As the Sect Leader’s voice rang out, everyone present immediately changed their expressions.

"Why are you always everywhere?" Zhao Chenlu did not hide her emotions at all, "Don’t you have to work? As the leader of the Immortal Dao, loitering around while getting paid for nothing, what kind of example is that?"

The Sect Leader wasn’t angry with her and explained, "There was such a big explosion in Heaven-Reaching City, I had to come and take a look."

Saying this, his gaze turned to Xiao Bai.

Xiao Bai immediately put on an indignant expression: "That’s not fair, why is it that whenever something happens, I’m the first to be suspected?"

The Sect Leader asked, "Do you have a better suspect in mind?"

Xiao Bai was stunned for a moment, then puffed up his chest, "This is prejudice against humans! Why must it always be someone’s fault whenever something happens? Can’t it be a natural disaster?"

The Sect Leader retorted irritably, "Can a natural disaster cause a spiritually explosive resonance?!"

Xiao Bai said, "Then it’s truly nature’s craftsmanship at work!"

This lazy demeanor made the Sect Leader shake his head and sigh repeatedly. Just at this moment, the Dean of the Sword Academy and several Sword Venerables finally finished their rescue efforts. Returning in a dusty and disheveled state, they showed helpless expressions upon seeing the Sect Leader of the Saint Sect.

"Honorable Sect Leader, you find it amusing again." Dean Wang Xiao casually wiped the dust off his face before bowing politely but not too formally, "Our academy still lacks proper discipline towards her, causing such a disturbance that the Myriad Forms Garden was alarmed. We are truly ashamed."

The Sect Leader shook his head and said, "If there’s anyone to feel ashamed, it should be me. If it wasn’t for my strong recommendation back then, the Sword Academy wouldn’t have admitted her out of the ordinary, nor would they have indulged her over the decades. So since she was vouched by me, I cannot avoid responsibility for the troubles she causes. This time, how much has the Sword Academy suffered?"

Wang Xiao said, "You know her better than anyone, Honorable Sect Leader; her personality is especially slippery. She wouldn’t mess up on major issues of principle, but as long as she stays within this line, she dares to do anything, so..."

The Sect Leader nodded, "The losses are around five thousand spirit stones?"

"Exactly, after the Sect Leader set that line last time, she has been working right along that line."

The Sect Leader was troubled, "In the end, it’s still my responsibility. When I was young, I was too idealistic, only seeing her astonishing immortal talent, without realizing her character flaws were enough to offset all her talents."

Wang Xiao hurriedly said, "She has been in the Sword Academy for decades, yet we have been unable to correct her bad tendencies. Actually, it’s also a problem with the Sword Academy’s training approach... We have deeply reflected and revised many inappropriate aspects of the original training programs. In the long run, she indeed serves as a significant negative example."

"Yes, now she can only be used as a negative example... Wang Xiao, when you have time, organize and share the contents with the other two academies and seven families. These past years, they’ve all been troubled by extraordinarily gifted young cultivators, not just the Wuxiang Sword Academy."

As the two were talking, Xiao Bai’s face gradually turned red.

"What’s wrong with you? You’re boldly talking about me like I’m some plague or natural disaster! And right in front of such a handsome man! What did I do wrong? It’s just five thousand spirit stones! I’ve helped the Sword Academy save losses worth hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, what more do you want?"

The Sect Leader couldn’t help but smile bitterly at this. He didn’t want to waste words with Xiao Bai and instead turned to Wang Jiu, asking, "In your era, how were such talented cultivators handled?"

Wang Jiu recalled the events from the Jiuzhou Era and said, "Usually, they were allowed to grow freely, with their families or sects providing ample cultivation resources and arranging continuous training. If they caused trouble due to their personality, elder level cultivators would step in to manage it, creating as loose a growth environment as possible to maximize their development."

The Sect Leader was amazed, "Were they indulgent?"

Wang Jiu replied, "In the Jiuzhou Era, there were huge differences in immortal cultivation talents between people. For those truly talented young people, such an investment was well worth it. A single genius could lead a family to rise and thrive, even the most prominent families and sects on the peak of Jiuzhou wouldn’t underestimate individual power."

The Sect Leader asked again, "Even if the person is lazy and wicked, selfish and indifferent, with no means of correction?"

Xiao Bai listened nearby, becoming increasingly indignant: "Old man, how dare you insinuate me?!"

Wang Jiu explained, "Blind suppression and correction can easily trigger rebelliousness. When those young geniuses grow up, they may become estranged from their families instead. It’s better to let them explore freely. Once they hit a wall and face hardships, they will mature quickly."

"...What if they never have an awakening?"

Wang Jiu said, "Then it proves that their talent is enough to overcome the environment, and the family’s indulgence is the reward they deserve."

This talk is simply refreshing. Not only was the Sect Leader surprised, but even Wang Xiao couldn’t help but curiously ask, "Even if that person is utterly ruthless, does it not matter if they are heartless to their own family?"

