Baili An said lightly, "This child is dying."
Fan Hong frowned. Is he trying to feign righteousness and stand out for others?
He couldn’t understand why this young man, who was clearly here for the disciple selection, was acting so confidently in front of him.
Could it be that he wants to take a different path and hopes to win the Immortal’s favor by displaying his integrity?
How naive!
The woman’s mournful cries made him inexplicably irritable. Fan Hong wore a cold and rigid expression, saying, "The birth and death of mortals is a natural law. What, are you saying that it’s our fault for not saving this child? I said from the beginning that we are not healers."
Baili An shook his head. Suddenly, he moved his foot, and a pebble flew from his toe, hitting the elbow of the young master on the white horse. A jade flute slipped from his sleeve and fell to the ground, transforming into a colorful venomous snake.
Amidst screams from the crowd, the young master’s face changed dramatically. He drew a broken sword and chopped three tis, reducing the snake to a puddle of venom before stopping.
Baili An turned up the child’s wrist, where two tiny red dots marked the Snake’s Kiss Mark.
"He is not just suffering from a persistent high fever; he’s also been poisoned by a demon. I didn’t say you let him die, but is it proper to allow those who harm while demon exorcising to ascend the mountain?"
The faces of the ten or so outer disciples changed drastically as they turned to look at the loose cultivator Han Qiuheng.
Han Qiuchi, with a cold face, said, "Ridiculous! Can it be concluded that I was harming people just because of one snake? There are thousands of poisonous snakes in the world; why pick on without evidence?"
Baili An looked down at the pool of poison on the ground. "The evidence is destroyed. What more do you have to say?"
A mortal child, versus a loose cultivator with a Mid-grade Spirit Root—how to weigh the pros and cons between the two? Fan Hong suddenly pondered deeply.
The first selection not only concerns the fate of these candidates but also the future of these outer disciples.
The more candidates pass, the brighter the prospects for their developnt within the sect.
Fan Hong naturally wouldn’t waste a hard-earned slot over such a ’trivial matter.’
Especially when there is no evidence.
"This is just an ordinary child. What motive would he have to poison anyone? This matter is full of doubts. Our Xijian Sect will uncover the truth. We do not wish to easily hinder soone’s future due to a misunderstanding."
It was clear this was ant to protect the loose cultivator.
Baili An smiled but didn’t argue. He turned to warmly say to the inconsolable woman, "Ma’am, do you still want your child to join such a mountain sect?"
The woman shook her head repeatedly, her eyes blurred with tears. "I just want my child to live, to live well."
Baili An nodded and said, "Head two hundred miles east, and there’s a Taoist temple nad Bailing. If you go there, your child will have another path."
Fan Hong found this inexplicable statent amusing. Although Bailing Temple wasn’t large, it was indeed a top-tier cultivation sect. How could they casually accept such an ordinary child?
He spoke as if just by traveling east and entering the temple, they would certainly take him in.
With just that, Baili An bypassed the ten or so disciples, casually choosing an altar, lifting the child’s hand to touch the glass sphere.
In an instant, a verdant light radiated from the glass sphere, turning into a beam of light shooting into the sky.
The light was delightful to behold, soothing to the spirit platform.
The faces of the ten or so outer disciples suddenly drained of color. "A top-grade extraordinary spirit root!"
And judging by its verdant hue, it was the rare Xuan dicine Spirit Root.
What a surprisingly joyous discovery!
Fan Hong’s hands trembled as he suppressed his excitent. "Quickly! Quickly bring a detoxification agent to this little junior brother! Don’t miss the best opportunity to detoxify him!"
Well, he’s already calling him junior brother.
Everyone scrambled, taking out various precious Detoxification Elixirs, eager to give them to the child.
After being montarily stunned, the woman watched the young disciples crowding around with an expression of indescribable complexity.
Baili An held the child without other movents, rely watching the flustered disciples with a half-smile.
Their emotions laid bare, his clear eyes, without criticism or sarcasm, suddenly gave everyone an overwhelming sense of sha.
They stopped in their tracks, not knowing what to say.
"Hahaha!!! How interesting!! How interesting!! Let see this little one!!"
An old Taoist in plain clothes carrying a hoe stepped out from the crowd, holding a grass-like weed in his hand, with dew droplets clinging to its edges. The dew was remarkably magical, dangling precariously as his hand moved.
As the old Taoist approached Baili An, his gaze filled with subtle gratitude. He placed his hoe on the ground and shook the grass-like weed on the child’s face.
A few droplets of dew silently seeped into the child’s skin, then erged again, black as ink, floating in mid-air. The old Taoist waved both hands, turning the black dew clear and shimring.
Even the mortals could see that this old Taoist was likely a powerful figure.
"Heh, the lad has a good eye. I owe you one for this favor," the old Taoist said.
Fan Hong, not believing what he saw, looked at the wild grass in the elder’s hand, recognizing it as the Star Cloud Grass, the treasured heritage of Bailing Temple!
He identified the Taoist as the master of Bailing Temple, none other than a transcendent Immortal, revered by countless cultivators.
Realizing this, Fan Hong’s legs beca weak.
After being an outer disciple for over ten years, he often heard rumors that during the disciple selection at the Xijian Sect, there were always a few undignified sect leaders loitering at the foot of the mountain, covertly seeking promising talents.
After all, Tianxi attracts the most and the widest array of disciples.
If there truly is a particularly outstanding candidate, those old monsters wouldn’t hesitate to drop all pretenses to compete with Tianxi for them.
Such occurrences were rare, and Fan Hong hadn’t expected to encounter such misfortune.
If such a genuinely outstanding top-grade Spirit Root was intercepted, his negligence would be monuntal.
With a downcast face, he hurried to say, "Real Master of Bailing, your actions are not quite decent, after all, this is within the territory of Bai Tuo Mountain..."
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