Jing Liu patted the child and found his aptitude to be passable; he sensed that the boy seemed to have a Spiritual Root, yet it was a pity he had been born among mortals, possessing a Spiritual Root with no one to guide him.
Jing Liu said, "Wen Xiao'er, let me give you a name. How about Wen Mo? 'Mo' as in one of the Four Treasures of the Study; ink is solid in substance, and its color never fades through the ages."
Overjoyed to receive a name from a person of high standing, the child immediately kowtowed and said, "Many thanks, Your Honor, for bestowing this name!"
After finishing the wontons and paying the bill, Jing Liu gave the child some extra money so he could buy the martial arts manual he had mentioned earlier. Before leaving, he added a parting instruction, "Every ten years, sects come to large cities to accept disciples. You can go try your luck there, child. Entering a sect will get you martial arts secret manuals far better than anything sold in the marketplace."
The second time they met was on a mountain. The child was acting all sneaky, and Jing Liu appeared silently behind him, giving him a pat on the back.
"Ah!" the child let out a short cry of fright. He breathed a sigh of relief once he saw who it was.
Jing Liu asked, "Child, what are you doing here?"
"I... I'm looking for someone. My younger sister's playmate and his family went to visit distant relatives, and someone passing through this mountain came back to say they were captured by bandits. My sister cried very sadly when she heard, and I couldn't bear to see her sad, so I came here to look," the child said.
Hearing this, Jing Liu grew somewhat angry. "What can a child like you do here? Can you rescue them? Can you beat those mountain bandits? How dangerous is it if there really are bandits here?"
Perhaps intimidated by Jing Liu's imposing aura, the child timidly replied, "If I can find where they are, I can guide the yamen runners, or at least see if they're still alive so I can go back and report the news."
Jing Liu grew even more angry upon hearing this. "Do you think a child like you can figure out the bandits' situation? Even if you're lucky enough to find the place, do you think the yamen would believe a child's word? Besides, if the yamen had the ability to suppress bandits, they would have made a move long ago; would they have waited until now?"
With that, Jing Liu sighed. "Forget it, I'll send you back."
Perhaps the commotion the two of them made was a bit too loud, as they were spotted by a bandit lookout. Soon, numerous bandits surrounded them, and seeing that Jing Liu was dressed extraordinarily well, they figured he must be wealthy.
Watching the encroaching bandits, Jing Liu pulled the child into his embrace. He originally intended to deal with them directly, but after glancing at the child in his arms, he thought, *Forget it, I'll help him this time.* Thus, he obediently let the bandits drag them back to their lair.
He had expected the child in his arms to be terrified, but somewhat to his surprise, the boy looked relatively calm. Where the bandits couldn't see, the child quietly used a stone to saw through the thick hemp rope. Seizing a moment when the bandits were busy boasting to one another, the child slipped the stone into Jing Liu's hand and whispered, "In a moment, I'll find a chance when their guard is down to pretend to escape and draw their attention. Then you can sneak away."
Jing Liu was somewhat surprised that the child was thinking of helping him escape at a time like this, and equally surprised that he could come up with such an idea, even though it was full of loopholes.
Jing Liu shook his head, but the child gazed back at him with a resolute look. Before long, the child found his opening and broke free of his restraints, bolting away. However, only four or five men went after him; the rest kept their eyes firmly on Jing Liu. Frustrated that the plan had failed, the child shouted curses at the top of his lungs, hoping to anger the bandits into chasing him instead.
Infuriated by the abuses hurled at him, the bandit chieftain yelled to the men pursuing the boy, "That kid doesn't matter, just chop him down!" How could a child possibly outrun several grown men? Very soon, a large saber was slashing down toward his face, and the child fell into despair.
Yet, to his astonishment, the heavy blade never reached him. Through some unknown means, the noble benefactor instantly struck down those bandits and swiftly cleared the surrounding ring of enemies.
