CH 21.1

senior sister’s lesson twenty-one (cultivation)

◎the fastest cultivation of the foolish bird flies first ◎

in front of the majestic west gate of the clearwater sect, the sky was filled with clouds and mist, dense and unyielding.

faintly visible amidst the clouds and mist were thousands of stone steps, resembling a mirage, an otherworldly realm.

around this mist, there were already many inner sect disciples waiting.

those wearing inner sect robes with silver-threaded water patterns on the collar were at the foundation building stage, and those with golden-threaded water patterns were at the core formation stage.

lin shuang couldn’t help but look down at herself. her inner sect green robe still had only three lines of water patterns on the waistband, indicating she was at the third level of qi condensation.

in this place, she was the only one at the qi condensation stage.

a lone wolf, lin xiaoshuang.

sigh.

she sighed inwardly.

according to her original plan, she didn’t intend to participate in major sect events like the elite selection, inner sect disciple rankings, or arena battles until she was strong enough.

before being strong enough, it was a waste of time to engage in these activities.

once she was strong enough, everything would be much easier.

however, she couldn’t resist senior brother xu rui’s insistence on pushing her into these activities.

fortunately, she had a plan in place for this anticipated pressure to participate.

if senior brother insisted on her participation, then she would participate in all three at once, saving her a lot of trouble.

“seeking a companion at the 7000th level, specializing in both sword and knife techniques.”

“seeking disciples between the 2000th and 3000th levels, anyone proficient in alchemy?”

“one more spot left at the 1500th level! seeking senior brothers or sisters skilled in wide-range attacks, whether in sound cultivation or talisman crafting!”

calls and announcements echoed, while amplification symbols and talismans floated in the sky before the mountain gate.

disciples kept moving around, forming groups of three.

lin shuang blinked.

she took out senior brother xu rui’s records of admonishing outer sect disciples over the years from her mustard seed bag and reviewed the key points.

“once you enter the inner sect, you’ll understand that your ranking among disciples is closely related to your treatment.”

“for example, the zhenchuan trial, which opens once every ten years in the inner sect, has a total of 9,999 levels of mountain steps.”

“the first level of the mountain steps accommodates the weakest inner sect disciples and offers a meager treatment. however, ascending to 9,000 or higher provides resources comparable to those of sect elders.”

“today, how hard you work will determine how high you can climb in the zhenchuan trial in the future!”

lin shuang read through it quickly and put it back in her mustard seed bag.

she looked into the distance, and sure enough, she could vaguely see thousands of layers of stone steps in the sea of clouds.

her eyes of fire and gold technique was activated, and her gaze, which had reached the foundation establishment stage with a perfected qi condensation at 917 layers, could only see up to 3,000 layers of stairs in the mountains.

above three thousand steps, everything was concealed by the dense spiritual mist.

“disciples, prepare fully and you can enter zhenchuan!”

“up to three people in a group!”

from deep within the clouds, a majestic old man’s voice sounded.

the voice was like a resonating bell, profound and long-lasting, lingering for a long time.

lin shuang raised an eyebrow. there were signs of awakening in her several dormant dantian within her body, all triggered by this single voice.

one word almost activated the passive protection of her dantian.

this old man was at least in the later stages of foundation building, or even entering the great void realm behind it.

much more formidable than the outer sect’s several transmitting masters.

“quickly enter.”

he reminded once again.

as he spoke, many disciples swiftly flew into the sea of clouds that resembled a mirage.

here’s the translation of the text into english from the perspective of a chinese reader:

but there were also a few teams with two members frantically searching for a third partner.

“has anyone lost a swordsman? a practitioner of the dao of the blade will do.”

“who has pills? come join us!”

in front of zhencuan’s mirage-like sea of clouds, inner sect disciples were calling out incessantly.

lin shuang raised an eyebrow, and the words of senior brother xu rui, which she had just read, came to mind again.

