Junior sister, I really need to control you

However, the lack of color in her face diluted her sharpness.

“Junior nephew,” the woman whom Li Yinsheng addressed as Uncle Jiang looked at him, “you seem more composed than usual today. Are you in a bad mood?”

"Thank you for your concern, Uncle-Master. I'm fine. I've just been cultivating for a little longer recently," Li Yinsheng shook his head.

He simply brushed it off vaguely, partly because the matter of the grotto-heaven was not to be discussed with outsiders, and partly because it was a long-standing habit.

Uncle Jiang was once a prodigy in his youth, but now his cultivation has been completely destroyed.

Over the years, unless absolutely necessary, he has never brought up matters of spiritual practice with her, lest he cause her to be reminded of painful memories and become depressed.

“Nephew, I have something to report,” Li Yinsheng said, changing the subject. “Yesterday, someone came seeking immortality and guidance.”

“My junior disciple observed that although she lacked natural talent, she was determined and persevering, so he took it upon himself to bring her into the temple.”

“She had already mastered the basics of the Qingxuan True Scripture yesterday. However, it was too late then, and I was worried about disturbing my master’s rest, so I waited until now to inform her.”

"All affairs of Xuanzhen Temple are managed by you. Even I, a cripple, am entirely dependent on your unwavering care. You can take charge of the temple's affairs," Uncle Jiang said softly.

“Besides, even when my meridians were intact, I didn’t understand those ordinary matters in the temple,” she patted the empty spot on the soft couch. “Don’t stand there, come, sit down and let’s talk.”

Li Yinsheng sat down beside the soft couch, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.

It seems that his master had no objection to him teaching such a profound mental cultivation method as the Qingxuan True Scripture to a disciple who had just entered the temple and had no potential.

"Those without innate talent may be able to cultivate, but their achievements will ultimately be limited."

Uncle Jiang said softly, "Your intention in teaching her the Qingxuan True Scripture is good, but she may not be able to handle it."

"This technique is easy at first but becomes difficult later, and it places great emphasis on a solid foundation. Those lacking talent often progress very slowly when they reach even slightly deeper levels. Moreover..."

"Besides, Xuanzhen Temple is about to disintegrate. When that happens, she will have no master and no one to guide her. If she blindly practices a superior technique, she will be more likely to make mistakes and go into qi deviation."

"Don't worry, Uncle-Master, I have my own plans," Li Yinsheng said in a deep voice, pressing one hand on the soft couch. "Xuanzhen Temple will not be disbanded."

Before that, he had no confidence in preserving Xuanzhen Temple, let alone any idea of ​​it.

Even the worst Taoist temples have abbots with seventy or eighty years of cultivation, while slightly larger temples have masters with over a hundred years of cultivation.

The reason why Xuanzhen Temple was to be disbanded was because there had been no capable monks to take on the main responsibility for many years.

This heavy burden was something he, with only twenty years of cultivation, could not possibly bear.

But now...

Although with his current cultivation level of around fifty years, he is indeed still somewhat lacking in the ability to shoulder this heavy responsibility.

But... isn't there still a year before Xuanzhen Temple is dissolved?

Uncle Jiang had no idea where Li Yinsheng's confidence came from. He reached out and gently pressed on the back of Li Yinsheng's hand, his eyes clear as water, reflecting a hint of heartache and guilt.

“Yinsheng, the decline of Xuanzhen Temple is due to our incompetence and our failure to live up to our ancestors. You are just a junior, so you don’t need to bear these responsibilities. You have already been very tired over the years.”

“Your innate talent is not bad, and you have perseverance. After the Xuanzhen Temple is disbanded, there will always be a Taoist temple willing to take you in, so your path of cultivation will not be cut off. It’s just…it’s just…”

At this point, a blush rose on her originally pale face: "Just don't get any crooked thoughts and be bewitched by Yuehe or Yuluan to become a male concubine or something like that."

"Although you may be able to live a few days of luxury, it will inevitably hinder your spiritual practice. When you grow old and lose your beauty, it will be too late to regret it."

Li Yinsheng was stunned: "Uncle-Master, is that the kind of person you see me as?"

“Of course not,” Uncle Jiang shook his head, “It’s just that a few days ago, when I was helping you tidy up your room, I happened to glimpse a piece of scrap paper, and on it…on it…”

She lowered her head, staring at the edge of the bed, avoiding looking at Li Yinsheng, before speaking the rest of her words.