By this time, the child was too shocked to even move. It was Jing Liu who walked over and took him to find the family captured by the bandits.
The family was still alive; the bandits had stolen their money and abducted them for amusement, planning to kill them once they grew tired of playing. Fortunately, Jing Liu arrived in time to rescue them.
After returning the child home, Jing Liu said before leaving, "Today I've taught you a lesson: if you don't have a good brain, you must have formidable strength, otherwise..."
Before Jing Liu could finish speaking, the child dropped to his knees and kowtowed directly. "Many thanks, Your Honor, for saving my life."
Jing Liu chuckled; so the child was only just now processing everything. Feeling a strong affinity with the boy, Jing Liu asked, "Would you like to take me as your master and come with me?"
Little Wen Mo was overjoyed, and his family was equally thrilled. Wen's father and mother immediately bustled about, while the eldest Wen brother prepared to go down to the street market to purchase cured meat and other apprenticeship gifts. However, Jing Liu quickly stopped them. "There's no need for all that trouble. Just a simple bow will do."
After bidding farewell to his family, little Wen Mo departed with Jing Liu. Along the way, he asked out of curiosity, "Master, why did you appear on that mountain?"
Jing Liu replied, "Oh, I heard in a town on the east side of the mountain that a family in a town on the northwest side made quite good shaobing. Not wanting to take the long way around, I looped back through the mountains and happened to run into you."
Jing Liu spent two years wandering among the mortals with little Wen Mo before returning to the sect. Under Jing Liu's careful guidance, Wen Mo grew up rapidly. Upon first entering the sect, a whole new world directly bombarded Wen Mo's perceptions. Gradually, little Wen Mo came to understand the importance of a Spiritual Root to a cultivation practitioner, especially within such a massive sect.
Since he hadn't been admitted through the regular recruitment drive, Wen Mo was curious about his own Spiritual Root. At his persistent entreaties, Jing Liu took little Wen Mo to test his Spiritual Root, and the result was an ordinary dual Spiritual Root of medium quality. Little Wen Mo felt rather crestfallen; during his time in the sect, he had learned enough to know that someone with this type of Spiritual Root would find it extremely difficult to enter the Inner Peak.
"Master, this disciple is not suited to be your apprentice. You should take a disciple with superior Spiritual Roots," Wen Mo said with a desolate look.
Jing Liu patted little Wen Mo's head. "I took you as my disciple not because of your Spiritual Root. The fact that I didn't take you to test your Spiritual Root for so long after you entered the gates also shows that your master does not value Spiritual Roots. We sword cultivators cultivate the sword in our hands, not our Spiritual Roots. Do you understand?"
Light instantly returned to little Wen Mo's eyes, and he nodded earnestly. More than a decade passed; under Jing Liu's meticulous guidance, Wen Mo was no longer the foolish child of the past who only knew how to rely on brute courage. He had grown into someone capable of helping Jing Liu manage the affairs of an entire peak.
After Jing Yi and Xie Tingsong left on a mission, Wen Mo said with some concern, "Master, Uncle-Master Xie is straight-laced and not good with words. Discussing prices with Medicine Peak is probably going to be very difficult for him."
Jing Liu smiled and said, "Jing Yi went along too, didn't he? He's full of tricks, so with him going, this matter is as good as settled."
Several days later, while Jiang Yuejing was doing her routine training, she encountered a crowd of disciples gathered around on Yiqing Peak, wondering what they were doing. Curious, Jiang Yuejing stepped forward to join the excitement. "What are you all doing?"
At that moment, the leader of the group spotted Jiang Yuejing and greeted her with a smile, "Oh, it's Junior Sister Jiang! We're from Medicine Peak. Deputy Peak Master Jing has leased these plots of land here to our Medicine Peak for cultivation. With so many of us here causing a disturbance lately, we hope Junior Sister Jiang will forgive us."
So it was her master who had leased out the land! No wonder so many people had come here; they must be clearing out medicinal fields. She waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. Senior Brothers coming over actually makes Yiqing Peak much livelier and full of vitality."