“swordsmanship, alchemy, artifacts, formations, talismans… no matter how deep your cultivation, there will still be shortcomings. after entering the inner sect, you should focus on one aspect, but gradually find fellow disciples whose cultivation paths complement your own.”

“in missions, secret realms, and trials, cooperate, play to your strengths, and avoid your weaknesses, showcasing the strength of our clearwater sect: gathering droplets into a river, encompassing all streams!”

cooperation for mutual benefit.

lin shuang nodded; she quite liked the sect culture of the clearwater sect. even disciples with auxiliary abilities, as long as they cooperated well, could climb to high rankings.

there was no hierarchy of disdain.

“junior brother bai, we’re all at the fifth level of foundation building, aiming for levels above five thousand. join us.”

a call from a distance drew lin shuang’s attention.

she saw the elegant and white-haired bai yu being surrounded by several enthusiastic disciples as he tried to approach huang fuyuan.

“huang fuyuan has no combat ability left, and if you go above a thousand levels with him, you’ll definitely get injured.”

one of them glanced at huang fuyuan with disdain.

“with his declining cultivation level, he might have to return to the outer sect.”

bai yu’s expression changed.

even though huang fuyuan was dressed in a green robe today and still wore a silver-sable cloak, he remained calm. with pale lips, he smiled gently at bai yu and said, “what these junior brothers are saying is correct, go ahead.”

bai yu clenched his teeth and eventually nodded.

as he left, he bypassed these disciples who had scorned huang fuyuan and approached another pair of foundation building stage disciples.

“hey, weren’t we just telling the truth?”

“what’s so great about him? he’s not the only one with a demonic bloodline. let’s go!”

bai yu hastened his pace, clearly irritated.

not long after he left, a disheveled-looking meng zhi, carrying a sword, strolled over.

“how about me, senior brothers?”

as he spoke, he laughed and moved the large sword on his right shoulder to his left, narrowly avoiding slicing across the faces of these few people.

the group of disciples almost couldn’t dodge in time. “meng zhi, what are you doing!”

“oh, senior brother is angry? according to the sect’s rules, disciples are not allowed to engage in private fights. offenders will be fined five hundred spirit stones.”

meng zhi grinned and gripped the hilt of his sword.

“if senior brother gets angry and hits me, i’ll accept two hundred and fifty spirit stones, and i won’t report it to the elders.”

the group of disciples rolled their eyes upon hearing this. “get lost, we don’t have time for you.”

“do senior brother want to team up with me? i’m very affordable. during group battles, i’ll serve tea and water to senior brothers for only twenty-five spirit stones each time.”

“get out of here!”

meng zhi reached up to scratch his nose and left, carrying his large sword.

as he passed by huang fuyuan, huang fuyuan smiled gently and said, “thank you, junior brother, for venting your anger on my behalf.”

meng zhi waved his hand. “you’re welcome. unfortunately, they wouldn’t hit me. i couldn’t extort any compensation for my loss of pills.”

huang fuyuan replied, “…”

meng zhi quickly apologized with a fist over his chest. “senior brother huang fuyuan, for every five hundred levels we climb in zhencuan, there’s a reward of a thousand spirit stones. i’d like to help you, but i can’t team up with you.”

a slight twitch appeared at the corner of huang fuyuan’s eyes, and he smiled gently. “that’s alright.”

meng zhi nodded and walked away with large strides.

however, as he passed by, people scattered like birds and beasts, creating distance between themselves and meng zhi.

“here comes the money-grubber! run!”

“have you formed a team of three yet? hurry, hurry, meng zhi is coming!”

“quick, enter zhencuan and team up with him; the minimum compensation starts at two hundred spirit stones!”

it was as if a whirlwind had swept through. within a hundred steps, there was no one left around meng zhi.

meng zhi: “…”

huang fuyuan: “…”

lin shuang had been using her eyes of fire and gold technique all along, standing on a snow-covered tree branch, observing everything from a distance.

she immediately stopped herself from wanting to find these two “acquaintances.”

they were just too unsociable.

the fastest way to make friends – birds of a feather flock together. be cautious when making friends.

thinking this, lin shuang jumped down from the snowy branches and headed towards another pair of inner sect disciples who had already gathered.

this senior brother formed hand seals and pointed at a talisman. “looking for someone skilled in defense!”