"It lists the benefits of being Yuehe's and Yuluan's male concubines, comparing and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages one by one..."

"Cough cough cough cough!" Li Yinsheng interrupted with a forceful cough. "Uncle-Master, let's talk about serious matters! Serious matters! For example... for example... that... uh, the Dao Examination! Yes! The Dao Examination!"

"The Taoist examination at the end of next year! Xuanzhen Temple will be disbanded. The root cause is that the position of abbot has been vacant for many years, and the entire Taoist temple exists in name only."

"Although I am recognized as the acting abbot of the entire Xuanzhen Temple, the lineage above and other Taoist temples do not recognize me."

“After all, in the Xuanzhen Temple right now, not counting your junior sister who just joined, it’s just the two of us,” Uncle Jiang said softly. “It’s not entirely unreasonable for them not to acknowledge us.”

Li Yinsheng pretended not to hear and continued, "According to the rules of the Zhengyang lineage, only cultivators who have obtained a second-class evaluation in the Zhengyang Dao Examination are qualified to become the abbot of a temple, so as to prevent the abbot from being a figurehead without real power."

"Therefore, as long as I can win a second-class grade in the Zhengyang Examination next year, I can truly inherit the position of abbot of Xuanzhen Temple."

Li Yinsheng said in a matter-of-fact tone, "With the abbot in place, the Zhengyang lineage will naturally not disband the Xuanzhen Temple."

“Nephew,” Uncle Jiang looked at Li Yinsheng with concern, “I told you long ago not to push yourself too hard. Look at you, you’ve been cultivating day and night, to the point that you’re losing your mind.”

"Don't cultivate these next few nights, get a good night's sleep," Uncle-Master Jiang earnestly advised.

Li Yinsheng: ...

Although he had long anticipated that his martial uncle would have no confidence in him, he still felt incredibly mocked.

Of course, that's normal.

The Dao Examination of the Zhengyang lineage is held every three years, and it is not open to cultivators of all ages at the same time; rather, it is divided into two sessions.

The purpose of this event, which is limited to young disciples under the age of twenty, is to select promising but underdeveloped young disciples from various lineages and temples, and to focus on their training as early as possible.

The other event allows cultivators of any age and position from both lineages and Taoist temples to participate, in order to select cultivators with sufficient strength to take on important responsibilities.

A session limited to young disciples is called the "Young Yang Session," while a session open to any cultivator is called the "True Yang Session."

The results of both rounds will be divided into five grades—A, B, C, D, and E—based on the cultivators' performance, from highest to lowest.

Although both the "Shaoyang" and "Zhengyang" performances received highly valuable evaluations, their significance is entirely different.

The evaluation of Shaoyang field represents potential, while Zhengyang field represents strength.

Therefore, only those who achieve a Grade B rating in the Zhengyang field are qualified to be called the Abbot.

But with his previous cultivation level, let alone the Zhengyang field, he couldn't even be rated as a second-class student in the Shaoyang field.

Each time a Taoist examination is held, the disciples of the Zhengyang lineage above will participate together with the disciples of all the Taoist temples under their jurisdiction.

The number of places in the top tier is extremely limited, and they are almost all snapped up by the most outstanding disciples of the Zhengyang lineage.

Most of the remaining disciples of the lineage can also be rated as Grade B, which takes up most of the Grade B slots.

In this situation, many Taoist temples do not have a single disciple who can achieve the second-class ranking.

For example, the Tingyun Temple, to which the person who came yesterday belonged, was said to be among the top ten among all Taoist temples, but it often took two or three sessions for a disciple to receive a second-class evaluation.

Then this disciple will be groomed by the entire Taoist temple as one of its future pillars.

Even the most prestigious Taoist temples, like Shouyi Temple and Songyue Temple, typically only have one or two disciples with a second-class evaluation per session.

Although Li Yinsheng had never participated in the Shaoyang Field Dao Examination before, he asked himself honestly, with his previous cultivation level, he would have been lucky to even get a C grade evaluation in the Shaoyang Field.

As for the Zhengyang Field, which has absolutely no restrictions on the age or position of cultivators...

Not only will all the deacons and abbots of Taoist temples participate, but many cultivators from the lineage will also participate.

Even those who hold positions above the abbot in Taoist temples and have considerable influence within the lineage can be relegated to a second-class rating if they are unlucky.

