Jiang Che’s divine sense followed along their joined hands, cautiously probing into Hu Qiao’er’s body.
Her meridians were unobstructed; though nothing special stood out, they were far smoother than those of ordinary people, like a path untraveled yet surprisingly even.
Hu Qiao’er seemed quite fascinated by this sensation.
Her body trembled slightly, and from time to time, a low “mm-mm” sound would escape her lips.
These subtle noises, like feathers brushing across Jiang Che’s heart, made it hard for him to concentrate.
“Qiao’er-jie, follow along with my divine sense. Try to slowly move your own divine sense.”
Jiang Che steadied himself and gently guided her.
“Mm…”
Hu Qiao’er obediently responded and closed her eyes.
A moment later, she whispered in surprise and confusion.
“I think… I see a lot of glowing threads… but they’re all blurry. I can’t see them clearly…”
“That’s your meridians, Qiao’er-jie. They look blurry because your divine sense is still too weak right now.”
Jiang Che explained patiently, though his divine sense was far stronger than Hu Qiao’er’s and what he saw was much clearer.
He was a little impressed that she could see those lines on her first try—her divine sense wasn’t bad at all.
“They… all seem to be going toward one place…”
Under Jiang Che’s gentle guidance, Hu Qiao’er’s divine sense finally passed through that hazy light and touched the core—her Dantian.
A ball of warm, vibrant emerald-green light.
Jiang Che could see even more clearly.
That green was utterly pure; the core of the glow was not some solid gem, but more like a newly sprouted shoot, radiating pure Life Force.
Just by sensing it, Jiang Che felt his own divine sense bathed and nourished, his mind at peace.
And that emerald green represented an extremely pure, almost untainted Wood Spirit Root—commonly known as the Innate Immaculate Spiritual Root.
During the spiritual root test, Jiang Che hadn’t been able to see the result—he could only guess at Hu Qiao’er’s talent by everyone’s reaction.
Now, seeing this emerald glow, even Jiang Che was startled. It looked just like the Innate Jia Wood Spiritual Root he’d read about in books.
A rush of complicated emotion welled up inside him. He hoped Qiao’er-jie would become even better, yet he also feared she’d become too outstanding.
If one’s talent shone too brightly, was that truly a blessing in such a treacherous sect?
He knew all too well the risks of standing out in a forest, and was afraid this pure radiance would instead bring Qiao’er-jie unforeseen calamities.
……
“So tired! Yun Fan-Senior Brother, do Servant Disciples like us have to mine, chop wood, and carry water every day?”
Wang Hao was so exhausted he could barely stand, leaning on a thick tree branch he’d just picked up as a makeshift cane as he trudged behind Yun Fan.
Hearing himself called “Senior Brother,” Yun Fan still wasn’t quite used to it, but a secret joy also welled up inside him.
However, unlike Wang Hao, Yun Fan wasn’t nearly as tired—after all, he’d long since gotten used to life here.
“That’s right! But there used to be a lot more Lingjian Peak Disciples, so normally it wasn’t this exhausting.”
“Now, with so few of us left on Lingjian Peak, it’s lucky you and the other new Servant Disciple have joined.”
The two new Servant Disciples Yun Fan referred to were Wang Hao and Jia Xianren.
At this moment, Jia Xianren had already gone back to rest—he was worn out. In the Secret Realm, he’d last seen a small golden figure point him toward the Jianxiu Lineage.
So Jia Xianren was assigned to Lingjian Peak as a Servant Disciple, though his true goal was still to find an opportunity to secretly kidnap Jiang Che.
As for the three of them, they’d spent half a shichen chopping firewood and had filled five water vats.
But they hadn’t expected the water vats on Lingjian Peak to each be twice as tall as Wang Hao—almost three meters high.
“Ugh, will I ever have time to cultivate…”
The two made their way toward the small courtyard where Hu Qiao’er lived.
After a while, when they were nearly at the gate, Wang Hao seemed to suddenly remember something.
He slowed, and in a hushed voice, asked:
“Yun Fan-Senior Brother, it’s the middle of the day… Wouldn’t it be… inappropriate for us to bother Qiao’er-jie right now?”
