The backdrop can also be propped up.

Chapter 30 Going Up the Mountain, Soon to Become an Apprentice

Among the four children walking in front, the little girl with the spiritual treasure of heaven and earth was the most special—besides the fact that she had subdued the spiritual treasure of heaven and earth at a young age, she was the only one of the four children with dual spiritual roots, which made her cultivation speed slower than the other children.

Moreover, the little girl was originally a maid in the Prince's mansion. If the second senior brother hadn't accidentally tasted the pastries she had handled, he probably wouldn't have been selected, because her status was completely different from the other three children, including the children in the same batch after them.

"That child is really lucky," Fang Yuancheng thought to himself. "Spiritual creatures of heaven and earth have extremely high requirements for their masters. Unless the creature is easy-going and has just been born, the conditions for recognizing a master will be relatively relaxed. The spiritual creature on this little girl is probably this type."

At this moment, the four children were unaware that the youngest elder of the Huaiyu Sect was following behind them, observing them.

Nolan and Wen Meiying were both a little tired. Nevertheless, Wen Meiying insisted on taking two steps at a time, while Nolan hopped up the mountain on one foot—neither of them wanted to show that they were weaker than the other.

Wang Li slowed her pace; her legs were so sore she didn't want to walk anymore, but she still kept her eyes fixed on the two boys in front of her, making sure she didn't get too far away from them.

Ayaka looked at the three people ahead who would probably all fall to the ground in a little while, and wondered if she could catch them if one or two of them accidentally fell.

Suddenly, Ayaka felt the little white thing wrapped around her neck move.

"Xiaobai, you're awake," Caihua said, raising her hand to touch Xiaobai's head—Xiaobai has been sleeping almost all day long these past few days, basically just opening its eyes for a short while after eating, then sleeping again after waking up.

The three children in front stopped and turned to look at the magical object wrapped around Caihua's neck when they heard Caihua speaking to Xiaobai.

Little White woke up, first rubbing its face against its little master's, then shaking its head at the three children who came closer but dared not get too close, as if greeting itself. Then it moved its head to the back of Caihua's head, transformed into a kitten, and began to bare its teeth at the place where Fang Yuancheng was standing.

"What's wrong with Xiaobai?" Ayaka looked in the direction where Xiaobai was baring its teeth, but there was nothing there!

Ayaka swallowed hard, her voice trembling slightly, "Is there something there?"

Upon hearing that something was following them, the remaining three children instinctively hid behind Caihua—after all, she possessed a magical artifact, making her relatively stronger in combat.

Fang Yuancheng had already anticipated seeing the spiritual creatures of heaven and earth baring their teeth at him—after all, spiritual creatures of heaven and earth are extremely sensitive to fluctuations in spiritual energy around them, and even if you hide your aura, the fluctuations in spiritual energy around you will not escape their eyes—but he did not expect that he would be bared at by the spiritual creatures of heaven and earth as soon as he took a step closer.

Fang Yuancheng then released the concealment spell from his body, revealing his true form so that the four children would not be nervous.

When the four children realized that the person was not a bad guy but an elder who had brought them food, they all breathed a sigh of relief and greeted Fang Yuancheng.

Fang Yuancheng stepped forward, also wanting to take this rare opportunity to see this rare treasure of heaven and earth. Fang Yuancheng walked up to Caihua and bent down to look at the lotus spirit that had transformed into a little white cat.

"Does this creature of heaven and earth bite people on a regular basis?" Fang Yuancheng asked, looking at the fluffy head of the little white cat, she really wanted to touch it.

"Reporting to the immortal, she doesn't bite." Caihua didn't understand why Fang Yuancheng was asking these questions, so she answered honestly.

"Oh, I see." Fang Yuancheng said, reaching out to touch the little white fluffy head.

"But it will whip people with its tail," Ayaka added.

Upon hearing Caihua's words, Fang Yuancheng turned his head and saw that Lianhua Ling, who had transformed into a kitten, had already stretched her white tail next to her face. He quickly raised his hand and patted Caihua's head.

"Keep climbing, I'm going up the mountain first." Fang Yuancheng used his light-footed skill to leap up the mountain, disappearing from sight.

Seeing that Fang Yuancheng had left, the remaining three children surrounded Caihua, wanting to touch the rare, awake creature of heaven and earth, especially since it was now a cute little cat.

Nolan was the first to make a move. He had just raised his hand and was still a little distance from Xiaobai when Xiaobai, who had transformed into a cat, slapped it back with its tail.

"Ouch." Nolan covered his hand, rubbed the spot where Xiaobai had slapped him, and grimaced, looking like he had been hit pretty hard.

Wen Meiying saw Nolan's predicament and laughed, "Now you're not only half-crippled, you'll probably be unable to use your hands for half the day too."

"You're so good at this, go ahead and touch it." Nolan's hand wasn't as bad as Wen Meiying had described, but it still hurt a bit, so he replied to Wen Meiying in a rather irritable manner.

Wen Meiying snorted but didn't speak. Instead, Wang Li asked first, "Caihua, what kind of spiritual root do you have?"

“It has both water and wood spiritual roots.” As Caihua said this, Xiaobai nuzzled her face. Caihua knew that Xiaobai meant it was hungry, so she took out half a steamed bun from her bosom and gave it to Xiaobai to eat.

Upon hearing this, Wang Li stopped her restless hand—she didn't want to be slapped by the spirit of heaven and earth.

