Suddenly, Xing Tiantian seemed to think of something and clapped her hands. "Oh, that's right! Although Senior Brother Yun Shuo doesn't have a mutated Spiritual Root, he is a single Spiritual Root, and his Spiritual Root is different from Uncle-Master Xie's. Perhaps you could ask him how he chose his mental cultivation method?"
Jiang Yuejing asked with some confusion, "Senior Sister, you don't know Senior Brother Yun's mental cultivation method?"
Xing Tiantian shook her head. "I don't know. Senior Brother Yun doesn't talk much, and he has never mentioned what his mental cultivation method is."
Jiang Yuejing was somewhat shocked upon hearing this. After interacting for so long, did truly no one know that Senior Brother Yun practiced the ruthless path and cultivated the *Forgetting Emotion Formula*? Or had Qin Wenyu remembered incorrectly? Clinging to this shred of hope, Jiang Yuejing went to find Yun Shuo.
When she arrived at Yun Shuo's residence, she saw him practicing the sword. Jiang Yuejing watched for a while; every move and stance flowed like a startled swan or a swimming dragon, and she deeply felt the vast gap between herself and Yun Shuo.
Yun Shuo also noticed Jiang Yuejing's arrival. After finishing that particular sword form, he withdrew his stance and looked at her with a blank expression on his face, which made Jiang Yuejing feel that Qin Wenyu's records might not have been wrong after all.
"Senior Brother, are your injuries feeling any better?" Jiang Yuejing took the initiative to greet him first.
Yun Shuo answered indifferently, "Mm, they have healed. Thank you."
Jiang Yuejing then stated the purpose of her visit, and Yun Shuo said directly, "I cultivate the ruthless sword path, so my mental cultivation method is naturally the *Forgetting Emotion Formula*, which assists the sword path."
As expected. Jiang Yuejing felt completely calm inside, but refusing to give up, she asked, "Why did Senior Brother choose this sword path and this mental cultivation method?"
Yun Shuo replied, "Master told me to."
Jiang Yuejing could not help but press further, "Then does Senior Brother not have any thoughts of your own? Do you just do whatever Master tells you to do?"
Yun Shuo still wore a blank expression, showing no sense of being offended. "I don't want anything in particular."
Hearing Yun Shuo's reply, Jiang Yuejing did not know what else to say. The two of them stood there in silence, and just as Jiang Yuejing was about to take her leave, Yun Shuo added, "Your Master will pick a very good one for you."
Jiang Yuejing could not help the urge to flare up, but she reined in that inexplicably rising anger and tried to speak in a normal tone, "My path is walked by myself, not arranged by others!"
That night, Jiang Yuejing climbed onto the roof and gazed at the night sky, where the pitch-black heavens were dotted with countless stars of varying sizes. Ever since she began cultivation, her eyesight had improved, allowing her to see many more stars. Actually, her trip to Yun Shuo's place hadn't been entirely fruitless; Yun Shuo's remark, "I don't want anything in particular," had actually touched her somewhat.
Having arrived in an unfamiliar world, everything connected to this world belonged to the original Jiang Yuejing, not to her. She didn't seem to want anything in this world either; even the desire to find her parents felt like an urge originating from this body.
The starlight from some distant stars had already dimmed by the time it reached this planet. She wondered which star among the boundless rivers of stars was her true homeland.
That night, Jiang Yuejing—or more accurately, Fang Jing—felt exceptionally dejected.
On the third day, waking up in the morning with still no clear thoughts, Jiang Yuejing decided to go for her morning exercise anyway. As she passed the herb garden, Senior Brother Xu from Medicine Peak called out to her, "Junior Sister Jiang, good morning."
Jiang Yuejing replied, "Morning, Senior Brother Xu."
Senior Brother Xu looked at Jiang Yuejing and said, "Junior Sister, you look upset. Did something happen?"
