While Lin Mo led the training expedition, various incidents occurred on Azure Bamboo Peak.
Firstly, it was the time for Azure Bamboo Peak disciples to receive their stipends.
Normally, Lin Mo personally handled this. With him absent, the disciple managing the warehouse had to seek instructions from True Master Yuehua.
“Master, what about the Spirit Stones for the disciples’ stipends this year?” the warehouse disciple asked.
“Distribute them as usual!” True Yuehua said dismissively, sipping Spirit Tea.
“But Master…” the disciple showed a hint of difficulty on his face. “We don’t have enough Spirit Stones in our warehouse for this stipend distribution!”
“How could it not be enough?” True Master Yuehua asked, puzzled.
“Brother Lin manages all of Azure Bamboo Peak’s expenses, big and small. While the quality of food, housing, and travel is usually very good, Azure Bamboo Peak’s income is far less than its expenditure.”
“Then why has this never happened before, where we can’t even afford to issue stipends?” True Master Yuehua raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Well, in previous years, Senior Brother Lin would hunt in the Great Continent Mountain Range for Azure Bamboo Peak, subsidizing our food expenses. The extra Spirit Herbs and Spirit Beast Meat would be sold for Spirit Stones to supplement the income. Most importantly, every year, he would sell his own Profound Ice Fruit to cover Azure Bamboo Peak’s expenses…”
The disciple’s voice lowered as he continued, “For some reason, Senior Brother Lin has recently stopped hunting in the Great Continent Mountain Range and only focuses on his cultivation. Even when harvesting the Profound Ice Fruit, he didn’t use the Spirit Stones…”
True Master Yuehua was also slightly taken aback upon hearing this.
She knew Lin Mo had done a lot for the sect, but she never imagined it was this much…
Thinking carefully, it was incredible that Lin Mo could maintain his cultivation progress while doing so much. He must have endured much hardship in private.
As his Master, she had only focused on her own cultivation and was completely unaware of these matters…
Now, she felt somewhat ashamed of her eldest disciple.
“In that case, how much more Spirit Stone do we need?” True Master Yuehua intended to pay out of her own pocket.
“Eight thousand eight hundred low-grade Spirit Stones!” the disciple replied.
As True Master Yuehua opened her Storage Ring, preparing to retrieve the Spirit Stones, she embarrassingly discovered she didn’t have enough.
She then remembered that she had bought a lot of cultivation resources a few days ago, and her Spirit Stones were almost depleted.
Logically, as the Sect Master, she should have considerable savings.
However, she was a homebody who didn’t travel to gather resources like other True Masters. She simply spent whatever she had on cultivation.
True Master Yuehua now understood the pain of ‘a single coin can stump a hero.’
Seeing that her Master hadn’t produced the money for a while, the disciple’s expression clearly conveyed, “As a dignified Nascent Soul True Lord, you can’t produce this small amount of Spirit Stones, can you?”
True Master Yuehua felt utterly ashamed, wishing the ground would swallow her whole.
However, to maintain her image as a “blossom on a lofty peak,” she calmly said, “Has the Spirit Field in the back mountain reached harvest time? Let’s sell the surplus Spirit Rice and Spirit Herbs first.”
The disciple was stunned by his Master’s suggestion.
But at this point, there was no other option.
After taking his leave, he went to the back mountain to inform Yuan Li about harvesting the Spirit Rice and Spirit Herbs.
Yuan Li’s expression soured upon receiving the notification.
He hadn’t tended to the Spirit Field for some time and had no idea what the current situation was in the back mountain.
“I understand. I’ll have the fellow disciples come to the back mountain in a few days to harvest the Spirit Rice and Spirit Herbs.”
After dismissing the disciple who delivered the message, Yuan Li rushed to the back mountain.
He was shocked by what he saw.
Out of the hundreds of acres of Spirit Field, two-thirds were dead and withered.
“How could this happen!” Yuan Li collapsed onto the ground. “Why are there so many pests!”
Normally, even without care during this period, the pest infestation would be less than one percent of this.
He couldn’t understand why there were so many pests this time.
Thinking carefully, he suddenly remembered that his Senior Brother Lin used to frequent the back mountain.
He had previously thought Lin Mo was merely supervising him, but now he realized Lin Mo must have been doing a lot of pest control and fertilization work for him.
Now, with the Spirit Field in this state, even if all the pests were eliminated, the dead and withered Spirit Rice and Spirit Herbs would not recover.
He cursed Lin Mo inwardly, thinking how heartless he was to ignore the Spirit Field after Yuan Li was punished.
But it was too late for regrets.
If this matter were discovered, he would face consequences far graver than expulsion from the sect…
Suddenly, a daring idea struck him…
That night, the Spirit Field caught fire.