“senior brother, i’m here.” lin shuang was delighted and stepped forward, introducing herself, “i don’t have any weaknesses in my cultivation, and i’m especially skilled in defense.”

the senior brother with thick eyebrows rejoiced and turned around, but when he saw lin shuang clearly, he was stunned.

“who is this junior sister…”

he found her unfamiliar.

“which cave mansion are you from?”

lin shuang narrowed her eyes and smiled, “i’m from an outer sect cave mansion.”

senior brother with thick eyebrows: “???”

he stared.

from head to toe, he scrutinized lin shuang.

green robe, green belt.

indeed, she was from the outer sect and at the qi condensation stage!

senior brother with thick eyebrows forced a smile and turned away.

lin shuang: “…”

discrimination, this was blatant discrimination.

what’s wrong with being from the outer sect?

amidst the serene white clouds, ten cranes flew gracefully, crying out clearly.

the voice of the elder, as majestic as a resounding bell, rang out once again.

“the zhencuan trial that occurs every ten years is about to begin—”

“for those who haven’t entered yet, hurry up!”

“five breaths, four breaths, three…”

lin shuang’s eyelids twitched.

in the distance, meng zhi’s eyelids also twitched. he looked at huang fuyuan, who was standing alone, and said, “huang fuyuan, why don’t we team up?”

huang fuyuan chuckled and held a newly decorated silver wire hand furnace with a chicken and rabbit carving. he took the lead and entered the surrounding mist.

“meng junior brother, don’t consider me a burden,” said huang fuyuan.

meng zhi sighed and bit his lip, then followed. “alright, the two of us…”

before he could finish his sentence, he saw a figure in green robes passing by them like the wind. at the moment when the mist was rolling and spreading on both sides, the figure’s clothes fluttered, and the scent of plum blossoms accompanied rapid breathing. simultaneously, the figure stepped into the illusory world, much like a mirage.

“senior brothers, i have no weaknesses in my cultivation. how about forming a team with you?”

of course, that was great!

a sucker, no, a junior sister who could join them and advance together.

a team of three would earn more spirit stones than a team of two!

meng zhi was delighted.

in an instant, the space twisted, and the teleportation array opened.

the ground shook, and before them, there was chaos. they could only vaguely hear the voices of people around them.

“let’s first go to the 1500th level. luckily, we didn’t team up with meng zhi; otherwise, he would have charged us for tea and water!”

in the darkness, meng zhi blushed. “junior sister, don’t listen to their nonsense.”

“it’s okay, i don’t mind, senior brother.”

in the darkness, there was a clear and gentle female voice.

this junior sister was great!

she was gentle and sensible, just like xiao bai.

meng zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

he didn’t want the three-person team to fall apart before even entering zhencuan. after all, for every five hundred levels they climbed, they would receive a thousand spirit stones.

“hey, what’s the big deal about encountering meng zhi? it’s better not to team up with huang fuyuan, who has been sick for a hundred years!”

meng zhi: “!”

he suddenly felt anxious and looked towards the place where it seemed the junior sister in green robes had entered, along with the scent of plum blossoms.

“it’s alright, senior brother. i don’t mind huang fuyuan either. don’t worry.”

the gentle and sensible junior sister’s voice sounded again.

meng zhi sighed in relief once more.

please bring him more junior sisters like her.

but for some reason, meng zhi felt a slight stiffness from huang fuyuan at his side.

just as he was about to ask if huang fuyuan was feeling unwell, he heard another discussion from the surrounding teams.

“hey, what’s with you guys? meng zhi is at the third level of the foundation building, and huang fuyuan has medicinal pills. they must be somewhat useful.”

“i encountered someone even more abnormal!”