Chapter 16 Highly Talented
The next morning, just past dawn, Mu Yao was still asleep when her mother woke her up: "Yao'er, Yao'er, get up quickly, it's time to practice with the sect leader."
Mu Yao sat up groggily in bed, too sleepy to keep her eyes open. Suddenly, she lay back down, turned over, hugged the quilt, and said in a sweet voice, "Mother, let me sleep a little longer."
Yunniang urged again, "My child, it's not that I want you to get up early, it's that your master is here and wants you to hurry up and practice with him."
"Master?"
Mu Yao suddenly woke up from her dream. Yes, she was on Fox Hill, as the disciple of Qin Wuyan, the sect leader of the Tianli Divine Sect. She had said yesterday that she would follow him to cultivate diligently. It was her first day of school, and she couldn't be late.
Mu Yao hurriedly put on her clothes and shoes, pushed open the door, and saw that the sky was still dark, with a crescent moon hanging high in the sky, casting down its light.
Qin Wuyan was standing under the peach tree in the courtyard waiting for her. Mu Yao ran up to him in a few quick steps, slightly out of breath, and said, "Master... Master..."
Qin Wuyan smiled slightly, his voice incredibly gentle: "From now on, you'll have to get up so early to practice with me."
Although it was not yet dawn, when Mu Yao looked up at him, the moonlight shone through the treetops onto half of his face, making his smile even more handsome and charming, like a fairy under the moon in a storybook.
Could this person really be her master?
Seeing that she didn't speak and was just staring blankly at him, Qin Wuyan's smile deepened: "What? Still not awake?"
Mu Yao quickly shook her head: "No..."
"Then let's go, come with me to the Falling Star Palace."
The Falling Star Palace is located at the highest point of Peach Mountain. If you stand on the stone steps outside the palace and look up, the entire Falling Star Palace is located under the Big Dipper, hence the name "Falling Star Palace".
Mu Yao had never gotten up this early before when she was at the foot of the mountain, and she would have breakfast first thing every day. When she got up today, Yunniang hadn't even had time to prepare food for her yet. Now that she had climbed the mountain with Qin Wuyan for a while, although the road wasn't far, she was already starting to feel very hungry.
Sure enough, as soon as I arrived in front of the Falling Star Palace, my stomach started growling.
Mu Yao felt extremely embarrassed. Although she didn't usually care much about how others viewed her, today was, after all, her first day as a disciple. She felt that this voice was really damaging to the reputation of the sect's top disciple.
Qin Wuyan couldn't help but laugh. He led her to sit down in the pavilion in front of the hall and handed her what he was carrying: "Here you go!"
Mu Yao took the package, opened it, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it contained all her favorite snacks, including osmanthus cake, honey pastry, and warm, fragrant steamed buns.
Qin Wuyan said, "It's kind of you to get up so early. Let's eat something before we start."
Mu Yao was deeply moved and took a bite of the sweet osmanthus cake: "Master is so kind!"
She felt good about herself just because I thoughtfully brought her some food. The little girl was still so innocent.
Qin Wuyan sighed inwardly, but seeing her happy smile, he couldn't help but smile too.
In this life, I only hope that she can live happily forever.
After she had eaten and drunk her fill, Qin Wuyan took out the Xuanhuo Mirror from his bosom and said to her, "Although you learned how to condense your Qi from me before, your foundation is too shallow and not solid enough. Today, I will use this Xuanhuo Mirror to help you concentrate your Qi."
Mu Yao asked in confusion, "But I heard that this is a magic weapon that only the sect leader of Burning Incense Valley can use. I don't know anything about magic weapons right now, can I still practice using it?"
Qin Wuyan said, "It's not that I want you to practice how to use the Xuanhuo Mirror, but to use it to help you cultivate. The power of the Xuanhuo Mirror depends on the user's ability. With your current strength, if you concentrate your energy properly, it will show a faint red light. If you don't concentrate enough energy, the red light will flicker. Try using the energy-gathering technique I taught you earlier to make it float up from the table."