The leader, whose surname was Xu, specialized in cultivating medicinal plants. He had long heard that among the newly entered disciples was a variant wind-root cultivator named Jiang Yuejing who had joined Sword Peak. He had assumed such a genius would be arrogant, never expecting her personality to be so open and cheerful, which instantly won him favorable impression.
Originally, the land leased out by Sword Peak did not include Yiqing Peak, but this time Jing Yi's negotiations not only settled the rent but also leased out the land on Yiqing Peak.
In truth, Jing Yi had his own little ulterior motives. Medicine Peak frequently sent people to Yiqing Peak to tend to the medicinal fields, allowing his disciple more opportunities to interact with them and build good relations. His disciple possessed a certain talent for alchemy; if she wished to take her alchemy further in the future, knowing people from Medicine Peak would make studying much easier. Furthermore, even if his disciple lost interest in alchemy down the road, having acquaintances at Medicine Peak would mean getting discounts on medicinal pills or acquiring them much faster.
Pills could be considered hard currency in the cultivation world, and high-level alchemists were figures sought after by all; no one in this cultivation world could practice without the aid of pills.
Even though Jiang Yuejing did not deliberately absorb spiritual qi to cultivate, the spiritual qi on Yiqing Peak was simply too dense. After more than half a year, her cultivation still reached the Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation. Going from a mortal who knew nothing of cultivation to the Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation in just over a year—such cultivation speed could only be described as terrifying, demonstrating the distinct advantage of a variant Spiritual Root.
As Jiang Yuejing's cultivation improved, Jing Yi grew increasingly worried. To this day, his disciple still hadn't decided on a mental cultivation method, currently relying solely on the introductory *Qi Condensation Art*. A cultivation method was inextricably linked to the Dao one intended to pursue in the future. Without a mental method and without the Dao, she might manage to reach Foundation Establishment relying purely on her wind Spiritual Root, but traveling far on the path of cultivation would be extremely difficult.
Another day, as Jiang Yuejing practiced her sword as usual, Jing Yi watched for a moment and sighed, "Yuejing, don't come practice the sword for the next few days. Stay in your room and properly communicate with your Spiritual Root. In three days, I will take you to the Scripture Pavilion to choose a cultivation method."
Understanding her master's intention, Jiang Yuejing obediently returned to her room. Earlier, her master had given her a few mental methods, and senior brothers and sisters from Dharma Peak had also given her some, but Jiang Yuejing had never felt any resonance with any of them.
Sitting in solitary quiet in her room for an entire day, she continuously tried to communicate with her Spiritual Root, yet still felt nothing. The only harvest was that a massive amount of spiritual qi poured into her body.
On the second day, Jiang Yuejing sat in her room for half the day with zero results, so she decided to go out for some fresh air and seek guidance from Xing Tiantian along the way.
Arriving at Xing Tiantian's place, she poured out her frustrations. Hearing this, Xing Tiantian put down the Seven-Star Hammers she was wielding and wiped away her sweat. "You're talking about mental cultivation methods? As for me and my master, we were both born with divine strength. My master gave me a few manuals to choose from, and I picked the one my master cultivates right away. Choosing a cultivation method doesn't seem that hard."
Seeing Jiang Yuejing looking even more dejected after hearing this, Xing Tiantian immediately comforted her, "You have a wind Spiritual Root, so choosing a method really does require caution and cannot be done carelessly. There have been barely any wind-root cultivators in the cultivation world for ten thousand years, so it's normal that you're having trouble finding a method. The manuals Senior Uncle Jing picks should all be top-tier. If you truly can't find a suitable one, perhaps you can just pick one to use for now and slowly look for another later."
Jiang Yuejing asked, "Then what were you thinking about when you chose your cultivation method, Senior Sister?"
Xing Tiantian answered with absolute honesty, "I was thinking about how to make my hammers swing more smoothly."