"So impressive? What's his name?"
Seeing Xiao Wuqing speak so extravagantly, Li Qingqiu could not help but smile as he asked.
Although the sect had been taking in more and more disciples, Li Qingqiu still set aside time every day to review the panels of new disciples, to avoid missing anyone of note.
Registered disciples were also entered into the records, so they would appear on the Dao Lineage panel as well. However, Li Qingqiu had not discovered anyone with exceptionally outstanding Cultivation Aptitude, nor any special Fate that made his eyes light up.
Of course, lacking a special Fate did not mean lacking talent. Mingguang and Wu Xingyue were examples—neither possessed a special Fate, yet their value to the sect had already surpassed the vast majority of so-called genius disciples with special Fates.
Seeing that Li Qingqiu was willing to listen, Xiao Wuqing immediately broke into a smile and said, "His name is He Jinshu. He's sixteen years old. He hasn't cultivated the Primordial Harmony Sutra yet. I noticed that he likes to study the physical bodies of wild creatures, and he has his own understanding of the path of body cultivation."
"Oh? What kind of understanding? Tell me," Li Qingqiu asked.
Xiao Wuqing chose to start from the beginning. The first time he met He Jinshu was when he happened to pass by the courtyard where He Jinshu lived. He witnessed He Jinshu cruelly handling a rabbit. Finding it strange, Xiao Wuqing stopped outside the courtyard wall to watch. To his shock, he discovered that He Jinshu was grafting one of the rabbit's front legs onto a small dog.
He felt the whole matter was utterly absurd, so he jumped out to stop He Jinshu.
He Jinshu explained that the small dog he raised had been bitten on its front paw by a venomous insect. He had sought out a physician within the sect, but to save the dog's life, the bitten forelimb had to be removed.
This incident caused He Jinshu great pain. Every time he saw the dog walking on only three legs, he felt deep guilt, and thus the idea of grafting a rabbit's leg was born.
The rabbit he used was a domesticated meat rabbit that was going to be slaughtered anyway. He had purchased it with his own money.
Xiao Wuqing initially thought He Jinshu was a madman, but when he discovered that the small dog could actually use the rabbit leg to move, he was utterly astonished.
After that, he frequently visited He Jinshu. Their conversations grew deeper and deeper. Xiao Wuqing brought many medical texts for He Jinshu to study and found that He Jinshu learned at an astonishing speed.
Not only that, He Jinshu was also researching the Dao of alchemy. He used all of his sect contributions and monthly stipend to exchange for pill manuals. In his own words, even before coming up the mountain, he knew he was not a martial arts genius, so he did not want to waste time and resources.
"Sect Master, He Jinshu's talent in medicine is something the sect sorely lacks. Moreover, he is dedicated to using human effort to change innate aptitude. He wants to research the strongest physique. It sounds like sheer fantasy, but after spending so much time with him, I actually feel that he might really be able to do it."
The more Xiao Wuqing spoke, the more excited he became, while Li Qingqiu's expression grew somewhat peculiar.
This He Jinshu really knew how to sway people—he had managed to convince Xiao Wuqing to this extent.
Li Qingqiu remembered that he had seen He Jinshu's personal panel before. His Cultivation Aptitude was indeed poor. Although he lacked any special Fate, he still possessed Fate traits.
Li Qingqiu immediately began searching, and quickly found He Jinshu.
[Name: He Jinshu]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 16]
[Loyalty (to Sect Master / to Sect): 90 / 76 (Max: 100)]
[Cultivation Aptitude: Extremely Low]
[Comprehension: Fair]
[Fate: Curiosity, Persistence]
[Curiosity: Filled with curiosity toward all things, enjoys researching and observing new phenomena]
[Persistence: Once he sets his mind on something, he will see it through to the end, never giving up]
…
No wonder he remembered him. He Jinshu's Cultivation Aptitude was terrible, but his Comprehension could indeed be considered genius-level. Still, a panel like this was not enough for Li Qingqiu to give him special cultivation.
