Cultivation: Starting with Sterilizing My Own Father

"Knock knock, knock knock."

"Ah!" Leng Yue was startled awake by the rhythmic knocking on the door, only then realizing that it was all a nightmare and that she had already left the illusion.

Leng Yue got up in a daze and went to open the door.

"Why are you sweating so much?" Wei Zhiying handed over the pills in her hand: "I noticed you weren't feeling well all day, and you didn't eat dinner either. Here, these are some mind-calming pills I made."

The sun was gradually setting in the distance, its rays warming Wei Zhiying. Leng Yue watched Wei Zhiying wink playfully at her: "Everything just now was fake, whether it was an illusion or a nightmare, it wasn't real. Think about it, even when you got last place in your first monthly exam, although Senior Sister Mingjiao and the others were angry, they never ostracized or insulted you. Instead, they made a very comprehensive plan for you. I don't know about other countries, but the people of Northern Shu would never lead the way in ostracizing their own countrymen over such a trivial matter."

"...Thank you." Leng Yue reached out and took the Mind-Concentrating Pill.

"Although it's low-grade, it'll definitely help you get a good night's sleep tonight." Wei Zhiying picked up the food box at her feet. "You didn't eat dinner, and you have a competition tomorrow, so you can't skip any meals. This is almond milk made by my sister, and it also contains sweet rice dumplings that I brought from Wugutang. Judging by the amount, we've almost finished the rice dumplings we made for the Dragon Boat Festival. Eat it up and get some rest."

After Leng Yue took it, Wei Zhiying waved her hand and said, "I'm leaving now. After all, drawing talismans and refining pills are free during the outer sect period. I have to make as much as possible during this time. Not only do I need enough for tomorrow's arena battle, but I also need to use it for a few more days in the inner sect. Prices are high in the inner sect. You should get some rest."

Leng Yue opened her mouth, but in the end, she said nothing, nodded, and watched Wei Zhiying leave. Wei Zhiying didn't forget to turn back and remind her, "Your condition isn't suitable for meditation. Go to sleep tonight; conserving your energy will be very effective."

After Wei Zhiying left, Leng Yue returned to her room, ate the two zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), washed and bathed to dry the sweat from the nightmare, took a calming pill, and went to bed. The bowl of almond milk was left to dry in the food box.

……

The morning bird would wake up every disciple who had registered for the competition right on time, and those who hadn't registered were also woken up.

Senior Brother Yu Xian yawned, rubbing his messy hair.

Wei Zhiying asked, "Senior Brother Yu Xian! There's a martial arts competition today, do you want to go watch?"

"No thanks, Xiaolong. I'm going to take a nap. It's just a ring match; I've been watching it for ten years now, it's boring. But don't worry, I'll be there for the finals."

Wei Zhiying's lips twitched slightly: "My name is Wei Zhiying."

He sighed helplessly as he watched his senior brother go back to sleep. When he first entered the sect, Senior Brother Yu Xian didn't remember everyone's names, but he knew that Wei Zhiying and her sister were twins, so he simply called them Little Dragon and Little Phoenix, and that's how he called them for a year.

In preparation for today's competition, the Wei siblings and the Feng sisters went to the Prayer Pavilion to draw lots. They didn't go together, but just happened to run into each other, and neither side paid any attention to the other.

They were all asking for the same thing. After all, the arena competition was by lottery, which meant that even if you drew your own father, you would still have to go, let alone your siblings.

This isn't like ordinary practice where you just touch the target and stop; you really have to knock the opponent off the stage. Even close friends wouldn't have the heart to hurt each other, let alone siblings.

Therefore, what people naturally pray for is that they will never, ever draw a family member when drawing lots.

When everyone arrived at the training ground, the area below was also crowded with outer disciples watching. Helian Ye stood in the crowd and silently applauded for his fellow disciples. Naturally, some people asked him why he didn't consider signing up like Leng Yue, since all nine other disciples who entered the sect at the same time had signed up, leaving only Helian Ye.

