At the Task Hall, Jiang Yuejing ran into Liang Zhi, who had come to submit the task of "recruiting new disciples." The two exchanged greetings, and Liang Zhi hurried off.
Thinking about the spiritual roots of the new disciples she had heard about and seen that day, Jiang Yuejing still asked Wen Mo, "I've always heard that top-tier sects have extremely high requirements for spiritual roots when accepting disciples, but today there were only four or five with single spiritual roots. Why is that?"
Wen Mo joked, "Single spiritual roots aren't cabbages; how could there be so many? Having four or five is already quite good."
Then, with great patience, he explained the Taqing Sect's methods for accepting disciples to Jiang Yuejing: "The first method is disciples accepted externally by peak masters and elders—such as myself and Yun Shuo. The second method is the once-a-decade disciple recruitment, where people are recruited from various cultivation cities across the Eastern Continent. This type of recruitment comes with a small booklet detailing the requirements. Accepting a disciple isn't just about their spiritual root, but also their talent, perseverance, and other factors.
"Spiritual roots are also divided into upper, middle, and lower grades. If someone has a complementary upper-grade dual spiritual root, they can still enter the inner sects of the Taqing Sect. Middle-grade dual spiritual roots, such as metal-fire or wood-fire dual spiritual roots, which are suited for alchemy and artifact refining, can also enter the inner sects of Dharma Peak and the Artifact Peak. As for triple spiritual roots, those containing metal-fire or wood-fire can also become outer sect disciples. Age and cultivation level are also taken into consideration. For instance, even if a disciple has a middle-to-lower-grade dual spiritual root, if they can reach Foundation Establishment before the age of twenty, it shows that this disciple is diligent, hardworking, perceptive, and persistent. Such a person might still be able to enter the inner sect."
Jiang Yuejing could mostly understand, but she felt somewhat discouraged: "In other words, the spiritual root isn't the sole determining factor. I'm currently only at the Second Layer of Qi Condensation, which makes me almost the lowest among the newly initiated disciples. Did Sword Peak accept me just because I have a wind spiritual root?"
Wen Mo comforted her, "But Junior Sister has only been cultivating for four months, hasn't she? Reaching the Second Layer of Qi Condensation in four months is also extremely high talent. Besides, our Sword Peak doesn't value spiritual roots as much as Dharma Peak does. Sword cultivators rely not on their cultivation level, but on their swordsmanship. Once your swordsmanship is well-practiced, it's quite common to challenge opponents of a higher realm."
Jiang Yuejing was somewhat puzzled: "But I didn't say I had been cultivating for four months."
"It's written on your information sheet," Wen Mo said, suddenly thinking of something and smiling. "I think I get it now. Yun Shuo must have written it. That guy, haha—cold on the outside and warm on the inside. He helps people without saying a word, which makes many junior brothers and junior sisters think he's devoid of human warmth."
So it turned out that Yun Shuo had helped her, which was why she had the opportunity to be vied for by the various peaks.
Wen Mo continued, "However, Junior Sister's mutated wind spiritual root is even rarer than a single spiritual root. I'm afraid there are only a few people like that in the entire Eastern Continent."
Jiang Yuejing said, "Thank you, Senior Brother, for comforting me. So are these the only two ways to enter the Taqing Sect?"
Wen Mo thought for a moment and said, "There is a third way. I don't know if Junior Sister noticed when you arrived: outside the mountain gate, there are layers upon layers of rolling mountains. If someone can devoutly kowtow to the Dao of Heaven step by step from the outermost side, all the way from beyond the heavy mountains to the front of the mountain gate, they can also become a disciple of the Taqing Sect. This was established by a former sect master of the Taqing Sect, mainly to test a person's character and perseverance. With such a strong will and execution capability, even if their spiritual root is poor, they will still achieve something."
Jiang Yuejing nodded: "Indeed, where there's a will, there's a way." Mentioning the sect master naturally brought today's events back to her mind: "Senior Brother, you said I spoke so softly, how did the sect master manage to hear what I said?"
