddenly found it a bit funny.
In terms of appearance, Ban Fenghe was even less beautiful than Chu Lanqiu. With a stunning beauty like Chu Lanqiu around, Ban Fenghe seemed a bit plain.
"What?"
Shen Qing silently glared at Li Xian, then turned her head and didn't look at him anymore. She secretly cursed that all men were heartless. As soon as they saw a beautiful woman, they couldn't move their feet.
Li Xian even asked her what was wrong! Didn't he know what was wrong in his heart? How dare he ask!
The angrier she got, the more she wanted to turn around and tell Li Xian to pay attention to his behavior. But then she saw Li Xian staring at her motionlessly.
"I don't think she's beautiful. I just think such a person is quite rare. Her acting skills are so clumsy that others can see through her at a glance, but she still indulges in the drama she weaves as if she has deceived the whole world."
"Such a person... makes one feel both sympathetic and wanting to give her a beating."
Shen Qing twitched the corner of her mouth. She only felt that Li Xian was a bit malicious now.
"Ban Fenghe! You wait for me!"
Jiang Zhiyun angrily returned to Shen Qing's side and took her arm. She led Shen Qing straight past Ban Fenghe. As she passed by, Jiang Zhiyun even bumped into her hard with her shoulder.
Ban Fenghe didn't stand steady and staggered a step. She instinctively looked up at Elder Lianshan, but saw Elder Lianshan looking at her coldly, with no trace of emotion on her face.
A flash of hurt passed deep in her eyes, but she concealed it well.
Shen Qing thought it wasn't good for Jiang Zhiyun to act like this in front of Elders Lianshan and Lianqiao. She was just about to turn back and help Ban Fenghe up, but was firmly pulled by Jiang Zhiyun.
"You don't need to feel sorry for her. No one in our sect likes her. Even Elder Lianshan is cold to her. Don't worry. The Elders won't blame me."
Ban Fenghe still maintained that expression, with a weak smile on her lips, quietly watching them leave.
Shen Qing always felt that she could see her former self in Ban Fenghe.
Because Lin Yibai always slandered her behind her back, everyone in the sect thought she had a bad character. So no matter what she did, others would think the worst of her.
Jiang Zhiyun said that Qing Qing was discovered because of his male identity. Just because of this, Shen Qing couldn't like her.
But she didn't want to be the by - stander and bully like before, so she still showed Ban Fenghe a slightly kind but a bit stiff smile.
Ban Fenghe seemed a bit surprised, and then also showed Shen Qing a smile.
"You're still too kind," Jiang Zhiyun said. Their interaction naturally didn't escape Jiang Zhiyun's eyes. She shook her head. "You don't need to be too nice to her. Be careful that she might harm you."
Shen Qing asked, "What happened before? Why do you have such a conclusion?"
Jiang Zhiyun said angrily, "Just like you, Qing Qing felt sorry for her, so she often shared some resources with her and taught her medical skills. With Qing Qing's protection, this scheming woman had a better life in the sect."
"But look! As soon as Qing Qing had an accident, she had her eyes on the position of the Young Sect Master. This scheming woman is the candidate the Sect Master has chosen to replace Qing Qing."
"Once Qing Qing wakes up, the Wanwusheng will recognize this scheming Ban Fenghe as its master!"
Although Shen Qing secretly disagreed that one's gender should determine whether they could be the Young Sect Master, she was in the Green Wood Sect now and didn't want to say too much.
She could only say euphemistically, "The Beast Taming Sect has broken the tradition and appointed Lanqiu as the Young Sect Master. Why does the Green Wood Sect still follow the old rules and stick to convention? Just because Qing Qing is a man, they want to take away his position as the Young Sect Master."
Jiang Zhiyun sighed helplessly. "We're different from the Beast Taming Sect. As long as they get the recognition of the Wanwuming and the others, they can let the Real Person Kunshan break the tradition."
"There's a secret elixir in our sect called the Elixir of Immortality. It can only be refined with a woman with an extremely yin constitution and the Wanwusheng. The formula of the Elixir of Immortality has been passed down from one generation of Sect Masters to another. The condition for being the Sect Master is not only to get the recognition of the Wanwusheng but also to refine the top - grade Elixir of Immortality."
"So it's very contradictory. As a man, Qing Qing has yang energy in his body, so he's doomed not to be able to refine the Elixir of Immortality. But unexpectedly, the Wanwusheng chose him..."
"Moreover, when Qing Qing was poisoned, it was because she wanted to change the yang energy in her body into an extremely yin constitution, but unfortunately, she failed..."
Hearing this, Shen Qing's expression became solemn.
If so, the situation would be tricky.
It was different from the previous life. In the previous life, Qing Qing was still the Young Sect Master of the Green Wood Sect until Shen Qing's death.
There was also no news of Qing Qing being poisoned. The development of things in this life was quite different.
While worrying, Shen Qing also heard about a strange thing. "The Elixir of Immortality? Can one really live forever after taking it?"
Jiang Zhiyun looked at Shen Qing in surprise. "You don't even know about the Elixir of Immortality."
"If a cultivator can't advance to a higher realm, they will face the danger of running out of their lifespan. Taking the Elixir of Immortality can extend one's lifespan and make them free from the restriction of their cultivation."
"But the conditions for refining the Elixir of Immortality are very harsh. Each generation of Sect Masters can only refine at most three pills in their lifetime."
"By the way, when the Real Person Kunshan was sick and weak, the medicine the Elders brought for the Real Person Kunshan to take was the Elixir of Immortality."