I began to understand the myriad things by chopping wood

Chapter 160: Climbing to the Peak
The young man and woman who stepped into the courtyard were Xie Yuan and Mu Chaoyun.

After a night's rest and regaining some strength, the two men used the Tianyin Technique to disguise themselves best so that Cui Zhi and other people from the Yunshan Sword Sect in the courtyard would not notice anything unusual.

Xie Yuan glanced over and saw that the person in charge was Cui Zhi, the outer sect deacon of Yunshan Sword Sect who had been to Yunzhao before. He was sitting behind a large table in the middle of the courtyard, and next to him stood two disciples helping him. They were Lin Cheng and Lin Zhen.

The brother and sister were both wearing the clothes of the Sword Sect's outer disciples at this time. It was obvious that they had passed the assessment and became official disciples of the Sword Sect.

Seeing the two of them holding their heads high, Xie Yuan couldn't help but feel happy for them. Joining the Sword Sect, regardless of whether they could avenge their people in the future, at least the two of them looked full of hope, much better than the deep hatred they had not long ago.

When the Lin siblings saw the two new applicants looking over, they nodded in good faith. After all, not long ago, they were the same group, and now they felt the same nervousness as the two.

These two were fine, as they were not too surprising coincidences, but the person at the back was something that Xie Yuan was not expecting.

A man who looked like a prince, wearing a jade belt and brocade robe, was standing not far away, looking at him with interest.

Although he was dressed differently from other Sword Sect disciples, the silver tassel on his sword indicated that it was the standard long sword of the Yunshan Sword Sect, so it was obvious that he was also a member of the Sword Sect.

Xue Yanwen, the prince of Yunshan County, was once met by Xie Yuan and Situ Qin at a banquet hosted by him.

Well, his father's fiefdom is Yunshan County. I heard that he is a member of the outer sect of Yunshan Sword Sect, so it's not surprising that he appears here...

Situ Qin said that this person likes fun and excitement. He looks like a typical second-generation rich kid, but he never gets into big trouble. He is actually much smarter than he looks.

Xue Yanwen's father, Xue Zhizuo, was a genuine martial arts master. The emperor placed Xue Zhizuo's fiefdom in Yunshan, and Xue Zhizuo let Xue Yanwen join the outer sect of Yunshan Sword Sect. There was a deep meaning behind this. The relationship between the court and the sect has always been complicated.

Xue Yanwen's presence here was probably just an excuse to watch the fun. The more important thing was probably to see what kind of talents the Sword Sect had recruited.

Seeing Xue Yanwen looking at him with scrutiny and interest, Xie Yuan withdrew his gaze, not expecting him to notice anything.

His Sky Hidden Art has reached the point where he can sneak around a Grandmaster who is on full alert during a battle. Even if he doesn't use his full strength, he is not afraid of anyone below the Grandmaster level noticing the slightest flaw.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Deacon."

Xie Yuan took the scene in the courtyard into his mind, bowed to Cui Zhi, and walked forward with Mu Chaoyun.

Cui Zhi nodded and asked:
"Who will go first? Or..."

To his surprise, the woman took a step forward, stretched out her hand, and revealed a piece of snow-white wrist.

Cui Zhi was stunned for a moment. He thought that the man who had been talking was the one in charge and would come first, but he didn't expect it to be this girl?

Moreover, how come she seemed to be very familiar with this process and stretched out her hand without me having to say anything?

Well prepared...

Cui Zhi nodded gently, and placed his hand on Mu Chaoyun's arm through his sleeve, like a doctor taking a pulse, without moving.

Mu Chaoyun's face suddenly showed pain. He bit his lips tightly but did not make a sound.

Her eyebrows were knitted tightly, and beads of sweat even appeared on her forehead, rolling down her cheeks and dripping onto the table. But her body was stable, her expression was firm, and she did not move.

Cui Zhi's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly, and the others were also slightly moved. After testing for a whole morning today, this was the first time they encountered someone who didn't scream, and she was a very slim-looking girl.

Xie Yuan's expression was also trembling a little. He looked at the test with his eyes squinting, and the corners of his mouth twitched.

Miss Mu, don't exaggerate...

A method of testing the Qi and blood transformation stage and detecting the aptitude of ordinary people, could make a master like Mu Chaoyun sweat profusely?
Even if she was injured, with the strength of a grandmaster's meridians, this would probably be just like a tickle.

