Alienation and Rejection

Bai Lan was already growing tired of this question.
Almost everyone she met would ask about her relationship with Bai Yiren, and it was a question she found difficult to answer.

Rather than trying to respond, she simply chose to remain silent.

Silence suited her naturally unsociable personality anyway.

Bai Lan’s silence caused some dissatisfaction among the new Direct Disciples from the other factions.

Fortunately, Luo Yuyan quickly spoke up to explain on her behalf.

She simply told them that Bai Lan indeed had a certain relationship with Bai Yiren, but the details were not something that could be disclosed.

At the same time, she asked everyone to understand Bai Lan’s personality.

Bai Lan’s temperament, she explained, was very similar to Ximen Xue’s—someone who preferred quiet and disliked unnecessary conversation.

After hearing this explanation, the others gradually understood.

After all, everyone knew that some people were simply born with naturally aloof personalities.

Since all four major factions had accepted new Direct Disciples this time, everyone briefly introduced themselves.

However, the atmosphere between Bai Lan, Xue Linglong, and Chen Xuan remained extremely tense.

None of them took the initiative to speak.

In contrast, Zhou Shijie, the newly accepted Direct Disciple from Tianxiang Garden, quickly began chatting cheerfully with Xue Linglong.

It was obvious that the three newly promoted Direct Disciples all felt a certain dislike toward Chen Xuan.

When she had still been in the outer sect, Chen Xuan had often abused her authority as a princess and offended many disciples.

Meanwhile, Bai Lan and Xue Linglong had gained considerable recognition because of their actions during the previous sea demon invasion.

Although Zhou Shijie was not personally close to Bai Lan and Xue Linglong, she had certainly heard of their deeds.

As a result, she had a very negative impression of Chen Xuan, while her impression of Bai Lan and Xue Linglong was quite positive.

Chen Xuan walked behind them alone.

She looked extremely isolated.

Her brows were tightly furrowed, yet no one paid attention to her.

Meanwhile, the senior disciples ahead were chatting and laughing.

Soon, they also noticed the strange relationship between Bai Lan and Chen Xuan.

“Senior Sister Zhu, what’s going on with your new Direct Disciple?”

“She looks completely out of place.”

“I have a feeling she already knows the others, and not in a friendly way,” Luo Yuyan said while glancing toward Chen Xuan.

She noticed Chen Xuan’s cold gaze fixed on Bai Lan and the others walking ahead.

Although the expression on Chen Xuan’s face appeared calm, there was clearly a trace of anger hidden beneath it.

Hearing this, Zhu Lingxiao looked somewhat puzzled.

However, when she thought about Chen Xuan’s personality and background, she could more or less guess the situation.

Truthfully, she herself was not particularly fond of Chen Xuan’s arrogant temperament.

“You probably don’t know this,” Zhu Lingxiao explained.

“My Junior Sister Chen is a princess of the Chen Kingdom.”

“She is a descendant of my master and the most talented junior in the Chen royal family.”

“The Emperor of the Chen Kingdom personally asked my master to accept her as a disciple.”

After hearing this explanation, the others finally understood.

It was no wonder Luo Yuyan and the others thought Chen Xuan’s aptitude was rather ordinary.

In fact, it was even inferior to Zhou Shijie’s.

Zhou Shijie possessed a Wood Spirit Body, which made her extremely suitable for Tianxiang Garden’s cultivation path.

Their attention soon returned to Bai Lan and the others walking ahead.

“Senior Sister Xue, Senior Sister Bai, is it really alright for us to ignore Chen Xuan like this?” Zhou Shijie asked quietly after chatting for a while.

She slightly turned her head and glanced at the silent Chen Xuan walking behind them.

“Junior Sister Zhou, you don’t know the full story,” Xue Linglong said with a sigh.

“My sister and I already had conflicts with her before we even officially joined the sect.”

“After joining the sect, that princess caused us trouble several times.”

“So even if we were willing to talk to her, she probably wouldn’t take us seriously.”

Xue Linglong could clearly see Chen Xuan’s thoughts.

Although Chen Xuan’s face appeared calm, she was most likely cursing Bai Lan and Xue Linglong in her heart.

How could they possibly accept someone like that?

“Is that so?”

“Now that you mention it, I think I’ve heard some rumors about that princess before,” Zhou Shijie whispered.

While the two chatted happily, Luo Yuyan and the other senior disciples were also laughing and talking.

This atmosphere made Chen Xuan feel extremely uncomfortable.