Jiang Yuejing stopped and stared blankly at the herb garden. Senior Brother Xu becked her over to squat down with him and tend to the herbs. With mud all over his hands, he gently supported a medicinal seedling and asked gently, "What's wrong? Is there anything Senior Brother can help you with?"
Jiang Yuejing absentmindedly poked at the dirt in front of her. "Senior Brother, do I look upset right now?"
Senior Brother Xu nodded. "Very much so. When I saw you before, you were a woman like the wind, but today you're completely deflated." Seeing that she was still poking at the dirt, he continued, "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. Whenever I'm in a bad mood, I like to stay in the herb garden and quietly tend to the medicinal herbs."
"A woman like the wind?" Jiang Yuejing murmured. Hearing this, Senior Brother Xu affirmed, "Yes, a woman like the wind—lively and bright."
Jiang Yuejing asked softly, "Is Senior Brother talking about me?"
Senior Brother Xu burst into laughter. "Of course it's you, who else could it be? To be honest, I'd heard the name Jiang Yuejing long ago. I originally thought you'd be hard to approach, but after getting to know you, I realized how shallow I was."
Senior Brother Xu's words acted like a sudden flash of enlightenment. That was right—the person interacting with everyone was herself, and her friends were those whose temperaments matched her own. Unawares, she had already formed many emotional bonds with this world. She was the one who had been trapped in her own delusion; she was not a mere bystander, but a direct participant in this world.
Having figured this out, Jiang Yuejing's eyes instantly regained their luster. "Thank you, Senior Brother Xu, for guiding me."
Observing her expression, Senior Brother Xu chuckled and teased, "Truly a woman like the wind. Your mood just shifted instantly from a northern gale to an eastern breeze."
Jiang Yuejing also chuckled and asked jokingly, "Senior Brother, watching you tend to herbs every day, doesn't it affect your alchemy?"
Senior Brother Xu gave her a knowing look. "Then does Junior Sister running every day affect her sword practice?"
At this, the two of them looked at each other and smiled. However, Senior Brother Xu still offered an explanation, "Actually, our Medicine Peak isn't limited to just alchemy; there is also the way of acupuncture and the cultivation of spiritual plants. However, disciples of our Medicine Peak all learn these three arts, though we generally specialize in just one. Have you ever heard of 'Three Needles Breaking the Demonic Aperture'?" Seeing Jiang Yuejing shake her head, Senior Brother Xu continued to explain, "That refers to saving someone who has suffered a deviation in cultivation using just three needles. It's extremely difficult; only seniors who have delved deeply into the way of acupuncture can pull it off."
Jiang Yuejing played along at the right moment. "That's amazing!" After chatting with Senior Brother Xu for a while, Jiang Yuejing's state of mind improved, and she learned a lot about Medicine Peak. Instead of continuing her workout, she returned to her room, lay on the bed, and pondered matters of her past life.
Heaven had let her transmute and continue living precisely to give her another chance. In her previous life, she had heard the elderly folks at the orphanage say that when she was two years old, she had fallen very ill. Medical conditions back then were not very advanced, and her breathing had already stopped. Just as the aunties at the orphanage were beginning to prepare for her funeral, she suddenly came back to life, her loud cries bringing immense joy to everyone there.
When she was little, people at the orphanage often said she had a great destiny and was bound to be blessed in the future. In the orphanage, supported by the kindness of the state and society's benevolent donors, Fang Jing grew up healthy and smoothly entered university. Fang Jing had always harbored gratitude in her heart, thinking that one day she, too, would become someone capable of helping others.
Before she even had the ability to give back to society, however, she had already died. Fortunately, the heavens had granted her another chance.
On the fourth day, Jiang Yuejing woke up early, tidied herself up, and went to find her master.Jing Yi hadn't expected his disciple to arrive so early; he was slightly surprised, but still asked sternly, "Yuejing, have you thought it through?"
Jiang Yuejing nodded. "Master, I roughly know what I want now."