However, a loyalty value of 90 was indeed trustworthy.
Li Qingqiu pondered for a moment before saying, "Although this He Jinshu's ideas are somewhat absurd, since he has unique insight into the Dao of medicine and the Dao of alchemy, he is indeed worth nurturing. However, before he achieves any concrete results, I cannot make an exception and promote him. Use your own resources to cultivate him."
Xiao Wuqing broke into a smile and hurriedly bowed in thanks to Li Qingqiu.
Although Li Qingqiu had not promised anything explicit, as long as he remembered He Jinshu, Xiao Wuqing felt that was enough.
"Cases of disability are no longer rare," Xiao Wuqing added. "Many disciples are injured during training and are unable to restore their bodies completely. If He Jinshu succeeds in the future, he could save many disciples. And if he can even research a postnatal method to enhance Cultivation Aptitude, that would be a blessing to the sect."
Li Qingqiu nodded. On this point, he agreed.
As for whether it could truly succeed, that was still uncertain. One could only say the vision was beautiful.
Xiao Wuqing truly believed in He Jinshu. He kept talking, praising He Jinshu to the skies. In the end, Li Qingqiu could no longer bear it and drove him away.
After Xiao Wuqing left, Li Qingqiu's face showed a look of contemplation.
Xiao Wuhui's death had not been hidden from the Xiao brothers. Li Qingqiu had even handed over Xiao Wuhui's head to the three brothers for burial. He had originally thought this would affect their loyalty, but it had not.
Unfortunately, Xiao Wuhui had been dead for more than 7 days. Li Qingqiu could not even detain his soul. Otherwise, he could have let the Xiao brothers see him one last time.
Although Xiao Wuhui had been the one to provoke Qingxiao Sect, and Li Qingqiu had warned the Xiao brothers in advance, he still felt that this outcome was somewhat cruel to them and wished to make amends.
Starting this year, aside from Xiao Wuqing, Li Qingqiu would also assign Xiao Wudi and Xiao Wuming different responsibilities, allowing them to grow rapidly.
Li Qingqiu sat and thought for a while before slowly getting up and returning to his cave dwelling.
…
The winter snow covering the Taikun Mountain Range had completely melted, and all things welcomed new life.
Below Qingxiao Mountain, in front of the mountain gate, Shen Yue sat alone in meditation to one side, holding a wooden sword in his hand, his brows tightly furrowed.
On the other side of the mountain gate, five disciples stood in a row, watching Shen Yue with curiosity in their eyes.
Shen Yue had been punished to stand guard at the mountain gate, causing quite a stir. During the first month, disciples frequently came to admire the Sword God's bearing, preventing the gate from knowing peace. Even now, disciples still deliberately came down the mountain every day just to see him.
The five disciples noticed that Shen Yue had been staring at the wooden sword for three days straight, without eating, drinking, sleeping, or resting, as if possessed. This made them somewhat worried, and they hesitated over whether to inform the sect.
After all, Shen Yue was the Sword God. His actions were surely different from ordinary people. If they rashly disturbed the sect, they might end up making fools of themselves.
Seeing that Shen Yue's complexion still looked fine, the disciples could only continue waiting.
A figure walked down the mountain path—it was Xu Ning.
Xu Ning had changed into a fitted green robe with a cinched waist, wore a bamboo hat on her head, and carried a bundle on her back, dressed like a jianghu wanderer.
The five disciples standing guard had joined the sect less than a year ago and did not recognize Xu Ning. However, her cold and striking appearance and outstanding bearing still drew their gazes.
They only glanced once before withdrawing their eyes. There were far too many female disciples in Qingxiao Sect with outstanding looks and temperament. At most, they could admire briefly—staring would be disrespectful.
Xu Ning walked past the mountain gate, then stopped, turned to look at Shen Yue, and said, "If you only focus on comprehending the sword, you'll never catch up to me."
Hearing this, Shen Yue's gaze changed, and he lifted his head to look at her.
