"Sect Leader Senior Brother~" As soon as Jiang Baitao saw Lu Qian, her voice elongated, becoming sticky and greasy, making everyone cry out in exasperation. Li Da’s entire body was filled with goosebumps, thinking if Baitao ever called him like that one day, he would definitely run as far and as fast as possible.

The little girl leaped forward, immediately hugging Lu Qian’s arm, looking pitiably up and saying, "I know I was wrong, I shouldn’t have sneaked out, I won’t dare to do it again, just spare me this time."

"No way!" Jiang Qingfeng angrily said, "You rely on everyone’s affection, repeatedly violating the rules, with increasingly serious consequences each time. This time, if a fellow disciple hadn’t happened to see you and report back, and Elder Zhou hadn’t arrived in time, your life would’ve been over! You even implicated Li Da and Wang Ruoyu!"

Jiang Baitao’s eyes widened, "Well, I knew he tattled, watch how I deal with him—"

"Taotao!" Lu Qian suddenly said sternly, "He saved your life, don’t be ungrateful!"

Jiang Baitao dumbfoundedly raised her head; Lu Qian had never spoken to her this way.

Facing Baitao’s fearful and aggrieved gaze, Lu Qian hardened his heart, "If we don’t punish you, you won’t understand the seriousness of the matter. If a real disaster happens in the future, it will be too late for regrets!" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"This time, you sneaked out of the mountain gate, disobeyed orders to infiltrate the marketplace, and even dragged along Li Da and Wang Ruoyu, counting several offenses. You’re punished to three months of seclusion, followed by a year’s restriction on Bichao Mountain!"

Jiang Baitao’s small face suddenly turned pale, tears welled up in her eyes, and she slowly loosened her grip on Lu Qian’s hands, whispering, "Sect Leader Senior Brother..."

Lu Qian did not relent, "Taotao, I’m doing this for your own good. I hope during your seclusion, you think seriously about where you went wrong and reflect on your problems. It’s already fortunate nothing happened; if there’s a mishap, your sister and I would be immensely pained. This punishment is meant for you to always remember this lesson."

Jiang Baitao took a few steps back, tears rolling down, then turned and ran away.

Lu Qian hurriedly said, "Elder Zhou, please check on her, make sure nothing happens, send someone to take her back to Bichao Mountain."

Master Xuan Ji nodded and chased after her.

Having lived two lifetimes, Lu Qian’s psychological age was quite old; in his heart, Baitao was more like a daughter than a sister, never willing to utter a harsh word.

Yet excessive pampering might lead to major trouble in the future; this time was already a fortunate escape.

Hopefully, after this, Taotao will mature a bit.

Lu Qian sighed, shifting his gaze to Li Da and Wang Ruoyu. Li Da quickly pulled Wang Ruoyu and knelt down, "Sect Leader, we admit our mistakes."

"You were likely dragged along by her forcibly. Baitao is your Junior Martial Uncle, and you’re usually very close, so it’s not entirely your fault." Lu Qian’s words gave Li Da a moment of relief, but then the latter part did come, "However, when you encounter such violations of sect rules, you should report to the sect, not join in her antics. Sect orders have their reasoning; as junior cultivators, you may not understand fully, just need to follow them."

"If a disaster had occurred this time, the loss of the three most outstanding junior disciples in our sect would be a huge loss for Yunshan Sect."

Li Da remembered that sharp flying ring, connecting everything, he was also startled and broke into a cold sweat.

Before, he thought too simply, believing that on their own territory, with so much law enforcement power, surely there would be no problem. However, they hadn’t considered that with their current cultivation levels, if danger truly arose, they wouldn’t even have time to react, unable to hold out until the Law Enforcement Team arrived.

No wonder the sect leader strictly prohibited Early-Stage Qi Cultivation Practitioners from entering the marketplace.

However, turning around, he was also pleased with the phrase "most outstanding junior disciples." Immediately, he kowtowed, "Sect Leader, we understand, we are willing to be punished."

Beside him, Wang Ruoyu suddenly spoke up, "Sect Leader, can you punish me and Junior Martial Uncle together in seclusion? If she’s alone, she’ll be terribly upset."

Li Da was greatly anxious in his heart, good grief, Wang Shitou, Wang the Fool, Pug, don’t drag me into this! Even if there’s seclusion, I do not want to be confined with you two!

These junior cultivators had uncertain mindsets, scattered spiritual power, unable to undergo seclusion, and combined with a childlike nature, being locked in a small room unable to go anywhere was an enormous punishment.

Lu Qian gave Wang Ruoyu a glance, smiled, "You all have deep feelings, but it’s not possible, you have to be punished separately, to reflect on your mistakes."

Subsequently, the two juniors received a month’s seclusion penalty, drooping in spirit as they were escorted out.

Having dealt with everything, Lu Qian turned around, smiled bitterly, and respectfully saluted, "The disciples are mischievous and naughty, lacking discipline, please don’t laugh."

Watching this for a while, the middle-aged man beside him felt considerably relieved from his tension, feeling that the distance he first felt dissipated, this young Yunshan Sect Leader was indeed down-to-earth and handled matters fairly.

He immediately pulled Linglong to bow, "Fellow loose cultivator Cui Shanyan, along with my daughter Cui Linglong, greet Sect Leader Lu."

Lu Qian smiled, "I heard from the disciples who communicated that Fellow Daoist Cui is highly talented, good at growing and cultivating spiritual medicines, and our sect is precisely lacking such talents. Just not knowing which kind of spiritual medicines Fellow Daoist Cui excels in? What techniques are mastered?"

Cui Shanyan knew this was the main discussion, even considering it the initial assessment, he then said, "My teacher’s lineage comes from Xianzhi Sect in Xinghu County. Two hundred years ago, Xianzhi Sect was destroyed by its enemies, my ancestor at that time was a core disciple, degraded to a loose cultivator, and passed down this lineage to me."

"I am skilled in cultivating Purple Spirit Grass, Jade Marrow Mushroom, Cold Tobacco, Golden Spirit Seed, Daffodil Ling Flower, Celestial Essence Fruit... totaling twenty-three kinds of spirit herbs and medicines, commonly used as main ingredients for various elixirs during Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment stages."

Lu Qian was taken aback upon hearing this, would this destitute-looking middle-aged man in Mid-Stage Qi Cultivation possess such talents?

If what he said is true, even in Foundation Establishment sects, he would be a rare spirit alchemist, definitely a sought-after individual. Why is his situation so dire that he needs to travel a thousand miles to Chongming County to try his luck?

Noticing Lu Qian’s doubt, Cui Shanyan bitterly smiled, having seen such expressions too often, and slowly explained, "Because I have two conditions, one is to have more than fifty acres of Spirit Medicine Garden, to fulfill my master’s final wishes, perfecting the ’Sun, Moon, and Star Reincarnation Spirit Cultivation Technique.’

Sun, Moon, and Star Reincarnation Spirit Cultivation Technique was initially explored and proposed by Cui Shanyan’s ancestor, summarized and continued by Cui Shanyan’s master, but ultimately couldn’t completely create it, thus the responsibility fell on Cui Shanyan."

What is meant by sun, moon, and star, differing from one spiritual medicine planting an entire garden, is making one spiritual medicine as the main herb for the Sun Wheel, one to two spiritual medicines as secondary herbs for the Moon Wheel, while more medicinal materials act as auxiliary herbs for stars, cultivated together to achieve a greater than sum effect."

Lu Qian listened, internally shocked, isn’t this intercropping?

Cui Shanyan continued, "In addition to that, there is a second condition."