"This is the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo?" Han Li asked, his expression shifting between light and shadow.
Inside the box was a short, ordinary-looking piece of dried bamboo, about two inches long, as thick as a little finger, still bearing a few withered roots.
No matter how he looked at it, it was no different from any common bamboo!
While Han Li's mind brimmed with doubt, he couldn't help but glance at Fairy Zi Ling with an inscrutable expression.
The young woman clearly understood Han Li's concerns. With a soft laugh, she pinched the half-yellow, half-green bamboo between her slender fingers, then turned her hand over, a crystalline, radiantly gleaming dagger appearing in her other hand.
With a crisp "clang," Fairy Zi Ling slashed the dagger swiftly and forcefully at the bamboo. In the instant the blade made contact, a thin arc of electricity flickered across the bamboo's surface, immediately bouncing the dagger away.
Seeing this, all of Han Li's doubts vanished. He carefully placed the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo back in the box and stored it away.
Afterwards, Fairy Zi Ling gave Han Li an elder's waist token of the Wonderful Sound Gate. The two chatted for a while before Han Li took his leave.
Not long after Han Li departed, Madam Fan and Zhuo Ruting returned to the inn together. After hearing Fairy Zi Ling recount the matter, the two exchanged glances for a good while.
"Junior Sister, this isn't quite what we agreed upon. Aren't we getting the short end of the stick? With the reputation of this Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, we could easily find another Core Formation cultivator. Why go out of our way to accommodate this person?" Madam Fan couldn't help but voice her complaints.
Though Zhuo Ruting said nothing from the side, her willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly, revealing a look of equal bewilderment.
"You two don't understand, Senior Sisters. When I first proposed making him our sect's elder, his expression turned very unpleasant. And from his eyes, I could tell at a glance that this man's will is extraordinarily resolute. He would never have agreed to this even without the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo. Moreover, Senior Fan has already said that this man is completely immune to our charm techniques."
"As for using the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo to recruit other cultivators, Senior Sisters, you overestimate the value of this rather chicken-rib-like item. You see, the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo may be known as one of the Three Great Divine Bamboos of the cultivation world, but in reality, very few people can actually make use of it. Unless you're forging top-grade wood-attribute magical treasures, who would use it as a material? And among those who understand the methods for forging such treasures, this small amount of our Heavenly Thunder Bamboo would be practically useless. Besides, as you both know, even the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo comes in different grades. Our piece is merely a White Thunder Bamboo of a few thousand years' growth. Even if it were forged into a magical treasure, it wouldn't have much power. We're better off using it to build a good relationship with this person first. What's more, now that he's agreed to become our sect's elder, so long as we sisters treat him with respect and continue our annual tributes, when our sect truly faces a great enemy, would he have the nerve to refuse to lend a hand?" Fairy Zi Ling said leisurely, looking entirely unperturbed.
"And even if someone else were truly attracted by the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo and willing to become our sect's elder — given our sect's current situation, would we really dare to take them in? We'd likely end up blocking the tiger at the front door only to let the wolf in through the back! In the past, my mother could rely on being a Core Formation cultivator herself to employ a balancing strategy, keeping Elders Zhao and Meng working faithfully for the sect. After all, relying solely on charm techniques and feminine wiles to win over high-level cultivators easily invites retaliation!" The young woman added with a faint, bitter smile.
Hearing these words, Madam Fan and Zhuo Ruting both fell silent.
After the recent mass defection among their ranks, the two of them had already begun to lose confidence in their own charm techniques. They had to admit that what this youngest Junior Sister said made a certain amount of sense.
"For now, the three of us will handle the sect's affairs together. We won't appoint a new Sect Master for the time being. It won't be too late to designate a Sect Master once one of us three — or any of our female disciples — reaches Core Formation!" the young woman declared decisively.
This time, the other two women offered no objection.
"This Elder Han — might he use his superior cultivation to force his way into the sect's affairs? Should we take precautions in advance?" Zhuo Ruting suddenly asked in a cold tone.
"He won't. Although I haven't had much interaction with him, I can tell from his manner of speaking that this man seems to be a devoted ascetic cultivator. Apart from his cultivation, probably nothing can move him. Otherwise, when I mentioned offering a female disciple to him as a concubine, he wouldn't have shown the slightest reaction. That's probably exactly why he was able to reach Core Formation!" Fairy Zi Ling shook her head, a trace of envy in her voice.
"Sigh! I wonder… will we sisters ever have a chance to reach Core Formation?" Madam Fan sighed softly, her voice tinged with melancholy, seemingly without much hope of achieving it.
Hearing this, a look of desolation also crossed Zhuo Ruting's face.
It seemed these beautiful women yearned for Core Formation just as fiercely!
……
At this point, Han Li had already returned to his cave dwelling.
He didn't attend to anything else but immediately began searching through the many texts he had in his collection.
After considerable effort, he found the cultivation method for Heavenly Thunder Bamboo in a jade slip. Then, following the instructions step by step, Han Li transplanted the bamboo into his herb garden.
Looking at the slender, diminutive Heavenly Thunder Bamboo now transplanted before him, Han Li was absolutely thrilled.
He was, of course, well aware that the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo came in different grades. However, this didn't concern him in the slightest.
The grade of Heavenly Thunder Bamboo was determined entirely by its spiritual age.