Helian Ye simply replied, "You can only eat as much as you're capable of."

The disciples put the bamboo sticks engraved with their names into the divination tube. After shaking it a few times, Master Ying began to draw lots from the back to the front, following the order in which the sticks were thrown. The first person to throw their stick would be the last to draw.

The training grounds have set up a total of sixteen arenas based on the number of disciples who have registered.

Fortunately, there were quite a few people who signed up, and Wei Zhiying didn't draw her own sister in the first four rounds. Wei Zhiying herself was already at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, and both teachers had commented that her spiritual root aptitude was top-notch, just a little short of mid-grade, but her comprehension was excellent.

They can grasp the techniques much faster than others.

However, this is natural. The oldest member of the sect is only sixteen or seventeen, and the youngest is Xu Tianci, who is five. When they first entered the sect, they were all fourteen or fifteen, or even four or five years old. Children's logic is simple and direct, full of right and wrong, good and bad, black and white judgments. In other words, children are like a high-precision single-core processor, while adults are like a supercomputer loaded with a vast database. This is because the adult world is full of gray areas, and they understand that the world does not follow simple reward and punishment mechanisms, but is driven by complex rules and interests.

Wei Zhiying was essentially an adult at heart, and her comprehension and understanding abilities were naturally much faster than those of the children. Therefore, even though Xu Ruosheng's spiritual root aptitude was better than hers, she was still able to cultivate her cultivation to a higher level than him.

Wei Zhiying was extremely grateful at this moment. She had chosen all the elective courses back then and used calculations to select the arena that would be most advantageous to her and her sister. Because Wei Zhiyin had chosen to study beast taming, Wei Zhiying could bring her earth spirit with her when she went on stage. The little guy was now a third-tier spirit beast.

If you're matched against an opponent without a spirit beast, you're out of luck unless they're strong enough to defeat both you and your spirit beast, or you can ask Wei Zhiying to not bring a spirit beast into the battle. After all, luck and skill are both crucial factors for success.

Wei Zhiying and Tu Ling worked together seamlessly on stage, unleashing a flurry of attacks using talismans and formations. Their weapon was a mid-grade iron sword they had personally forged. Although it was for two people, both had studied weapon crafting and could maintain and refine it as quickly as possible after the battle. If there wasn't enough time, Wei Zhiying would promptly apply a cleansing talisman to ensure it was thoroughly cleaned first.

He then quickly took the recovery pills.

After the first four matches, the next round will be the round of 16, followed by the quarterfinals and semifinals.

In the quarterfinals, Wei Lanyin lost to Gong Huaijin. Although she lost, she still made it to the round of 16 and therefore earned points.

After playing in the quarterfinals, Wei Zhiying did some calculations and, based on her current rudimentary skill level, drew a draw that resulted in a bye, allowing her to directly enter the finals.

Unfortunately, there was no way around it. Originally, there should have been four groups left, but during the match, the two people hit each other at the same time and fell off the ring at the same time. One broke his left leg and the other broke his right leg, so neither of them could participate in the next match. This resulted in three people winning in the end.

Xu Ruosheng, a top-grade spatial spiritual root; Gong Huaijin, a superior-grade lightning spiritual root; and Wei Zhiying, a mid-grade earth spiritual root.

Wei Zhiying drew a blank draw, which meant that the semi-finals would only feature Xu Ruosheng and Gong Huaijin. To everyone's surprise, the two had already shown their best skills even before reaching the finals.

However, those who know them well can understand, since Wei Zhiying and her sister usually spar together, and it's not just a matter of touching each other briefly; they would even correct each other's postures midway through.

Xu Ruosheng only fought Wei Zhiying once during his first month in the sect, and never had the chance to fight her again. Gong Huaijin had also been itching to test Wei Zhiying's abilities. Now that he had defeated the older twin, Gong Huaijin believed it was his turn to defeat the younger twin.