Shen Qingmang escaped safely before the Wuyin Sect wrote "Wuya Sect disciples are not allowed to enter the Lülü Hall" into the sect rules and headed to the next stop: Wuxing Peak.
Cheng Wuyi, the head of Invisible Peak, spends most of the year traveling and is away. Shen Qingmang contacted him and obtained permission to enter the Sword Trial Pavilion. The best swords on Invisible Peak are located in the Sword Pool, but only the person who chooses them can enter and select their own. The Sword Trial Pavilion is where the Invisible Sect refines its weapons, forging swords primarily for beginners below the Golden Core stage.
Shen Qingmang was very cautious this time. She bypassed the Hidden Front Terrace and went straight to the Sword Testing Pavilion. Along the way, she did not encounter any sword cultivators who wanted to compete with her, and she arrived at her destination smoothly.
"Master Qiongju, please follow me." A handsome young man welcomed her into the main hall and introduced the situation of the Sword Testing Pavilion.
"The first floor of the Sword Trial Pavilion is for wood-root cultivators. Different woods have different properties. For example, a peach wood sword can ward off evil spirits, while a red sandalwood sword can calm the mind."
"Is there a golden nanmu sword?" Shen Qingmang asked curiously.
The young man shook his head. "Golden nanmu is extremely rare. If a true master were looking for a sword like this, he'd probably have to go to the Sword Pond."
"What about the second floor?"
"The second level is for swords prepared for cultivators with fire spiritual roots. The hilt is made of wood, and the blade is made of stone. They are mined from the Cangzhu Volcano in Jizhou. There are light basalt and hard rhyolite."
Shen Qingmang guessed that these two types were probably basalt and granite. Their formation was related to volcanic eruptions and they were igneous rocks.
"The third level contains stone and jade swords for cultivators with earth spiritual roots. Stone swords are mostly heavy swords, capable of splitting mountains. Different stones have different properties, and jade swords are more beautiful. The fourth level contains swords for cultivators with gold spiritual roots. The hilts are made of stone, and the blades are made of gold. There are bronze swords, black iron swords, and others, and they are extremely sharp."
"Then the fifth level is the sword of the cultivator with water spiritual roots? Is it an ice sword?" Shen Qingmang looked up.
"The fifth-tier sword has a gold hilt and a crystal blade. It's translucent and is very popular among female monks. Which one would you like to choose?"
Shen Qingmang wanted to choose one from each of the five types, but when she thought of Zhong Yingshao's grief-stricken expression after she had picked out a bunch of musical instruments, she was worried that she had offended the Invisible Sect. So she had to settle for the second best and go to the fifth floor to look at the crystal sword that was most suitable for cultivators with water spiritual roots.
There were five layers of crystals of various colors, but she locked onto a sword at first sight. Its hilt was silver, the blade was transparent, and there were frost patterns in the middle, as if it was made of a whole piece of ice.
"Can I have this?" she asked.
The young man stepped forward to examine it and said with a smile, "This sword is very compatible with the Immortal. It is named 'Qionglin', sharing the same 'Qiong' character as the Immortal."
Shen Qingmang was very surprised and returned to Wuya Peak with satisfaction, taking the Qionglin Sword.
The next morning, she knocked on Gu Suihan's gate and waited for a while before he opened the door. He was surprised to see her.
"Master?"
"Has your courtyard not been named yet?" Shen Qingmang pointed at the empty plaque above the gate. "You're not planning on following your junior brother's lead and giving it a simple and crude name like 'Haoxin's Residence,' are you?"
"Can the disciple please give me a name, Master?"
"This is not appropriate. This is your home." Shen Qingmang hesitated.
Gu Suihan said in a gentle voice: "It was Master who gave this disciple a home. It is only fitting that Master should give the name."
"Then..." Shen Qingmang pondered carefully what name to choose. The only allusion she could think of for the name of her eldest disciple was "Only when winter comes do we know that pine and cypress are the last to wither." However, "Songbaiju" seemed too common.
Cold winter... cold... winter...
She clapped her hands. "How about calling it 'Lingshuangju' or 'Aoxueju'? Which one do you like?"
"Then it's 'Lingshuang Residence'. Thank you, Master, for the name. Master, could you write an inscription for me?"
Gu Suihan looked at her expectantly, and Shen Qingmang laughed.
"You actually let me do it all. Then please don't think my handwriting is ugly." As she said that, she took out a jade pen, took down the plaque, carved the three words "Lingshuangju" neatly, and hung it up again.
The master and disciple walked into the courtyard. Shen Qingmang looked at the clean stone table and asked, "Didn't you have breakfast again?"
"Um."
"You don't have to fast during the Foundation Establishment stage. Eating is fine."
"The disciple wishes to abandon his appetite."
Shen Qingmang looked at the other person's serious expression and sighed.
"Sui Han, are you under too much pressure?"
"Master, why do you say that?"
"While monks must control their desires, they don't have to be completely ruthless. The reason we are human, and not mountains, rivers, or plants, is because we are born with desires."
"But birds, beasts, fish and insects also have desires," Gu Suihan retorted.
Shen Qingmang choked, but she quickly came to her senses. "The desires of birds, beasts, fish, and insects are just low-level desires, like survival and reproduction, but humans have seven emotions and six desires, which are much more complex."
"Master, do you also have emotions and desires in your heart?"
"Of course," Shen Qingmang answered without hesitation, and then continued to persuade earnestly, "You're still a child. You don't need to learn from those old men with high cultivation. They keep talking about restraining desires because they enjoyed it when they were young. You're so young and haven't experienced anything yet. If you follow their example of refusing to care for others and severing desires, your life will be incomplete."
"But wasn't Master like this before?"
Gu Suihan had a complicated expression. Shen Qingmang was stunned for a moment, then said, "Master has figured out a lot of things after two hundred years of seclusion."
"Master, did you figure it out because of your retreat?"
"What do you mean?" Shen Qingmang looked calm, but huge waves surged in his heart.
She had already confirmed that there was no such thing as possession in this world, and she also discovered that the sect's history recorded many monks whose personalities changed drastically after seclusion. Therefore, she became more and more confident in revealing her true character without any doubt.
But the eldest disciple is now doubting her.
Does he know something?
"If that's the case, perhaps I need to go into seclusion to figure it out. But I don't want to leave Master so soon."
A conflicted look appeared on Gu Sui Han's face, and Shen Qingmang felt relieved. It turned out that it was because of this.
"Why bother with so much trouble?" She waved her hand, and the empty stone table was suddenly filled with all kinds of magical instruments.
“This…this is…”
"These are all foundation-building gifts that Master prepared for you. Which one do you like? Can you play the zither? The harp? The flute? Musical instruments can cultivate one's character. And this sword, named 'Qionglin', can describe a forest covered in snow, which suits your name very well. How about it? Do you like it?"
Gu Suihan looked a little bewildered, carefully touching this and that. "Did the master prepare these for his disciple?"
"That's right. I, your master, spent the whole day yesterday choosing, and my eyes are almost dazzled. You wouldn't have no favorites, right?"
Shen Qingmang was very calm, thinking that if there was nothing he liked, he would just take him to choose.
The eldest disciple said happily, "I like it, I like it all! I like Master the most!"
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