However, Mu Chaoyun's acting was so realistic that, except for Xie Yuan, who was an insider, no one could tell anything was wrong and everyone thought she was just an ordinary person who was struggling to get by.

Xie Yuan had seen her play Lin Zhen before, and indeed, apart from her appearance, even her way of speaking and behaving were almost the same.

This kind of acting skill is not something that can be brought about by the Heavenly Hidden Technique, it is purely her talent.

Xie Yuan found Mu Chaoyun's pretentious look funny and stared at her to remember her look clearly.

He suddenly noticed Mu Chaoyun's eyes glancing at him, with a hint of warning and annoyance in them. He couldn't help but smile back, adjusting his face and revealing a bit of insincere worry.

After a while, Cui Zhi withdrew his hand, looked satisfied, and stroked his beard and said:

"You have smooth meridians, excellent bones, and above-average aptitude. You can join our sect. Not bad, not bad."

The Lin siblings next to them smiled, as a new person finally passed today. Xue Yanwen was originally very interested, but after hearing this evaluation, he looked Mu Chaoyun up and down and did not react much.

Mu Chaoyun bowed slightly and stood aside, making way for Xie Yuan.

Everyone around looked at her expectantly, thinking that since this woman had the qualifications, her companions shouldn't be any different?

Cui Zhi reached out his hand with a look of hope and placed it on Xie Yuan's hand.

The next moment, a scream was heard.

“Ouch, it hurts, it hurts…”

Xie Yuan pulled his hand back as if he had been electrocuted, and shook it vigorously with a look of pain on his face.

The Lin siblings were a little confused. Wasn't this too fast? It was just a touch?
Xue Yanwen chuckled:
“The one who persisted the longest and the one who persisted the shortest appeared together. It was interesting.”

Cui Zhi was also stunned. Why did it feel like he hadn't even exerted any strength yet, but this young man was already unable to do it?

He had a strange look in his eyes. At first glance, he clearly felt that this young man had a good physique and was a good candidate for swordsmanship. However, before he could take a closer look, he couldn't hold on any longer.

Looking at the people whose physiques he had tested, no matter how poor their aptitude or how immature their will were, they had to endure for a while, not wanting to miss this opportunity. But this one was so afraid of pain, and would break at the slightest touch, like a porcelain doll...

Cui Zhi shook his head. The Yunshan Sword Sect places great emphasis on character, and this young man is not capable of that.

Mu Chaoyun watched coldly, subconsciously took a step back, trying to pretend that he didn't know this person. The physical condition improved by the Tianqing Fruit was that he was born a loser, and now he should be a genius in cultivation, and it is impossible for him to feel pain.

Although this was a well-planned act, the acting was so poor that Mu Chaoyun felt embarrassed.

As a master, Mu Chaoyun has her own means to make Cui Zhi's detection get the results she wants without revealing her true talent and strength;
Although Xie Yuan's Heavenly Hidden Technique was one level higher than hers, he was still not sure if he could rely on the Heavenly Hidden Technique to hide from the detection, so they decided to do this.

As for how to go up the mountain next...

Cui Zhiben wanted to say that Xie Yuan was unqualified and could leave first, but Mu Chaoyun took the lead and said:
"He and I are childhood sweethearts, and we are determined to go up the mountain together. Although he is not talented, he is very determined to seek the truth. I heard that the servants on the mountain also have the opportunity to learn martial arts. Since they are recruiting new disciples, there must be a shortage of servants. He is good at doing odd jobs. He is quick to serve people and chop wood. Please allow him to go up the mountain with me and let him do some odd jobs."

How could he be determined...

However, Cui Zhi saw that Mu Chaoyun spoke sincerely, obviously from the bottom of his heart, so he pondered for a moment, and nodded slightly because it was a rare opportunity for a disciple to pass the test.

At the same time, he was a little surprised. These two people seemed to have done their homework. Maybe this wasn't their first time here? They even knew about the chores...

The first hurdle was passed. Next, Cui Zhi asked others to carefully inquire about the two people's backgrounds, check their travel permits and household registrations, and verify their identities without any problems.

The identities of the two were "borrowed" from others in the town using the Tianyin technique. Their attire and origins were all obtained from the two, just like when Mu Chaoyun played Lin Zhen, completely genuine.

After this examination, the two of them were initially qualified to go up the mountain. As for formal entry, they had to wait for the subsequent assessment.

