More seasons have passed. The orchids of spring, the lotuses of summer, the chrysanthemums in fall, and the plum blossom during winter. The flowers that bloomed and wilted as time advanced forward, with neither mercy nor hesitation.

The Heavenly Jin Mountain Sect has had quite a few sect disciple recruitments over the years. The young girl who was once an initiate and newbie disciple had grown from a young chick who was at the beginning of Essence Foundation to an esteemed senior of the Core Formation stage. Yes alongside Huo Yanyi, Leng Xueer was no longer a junior in the sect but rather an established senior inner sect disciple.

Through her numerous experiences, she had grown and developed a wiser mindset. Her behavior has become tamer and more lady-like. As Xueer passes by numerous new recruits, they bowed down in respect to her as she gave a quick greeting whilst covering her face with her paper fan.

""Good morning, Senior Sister Xue, Senior Brother Yan!"" The two passing disciples greeted with a reverent bow.

"Morning, Junior Brothers Bing and Cai."

"Yes, a good morning to both of you."

Xueer replied gracefully while Yanyi just gave an informal greeting as they walked past. It was only after several steps away from the two that the new disciples who observed the two started to talk amongst themselves.

"Wow, look at Senior Xue. She looks so graceful!"

"Yes, it is no wonder everyone likes her! Senior Yan is also really cool, but Senior Xue is off the charts!"

The whispers which were soft slowly made their way to the two Core Formation inner disciples. The two seniors continued to walk at their usual pace as they approached an orange building. It was the mission hall in which cultivators proceed to do requests to earn sect points and rewards.

"Fuh~look at my popularity Sir Yan. Aren't I just the best now?"

Xueer talked as she flipped her fan whilst talking.

"Hey, Xueer...you have been reading too many of those fantasy novels now, haven't you? You should stop posing like that...it sort of makes me feel uncomfortable."

The large young man looked at her from the side as he slowly turned away.

"Oh but why? The juniors from before as well as the others who have passed by have all seemed to respect and appreciate my beauty and elegance."

"I would question what you mean when you refer to 'beauty' and elegance'. Just because we have finally changed our robes from the outer sect green robes to the inner sect purple ones, you have been acting very weirdly."

"But Yanyi, we are seniors now. We need to act with respect and decorum! Otherwise, we would affect the reputation of the Heavenly Jin!"

"No...if you continue this way, we are going to lose fan revenue..."

A silent rebuttal from Yanyi appears as he complaints in a soft voice.

"Hmm? What was that?"

Xueer turned to him with locked brows.

"Nothing...really. Don't mind me."

Yanyi replied as he continued to turn away from her.

"Oooooh...if it isn't our cute Xiaoxue(or little Xue if you want English context)!!!"

A sudden ambush! Two large mounds pressed against her back as a pair of hands wrapped against Xueer's eye, covering her vision.

"Guess who am I~"

A charming voice echoed from the side of her left ear.

"Senior sister Xuejing!!! It is only you out of the entire sect that has those large breasts, a youthful hoarse voice, and also likes to tease me, now unhand me! And stop treating me like a kid!"

Xueer said in annoyance as she flailed her arms about. Yanyi looked at the both of them from the side as he looked at the pink-haired bountiful beauty hug tightly against the small adorable girl. It was a pleasant sight to see for the rest of the disciples who passed by, but for him who sees this as an almost daily to weekly occurrence, he had already developed an immunity to such scenes.

"Boohoo! Xiaoxue please do not be mean to big sister here. Is it because you have finally become an inner sect disciple that you don't want me anymore? Am I now just an expendable piece of rag to you? Only used while of value and mercilessly discarded once I have finally become redundant? Oh, the woe!"

Senior sister Xue replied in a dramatic tone as she slowly let go of Xueer before gracefully falling to the ground while leaking tears into her handkerchief. Light sobs could be heard as she covered her face while shivering.

"No-no...that is not what Xueer means. Xueer still likes Big Sister Xuejing...do-don't cry!"