She had never imagined that there would come a day when she would be ignored like this.

Back in the Chen Kingdom, wherever she went she was always surrounded by attendants, and everyone treated her with great respect.

But ever since arriving at the Luoshen Sect, she had repeatedly suffered setbacks.

She had even been punished before.

Now that she had entered the inner sect, almost no one was willing to pay attention to her.

At that moment, a thought suddenly appeared in her mind.

‘Am I really that disliked?’

Chen Xuan stopped looking at Bai Lan and the others.

Instead, she lowered her head and quietly thought about her situation.

Different environments of upbringing often produced completely different mentalities.

Soon, the group of eight arrived at the main hall of Luoshen Palace.

Inside the hall, Bai Yiren, the other elders, and Sect Master Luo Yan were already seated and discussing matters.

“You four have really outdone yourselves this time.”

“You all accepted Direct Disciples at the same time.”

“Tell me, what kind of aptitudes do your new disciples have?” Luo Yan asked curiously as she looked toward her four junior sisters.

However, Bai Yiren immediately shook her head, indicating that she could not reveal such information.

Qiu Hanyun also insisted that it remain confidential.

Their unified response made the other three elders look somewhat surprised.

“Huh?”

“Second Senior Sister, Third Senior Sister, what kind of genius disciples did your two factions recruit that you can’t even talk about them?” Chen Xiangning asked curiously.

“Exactly,” Hua Yushan added directly.

“It certainly doesn’t sound like ordinary aptitude.”

“I’ll be straightforward about my new disciple.”

“She possesses a Wood Spirit Body.”

“Her constitution is perfectly suited for alchemy, which is exactly what Tianxiang Garden needs.”

Since Hua Yushan had already spoken, everyone’s attention naturally turned toward Chen Xiangning.

However, Chen Xiangning looked somewhat embarrassed.

“As for me…”

“The disciple I accepted is actually my own descendant.”

“I had no choice.”

“My imperial nephew—the current Emperor—insisted that I support a member of the royal family.”

“So I had no choice but to accept her.”

“Her aptitude is fairly ordinary.”

“I estimate she has the lowest potential among all the newly accepted Direct Disciples,” Chen Xiangning said very frankly.

Although Chen Xiangning herself had once been a princess of the Chen Kingdom, her personality was nothing like Chen Xuan’s.

She had originally not planned to accept any disciples at all.

She only accepted Chen Xuan because of family obligations.

“Is that so?”

“Well, never mind.”

“They’ve arrived,” Luo Yan suddenly said as she looked toward the entrance of the hall.

At that moment, Bai Lan and the others had just arrived.

Many of the elders had never seen Bai Lan before.

So the moment she stepped into the hall, everyone present was briefly stunned.

Their gazes immediately focused on her.

Bai Lan naturally noticed that many eyes had turned toward her.

She simply sighed inwardly.

She already knew there was no need for her to explain anything.

“This… Second Senior Sister, this girl is your new Direct Disciple?”

“Are you sure she isn’t your clone or perhaps your illegitimate daughter?” Chen Xiangning exclaimed in surprise.

Qiu Hanyun had already seen Bai Lan before, so she reacted more calmly.

However, Luo Yan and the other elders were clearly shocked.

“She is somewhat related to me.”

“But it’s not as exaggerated as you think,” Bai Yiren replied while rolling her eyes at Chen Xiangning.

Of course, Chen Xiangning had only been joking.

After all, Bai Yiren was still a maiden.

How could she possibly have a daughter?

Since Bai Lan clearly wasn’t her daughter yet looked so similar, the only explanation was that they were related by blood.

Led by Luo Yuyan and the other senior disciples, Bai Lan and the others respectfully bowed toward Luo Yan and the elders.

“Greetings, Sect Master.”

“Greetings, Elders.”

Seeing this, the senior disciples also stepped aside, leaving the four new Direct Disciples standing in the center of the hall.

This allowed the five elders to observe them carefully.

Their eyes faintly glowed as they used their divine sense to examine the four disciples.

However, after inspecting them more closely, the elders’ expressions gradually became strange.

Especially when they examined Bai Lan and Xue Linglong.

Their divine sense seemed to be blocked by an unknown force, preventing them from clearly observing their conditions.

They could only vaguely detect that one possessed an extremely pure Water Spirit Root.

The other possessed an equally pure Ice Spirit Root.

This situation was extremely unusual.

Most importantly, both of them were only at the ninth level of Qi Refining.