Xie Yuan and Mu Chaoyun looked at each other and stood in the corner waiting.

Seeing that Mu Chaoyun seemed to have quickly adapted to his new identity and behaved much more naturally than himself, he could not help but quietly give him a thumbs up:
"As expected of you, my mother said that beautiful women are deceptive."

When Mu Chaoyun heard him say this, her face turned red and her heart beat rapidly for no apparent reason.

Although she had been praised for her looks since she was a child and she no longer cared about it, but if I remembered correctly, this was the first time Xie Yuan praised her... Well, usually she just liked to look at herself with a silly look, and this was the first time he said it out loud.

Mu Chaoyun tilted his head slightly, remained silent, and didn't care that it didn't seem like a good thing to say.

"You two, ah, from now on you have to call me junior sister. Congratulations!"

Just at this moment, Lin Zhen came forward and greeted with a smile.

Xie Yuan was stunned for a moment, looking at Lin Zhen with an extremely strange expression.

Miss Lin, do you know what you are talking about... No, do you know who she is?
Mu Chaoyun's expression was calm, and he showed a simple smile that matched his character:

"Hello, senior sister."

Seeing how smart Mu Chaoyun was, Lin Zhen's eyes lit up and she became very interested. It seemed that she was very interested in being a senior sister right after entering the sect, so she kept chatting with Mu Chaoyun.
Mu Chaoyun remained calm and acted as if she was getting along well with her. After just a few words, Miss Lin was about to treat her as a close friend.

This...is not appropriate...

Looking at this scene, Xie Yuan hesitated to speak and wanted to stop it, but saw Mu Chaoyun glanced at him indifferently.

So he sighed, his face expressionless, his eyes looking at his nose and his nose looking at his heart, pretending that he knew nothing and saw nothing.

By the time it was getting dark, the only people who had passed through the checkpoint today were Mu Chaoyun and Xie Yuan who had gone through the back door.

"Let's go. I'll take you up the mountain today."

Cui Zhi stood with his hands behind his back and spoke to the two of them.

Walking out of the Sword Sect's villa at the foot of the mountain, facing the envious gazes of countless people outside the gate, the two followed Cui Zhi and other Sword Sect disciples, along the road up the mountain, and crossed the Sword Sect's mountain gate that countless people dreamed of.

The mountain path is rugged, with countless stone steps extending all the way to the clouds. For ordinary people, it is somewhat difficult to reach the top like this, and it is obviously a test.

Xie Yuan and Mu Chaoyun showed their breathlessness, sweat, exhaustion, and gnashing of teeth at the right time, and then relied on their perseverance to climb to a platform on the top of Jinyun Mountain, which was the main peak hall of Yunshan Sword Sect.

Looking at the extremely broad and imposing square, Xie Yuan nodded secretly. It was worthy of being the number one sect in Yunzhou. It was not easy to build such a large square on the top of the mountain.

Suddenly, he paused.

Cui Zhi watched the whole process and was quite satisfied with their performance. He was even a little surprised by Xie Yuan's performance.

But he didn't think much about it and just introduced:

“This is the main peak hall, but as you can see, this is not the highest point.

“There is a mountain behind the main hall, which is the sect’s forbidden area and also a holy place. It is the legendary sword edge.

"Since the second generation ancestor, countless predecessors of the sect have comprehended advanced sword techniques there, and have also left countless sword marks. If you enter the sect in the future and make great contributions to the sect, you will have the opportunity to go to Jianfeng to comprehend the sword. This is the supreme honor and opportunity for our Sword Sect disciples."

Cui Zhi's tone was also somewhat yearning. For a deacon like him who held a certain status in the sect, such an opportunity was something he very much desired.

He looked around and nodded:
"Now that we've reached the top and seen everything, let's go down. The outer gate is halfway up the mountain, and today I'm just bringing you up to take a look."

After he finished speaking, he went down the stone steps first, but saw that Xie Yuan and Mu Chaoyun had not caught up for a long time, and he could not help but wonder:
"Let's go, what are you standing there for?"

Hearing Cui Zhi's greeting, Xie Yuan and Mu Chaoyun trembled at the same time, as if waking up from a dream.

They looked at each other subconsciously and saw the shock in each other's eyes.

This feeling...

Xie Yuan couldn't help but touch his left arm, remaining silent.

The two black lotus petals there were getting hot.

(End of this chapter)