Chapter 52
Shi Wanqing looked at the little child and said, "Is this the disciple that my senior brother took in for me?"
Upon hearing this, the sect leader said to the child beside him, "Zhou Xuanzhi greets your master."
He looked at the woman in front of him. The woman did not have any particular expression, nor did she seem unwilling to accept him as Cheng Yaojun did. "Zhou Xuanzhi greets Master."
The little boy bowed to her in a very formal manner. Shi Wanqing raised her hand and helped the boy up. With a flick of her finger, a flute appeared in front of Zhou Xuanzhi.
"This is a greeting gift. From now on, you are my disciple, Master Wanqing."
Zhou Xuanzhi accepted the flute with both hands. It was a green flute carved from jade, and it was quite heavy. He looked up at Shi Wanqing, his eyes asking, "Why are you willing to take me as your disciple?"
Shi Wanqing didn't answer. She turned around and walked away without looking back, saying, "Come on."
Zhou Xuanzhi looked at the sect leader and his senior uncles. Wasn't his master going to greet them? That wouldn't be appropriate, would it? But seeing Shi Wanqing's disappearing figure, Zhou Xuanzhi stopped caring about etiquette and jogged to catch up with Shi Wanqing.
Watching Shi Wanqing's retreating figure, Rong Yin sighed, "Still so rude. Who among you provoked her?" When Shi Wanqing is in a bad mood, she ignores everyone. When she's in a good mood, she greets each of her senior brothers and sisters one by one.
"Maybe I disturbed her peace and quiet?" Shi Jueming didn't quite understand either. When he went to see her yesterday, she was in a good mood.
"Someone trampled on the plants she planted this morning," Chuan said quietly.
The crowd fell silent. Shi Wanqing lived on the back mountain of Lingqiu Peak. Due to the invasion of demonic energy, Lingqiu Peak was practically barren, especially since the back mountain was not far from the Ten Directions Barrier, where it was constantly buffeted by winds carrying yellow sand, which was truly troublesome. Since Shi Wanqing moved to the back mountain, she had nothing to do all day, so she started planting trees, flowers, and grass. Over the past few hundred years, her efforts have yielded some results. Although the vegetation wasn't lush, the sandstorms on the back mountain had indeed lessened considerably.
It's infuriating that these plants were trampled and damaged. What's even more infuriating is that Shi Wanqing can't find out who did it.
Speaking of this, we must mention that the back mountain of Lingqiu Peak is adjacent to the back mountain of Nanyu Peak. Because Nanyu Peak sometimes holds its classes on the back mountain, and some peaks in Tianyu Mountain do not accept female disciples, a group of young male disciples would sometimes "watch" Nanyu Peak's disciples hold their classes from the back mountain of Lingqiu Peak.
This kind of thing is so rampant that it's impossible to stop it. Everyone has learned to cover it up, making it quite difficult to catch who's behind it.
Zhou Xuanzhi followed Shi Wanqing to the back mountain. There were many flowers, trees and shrubs on the back mountain. The area where the wooden houses were located was lush with vegetation, and there was even a small pond in front of the wooden houses.
Shi Wanqing pointed to a wooden house and said, "You will live here from now on. There is no food here. If you are hungry, you can go to the dining hall with the inner disciples."
"Sometimes inner disciples attend large lectures together, which are attended by disciples from all the peaks. I'll find someone to show you around here in a bit. Remember, you can't miss any of the large lectures."
"yes."
"Then why don't you take a walk around the back mountain by yourself and familiarize yourself with the surroundings?"
“Okay.” Zhou Xuanzhi looked at the cold-faced woman and lowered his head.
Shi Wanqing's attitude towards her disciple was still somewhat cold, which was different from what Zhou Xuanzhi had imagined. He could only see his master once every two or three days, and when he did see Shi Wanqing, she would only nod at him. He had been here for almost a month and hadn't learned anything from his master. He was currently attending large classes, but these classes didn't teach any magic techniques or swordsmanship; they only covered the establishment of various sects, the history of Tianyu Mountain, the lives of some heroes, and some classical texts.
But today, Shi Wanqing came to him and said, "Starting today, you will follow me every afternoon."
Is this someone going to teach me skills? Zhou Xuanzhi was overjoyed and agreed.
Shi Wanqing did indeed teach him skills. Every afternoon, he had to practice horse stance, and after that, he would practice simple sword techniques with a wooden sword.