The two of them entered the Scripture Pavilion. The Scripture Pavilion of the Taqing Sect occupied a vast area and had a total of seven floors. The first through fourth floors held Huang-tier and Xuan-tier books, accessible to all disciples; the fifth and sixth floors held Di-tier books, which required a token of a position above Vice Peak Master to enter, or a token exchanged for 200,000 contribution points; the topmost floor held Tian-tier secret manuals, accessible only with the Sect Master's token or a token exchanged for 5,000,000 contribution points.
Jing Yi led Jiang Yuejing straight up to the fifth floor, and she began carefully browsing the shelves. "Disciple, what do you think of this *Blazing Sun Formula*?" Jiang Yuejing took a look and shook her head, so master and disciple continued their search.
An entire morning passed, and they had already looked through half of the secret manuals on the fifth floor without finding a suitable one. There was a *Rejuvenation Formula* among them that Jiang Yuejing felt was somewhat fitting, but it still lacked something.
As luck would have it, when Jiang Yuejing walked over to the next bookshelf, she spotted the Uncle-Master she had run into earlier at the Dharma Peak cafeteria—the one who had been staring at her. That person also noticed her and walked over with a smile. Jiang Yuejing bowed respectfully, "Hello, Uncle-Master."
Hearing Jiang Yuejing's voice, Jing Yi immediately poked his head out. "Who is it?" Upon recognizing the newcomer, he said, "Oh, it's you."
The person nodded. "Mm, I'm here reading books. What are you two looking for?"
Jing Yi said, "I'm here to pick a mental cultivation method for my disciple. Fang Yong, why don't you recommend a couple?" Then he quietly sent a voice transmission to Jiang Yuejing: "Disciple, this Fang Yong is from Dharma Peak. He often stays in the Scripture Pavilion and knows this place very well."
Jiang Yuejing was startled when a voice suddenly echoed in her mind. Looking at her master in surprise, Jing Yi explained via voice transmission, "This is a voice transmission; others can't hear it."
Hearing Jing Yi's words, Fang Yong smiled and made an effort to put on a benevolent expression as he said to Jiang Yuejing, "Earlier, I had a Dharma Peak disciple send you a few mental cultivation methods. Did none of them catch your eye?"
Neither Jiang Yuejing nor Jing Yi had expected that those mental cultivation methods were sent at Fang Yong's behest. Jing Yi instantly blew his top, "Aha, Fang Yong, so you were actually trying to poach my disciple! We don't want your recommendations anymore, we're leaving." With that, he grabbed Jiang Yuejing and started to pull her away.
Fang Yong hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed Jing Yi's arm. "There's no such thing! Hey, you, stop and listen to my explanation. I had a chance encounter with your disciple at Dharma Peak earlier. I thought she looked kind, and noticed she seemed to lack a mental cultivation method—her spiritual power flowed straight through her body like a stream—so I had a Dharma Peak disciple give her a few manuals. I didn't want her to waste such a good Spiritual Root in vain."
After being pulled along for a few steps, Jing Yi stopped and asked suspiciously, "Really?"
Fang Yong replied, "Really! If I wanted to poach her, would I have had a Dharma Peak disciple deliver them instead of showing more sincerity by bringing them myself?"
Jing Yi thought about it, and what Fang Yong said made sense. Seeing that Jing Yi's expression had softened and that he believed him, Fang Yong immediately offered a conversational opening, "Does my Junior Niece have any ideas about the kind of mental cultivation method she wants?"
Jiang Yuejing looked at Jing Yi, and upon receiving a nod of approval from her master, she immediately showed the *Rejuvenation Formula* in her hand to Fang Yong, saying, "I feel like this mental cultivation method is somewhat suitable, but it's still missing something."
Fang Yong took the book from Jiang Yuejing's hand and flipped through it. "This mental cultivation method can rapidly absorb the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual Qi within a certain range. It improves the efficiency of absorbing spiritual Qi during ordinary cultivation, and when your spiritual power is depleted in battle, it can quickly replenish a certain amount of spiritual power. For a single Spiritual Root, it's a pretty good mental cultivation method."