It turns out the candidate was rejected and held a grudge, which is why he bad-mouthed Ge Nan Academy to everyone.
Yan Jiaojiao was somewhat speechless and didn't bother to respond to the old man.
However, the old man seemed to have opened a floodgate and rambled on about his grievances and emotional entanglements with Ge Nan Academy.
"Actually, I was a very talented disciple back then. My village people called me the 'Light of Wood Element in the Future.' It's a pity my spiritual energy was insufficient. During the test, I only showed wood element spiritual energy, but my spiritual energy level didn't meet the standard, and I was regretfully rejected."
"You didn't even reach the Red level back then?" If Jiang Yiling hadn't had sincerity written all over his face, the old man might have thought Jiang Yiling was mocking him and would have attacked.
Fortunately, Jiang Yiling looked honest and upright. His expression was entirely one of sincere inquiry, not mockery, so the old man magnanimously forgave Jiang Yiling's rather unpleasant words.
"I didn't."
The old man became a bit melancholic thinking about it and took another large gulp of wine. He said with regret, "Actually, I once thought of cultivating through other means, but wood element cultivation is inherently more difficult than other spiritual roots. And I was the only seed. I thought I had to bring glory to my village, so I took a wrong path."
Yan Jiaojiao and the other two were completely intrigued.
"What kind of wrong path? Did you take some medicine before the test?"
The old man coughed a few times, and his slightly embarrassed expression confirmed this.
Yan Jiaojiao and the other two exchanged glances.
"That's a bit too much."
Jiang Yiling said righteously, "Ge Nan Academy treats everyone equally and recruits disciples of all ages. Even if you waited a few more years, the gates of Ge Nan Academy would still be open to you. You just needed to cultivate properly. Why take such a risk to do such a thing?"
The old man also felt ashamed. "So, for these years, I've been hiding in this Wicked Demon Secret Realm. You probably don't know this, right? The Wicked Demon Secret Realm is a prison for the living."
Yan Jiaojiao and the others had never heard of such a saying and looked at the old man with great curiosity. "Senior, what is a prison for the living?"
The old man said, "A prison for the living, as the name suggests, after signing a contract, this place becomes a tomb for the living dead. You will stay here forever, unable to leave. Many people initially chose to enter the Wicked Demon Secret Realm to show loyalty or for other reasons, but after entering, there was no way out."
"Since we've hit it off today, I'll tell you directly, be careful of the other living dead in the Wicked Demon Prison."
The old man drank the last sip of wine from his gourd and said with a smile, "Not everyone is as easy to talk to as I am."
The old man patted his belly. A gust of wind blew, directly blowing Yan Jiaojiao and the other two out of the herb field. A strange mist emerged from somewhere and slowly enveloped the herb field. The herbs inside immediately became indistinct, like living beings peeking out at those outside.
The scene was somewhat terrifying.
"Let's go... I'm getting the creeps."
Yan Jiaojiao nodded. "Let's hurry."
The old man's skills were extraordinary. It was clear they had entered the old man's domain without realizing it.
The master is invincible within their domain. The old man had no murderous intent towards them, and they had even chatted quite happily, so the old man hadn't made a move.
But it was obvious that if they had displeased the old man, he could have made their lives hell with a mere flick of his finger.
In the past, Yan Jiaojiao would have felt indignant.
After all, she was a thousand-year-old ancestor, and being threatened and intimidated by someone whose name she didn't even know was quite a loss of face for an ancestor.
However, after starting from scratch, Yan Jiaojiao's state of mind had improved.
The soul of a thousand-year-old ancestor only gave her unparalleled courage and a broader perspective than ordinary people. It would no longer be a reason for her to get angry, resentful, or unwilling.
"Domain?"
After they reached a safe area, Yan Jiaojiao briefly explained to Jiang Yiling and the other two about the old man's domain. Jiang Yiling was very surprised. "This old man was rejected by Ge Nan Academy for not reaching the Red level spiritual energy. He looks at most sixty or seventy years old now. Could he have gone from below Red level to the peak of Purple level in just these few decades?"
Legend had it that only Purple level powerhouses could create their own domains.
Jiang Yiling's astonishment was not without reason.
Yan Jiaojiao said, "No, I'm more inclined to believe this is a benefit brought by this so-called prison for the living. The old man became stronger, but he also lost his freedom."
Yan Jiaojiao could vaguely sense that the old man had hidden many more stories. However, since the old man was unwilling to talk, she politely and courteously did not inquire further.
They probably wouldn't meet again, and it wasn't good to know too much about a mere acquaintance, as it would naturally entail bearing some burden.
This was not a situation Yan Jiaojiao wished for.
"Let's calculate the points."
The three of them had jointly picked a lot of soul-separation grass, so their points should be considerable.
The three of them stored all the soul-separation grass into their wooden tokens, and soon their team's current points appeared on the tokens.
[Total 3,600 stalks of soul-separation grass, totaling 36,000 points.
One Yellow-grade spirit beast, Duck-web Beast, totaling 16,000 points.
Current total points for Ge Nan Academy: 52,000 points.]
Jiang Yiling was very happy to see the message on the point settlement page. "They found the Duck-web Beast?"
Yan Jiaojiao had never seen such a strange name before, and she asked curiously, "What kind of beast is a Duck-web Beast?"
Could a duck's webbed foot also become a spirit?
"The Duck-web Beast is a water-element spirit beast. They are named Duck-web Beasts because they closely resemble duck's webbed feet. These spirit beasts are not very aggressive but have high defense. They are usually very difficult to capture."
"This must have been captured by Xiao Su and the others, right?"
Yan Jiaojiao nodded. "It should be."
Another small team's strength was not very strong. Although they had Sheng Mo Bai, it was impossible for Sheng Mo Bai alone to secure the Duck-web Beast so smoothly.
"Let's go, we'll continue moving forward."
Picking the soul-separation grass took some time. Although they had many points now, they were likely insignificant compared to people from other academies.
"Let's switch regions."
The Wicked Demon Secret Realm was equivalent to an artificial planet. Yan Jiaojiao had always been curious about such things. After all, in the Age of Dharma Decline, everything relied on technology. Tracing back to the Age of Prosperous Dharma, these things were exceptional.
She still couldn't figure out the principle.
If only she had studied hard in the Age of Dharma Decline, she might have been able to achieve scientific cultivation in the Age of Prosperous Dharma and amazed everyone.
Yan Jiaojiao was thinking wildly when the scene before her changed, and she had arrived in the heart of the desert.