Three years passed in this way. In fact, during these three years he also discovered his master's true personality, which was completely opposite to the cold demeanor he had when they first met. In the words of his senior uncle, the sect leader, his master's personality was unreliable.
It was only through getting to know him that he learned his master slept until noon every day, and that during the first month of his apprenticeship, his master often forgot he was there. It was only after the sect leader couldn't stand it anymore and gave his master a scolding that his master realized he had already been a disciple for a month before he began teaching him.
For three years, I've been practicing the fundamentals, especially basic swordsmanship. Although there's a significant gap between me and my peers, everyone says my fundamentals are very solid.
Based on his understanding of his master over the past three years, Zhou Xuanzhi wondered if his master had forgotten that he had been practicing the basics for three years. It was time to remind his master.
That afternoon, Zhou Xuanzhi went to see his master as usual. During the conversation, he inadvertently mentioned that he had been a disciple for three years: "My senior master said that I have been a disciple for three years. He tested me and said that my basic skills are very solid!"
Just as Zhou Xuan had expected, Shi Wanqing's first words were, "You've been my apprentice for three years already? Time flies!"
"Hmm... it's time to teach you some new things about the basics."
Then Zhou Xuanzhi learned more advanced swordsmanship and the art of drawing qi into the body.
"To draw spiritual energy into one's body is both incredibly simple and incredibly difficult. For cultivators, drawing spiritual energy into the body is extremely basic, like breathing. But for a beginner, it is a very difficult thing; some people take ten years to succeed."
Outdoors, in an open space, Zhou Xuanzhi sat cross-legged on a futon, listening to Shi Wanqing's words.
"Therefore, I am not interested in when you can draw the Qi into your body, nor will I require you to succeed within a certain period of time. What you need to do now is to feel it. Only when you can feel the spiritual energy will I teach you to draw it into your body."
"yes."
So Zhou Xuanzhi sat there, sensing the spiritual energy his master had mentioned. Shi Wanqing, from who-knows-where, placed a reclining chair behind Zhou Xuanzhi and lay down on it.
When you hear others say that you feel spiritual energy, you will involuntarily want to grasp the energy and bring it into your body. However, this is very dangerous and it is very easy to get a qi deviation. In severe cases, it can lead to qi deviation and demonic possession. Every time you try to draw energy into your body, there will be a master or senior brother or sister by your side.
Zhou Xuanzhi was deeply moved that his master was right behind him. But when he heard his master snoring, all the emotion he had felt vanished instantly.
Having such a master makes my future uncertain!
Because of Shi Wanqing's health, Han Wenqing still cared about his junior sister and would visit her from time to time. Sometimes, seeing Zhou Xuanzhi sensing spiritual energy and Shi Wanqing sleeping beside him, he felt sorry for the boy. However, Shi Wanqing wasn't completely indifferent; after all, the basic skills she had acquired over the past three years had laid a solid foundation for Zhou Xuanzhi.
Shi Wanqing was considered a master of her generation. In the world's perception, the top sword cultivators were mostly male, but Shi Wanqing had managed to carve out a bloody path and become comparable to these men. Based on this alone, she was qualified to teach her disciples in her own way. However, given his understanding of his junior sister, he felt it was better for him to take care of her himself.
Zhou Xuanzhi's understanding of Shi Wanqing's past mostly came from what he heard from the female disciples of the inner sect.
“Sword cultivators are ranked. My junior uncle was ranked third before. She was the only female sword cultivator among the top fifteen. But your master cultivates the Path of Ruthlessness, which alone makes her surpass the top two sword cultivators.” These words were spoken by Lin Jichen, an inner disciple.
Looking at this junior sister who had just been promoted from the outer sect, Zhou Xuanzhi nodded, then felt something was amiss and asked, "Why before?"
"Junior Uncle once single-handedly blocked the demons' attack with his sword, and at that time his spiritual palace shattered. Later, he was rescued by Medicine God Valley and Master Shi of Yangjia Peak, but his spiritual palace could not be repaired, and he cannot overuse spiritual power now. From that moment on, Junior Uncle could no longer be considered a sword cultivator." Lin Jichen's tone was full of regret, and there were even tears in his eyes.
“Even so, Junior Martial Aunt is still very powerful. Ordinary demons and monsters dare not get close to her.” She patted Zhou Xuanzhi’s shoulder and said, “Even so, Junior Martial Aunt is still ranked among the top in the cultivation world.”