Wen Mo smiled. "As cultivators increase their cultivation level, both their hearing and eyesight improve. What Junior Sister thought was speaking softly was crystal clear in the sect master's ears. But don't worry, the sect master won't hold it against you."
Wen Mo took Jiang Yuejing on a tour of the Taqing Sect before returning to the dining hall on the main peak of Sword Peak. Just as Jiang Yuejing was feeling hungry, the two had not been eating for long when the dining hall flooded with many disciples. Jiang Yuejing asked Wen Mo in a low voice, "Could it be that all these senior brothers haven't practiced Bigu?"
Wen Mo gestured to the food in front of him: "Look, am I not eating too? The physical exertion from practicing the sword is more than ordinary. Junior Sister, you'll find out soon enough."
By the time they finished eating, it was already dark. Wen Mo walked Jiang Yuejing back to Yiqing Peak and then left. Jing Yi had prepared a large house for Jiang Yuejing, complete with a private small courtyard and several rooms. Not long after Jiang Yuejing returned, Jing Yi came over, handed her a storage bag as an initiation gift, and instructed her to wake up early the next morning for cultivation practice before leaving.
The next day, Jiang Yuejing woke up early to pay her respects to Jing Yi. Jing Yi was already waiting for her in the courtyard. Jiang Yuejing gave a respectful bow: "Master."
Jing Yi smiled and said, "Well, did little Yuejing eat yet?"
Jiang Yuejing wasn't quite used to being called that, but seeing Jing Yi's expectant gaze, she braced herself and said, "Master, this disciple hasn't had breakfast yet."
Jing Yi said, "Alright, then you can run with me to get something to eat."
Knowing that this was her master's way of training her body, Jiang Yuejing obediently ran all the way to the dining hall. Since the distance was quite far, she chose to jog. By the time she reached the dining hall, Jiang Yuejing was already panting heavily.
Jing Yi helped smooth her breath: "Take your time. Rest for a bit before you eat."
After breakfast, Jing Yi no longer made Jiang Yuejing run, and the two walked back on foot. Because the mountain path was uneven, Jiang Yuejing had to lean against a tree trunk to rest the moment they reached their destination.
Only after Jiang Yuejing had rested did Jing Yi say, "Squat in a horse stance here. Watch my movements."
With that, Jing Yi assumed a horse stance. Jiang Yuejing copied her posture. Jing Yi shook her head: "Your legs aren't positioned like that. Spread them wider, lower your center of gravity, and position your hands like this." Jing Yi guided Jiang Yuejing's posture step by step. Once Jiang Yuejing's posture was standard, she dropped into a horse stance opposite her, exercising while supervising Jiang Yuejing.
After about half an hour, Jiang Yuejing felt her legs grow terribly tired, and her arms could no longer support her. Yet, looking at her master opposite her, who remained as steady as a statue, she gritted her teeth and held on. Even though Jiang Yuejing was still gritting her teeth, the Jing Yi opposite her could already see her legs and arms trembling slightly.
"Keep your back straight. Don't slack off," Jing Yi pointed out unsparingly as Jiang Yuejing's back began to hunch slightly.
Hearing this, Jiang Yuejing immediately straightened her back. Afterwards, Jing Yi repeatedly corrected Jiang Yuejing's posture whenever it gradually became non-standard. When Jing Yi finally said she could stop and rest for a moment, Jiang Yuejing let out a long breath and immediately collapsed into a slouching posture as she rested.
Witnessing all this, Jing Yi sighed: "I knew your physical stamina was poor, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. What kind of posture is this slouching? Even when resting, you must keep your back straight."
Hearing her master's words, Jiang Yuejing immediately straightened her back and sat up properly.
Jing Yi took out a piece of paper and handed it to Jiang Yuejing: "Disciple, this is the schedule I originally arranged for you for this month, but we need to change it now. Let's first change your cultivation time to running laps around Yiqing Peak."
Jiang Yuejing took the schedule and looked at the plans Jing Yi had mapped out for her. Deep inside, she felt deeply touched. Although the horse stance had left her with aching muscles all over, she knew her master was doing this for her own good and understood that her physical stamina was truly lacking.