Yun Fan was so tired his mind was blank; he didn’t really understand what Wang Hao meant and didn’t respond right away.
“Inappropriate during the day? Then… should we go at night?”
Wang Hao inhaled sharply.
“Hiss… wouldn’t it be even more inappropriate at night?”
The two were still whispering about what was or wasn’t appropriate as they arrived outside Hu Qiao’er’s door.
Just then, a strange sound could faintly be heard from within the tightly closed room.
What Wang Hao heard was Hu Qiao’er’s rather surprised voice.
“Wow, so that’s what Ah Che’s looks like? Why does it look kind of like a worm—wouldn’t that feel weird?”
“What are they doing in there?”
Wang Hao pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear what was going on inside.
He was so intent that Yun Fan, standing behind him, quietly tried asking what he was doing, but Wang Hao didn’t respond.
Yun Fan had entered the sect at ten, and was now only sixteen.
He didn’t know much about grown-up matters, because he’d always taken Jiang Che as his example.
“Shh!”
Wang Hao motioned for silence.
“Be quiet, let’s quietly back away—don’t disturb them.”
Though Wang Hao hadn’t been very old in his previous life, he’d read plenty of novels, so he knew a thing or two.
Acting like someone experienced, he motioned Yun Fan to retreat with him.
“Wang Hao! Get in here!”
Just then, Jiang Che’s voice called from within the room. Wang Hao’s heart sank—he tried to slip away, but the door opened at that very moment.
He tumbled inside, not daring to lift his head.
“Se…Che-ge, I didn’t mean anything, we’ll just go, you two carry on.”
Jiang Che looked at Wang Hao on the ground, and at Yun Fan standing beside him, immediately realizing what Wang Hao must have misunderstood.
He had no idea what kind of education Wang Hao had received, to have such a dirty mind.
“Raise your head.”
“Huh?”
Wang Hao froze.
“Are you two… properly dressed?”
Jiang Che covered his face; sometimes he truly wanted to give Wang Hao a good beating.
A moment later, with a huge bump on his head, Wang Hao was kneeling inside the room.
Jiang Che and the others sat on chairs, except Yun Fan was pouring water for Jiang Che.
Though this seemed odd to outsiders, Hu Qiao’er and the others were used to it by now, and said nothing.
“So you were cultivating!”
“What did you think we were doing?”
Hu Qiao’er chided him, though she wasn’t really angry.
She just wanted to say that Wang Hao, so young, ought to learn better.
Earlier, she and Jiang Che had actually been trying inner vision—but not Jiang Che looking into Hu Qiao’er, rather Hu Qiao’er trying to look into Jiang Che.
Jiang Che had originally wanted to refuse, but Hu Qiao’er insisted on trying.
She’d even said that since Jiang Che had already looked into her, it wouldn’t be fair if he wouldn’t let her look at him.
Even when Jiang Che argued that she still wasn’t skilled at inner vision, she hadn’t given up.
“Che-ge, I was wrong. Can you teach me too?”
Faced with Wang Hao, who was always pestering him to be his master, Jiang Che really didn’t understand why it had to be him.
“You seem pretty eager to learn. Why not just figure it out yourself? Didn’t you all receive a Cultivation Method?”
Wang Hao scratched his head.
“I only got the ‘Qi Induction Art,’ and even that’s only the first half—the Yin Qi Ru Ti part. Plus a bit of a simple Cultivation Method.”
Wang Hao was a little disheartened; his own talent was too poor. Without some powerful cheat, how was he supposed to live up to his big words before?
After all, he’d already said “don’t look down on a poor youth.”
“It’s fine. Even if I gave you a better Cultivation Method, you wouldn’t be able to train it yet. And the Secret Realm wouldn’t give you anything too good, either. What if you ran away after getting something great? Just build a solid foundation first.”
“Boohoo, thanks, Che-ge… Oh right, Qiao’er-jie, did you also get the ‘Qi Induction Art’?”
Everyone looked to Hu Qiao’er, who scratched her face a little embarrassedly.