At that time, Zhou Xuanzhi had no real concept of how powerful his master was. He only knew that his master was very famous, and that everyone would respect him if he said he was Shi Wanqing's disciple. Later, when he was training at Guanxiang Peak, he saw his master kill the monster that had nearly killed them with a single sword strike. At that moment, he finally understood his master's power in every sense of the word, which was not just a legend.
When Zhou Xuanzhi sensed the spiritual energy, he didn't call for his master. His senior brother had mentioned the method of guiding qi into the body during the grand class. He remembered it and wanted to see if he could do it alone.
The process of spiritual energy entering the body is simple; the difficulty lies in guiding it to circulate within the body, reaching the dantian. The path of this spiritual energy within the body is entirely beyond one's control, and the more he tried, the more chaotic its movement became. The most critical issue was the continuous absorption of spiritual energy into his body, causing it to accumulate and eventually overwhelm his meridians.
The throbbing pain from his swollen veins kept him conscious. He was acutely aware that the spirit was gathering inside his body, ramming around his meridians. Just when he thought his meridians were about to burst, a stream of spiritual energy entered his body, traveling along the meridians and slowly entering his dantian.
The spiritual energy from all the meridians was carried to the dantian by that spiritual energy, and the feeling of being bursting slowly disappeared. However, the intense pain from the previous pain still lingered in the meridians.
Now that he could no longer inhale spiritual energy, Zhou Xuanzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. He opened his eyes and saw his master's ashen face, and felt a chill all over his body.
"Close your eyes."
His master's tone wasn't very friendly, which frightened Zhou Xuanzhi so much that he immediately closed his eyes.
A stream of spiritual energy was continuously flowing into his brow, circulating through his meridians and slowly gathering in his dantian. He could feel this spiritual energy soothing his meridians, and as it entered his dantian, it seemed to suppress the restless spiritual energy he had introduced into his body.
The excruciating pain in his meridians had begun to lessen, and he was now able to suppress the restless spiritual energy in his dantian. He didn't know when the fingers that had been pressing against his brow had left, and Zhou Xuanzhi opened his eyes at that moment.
Shi Wanqing stood before him, her expression stern, her eyes seeming to want to kill him. Then he heard his master's harsh voice ask, "What did I say before?"
Zhou Xuanzhi knew he was wrong, but he just wanted to know if he could...
"What did I say?" Seeing that she didn't answer, Shi Wanqing raised her voice, her anger practically capable of killing her.
“You told me to first feel the spiritual energy myself, and then teach me how to guide the energy into my body.”
Shi Wanqing sneered, "So you still remember."
Zhou Xuanzhi lowered his head.
"Do you know why Cheng Yaojun won't accept you as his disciple?" Shi Wanqing looked at the boy, who was not even twelve years old, sitting on the futon, and said with a cold snort, "Because your heart is not upright."
"If you are upright and have no hatred in your heart, he will naturally accept you as his disciple."
Zhou Xuanzhi looked up at the person he called his master, who was staring at him with cold eyes. He heard her say, "I don't care what you think. Since you've become my disciple, I am your master. You must listen to me. If there's a next time, I will expel you from Tianyu Mountain."
When Shi Jueming arrived, Zhou Xuanzhi was lying on his bed. That night, his spirit body was unable to enter his dantian for a long time, and a large amount of spiritual energy was gathering in his meridians. After his master cleared the blockages for him, he felt better, but afterwards he was unable to move.
After his master carried him to the bed, he went to find his senior brother, Master Shi.
Shi Jueming naturally knew how he had ended up like this. He sighed and said, "Why were you in such a hurry? Luckily, your master discovered it in time and cleared the blockages for you. Otherwise, all your meridians would be ruined. You wouldn't be able to cultivate or even practice martial arts anymore."
"sorry."
Looking at the boy, Shi Jueming sighed again: "Don't blame your master for speaking so harshly. She only cares about you. You are her only disciple, and she still cares about you a lot. Since you came, your master has finally been willing to come out of this back mountain. She came to us who have taken on disciples and asked us how to train them."
"Although she might have been a bit rough in teaching you, it was her first time taking on a disciple. Not everyone is like that... You'll gradually come to appreciate how good your master is."
After clearing Zhou Xuanzhi's meridians, he said, "You should not use spiritual power for the next year, otherwise your meridians will be ruined. Take good care of yourself."
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