Xuhan could easily take an educated guess regarding Mu Ran's suspicious behavior.

Every protagonist has a few secrets, the most common among them being abnormal phenomena inside their body or soul or cultivation base.

If elder Kong could really detect the abnormalities inside him, then Mu Ran would be in big trouble. What if his cheats get exposed?

So it wasn't hard to see why Mu Ran ran away like a mouse that has seen a cat.

Of course, Xuhan had bigger things to worry about at the moment. The elder was going to examine his cultivation process again after the second cycle. He could only hope that this scarily perceptive man didn't catch any signs of the zeroth layer of physique transformation realm while doing so. That would be... disastrous.

Thankfully, the lesson that day proceeded without further incidents. Elder Kong kept teaching everyone about the detailed process of cultivation, discussed every disciple's problems while cultivating and remedied them on the spot, and watched over Xuhan and Yuen Zhou, the other mortal disciple's cultivation cycles quite thoroughly, explaining many intricate methods to them that didn't even seem to exist in normal cultivation techniques in the process.

Xuhan also got quite an amount of extra attention and advice from the elder due to his cursed curriculum, something that ironically made him both happy and scared shitless.

"This elder Kong really gives off epic boss vibes..." Xuhan muttered as he finally walked out of the hall after the lesson ended.

Any decent cultivator would live on for centuries. So following the mortal world's style of cramming half a dozen lessons per day was not thankfully present in the world of cultivation.

As he was the last disciple to come out from the hall, he found the mountain peak mostly empty. At one corner, Xiao Wu seemed to have been waiting for him.

"Martial brother, your loan sure seem to be paying off."

Seeing Xiao Wu's envious look, Xuhan snorted.

"Wanna exchange our positions? You take up the loan while I take your curriculum to become a normal disciple-"

"In your dreams, brother."

"Then stop making yourself sound so jelous. What's your impression of elder Kong, by the way?"

"He seems to be a very good teacher. Even the respected elders in my family couldn't solve most of the problems he pointed out and gave solutions to today. If the rest of our lessons are anywhere near this level, then I'm confident enough to break through to the next two or three layers within a few months."

Xuhan wasn't surprised by the high evaluation coming from Xiao Wu. Even though his knowledge of cultivation was next to zero, he could feel how exceptional and effective the elder's lesson was.

Mentally marking elder Kong as a highly important target of observation and a possible hidden boss of the coming arcs, Xuhan set off to their black sheep mountain peak accompanied by Xiao Wu.

On the way, their discussion inevitably hit the subject named 'My Ran's absurd feat', starred by Mu Ran the protagonist, elder Kong the uselessly powerful cultivator, Xuhan the lackey, and many many arrogant young masters who were there just to be face-slapped, both literally and figuratively.

"Brother Xuhan, is this Mu Ran guy really as awesome as he appears? You defended his arrogant behaviour so shamelessly back there; is there any secret behind all this...mess?"

"Brother Wu, just as the elder had explained before, my boss Mu Ran is an exceptional cultivator who has mastered the cycling of qi very thoroughly. Do you see now? This is also why I agreed to become his underling. Such an exceptional cultivator is bound to rock heaven and earth with his ascension. Being his lackey, I'm bound to receive much fortune! You know how weak I am brother. This is the only way I can ensure my safety."

Xiao Wu was quite stunned by Xuhan's reasoning. Although what he said wasn't unreasonable, why was Xuhan so confident that Mu Ran would become a mighty cultivator in future? The world of cultivation was a very dangerous place. Death was a very common occurrence, not to mention the countless dangers lying dormant at every turn in the road of cultivation.

Just as he was about to refute Xuhan's "convincing" reasoning, a voice from their back made both of them stop and turn around in confusion.

"Martial brothers! I'm your newest martial sister, Yuen Zhou. I umm...don't know the road to our mountain peak, the black sheep mountain peak, was it? C-could you take me along with you to where I'm supposed to live from now on?"

A nervous, stammering girl stood behind them, seemingly unsure of what their response might be. They both recognized her. She was the only other mortal disciple among this year's selections.

The problem however was...

"Wait a minute, how can that be? This year, there were only five disciples who were selected for the black sheep peak. We have already met all of them. So what are up to, lying to us like this?"

Xiao Wu, naturally suspicious, didn't hesitate to voice out his doubts with narrowed eyes while alarm bells went off in Xuhan's head.

"Martial brother, please don't misunderstand!" The girl panicked and tried to explain.

"I'm a...special case. I was selected by one of the elders a few years ago. But circumstances allowed me to come to the sect only now. But the elder who selected me died not long after he returned to the sect, something that I wasn't aware of till yesterday. No other elders were willing to take me in. I was asked to return home. But due to some personal reasons, I cannot return to my home any time soon. So after I pleaded to the elders, it was decided today morning by the sect master that I'd become a disciple of the black sheep mountain peak. I attended the lessons straight from the sect master's pavilion after this decision was publicized. So i really don't know my way around the sect..."

Xuhan and Xiao Wu listened with their mouths open. This girl, she was even more pitiful than them!

The two young men exchanged a glance and saw the sympathy in each other's eyes.

"Martial sister, please don't take any offense at my previous harsh words. We'll be more than glad to accompany you to our mountain peak. I'm Xioa Wu, and this is Han Xuhan. Both of us are your martial brothers from the same peak. So you can always come and seek our help if you run into any trouble. "

Xiao Wu laughed in a good natured manner and gestured at her to walk together with them. She smiled at the warm welcome and joined the two of them.

Xuhan, meanwhile, was running his brain at full speed. Which trope is this going to follow? Was there any xianxia novel where the female leads are so pitiful yet they are helped by the side characters instead of the male lead?

He couldn't recall any at the moment. This trope didn't seem very important either. So he made some essential small talks with her on the way, especially advising her not to fall for the loan scam and to ask for other's help regarding cultivation problems.

Soon, they finished her registration to the mountain peak and the master disciple ceremony where she seemed to bow to their master with much more reverence than necessary. Master Daheng was extremely pleased and he gave a dark look at Xuhan while she kowtowed to him. Xuhan started to examine the sky upon noticing the resentful gaze of his master.

After sending Yuen Zhou off to her own hut in the mountain peak, Xuhan and Xiao Wu said goodbye to each other and returned to their respective huts.

Unbeknownst to them, a dark gaze was set upon their backs, the source of which was their newest martial sister Yuen Zhou who sat inside her hut and stared outside through the small window...

"This doesn't make sense at all. Mu Ran and I were supposed to be the only disciples who would be selected from this year's batch. In the last timeline, Mu Ran became a high and mighty cultivator while I was deceived and harmed by that crazy elder and became unable to cultivate normally. This time I have killed the elder without anyone noticing before he could do any damage to my dao base. I no longer have to resort to the demonic cultivation path in this timeline.

But why...why are there four other disciples here? What changed? How did this happen? I had even never heard of any elder Kong in the last timeline. What's happening here dammit!

It doesn't matter. I'm destined to be Mu Ran's opponent. They'll call me vile and demonic for standing on his way regardless of my cultivation methods. But I must not lose. The great cataclysm is very close. I cannot let this world be destroyed again in this timeline..."