Xiao Bai jumped up, "You’re the one who’s utterly ruthless! If I really intended to make a move, it wouldn’t have just been a two-layer trap just now, but a three-layered or four-layered one. Just when you idiots gathered together, I would’ve detonated the final layer! Once you’re all dead, I’d become the Sword Academy’s Principal!"

Wang Xiao sighed helplessly, "Look at this attitude. Was it once allowed to run rampant like this in the past?"

Wang Jiu said, "Yes, because cultivators of the Jiuzhou Era believed that if a family invested great resources in its own members but failed to obtain even a basic sense of identity, it could only indicate that the family’s fortunes were exhausted."

"This kind of thinking is truly hard to agree with," the Sect Leader kept shaking his head.

Wang Xiao, even more frankly, remarked, "No wonder the Jiuzhou Civilization perished!"

Wang Jiu, although not believing that the extinction of Jiuzhou Civilization was related to the talent cultivation policies of those days, still said, "Actually, I also find it hard to understand the thoughts of those big families and great sects, but Zhao Yuming and Shang Lanfei both told me this. I think the credibility is still relatively high."

Upon hearing this, the Sect Leader paused, then suddenly understood and immediately looked at Zhao Chenlu with a helpless gaze.

"Is this how you treat the one you care about? Don’t you feel any pangs of conscience?"

Zhao Chenlu said righteously, "Haven’t you heard that love needs to be cultivated? What do you think is needed to cultivate love? Honesty and loyalty?"

The Sect Leader was once again stunned, "If not, then what?"

"Tsk, no wonder you’ve lived so long and are still a virgin."

This time, the Sect Leader couldn’t help it and, flushed with anger, retorted, "And you think you have experience!?"

Zhao Chenlu replied the same as always, "Not in reality, but in my mind, I’ve been through countless battles!"

"How can you feel superior based on that!?"

"Seeing you, I naturally feel superior."

The verbal sparring skills Zhao Chenlu honed through countless sparring sessions with Jiuzhou’s foremost strategists and debaters have rendered him fearless, unperturbed even when outnumbered two to one.

Just as the Sect Leader of the Saint Sect and the Principal of the Sword Academy were about to be thoroughly humiliated, Wang Jiu suddenly interrupted their conversation.

"Was Xiao Bai initially recommended by the Sect Leader?"

The Sect Leader hurriedly shifted the topic, "Yes, it was also a lucky coincidence. When I was young, while still a Holy Sect Envoy, I was patrolling near the Nether Sea and unexpectedly found this child... Her parents had a shipwreck when crossing the sea, leaving her all alone. Although she was only five or six at the time, she was already able to survive solo, defeating the raging waves using nothing but a piece of driftwood. Such swordsmanship talent is extremely rare, so I brought her to Wuxiang Sword Academy, hoping the academy could cultivate her well..."

Before he finished, Shen Qingming couldn’t resist her curiosity and asked, "Since her talent is so exceptional, why did she still need your strong recommendation for the Sword Academy to admit her exceptionally?"

This topic immediately made many present look embarrassed and awkward, but Xiao Bai herself nonchalantly said, "Of course, it’s because my master back then had no eye, almost missing out on a talent like me..."

Before she finished speaking, Wang Xiao couldn’t help but curse, "Junior sister, have some shame! It was clearly you messing around in the entrance exam that put the master in a difficult position!"

Xiao Bai said, "It was clearly the Holy Sect Sect Leader’s personal recommendation for me to be admitted directly. Yet he insisted on testing me with a pile of random questions, showing neither face to the Sect Leader nor me. Then isn’t it unreasonable to blame me for the mess? And my specialty is swordsmanship talent; instead, he gave me moral and personality test questions, which was clearly malicious trouble!"

"...Any cultivator, even recommended by the Sect Leader, must follow a procedure, especially such temporary recruitment, where the assessment standards must be stricter than usual. Back then, the master didn’t use the entrance hundred-fold trials of the Sword Academy to make things difficult for you, but picked a moral and personality test at random, already easing things to the utmost. If you could have answered like a normal person, scoring normally, you would’ve joined smoothly! However, you insisted on showcasing yourself in the exam, once killing hostages along with terrorists, another time establishing an ethnic selection system to eliminate inferior races. You were testing for Wuxiang Sword Academy, not Celestial Demon Cave!"

Xiao Bai felt a bit embarrassed, "I-I was told you elite sects are the most hypocritical, moral and courteous on the surface, sinister and shameless behind the scenes. So I wrote the answers specifically to cater to you. Who knew you wouldn’t appreciate my painstaking efforts..."

"...What kind of education did you receive as a child?"

Xiao Bai angrily replied, "Knowing full well my parents are gone, and yet you ask such a question? Do you have any manners?!"

Seeing this fantastic topic about to be utterly ruined by her, Wang Jiu suddenly asked again, "Is her talent truly innate?"