Since joining the Yu Xu Palace, Xiao Fei had been responsible for various chores daily.
Initially, some people regarded him with a different perspective due to his performance at the Genius Exchange Conference. Other disciples would scrutinize him with curious eyes, tinged with a degree of awe.
Upon discovering that he was also ordinary, with no special qualities, and just another common disciple like everyone else, these disciples no longer held him in awe. They began to treat him with disdain and arrogance, which then escalated into mockery and sarcasm.
Seeing the genius who had once far surpassed them, someone they couldn't hope to reach, now performing the same menial tasks, a sense of superiority naturally arose within them.
Xiao Fei remained indifferent to the contempt and sarcastic remarks from these disciples.
What can a sparrow understand of a swan's ambition!
His objective in infiltrating Yu Xu Palace was to obtain the Qian Yuan Immortal Fruit to heal his soul injuries. The meager benefits and slight reputation that these disciples valued were insignificant to him.
Facing the widespread mockery, Xiao Fei showed no reaction. Being completely ignored, after a while, people found it tedious, and gradually, no one paid attention to him anymore.
Time passed, and five hundred years went by. His identity had now completely blended in with the other disciples, and no one paid him any mind.
"Everyone come out! Come out! Hurry up!"
The urgent roar of Steward Pan from the disciples' quarters echoed across half the mountain peak, accompanied by the crisp "crack" of a whip.
Whenever this happened, all the disciples knew that a major figure had arrived from above. Steward Pan, in his eagerness to please the important figures, would bark orders at all the disciples as if they were livestock.
Xiao Fei, along with a group of flustered disciples, rushed to the square in front of the disciples' quarters and lined up.
"Uncle-Master Zhang! All the disciples from the quarters are here. Tell me how many you need this time, feel free to pick!"
At this moment, Steward Pan was escorting a handsome young man to the front of the square.
Xiao Fei, standing in the crowd, recognized the Uncle-Master Yu who had arrived. It was the genius who had ranked fourth in the Genius Exchange Conference back then, his name seemed to be Zhang Yi. It was only because Xiao Fei had lost his genius status that Zhang Yi had the opportunity to be admitted into Yu Xu Palace.
The treatment for the geniuses recruited by Yu Xu Palace was indeed not bad. Zhang Yi was only at the True Immortal realm five hundred years ago, and in such a short time, he had actually broken through to the Heavenly Immortal realm.
Just as Xiao Fei saw Zhang Yi, the latter naturally also saw Xiao Fei, who looked unremarkable, squeezed among a throng of disciples. Although he had successfully entered the top three, for the past five hundred years, he had lived in Xiao Fei's shadow. Whenever people discussed him, Zhang Yi, they referred to him as the lucky one who replaced Xiao Fei. Now, five hundred years later, he had become someone Xiao Fei could no longer hope to reach.
Zhang Yi scanned the crowd and casually pointed out a dozen or so disciples, then included Xiao Fei in the selection as an afterthought.
"These fifteen people will do!"
Zhang Yi said and turned to leave.
Steward Pan bowed and respectfully saw Zhang Yi off before turning back with an imposing air, waving his hand at the many disciples in the square.
"Everyone except the fifteen who were just selected, you are dismissed."
The other disciples dispersed as instructed, leaving only the chosen fifteen.
"Let me tell you, being selected by Uncle-Master Zhang is your good fortune. As long as you serve diligently, even a small reward from Uncle-Master Zhang later will be equivalent to decades of your work in the disciples' quarters."
"Steward Pan, rest assured!"
The remaining disciples were all eager to show their skills and win Zhang Yi's favor. The treatment for disciples in Yu Xu Palace was extremely low, and they could hardly obtain any resources normally. However, sometimes, when they worked for powerful figures, if the latter felt they had done a good job, they would casually bestow a small item. A small item in the eyes of a powerful figure was an absolute treasure in the hands of a disciple, enough for them to benefit for a long time.
Subsequently, these fifteen disciples were led away by Steward Pan, following behind Zhang Yi. It turned out that Zhang Yi was planning to travel far, temporarily leaving the Jun Tian Realm, and he brought these disciples along primarily to handle various chores along the way. Besides these disciples, Zhang Yi also brought ten ordinary disciples to accompany him.
A day later, the gate of the Jun Tian Realm opened, and a large flying ship flew out from it.
Xiao Fei squatted in a corner, watching the other disciples bustling around, their foreheads covered in sweat. Although he was also one of the disciples, the others, eager to perform well in front of Zhang Yi, were scrambling to do all the dirty and strenuous work, leaving him no opportunity to participate.
Since he couldn't get involved, he simply went with the flow and found an unobtrusive place to rest. These disciples were immortals, and it wasn't easy for them to sweat; even a small amount of work wouldn't make them too busy. However, there were always some shrewd individuals who, to show off, deliberately forced out a few drops of sweat using their immortal power to appear more diligent than others. Since you're doing it this way, others aren't foolish; if you sweat, I'll sweat too, and I'll even sweat more.
The result was that everyone worked until they were covered in sweat, even when moving a small wooden box weighing twenty pounds, they would be drenched in sweat from exhaustion. Since they couldn't stand out in terms of diligence, they sought other avenues.
Originally, a simple dust-clearing spell could make the ground and tabletops spotlessly clean, but everyone felt this was too simple and lacked sincerity. More importantly, it wouldn't allow Zhang Yi to see them working. Thus, some brilliant minds chose to wipe by hand. Others followed suit, thinking, "Besides wiping by hand, I can also arrange the tables and chairs artistically." "I can arrange the tableware on the table artistically..." "I can pour tea artistically..." "As for me, the cook, I'll carve flowers onto each grain [of rice]..."
Consequently, Zhang Yi saw a disciple struggling to move a chair, drenched in sweat, while another disciple wiped a table with a silk cloth, also sweating profusely... One disciple, wanting to perform better, snatched a waste bucket and wiped it until it shone with a silk cloth. Seeing Zhang Yi preparing to have tea, he quickly grabbed the teacup and wiped it several times with the silk cloth he had just used on the waste bucket before brewing the tea.
Xiao Fei remained curled up in the corner, contemplating his next plan. This rare opportunity to leave the Jun Tian Realm was something he intended to seize.