Madam, please ascend.

Chapter 33: Two or Three Things about Cultivation

There are six elders in Youxi Peak, each with their own strengths. Among them, Elder Qingwei is in the middle stage of the Return to Void Realm. He has a calm and optimistic temperament and is "excellent" at fortune-telling. It is said that nine out of ten of his fortune-tellings are wrong.

Yun Yi was quite pleased with this master; he was not only humorous but also considerate. He had already anticipated that he would accept two more disciples, so he had already prepared a room for them.

Xun Ziyu and Qi Ling'er were extremely surprised by this. They complained, "Since Master already knew about this, why didn't he tell us?"

Qing smiled and stroked his beard, pretending to be profound and said, "What I calculated is only a rough estimate. As for how to accept a disciple and who the disciple will be, I actually can't figure it out."

This is true. Take the case of Sang Jing for example. Qingwei could only figure out that Sang Jing seemed to have been murdered, but he couldn't tell who the murderer was, whether it was a man or a woman.

Afterwards, Qingwei and Yunyi chatted about their cultivation and were delighted to learn that he had been to the Feitian Secret Realm. Yunyi then learned that a thousand years ago, Nangong Feitian had a close relationship with the previous leader of the Fuyao Sect, which was why Daocheng recognized the Fangyuan Sword at first sight and admired Yunyi so much that he skipped the initiation trial.

Qingwei said that Yun Yi's Qi Refining Realm was very solid. As long as he accumulated spiritual energy step by step, he would be able to successfully enter the Spiritual Transformation Realm. There were many mental methods and sword techniques in the Sword Pavilion, and one could always find the one that suited Yun Yi.

The four masters and apprentices had a night talk and talked about a lot.

Yun Yi silently compared the Fuyao Sect and the Demon Sect in his mind, finding the atmospheres between them to be worlds apart. However, he didn't completely let his guard down, as good and evil were difficult to define in the world of cultivation. Not everyone in the Demon Sect was necessarily evil, and not everyone in the Righteous Path was necessarily good.

Just when he arrived at Youxi Peak, he felt several extremely unfriendly gazes coming from the dark, which showed that they were somewhat dissatisfied with this new disciple who did not follow the rules to become a disciple.

There was one elder in particular who was quite accomplished in Taoism. He looked like someone who was not someone to be trifled with, and he seemed to have some complaints about Yun Yi's arrival.

Yun Yi could fully understand this. Cultivation resources were limited, even in a major righteous sect. Since he became a disciple, he would have to share some of the benefits.

……

The next day, Yun Yi began his long journey of cultivation. He first went to Qingluo Peak and spent a lot of money to buy a sound transmission talisman. Then he entrusted his disciple who was traveling outside to hand the talisman to Zhuque in Yueya City.

In the letter, he asked Zhuque to send Nangong Zhuozhuo to Fuyao Sect, so that he could take care of Zhuozhuo while Zhuque returned to the Demon Sect. Nangong Feitian had a deep connection with Fuyao Sect, so Daocheng would not reject the daughter of an old friend.

I don’t know how Zhuque and Nangong Zhuozhuo get along. Thinking of that eccentric peach blossom fairy, Yun Yi can’t help but worry for Zhuque.

After that, he went straight to the study in Jiange, looking for a technique that suited him. After all, Monkey Boss only taught him the White Ape Sword Technique, leaving him blank in terms of mental skills.

However, this is not a big problem, because Yun Yi can completely rely on the memories of his previous life to re-cultivate the mental methods he had learned.

For example, the "Dragon Subduing Sword Scripture" from the Buried Sword Valley, the "Tiandao Lianhuan Jue" that Song Xinci had snatched from somewhere, and the "Dayin Xisheng Gongfa" that she created herself...

However, Yun Yi felt that none of these were suitable for him, which was why he was stuck in the Return to Void Realm in his previous life and could not make any further progress.

He was now browsing the books in the Sutra Library in order to learn from many sources, but he had not actually decided what he wanted to practice.

In his previous life, Yun Yi practiced the secret techniques of the Demon Sect, and what he learned was diverse. Unlike this life where he only practiced swordsmanship, he was also very interested in swords.

He seemed to have a special affinity with swords. Song Guanglin gave him a "Green Lotus Sword Intention". He also learned swordsmanship in the Feitian Secret Realm and obtained the most precious Fangyuan Sword.