Seeing Jiang Yuejing's expression and fearing that her disciple might feel upset—especially since the arrangements were quite grueling and she worried a young girl couldn't endure such hardship—Jing Yi explained further: "The horse stance is meant to make your lower body steady, swinging the sword is meant to teach you the basics of swordsmanship, and running is meant to build up your physical strength. Only when these foundations are properly laid can you minimize openings when fighting others later on."
After saying this, she glanced at her disciple's expression and, finding no negative emotions, added, "If you feel it's a bit too much, disciple, we can reduce it a little."
Jiang Yuejing shook her head: "No, I can persevere. I know all of this is for my own good, Master. I will work hard to complete these tasks."
Seeing that Jiang Yuejing was neither angry nor upset, Jing Yi nodded with satisfaction: "That's good. I will supervise you, and whatever we do, we must execute the movements correctly."
Full of fierce determination, Jiang Yuejing said, "Yes!"
And so the horse stance training resumed. By noon, Jiang Yuejing felt as though her legs and waist no longer belonged to her. Seeing her in this state, Jing Yi felt a pang of pity and decided not to make her run to the dining hall anymore, instead using sword flight to carry her directly there.
Jiang Yuejing looked somewhat puzzled: "Master?"
Jing Yi explained as much to Jiang Yuejing as to herself: "Let's take it slow."
Arriving at the dining hall and looking at the food before her, Jiang Yuejing's hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly. She felt as though her arms were no longer her own, and she couldn't even grip the chopsticks properly. Taking a long breath and trying her best to ignore the soreness and fatigue in her arms, she picked up her bowl and began to eat.
The ingredients for the meals in the Sword Peak dining hall were all made from spiritual rice, spiritual plants, and spiritual beast meat, so the food contained spiritual energy. After eating a single meal, Jiang Yuejing felt the soreness in her body ease considerably, and her physical strength recovered to a certain extent. No wonder these senior brothers still came here to eat even after having attained Bigu.
Jing Yi told Jiang Yuejing to go back and rest for a bit, and continue practicing in the afternoon. When she woke up from her nap, Jiang Yuejing felt that the physical discomfort had improved a lot. The afternoon session was about swinging the sword; after demonstrating, Jing Yi let Jiang Yuejing practice it over and over again.
"Don't just slash down limply; that won't cause any real damage to an opponent."
"Don't use too much force either. If your opponent dodges this move, won't you stumble? Pull back your strength a bit."
"You need to imagine a single point in front of you and keep swinging toward that exact point."
Under Jing Yi's repeated guidance, Jiang Yuejing gradually adjusted her posture and learned to control her force. By dinnertime, the weakness in Jiang Yuejing's arms was even worse than at noon. Drained by the heavy physical exertion, her stomach was growling with hunger. Having no choice, she tried eating with her left hand. Seeing her disciple in this state, Jing Yi couldn't help laughing. Met with a pitiful glance, Jing Yi smiled and placed a few extra pieces of meat into her disciple's bowl.
That evening, Jiang Yuejing planned to bathe at one of the spiritual pools within the peak. Yiqing Peak had several spiritual pools, and since there were only two masters on this peak—Jing Yi and Jiang Yuejing—Jing Yi had simply given this particular spiritual pool to Jiang Yuejing for her exclusive use.
While preparing clean clothes inside her room to go bathe, Jiang Yuejing thought about it and decided to fetch the water herself and bring it back for her bath, as this would serve as another way to train her physical strength. After carrying water twice, Jiang Yuejing was completely exhausted and collapsed. Barely managing to crawl into the wooden tub, she couldn't help letting out a long sigh of relief. It felt so wonderful. The warm spring water enveloped her body, and the rich spiritual energy gradually seeped into her, soothing the fatigue in her muscles. Jiang Yuejing felt as though she was about to fall asleep right there. After finishing her bath, she immediately collapsed onto her bed and quickly drifted off into a sweet dream.