Xueer started panicking upon seeing Xuejing's melodramatic display as she was clueless on how to react. Her initial calm and graceful facade had completely broken apart at this point.

"How cruel...boohoohoo."

"Noo, that is not what I mean."

This entire drama skit was still occurring at the front entrance of the mission hall as many of the curious onlookers stopped their tasks to observe the scene. Many people joined the peanut gallery as even some butter corn salesman have even started hawking snacks and drinks to the audiences. There was definitely adequate demand for these types of scenes in the cultivation world since everyone is either meeting a jerkass who is trying to act all stuck up, schemed against in the dark, or sitting inside their dark moldy caves performing meditation.

Moreover, the two performers this time were two of the four top beauties of the Heavenly Jin. Ouhua Xuejing, the Vivacious Unreachable Lotus and Leng Xueer, the Eternally Blooming Plum Blossom. Yanyi was just silently observing this skit at this point even though he knew that Xuejing was just playing around with Xueer at this point. Xuejing was after all the Sect leader's second daughter. She had always been rather close friends with the both of them and hung out almost every week. Her main hobby was acting and teasing Xueer by acting out all of those 'white lotus' scripts that are recently the rage in those popular female novels that even Xueer has been recently engrossed in.

"Oh, Xiaoxue does not want me anymore! I am now just worthless, used goods. I should just go find a noose and hang myself off the front entrance of the Heavenly Jin in humiliation and despair...oohoohoo!"

The sobbing voices continued as the frail lady on the ground continued to whimper. The little girl by her side was already anxious at this point as she tried to cheer her up but to no avail.

"Noo...please don't cry. You are making me sad now too...hic."

Tears started to leak from Xueer's face as she felt helpless on how to resolve the current situation.

Looking at Xuejing's red coloured robe, Yanyi pinched his eyebrows as he sighed to himself.

What do you mean, thrown away? You are the sect leader's pearl as well as a legacy disciple. We are just finally inner sect disciples. You really take the time to come and mess with Xueer every day because you know that she is unable to play along with your antics. Oh well, I guess it is about time to stop the two of them...

He slowly walked forward amongst the peanut gallery as he decided it was time to end this farce. However, before he could actually reach the two. A flash of red appeared before his eyes. An androgynous youth with black hair appeared right before him as the youth stood between the two ladies. In the youth's hand was a short stick which he raised above his head as it quickly landed down.

Wait!

Yanyi thought as he stretched his hand out, wanting to stop any further trouble but alas he was too late.

--

Bonk.

"Owww, Fengcui you are so mean!"

Xuejing cried out as she glared accusingly at the youth that smacked down the stick.

"Ohhh~are we comparing who is the biggest bitch here? Amongst the three of us top beauties, want to vote? I will vote for you, Xuejing. How about Xueer?"

Fengcui responded calmly with her deep voice as she looked towards Xueer whilst ignoring Xuejing.

"Xiaoxue, don't listen to that weird shemale over there! Us beauties should always stick together, that crossdresser is another species!"

Xuejing stopped her crying as she once again hugged the girl Xueer tightly while glaring back at Fengcui. Fengcui's face was already pitch black as she heard Xuejing's insults. It took much of her will to not just whack Xuejing one more time.

Yanyi looked alongside the rest of the peanut gallery as he sighed to himself. It seems that trouble delivers itself in threes. Bing Fengcui is a legacy disciple similar to Ouhua Xuejing. She is also the eldest daughter of the Bing Clan which is one of the three major families in the Jin Empire. Several of their family members are sect elders in the Heavenly Jin and her influence is definitely no less than Xuejing. For some reason, her hobby is to go around dressing a male with her androgynous features. Her female fanbase is almost as large as Xuejing's male fanbase as a whole. After all, who doesn't like a hot, rich, sexy, reverse trap? Okay ignoring the last part, Fengcui still has plenty of admirers who are males anyway. Her title amongst the four beauties was the Chrysanthemum of Peerless Fragrance. And her cultivation ranking amongst the legacy disciples or non-elder class in the sect is basically number one. A cultivation genius, freak, and crossdresser.