In stark contrast to Wang Li, Wen Meiying, upon hearing Caihua's reply, immediately reached out to touch Xiaobai's head—he was a top-grade wood spirit root, so touching him probably wouldn't be a problem.

When Lotus Spirit Xiaobai saw Wen Meiying reach out to touch her, she didn't react much, but she still turned her head away to prevent Wen Meiying from touching her—she was still eating, how could he touch her?

Seeing that Wen Meiying had also been humiliated, Nolan returned the mockery without any mercy.

The two little boys started arguing again.

Wang Li originally wanted to watch Nolan and Wen Meiying argue, but unexpectedly, after Caihua finished feeding Xiaobai, she glanced at them and headed straight up the mountain.

Wang Li quickly left the two who were about to argue and chased after Caihua up the mountain. The other two boys saw that the two girls had already gone up the mountain, so they also climbed up, arguing as they climbed.

Lu Renkui, who was inside Caihua's consciousness space, was already overwhelmed by Nolan and Wen Meiying's bickering. She marveled at the boundless energy that children could still have when they were exhausted, and then continued to organize the plot points related to Huaiyu Sect. She would see what level Caihua had reached in her cultivation and then explain these points to Caihua to help her catch up.

“Caihua is seeking a master… She says she wants to become an alchemist. Does Huaiyu Sect have any alchemists?” Lu Renkui asked the system WQBYRZM while sorting through the information.

"Yes, it's Fangyuan City, but it's a combination of alchemist, chef, and cultivator. Don't worry, even if Caihua doesn't become an alchemist, she can still go to those story locations." System WQBYRZM flicked her pink twin tails, "After all, those story locations aren't fixed in terms of which professions, spiritual roots, or cultivation paths allow entry."

"I'm not worried about those things," Lu Renkui smiled. "I mainly hope that Ayaka can get the result she wants."

System WQBYRZM sighed: "It might be a bit troublesome for Caihua to realize this idea. In the original story, Fang Yuancheng only picked up two disciples at the foot of the mountain. After that, these two disciples didn't appear much. It's said that they went to the battlefield and became cannon fodder."

"That was when Jing'an was still alive, right? Now that he's dead, things should have changed, right?" Lu Renkui was quite optimistic.

System WQBYRZM did not refute this, because she also hoped it would be so.

Fang Yuancheng returned to his sect and immediately began refining a batch of pills to sell at the foot of the mountain—he couldn't let the new disciples go without even a gift. After refining the pills, he went to the kitchen to make pancakes for the disciples who were still climbing the mountain.

Just as the fire was burning, the eldest brother, Nanmoqu, slowly walked in and said, "You came down the mountain to deliver food this time... ugh."

As soon as Nan Moqu walked in, Fang Yuancheng guessed what he was going to say, and quickly stuffed a piece of leftover biscuit from lunch into Nan Moqu's mouth to shut him up.

"I've looked at them, and there are a few who seem pleasing to the eye. We'll see if they're willing to become my apprentices." Fang Yuancheng said this, but in his heart he was thinking: A culinary cultivator has to deal with ingredients in the kitchen every day. Vegetables are fine, but those kids are practically pampered; they probably wouldn't even dare kill a fish. Alchemy requires dealing with medicinal herbs every day, and a slight mistake can lead to failure. It's a job that demands a lot of patience. These kids are all at an age where they can't sit still; how can they possibly sit still? I probably won't find a single one in front of me then."

Nanmo swallowed the biscuit in his mouth, listened to Fang Yuancheng's words, and asked, "Which ones have you taken a fancy to? I'll go down the mountain tonight and take a look."

What are you doing coming down the mountain tonight?

"I will deliver dinner to my disciples tonight."

"..."

"Why aren't you saying anything? Could it be that what you just said was a lie?" Nan Moqu narrowed his eyes and looked at Fang Yuancheng.

Fang Yuancheng turned around, avoiding looking into Nanmoqu's eyes, and said, "What's the use of telling you? When the time comes, those kids will complain that what I do is hard and tiring, so why would they recognize me as their master?"

"What path of cultivation is not arduous?" Nanmoqu knew that his junior sister was once again making excuses to pave the way for his refusal to accept disciples.

"Then go find them. It's true that I like a few of the kids. Go ask them one by one. See which one is willing to be a cook? Which one is willing to spend all day just eating, sleeping, finding medicinal herbs, sorting medicinal herbs, refining pills, and cooking?"

Nanmoqu was somewhat helpless: "Why would you think that way? Everyone has their own ambitions. Maybe one of those kids is willing to become an alchemist?"

"I don't believe it." Fang Yuancheng scoffed. "You all said the same thing back then, that Mei Chong really wanted to be an alchemist. And what happened? That kid became an alchemist for less than two months before running off to Ma Wuyi's tutelage, begging Ma Wuyi to be his master, because he simply couldn't stand being surrounded by a bunch of smelly herbs every day!"

"Didn't you agree back then?" Nanmo District fell silent.

"Agree? Ha! If I disagreed, that kid would have killed himself at the sect gate. How could I disagree?" Fang Yuancheng sneered. "In the end, that kid even followed Ma Wuyi and joined the Qingping Sect. We were laughed at for so long."

"It's alright, these kids won't do that," Nanmo said softly. "Are the pancakes ready?"

"Let's wait a little longer, it's not dark yet," Fang Yuancheng said, adding another handful of firewood to the stove.