Chapter 120: In Charge

Chapter 120: Chapter 120: In Charge

Madam Jiang then began introducing the three disciples one by one, presenting each of them with obvious pride.

The first was a young man surnamed Tang, who had already reached the Golden Core stage. He was the oldest and strongest among the three, and his calm, composed demeanor gave him the appearance of someone who had already gained considerable experience in alchemy.

The second was a disciple surnamed Leng, who was currently at the mid-stage of Foundation Building. Although his cultivation was lower than Tang’s, he was also considered highly talented among the younger alchemists and had already demonstrated considerable potential.

The last was none other than Chu Ran.

Unlike the other two, Chu Ran was only at the early stage of Formation Building, but she was also the youngest among them. She had a strong foundation in alchemy and was considered one of the more promising disciples of her generation.

Madam Jiang deliberately saved Chu Ran for last. After introducing the three disciples, she looked toward Shan Li with a faint smile, clearly confident that the combined talent of these three would be enough to leave an impression on him.

Compared to that person, the three disciples she had brought were clearly far more talented. With their higher cultivation and better aptitude, Madam Jiang was confident that once Shan Li saw them, he would naturally recognize the difference.

After Madam Jiang left, Elder Shan Li remained standing there with his usual stoic expression. To anyone else, there would have been nothing unusual about his face, but Sui Sui could somehow tell that he was in a particularly bad mood.

And Shan Li was indeed a bit unhappy.

He had always been this way. He was not very good at expressing his likes and dislikes, and when faced with someone as skilled at arguing as Madam Jiang, he simply could not find the right words to fight back. By the time he realized what was happening, he had already been forced to reluctantly accept the three disciples into his courtyard.

After this incident, the pleasant mood he had developed over the past few days had completely vanished.

Shan Li did not waste any more time on the matter. He led the three disciples to the front of his residence and began explaining the rules they would need to follow while staying in his courtyard. The instructions were largely the same ones he had previously given Sui Sui, with the obvious exception of anything related to the Spirit Jade Fruit Tree.

This time, however, his patience was noticeably thinner. His words were more curt, and his tone carried a faint impatience that made him seem much closer to the bad-tempered elder described in the rumors.

Even so, Shan Li did not allow his displeasure to interfere with his responsibilities. He went through every important detail without leaving anything out. As an alchemist, he took proper guidance seriously, regardless of how much he disliked the circumstances that had brought these disciples here, they were probably innocent on the matter and just genuinely want to learn, for such people, he is still willing to extend his patience..

After finishing the instructions, Shan Li cleared his throat and looked at the three disciples.

"That’s all you need to know. If you have any questions, ask Sui Sui, He’ll be in-charge of managing things here. I will be inside to cultivate, if you need me, just tell Sui Sui to inform me."

With that, he turned around and walked into his residence, taking MuMu with him and leaving the three disciples standing outside.

Sui Sui watched him disappear inside. Judging by the way he had left without saying another word, it seemed that Elder Shan Li really was in a bad mood.

After Elder Shan Li left, the atmosphere among the four disciples became somewhat awkward. Sui Sui was not familiar with any of them except Chu Ran, whom he already knew. The other two disciples were complete strangers to him.

In the end, it was the other Foundation Building disciple, Leng, who broke the silence. His gaze swept over Sui Sui, and the disdain in his voice was impossible to miss.

"Do we really need to take instructions from a mere Qi Refining cultivator? I doubt his skills are even better than mine."

Sui Sui raised an eyebrow.

After hearing that tone, he immediately understood what kind of person this disciples was, He had already encountered enough people from Madam Jiang’s side to recognize the attitude—arrogant, dismissive, and convinced that their own status and abilities placed them above everyone else.

Before Sui Sui could respond, Chu Ran, who was standing nearby, immediately joined in.

"Senior Brother Leng is right. Do we really have to ask him for instructions?" she said, her disdain completely undisguised. "Wouldn’t it be better if we simply divided the work among ourselves? I doubt we would do any worse than a useless waste."

The last words were clearly aimed directly at Sui Sui.

Sui Sui listened to their obvious contempt without saying anything. Instead, a slightly mischievous thought suddenly occurred to him.

He was indeed the weakest person here in terms of cultivation, but Elder Shan Li had explicitly told these three disciples to ask him if they needed anything. In other words, whether they liked it or not, he was currently the one in charge of managing them.

If they wanted to look down on him, then why not make good use of the authority Shan Li had just handed him?

Besides, after watching Elder Shan Li suffer through that unpleasant conversation with Madam Jiang, Sui Sui couldn’t help feeling that the elder deserved a little compensation.

Perhaps he could use this opportunity to vent some of Shan Li’s frustration for him, even if it was only with the war of words.

Sui Sui finally looked toward the two of them.

"Hey, you surnamed Chu and surnamed Leng, I remember you are not deaf, nor are you uncultured."

Chu Ran and the disciple surnamed Leng immediately glared at him, their eyes filled with hostility.

Sui Sui continued without the slightest hesitation. "When Elder Shan Li gave the instructions earlier, did he or did he not say that I was the person in charge? You two just got here and already want to be defiant? If you don’t want to follow the rules, then you can just go ahead and get out of here. You’re the ones who insisted on coming here, yet you’re still acting so high and mighty. Hah, what face do you have?"

"You! You really dare?" Chu Ran said indignantly. "You’re just a Qi Refining trash. How dare you go around bossing us around?"

"Yeah! Look at him, Senior Brother Tang. Are you just going to allow him to walk all over us?" Leng immediately added, clearly dissatisfied. "He’s just a low-level cultivator, while we’re already at the Foundation Building and Golden Core stages. Can you really accept this?" he said, clearly trying to get the last member of their group to take their side.

Sui Sui had assumed that Brother Tang would be just like the other two—unreasonable and arrogant enough to simply agree with them. To his surprise, however, Tang shook his head.

"Since Elder Shan Li told us to follow him, then it’s better that we do so. It’s our first time here, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be better to learn what we’re supposed to do from someone who is already familiar with the place?"

Hearing this, Sui Sui was pleasantly surprised. He had expected Senior Brother Tang to be just as unreasonable as the other two and immediately side with them, but it seemed there was at least one sensible person among the group.

After hearing their Senior Brother’s explanation, Chu Ran and Leng did not argue any further. They still looked at Sui Sui with obvious annoyance, clearly unhappy about having to follow his instructions, but in the end, they had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

Seeing that they had backed down, Sui Sui also decided not to push the matter any further. Since they were willing to take a step back, he could do the same.