Mu Yao nodded and did as instructed. However, no matter how hard she tried to condense her Qi, the Xuanhuo Mirror remained unmoved. She was immediately discouraged.
Qin Wuyan walked to her side and gently infused her with a wisp of spiritual energy: "When condensing Qi, you can't just focus on using the Qi within your body; you also need to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for your own use. Morning is when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is most abundant, which is why cultivation requires getting up early. The more spiritual energy you absorb, the stronger you will become. Come on, try again, inhale, exhale, condense Qi..."
Under his guidance, Mu Yao felt a refreshing stream of energy enter her body and flow slowly through her. She then used the Qi Condensation Technique that Qin Wuyan had taught her to combine that stream with the existing energy in her body, guide it to her dantian, and then concentrate on channeling it into her ten fingers along her meridians.
At this moment, the Xuanhuo Mirror on the table stirred slightly, emitting faint red light, and floated up gently.
Mu Yao was overjoyed and wanted to continue to condense her energy, but she suddenly ran out of energy. Without the support of spiritual energy, the Xuanhuo Mirror fell to the table with a "clatter".
"Ugh!" Mu Yao frowned unhappily: "I always seem to have trouble controlling my breath. It's the same when I'm flying. I feel like I'm out of breath after a while."
Qin Wuyan smiled and encouraged her, "You've done very well. The reason your breathing isn't flowing smoothly is because you haven't fully mastered the rhythm of condensing qi. Condensing qi and absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth are not contradictory. You can't use up all the qi in your body at once. You have to learn to use it little by little. When you feel you don't have enough, you have to learn to continue absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for your own use. With this kind of coordination, your qi condensation won't suddenly stop. Let's do it a few more times."
Mu Yao nodded and tried again about ten more times, finally managing to make the Xuanhuo Mirror float steadily in the air, flashing red light. She was already full of curiosity about new spells and wasn't satisfied with just condensing Qi, so she begged Qin Wuyan to teach her something else.
Qin Wuyan shook his head, his attitude resolute: "Yao'er, your foundation is not yet stable, so it is not suitable for you to learn other spells. In the future, whether you ride the wind or use magic weapons and swordsmanship, you must base it on concentrating your mind and cultivating your qi. Once your foundation is stable, I will teach you the key points of various spells and swordsmanship, and you will be able to learn them much faster."
"But," Mu Yao pouted, "how far do I need to train to be considered to have a solid foundation?"
Qin Wuyan said, "When you can control your body and this Xuanhuo Mirror freely, I will teach you other things."
Mu Yao, lacking patience, couldn't help but ask, "Ah, how long will it take?"
Qin Wuyan said, "It depends on each person's talent. Those with high talent can do it in three months or half a year. Some people who are not talented enough may need to practice for two or three years."
Mu Yao was surprised. How could someone who wasn't talented take so long?
Seeing that she was suddenly afraid, Qin Wuyan smiled and encouraged her, "You have a high talent. I believe that as long as you practice diligently, you can do it in two or three months."
Hearing the praise, Mu Yao became happy: "Really? Master actually thinks I have great talent?"
Qin Wuyan nodded seriously.
Seeing this, Mu Yao was even more delighted and no longer resisted practicing Qi, continuing to practice diligently.
After that, Mu Yao got up early every day and diligently practiced Qi Condensation and Wind Flight. Qin Wuyan would come to accompany her every morning, but he had to attend to sect affairs in the afternoon. Mu Yao was eager to learn new techniques, so she didn't slack off after Qin Wuyan left each day and continued her cultivation as usual. After half a month, she could fly freely in mid-air without easily falling. She could also use her spiritual power to keep the Xuanhuo Mirror floating motionless in mid-air.
On this day, Qin Wuyan had to deal with sect affairs, so he only had a brief meeting with her in the early morning before leaving.