In this case, it would be a waste of talent if I didn't practice sword in this life.

Yun Yi thought again and again, and set his sights on the large iron-like Fangyuan Sword. Monkey Boss had said that the large iron sheet did not represent the true appearance of the sword, but he had not said how to reveal its true form.

By reading classics and asking Master Qingwei, Yun Yi found some ways.

The Fangyuan Sword, now a piece of iron, needed constant polishing to restore its true form. However, there was a problem. Ordinary swords could be sharpened with a whetstone, but this method was difficult to use on the Fangyuan Sword because it was too high-grade. Even if it was sharpened, it would require at least a top-grade whetstone.

This thing is hard to come by, and the Tianyuan Chamber of Commerce occasionally sells it, but the price is sky-high.

This made Yun Yi quite disappointed. He felt frustrated that he had finally obtained the treasure but was unable to use it.

Fortunately, with Qingwei's guidance, he found a martial arts book called "Sword Sharpening Sutra".

This technique was not of high rank, and very few disciples practiced it, but it was very suitable for Yun Yi because it taught him how to use his body as a whetstone, sharpening the sword with his own body.

This method is similar to the Dao Stone Steps, using the body to sharpen the sword's edge and the soul to temper the sword's will. Furthermore, the higher the level of cultivation, the better the sharpening effect.

In this way, you can practice martial arts and sharpen your sword at the same time.

In addition, Yun Yi often went to the Alchemy Pavilion to learn alchemy from the elders. The elders in the sect had no objection to this, as they actually hoped that their disciples could learn and apply knowledge in many ways rather than focusing on a single direction.

After all, the master's Taoism is to be proficient in alchemy, swordsmanship and books, which complement each other.

For Yun Yi, refining medicine is no easier than practicing swordsmanship.

When refining pills, one needs to focus on the changes in the furnace. Not only must one endure the smoke and fire, but one also has to bear the risk of the furnace exploding occasionally. Therefore, Yunxia Peak has always been known as the most dangerous place in Fuyao Sect.

Some people even say that the clouds in Yunxia Peak are actually formed by the smoke produced after the furnace explodes.

In comparison, Baishi Peak is filled with clanging sounds all day long, as if the entire mountain is being used as a whetstone for swords; Yunxia Peak is filled with the roar of artillery fire, releasing a strange-shaped cloud from time to time; and Wangji Peak is the quietest and most comfortable, with only the sound of reading aloud, accompanied by the fragrance of ink, creating a peaceful scene.

……

It was much easier for Song Xinci to become a disciple of Fuyao Sect than for Yun Yi.

The Demon Sect's influence was vast, even reaching towns under the Fuyao Sect's jurisdiction. The Shi family, with their close trade ties to the mountain, had the privilege of sending their own children to the sect for training.

But no one knew that the Shi family actually cooperated with the Demon Sect, and this matter was extremely secretive.

Song Xinci exploited the Shi family's connections, using the alias Shi Yucheng, disguising herself as the youngest son of the Shi family patriarch, and thus gaining direct access to the Immortal Sect through her apprenticeship. Having now reached the Hedao realm, she possesses the ability to seamlessly change her appearance and gender, a disguise that only those at the Ascension realm could easily penetrate.

Coincidentally, the Fuyao Sect didn't have anyone in the Ascension Realm. Even the Sect Master Daocheng wouldn't have been able to detect anything unless he was suspicious and investigated with all his might.

Moreover, since the Shi family was one of their own, the Fuyao Sect only conducted a simple aptitude test when accepting disciples. They found that Shi Yucheng had extraordinary aptitude, and all the elders immediately smiled with joy and vied to take him in as their disciple.

Unexpectedly, Shi Yucheng took the initiative to choose Elder Qingwei, saying that he was very interested in divination.

The other elders were greatly disappointed, thinking that divination was a trivial skill and a waste of talent.

In the end, it was Daocheng who finalized the matter with a smile. He said, "There is no distinction between big and small in Taoism," and let Shi Yucheng become a disciple of Qingwei Sect at Youxi Peak.

Song Xinci naturally had her own plans. She had gotten to know several elders beforehand and knew that Qingwei had the most relaxed discipline, making it a perfect place for her to secretly investigate the Fuyao Sect.

Little did she know that fate had inexplicably brought her and Yun Yi together again.

(End of this chapter)