Of course, the Daoist examinations for the Zhengyang lineage, whether in the Shaoyang or Zhengyang sessions, are not mandatory. Therefore, these important figures do not participate in every Daoist examination.

Li Yinsheng estimated that with his current cultivation of only fifty years and his mediocre magical skills, he would probably only be at the lowest level in Zhengyang Field.

But he only received the reward once.

If he comes a few more times, he has no doubt that he can get a grade of B or higher in Zhengyang Field—not to mention B, even A is not impossible.

His main concern was that if he received this reward a few more times, he might go crazy.

……

When the sun was high in the sky, Mu Xiaoyu came out of her bedroom and stretched in the sun.

Although yesterday she was tormented for several hours by that handsome senior brother, just like an ordinary martial arts master practicing martial arts, leaving her sore all over and seeing stars.

But when she woke up today, she found herself feeling refreshed and full of energy, as if the aches and pains of last night were just a dream.

Mu Xiaoyu moved a long table from her bedroom and placed it in the courtyard. She lay on the table, basking in the sun, and stuffed the candied crabapple she had taken the night before into her mouth.

Last night she brought all the steamed buns from the vegetarian room back to her own room. She ate five before going to bed and then ate four more with bamboo shoots this morning. She has already gone through more than half of a jar of pickled bamboo shoots.

She also ate a lot of wild honey as a snack.

I have to say, although life on the mountain was exhausting, the bamboo shoots and honey were absolutely delicious! They were even better than the so-called "royal tribute" honey back home!

"So comfortable..." Lying on the long table, feeling the lazy warmth and the sweet and sour taste melting in her mouth, Mu Xiaoyu squinted her eyes, feeling very comfortable.

Until a broad shadow blocked her sunlight.

Mu Xiaoyu opened her eyes and gave the obstacle blocking her sunlight a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Senior brother..."

“It seems that Junior Sister has no lingering fatigue,” Li Yinsheng nodded slightly. “Although the early stage of the Qingxuan True Scripture seems similar to ordinary martial arts, it is actually completely different.”

"Ordinary martial arts rely on tempering muscles and bones, squeezing blood and qi from the bone marrow. Although it can make one as strong as an ox and able to chase a galloping horse, it ultimately depletes the body's fundamental vital energy."

"Even if you take supplements throughout your life, you will still be full of injuries and illnesses in old age, all because you have overdrawn your resources too much."

"The Pure Mystery True Scripture, on the other hand, is solely for strengthening vital energy. The resulting vigorous blood and qi will also be due to the natural nourishment of vital energy."

Li Yinsheng laughed and said, "That's why after practicing ordinary martial arts, you feel extremely tired the next day, but after practicing the Qingxuan True Scripture, you will definitely feel refreshed after a good night's sleep."

"However, the Qingxuan True Scripture is not a physical cultivation method. Once the foundation is solid and one's own vital energy is abundant, one can begin to cultivate magical power. As for the blood and qi themselves, they are not very important."

"Then will we be able to just meditate and not practice martial arts stances anymore?" Mu Xiaoyu's eyes lit up.

"I guess so," Li Yinsheng nodded.

"When will I be able to reach that level?" Mu Xiaoyu asked hurriedly.

"The second level of the Qingxuan True Scripture will begin to cultivate magical power, but it still needs to be supplemented with methods of tempering the body and nourishing the blood. This method will no longer be useful once you reach the fourth level."

"Junior sister, your aptitude... requires considerable effort. If you want to reach the second level, with my guidance, it should take one or two years."

Li Yinsheng stroked his chin: "As for the fourth level... if Junior Sister is diligent enough, I think she might be able to complete it in ten years."

In fact, he was already trying to say as little as possible.

With Junior Sister Mu's aptitude, it is indeed possible for her to reach the second level within two years.

However, the Qingxuan True Scripture is easy at first and difficult later. With her aptitude, it would be normal for it to take her twenty years to cultivate from the second level to the fourth level without external help.

"Huh? It takes this long!" Mu Xiaoyu's eyes widened immediately.

Before Li Yinsheng could answer, Mu Xiaoyu seemed to have thought of something, jumped down from the long table, opened her big, watery eyes, looked up at Li Yinsheng, and spoke with a hopeful expression.

"Since you can practice other things from the second level, can you just meditate from the second level onwards? If you practice less, you might be able to progress faster."