The fire was, of course, set by Yuan Li.
He claimed to outsiders that it was a natural disaster that occurred last night, a heavenly fire that ignited the Spirit Field.
He had prepared beforehand, intentionally burning himself before going to True Master Yuehua to confess: “Master, this is all my fault. I lacked the ability to extinguish the fire. I deserve to die!”
Seeing Yuan Li’s burns and his soot-covered face, True Yuehua said, “This is not your fault. Your Cultivation Level is only Qi Refining; how could you deal with a heavenly fire? You did your best.”
Yuan Li continued to apologize profusely, but inwardly, he was overjoyed.
His plan had succeeded.
Just as he thought the matter could be smoothly covered up, fate intervened. A disciple was cultivating in the back mountain last night and witnessed the entire process of him setting the fire.
True Master Yuehua was not foolish either. After personally inspecting the back mountain, she discovered clues.
At present, the Spirit Field in the back mountain was devastated by fire.
All the disciples of Azure Bamboo Peak wore sorrowful expressions.
After True Yuehua extinguished the fire, a group of disciples began searching for any surviving Spirit Rice and Spirit Herbs, hoping to salvage something.
Most of the Spirit Field had been burnt to charcoal, but some disciples discovered an area that had not been completely destroyed by the fire.
Excitedly preparing to harvest the Spirit Herbs and Spirit Rice there, they were suddenly dumbfounded.
There wasn’t a single stalk of Spirit Rice or Spirit Herb.
“How could this be?” one disciple exclaimed.
He couldn’t understand why there were no Spirit Herbs or Spirit Rice in the Spirit Field area that the fire had spared.
“Don’t you see? Most of the Spirit Herbs and Spirit Rice in this part of the Spirit Field, which the fire didn’t reach, are withered and yellow. There are also many signs of pest infestation. This must be Yuan Li’s fault; he never properly tended to the Spirit Field, never dealt with pests, and never fertilized it.”
One disciple saw through the truth, and all eyes turned to Yuan Li.
Hundreds, even thousands, of disciples fixed their hateful gazes on him, wishing they could flay him alive.
It was important to note that a significant portion of the Spirit Field was for the Azure Bamboo Peak disciples to cultivate Spirit Herbs themselves.
Many disciples relied on their cultivated Spirit Herbs either to sell for money or for their own cultivation. All of this had been destroyed by the fire Yuan Li set, so how could they not hate him?
“I was blind. When Senior Brother Lin punished him back then, I thought it was too harsh. Now, I wonder why Lin Mo didn’t beat him to death.”
“This damned Yuan Li is just a trash with Four Spirit Roots. Look at Senior Brother Lin, a Dual Spirit Root, who has to worry about his fellow disciples’ cultivation and is busy all day. Yet you dared to take Spirit Stones and do nothing, spending all your time cultivating, dreaming of becoming an immortal. Go to hell!”
The disciples verbally berated Yuan Li to varying degrees.
Some even resorted to physical violence.
Unable to bear the onslaught of their attacks, Yuan Li pleaded with True Yuehua, “Master, I was wrong. I deserve to die, but I have a mother in this world to care for. Please spare my worthless life. I will leave the sect immediately.”
At this moment, one disciple spoke.
“Why wasn’t Yuan Li expelled by Senior Brother Lin in the first place?”
This question caused many disciples to ponder.
If Yuan Li had been expelled then, the Spirit Field in the back mountain wouldn’t be in this state now.
After much thought, their gazes ultimately fell upon Ye Kai.
It was Ye Kai who had pleaded with True Yuehua back then, privately saying that Lin Mo’s methods were ruthless and inhumane, and that forgetting to tend the Spirit Field was a trivial matter that warranted expulsion…
With this thought, resentment began to brew in their hearts towards Ye Kai, the seemingly kind junior brother.
Some even pointed directly at Ye Kai and said, “Senior Brother Ye, didn’t you guarantee that Yuan Li would take good care of the Spirit Field when you pleaded for him?”
Faced with such an accusation, Ye Kai didn’t know how to respond.
He cursed the useless Yuan Li in his heart.
Who would have thought that this guy would not only continue to be obsessed with cultivation and neglect the Spirit Field but also dare to set it on fire!
Shen Ke’er, standing nearby, stepped in to mediate, “This cannot be blamed on Junior Brother Ye. Isn’t the root of all problems Yuan Li?”
Even so, the disciples’ resentment towards Ye Kai lingered.
True Maser Yuehua then recalled Lin Mo’s hushed question to her.
“Even you, Master, think I was making a fuss and being inhumane by expelling Yuan Li from the mountain?”
Her words now struck her heart like thunder.
Her choice back then had likely deeply hurt her eldest disciple.