"Xuejing, you bitch! You want to fight!?"

"What is it Feng-ungraceful, inelegant, gorilla-Cui, you think this lady is scared of you?"

The two ladies started to quarrel amongst themselves while Xueer was just sobbing by the side.

"Nooo...stop fighting. Xueer does not want big sisters to fight...hic."

She sobbed out at the side as her tears were leaking non-stop at this point. All the pointless elegance before which she had tried hard to maintain had completely broken down at this point, revealing the same old childish girl.

"Ugh...I will settle this with you in the future."

"Hah, bring it. Your mom will teach you who is boss then!"

The two of them immediately stopped their banter while delivering a glare as they turned around and started to pacify the girl.

"It is okay Xueer, big sis Xuejing is not crying anymore. Ignore that stupid black gorilla."

"Xueer, everything is fine. You can count on me. Let us leave that idiotic pink bimbo alone and have some tea."

Both of them tried to soothe the girl while dealing underhanded blows.

"Hic...hic...okay omnomnom."

Xueer slowly stopped her sobbing as she was given some tea cookies by Fengcui, whilst Xuejing poured out some tea while laying out a mat. Yes, all of this was in front of the mission hall by one of the planted trees. Yanyi as well as the rest of the spectators was just watching the show with awe. Yanyi in particular was already feeling helpless at this point as they were supposed to be doing a mission today, but it seems like that Xueer was due for a tea party now. He sighed to himself as the rest of the spectators slowly started to disperse once the drama had ended.

"Well, it is always like this. Sorry to always bother you with this, Junior Brother Yan."

A calm soothing voice came from his side as Yanyi looked to his left. A gorgeous beauty with platinum blond hair was by his side as she was observing the entire scene of the three ladies having tea and cookies.

"Ohhh, Elder Xue. Disciple Yanyi greets you. No, I don't mind."

He gave a courteous bow as he recognized the beauty who was by his side. Well, no one in the Heavenly Jin probably wouldn't. Ouhua Xueyan, the youngest genius elder of the Heavenly Jin, first daughter of the sect leader. At the young age of thirty has already reached the Organ Refinement stage, she is already publicly acknowledged as the sole heir to the Heavenly Jin. With impeccable beauty and strength, as well as a calm, friendly and gentle disposition, she was crowned as the Impeccable Perfect Moon Orchid. Her hobby besides cultivation is to perform dances, be it with a sword or not. Some have also called her the 'Golden Dancing Lady of the Moon'. Despite her high ranking and noble appearance, she is always friendly with the new disciples. Her popularity ranking in the sect is indisputably the first, followed by the other three behind.

"Well, those three girls have always been rather close with each other. Despite their antics, you can tell that they are very good friends."

She calmly said as she watched the peaceful scene.

"Yes, well I hope that the peace will last forever. It feels kind of out of place when I have to escort one of the four beauties every day and interact with the other three including you so often."

The young man gave an awkward laugh as he scratched the back of his head.

"Are you sure though, junior brother? Just like how we have the four beauty rankings, there are also the seven magnificents. Well, six if you exclude Fengcui who unjustly stole first place. You are ranked six, no?"

The gentle beauty spoke casually as her soft amber eyes looked directly at the youth.

"Ahaha, Elder Xue must be kidding. It was just a fluke that I am there. Sticking beside Xueer every day must have resulted in the rankings being skewed in my favor."

Yanyi replied as he denied his exemplary features.

"Seriously, you should not degrade yourself too much. You are definitely good-looking. And also, how many times must I ask you to stop calling me 'Elder'? Even senior sister or my name itself is fine at this point, you make me sound like I am fifty years older."

Xueyan replied in a calm and gentle voice though Yanyi was starting to feel some flames heating from his back. As much as he would like to address the elder with a better title, sect decorum is one that he would prefer to not break even at the person's own bequest. He silently apologized to the mature lady pouting by his side as he promised to sin once more the next time they meet.

You have seen a reminiscence of The Million Suns.

You have gained 0.8% proficiency in the Archaic Sun Aura (35.6%).