The five disciples were stunned. What arrogance—who was this woman?
Wait!
Within the sect, there was only one female disciple qualified to say such words to Shen Yue.
They hurriedly bent at the waist and saluted Xu Ning.
Xu Ning ignored them, her eyes fixed on Shen Yue.
Shen Yue looked at her and said, "What? You're absolutely confident you can defeat me?"
Xu Ning replied, "After the eighth layer, Awakening Spirit emerges. The higher the realm, the greater the help it gives to comprehension. Cultivation is the foundation. Once your foundation rises, your cultivation becomes easier. Don't forget the scene of Master's tribulation. That kind of lightning tribulation—when will you be able to withstand it?"
With that, Xu Ning turned and left.
Shen Yue frowned. He actually felt that Xu Ning's words made sense.
Li Qingqiu's vast vital energy alone was proof that he himself placed greater importance on cultivation.
Shen Yue had previously trained desperately. After reaching the fifth layer of the Nurturing Essence Realm, he felt it was enough and stopped absorbing vital energy, turning instead to sword comprehension. He had opened up the path of sword cultivation, but a sword soul alone could not allow him to catch up to Li Qingqiu.
Watching Xu Ning's retreating figure, he asked, "Where are you going?"
"Down the mountain for training for two years," Xu Ning replied without turning her head.
Hearing this, Shen Yue's eyes lit up.
Going down the mountain for training would certainly delay cultivation. These two years were his opportunity!
Shen Yue immediately stood up, sheathed the wooden sword at his waist, and tucked it into his belt. He decided that from now on, he would devote his time to absorbing vital energy and cultivating.
Although he was already old, he had great confidence in his cultivation speed, believing that those so-called geniuses in the sect might not necessarily surpass him.
Elsewhere.
Zhang Yuchun entered Li Qingqiu's cave dwelling to pay him a visit.
"Why did Xu Ning go down the mountain?" Zhang Yuchun could not help but ask.
Xu Ning's cultivation was second only within the sect. In his view, keeping her in the sect would be more beneficial, especially since Li Qingqiu frequently went down the mountain himself.
Li Qingqiu sat cross-legged on the stone bed and said, "I sent her to the Tianshan Spirit Pool. She's preparing to challenge the ninth layer of the Nurturing Essence Realm."
Ninth layer!
Zhang Yuchun clicked his tongue in amazement. Every time he heard about Xu Ning's cultivation, he could not help but be shocked.
Not afraid that Xu Ning had high aptitude—only afraid that she worked too hard. How was his poor third junior brother supposed to catch up to her?
Zhang Yuchun walked over and sat by the table, saying, "The spies that Ling Tian Sect planted within the sect have already been identified. There are six of them. They were the ones who leaked that the Xiao brothers were under your command. However, I believe there are even deeper moles still hidden within the sect."
Ever since Xue Jin returned carrying Xiao Wuhui's head, Zhang Yuchun had been investigating the matter. The results were fairly good.
Li Qingqiu responded, "Investigate slowly. They will reveal themselves sooner or later."
Zhang Yuchun continued, "Senior Brother, my people also uncovered something else that I find unsettling."
"What is it?"
"It concerns Mount Tianxuan. Mount Tianxuan and Fengxia Mountain are jointly known as the Two Saints Under Heaven. Fengxia Mountain possesses a secret art for sealing souls. I suspect that Mount Tianxuan has a similar secret art, so I sent people to investigate. The result was that Mount Tianxuan has shut its gates tightly and receives no visitors. My people couldn't infiltrate it at all."
Zhang Yuchun frowned as he spoke. His informants were not sect disciples but jianghu figures. Since the work was all dirty business, if something went wrong, he could push responsibility away without implicating Qingxiao Sect.
Li Qingqiu did not open his eyes and casually said, "It's fine. Have your people withdraw. I'll have someone else investigate."
Although Mount Tianxuan had no grudge against Qingxiao Sect, it could not be completely ignored. At the very least, they needed to grasp some intelligence.