Mu Yao continued her cultivation as usual, gathering her spiritual energy and channeling it into the power at her fingertips, which then directed towards the Xuanhuo Mirror. The Xuanhuo Mirror shone brightly with red light and floated in the air. Mu Yao continued to concentrate her energy, and the red light surrounding the Xuanhuo Mirror grew brighter and brighter, radiating a scorching aura like the blazing sun in the sky.
Mu Yao was slightly surprised, assuming that her power had increased again, and immediately a look of pride appeared on her face. She continued to cast the spell, and suddenly the red light of the Xuanhuo Mirror changed its appearance, transforming into a fire dragon that was swallowing clouds and spitting mist, and flames also ignited on the Xuanhuo Mirror.
The intense heat of the fire dragon and flames rushed towards her, startling Mu Yao, who had never encountered such a situation before. She hurriedly withdrew her spiritual energy. The fire dragon immediately exploded in the air with a "bang," and the heat wave hit her. She had no time to dodge and was knocked to the ground by the heat.
Fortunately, she was very weak at the time, so the fire dragon's power was not very great, and Mu Yao was not injured. Just as she was about to get up, a pair of arms supported her waist and helped her up from the ground.
Mu Yao was startled again and quickly turned around to look. It turned out to be Tang Yuan, the Left Protector of the Tianli Divine Sect.
Tang Yuan asked with concern, "I just arrived and saw you lying on the ground. Are you alright?"
Mu Yao shook her head, but a slight burning pain came from her palm. It turned out that when she fell, she used her hand to brace herself, but accidentally scraped her skin.
Ignoring her minor injury, Mu Yao looked at the Xuanhuo Mirror, which was still glowing with a faint red light and floating in the air.
"How could this be?..."
She had already withdrawn her spiritual power, yet the Xuanhuo Mirror was still floating in the air?
Mu Yao was very puzzled. She slowly reached out her hand, and the Xuanhuo Mirror seemed to have a spirit and flew into her hand on its own.
Tang Yuan's eyes gleamed as he exclaimed in admiration, "I never expected that someone so young could summon the fire dragon from the Xuanhuo Mirror."
Mu Yao exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Did I just summon a fire dragon? But I didn't do anything."
Qin Wuyan had never taught her how to use the Xuanhuo Mirror; she only thought it was a tool Qin Wuyan used to help her practice Qi Condensation.
Tang Yuan stared at her: "But you have indeed summoned the fire dragon."
Mu Yao was stunned. Tang Yuan was right; she had indeed summoned a fire dragon using only Qi Condensation Technique. But what did that mean? She had no idea.
Seeing her confusion, Tang Yuan simply smiled and offered no explanation. He changed the subject, saying, "You're injured."
He stepped forward and took her right hand. There was a large patch of skin scraped on her delicate palm, with a few streaks of blood seeping out.
Mu Yao felt uncomfortable with his hand being held, and quickly pulled it away. "It's just a little scratch. Don't worry, Brother Tang."
Although she had gotten to know several key figures in the Tianli Divine Sect during this time—aside from Qin Wuyan and Xiaobai, Tang Yuan, Meng Guang, and Xie Qingqiu were the sect's main administrators—she still harbored an inexplicable wariness towards those other than Qin Wuyan and Xiaobai, even though she had joined the sect.
Tang Yuan was not surprised by her actions and still asked with concern, "Although it's a minor injury, it still needs to be treated. The sect leader should have sent someone to prepare wound medicine for Peach Blossom Palace earlier, right?"
Mu Yao nodded. Qin Wuyan was very attentive to her, and naturally, all kinds of medicines were readily available.
Seeing her wary expression, Tang Yuan added, "Today is the trial for the new disciples, and I need to check on how they are doing. As for the sect leader, he'll probably be busy until very late. You're injured, so you should go back and rest early."
Without waiting for Mu Yao's response, he smiled faintly at her and then drifted away on the wind.
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