A Marrow-Cleansing Pill, and a high-grade Marrow-Cleansing Pill at that.
In all seventeen years of her life, Sheng Meng had never seen a medicinal pill of such high quality. Standing far away, her master casually tossed a bottle over to her.
“Wait a moment, there are also other True Origin Pills and Rejuvenation Pills. I’ll give them all to you together.” Bu Chengyue was busy rummaging through her storage ring; there were too many items to distinguish them all at once.
Sheng Meng clutched the porcelain bottle tightly. Even if given nothing else, just receiving a place where she could cultivate and meditate was enough. But since she was willing to give them, there was no reason to refuse. “Master need not trouble yourself, didn’t the Sect Master already send a bottle of True Origin Pills?” She strained her throat to raise her voice—her master was too far away, and she herself didn’t know how to use spiritual energy to amplify her voice.
“Those? Use them to plant flowers instead—it’s better for the flowers. You eat what I give you.” Those were refined by others; although the grade wasn’t low, the purity was insufficient and contained too many impurities, so they were better off rotting in the mud.
The items in Sheng Meng’s hands accumulated more and more: talismans, array disks, lightning pearls, sabers, swords… “Master, I can’t hold any more.”
As if waking from a dream, Bu Chengyue gave her another storage ring. “Drip a drop of blood on it to recognize you as its master—it’s yours now,” she said expressionlessly, uttering words that made Sheng Meng’s heart tremble, “All of these belong to you.”
Sheng Meng’s eyes widened. She had thought she was merely helping carry things, but all of these were actually hers? Being a disciple for the first time, she lacked experience—did masters and disciples in Shenxuzhou all interact like this?
The books borrowed from the Treasure Keeping Pavilion were enough to guide her to explore and cultivate on her own during the Foundation Establishment stage. However, considering that she was her master after all, and this child didn’t look like a docile type, it was still necessary to keep an eye on her. “Go cleanse your marrow first. After that, I will take you to cultivate during the day, and at night you can go back and read the books yourself.”
“Many thanks, Master!”
Shenxuzhou had a Marrow-Cleansing Pool. Paired with taking a Marrow-Cleansing Pill while soaking inside, the effect doubled. Therefore, all the disciples who entered the inner sect anew this year would undergo this process accompanied by their masters or senior martial brothers and sisters, cleansing their marrow and tempering their bones to emerge completely renewed.
Except for the two at Yuedi Yunjie.
“Senior Brother, how come I haven’t seen Elder Chengyue and her disciple come?” asked Xiao Tubo, who had already soaked in the Marrow-Cleansing Pool three times. He was the very person who had threatened Sheng Meng on the day of taking masters.
Back in the outer sect, there was a beautiful female cultivator who was gentle, charming, and liked by everyone. Unfortunately, her talent was not very good and she couldn’t enter the inner sect, so Xiao Tubo wanted Sheng Meng to give up her inner sect qualification and hand it over to the junior sister he liked.
“Senior Brother, you’ve been in the inner sect for a long time and don’t know about our outer sect affairs. The disciple Elder Chengyue accepted out of sheer helplessness is just a piece of trash who has barely reached Foundation Establishment. She only relies on tricky body movements and footwork, snatching her inner sect qualification by launching underhanded attacks behind people’s backs. Look, she doesn’t even dare to come to the Marrow-Cleansing Pool, probably afraid that even after cleansing her marrow, it will still be hard to make progress.”
Although male and female disciples were separated, they shared the same access route, so he knew more or less who had come these past few days.
The senior brother bringing the new disciples was well-versed in the regulations of the Hall of Discipline: one must not wildly discuss elders. However, everyone would still discuss a sentence or two in private, especially regarding someone like Elder Chengyue, who disliked managing affairs and rarely even stepped out of her door—she would care even less.
“Yuedi Yunjie almost never participates in sect activities. You all had better pay more attention to the new arrivals at the Array Hall and Talisman Hall instead. Half a year from now, a Dharma Examination will be held for your batch of disciples. Those who fail will have to return to the outer sect. Don’t throw away the face of our Battle Hall.”
Xiao Tubo bared his teeth in pain: “I certainly will not disappoint!”
He would wait to beat that Sheng Meng back to the outer sect, and then show off properly at the Dharma Examination. When the time came, he could forgo the rewards and instead beg for an opportunity to let his junior sister enter the inner sect.
Inside the Marrow-Cleansing Pool were faces distorted in pain. Even if it wasn’t the first time for some, it was still unbearably painful. Bu Chengyue was aware of this as well, which was why seeing Sheng Meng with an unchanged expression made her very surprised.
Child, doesn’t it hurt? “I won’t laugh at you, no need to hold it in. These pills and medicinal baths are of high grade, incomparable to those outside, and they hurt even more.” So howling a couple of times was fine—there were no outsiders anyway.
Her sudden voice gave Sheng Meng a fright. Sheng Meng had thought she left long ago, not expecting her to have been watching from the dark all along.
“Many thanks… Master.”
Gritting her teeth tightly, she refused to show weakness, making Bu Chengyue sigh repeatedly.
She had thought she herself was enduring enough, but now it appeared her disciple was even more enduring than her—suppressed, introverted, taciturn, indifferent, and according to what others said, seemingly ruthless and merciless as well.
Tsk, less than ten days since accepting a disciple, and already regretting it.
“By the way, what is your name?”
Sheng Meng was almost fainting from the pain when she unexpectedly heard her master’s voice explode by her ear. Snapping awake instantly, she suddenly realized she couldn’t hold on much longer. Her master used spiritual energy to help support her sliding body, transmitting her voice via spiritual energy directly into her ear.
“Sheng Meng.”
“Which two characters?”
Sheng Meng struggled to open her eyes, wanting to ask Bu Chengyue: Do you really have to indulge in idle chat at a time like this? She could no longer feel her teeth or lips and tongue, yet she still had to reply.
“No need to rush,” Bu Chengyue remembered she could check the waist token, “Just soak by yourself, this teacher has matters to attend to.” She had to go register her disciple for the Dharma Examination.
In previous years, Yuedi Yunjie had no one attending; this year could be considered an opening of business. As for the result, as long as it wasn’t too unsightly, it would do.
Bu Chengyue explained to her the only things she knew about the Dharma Examination: “You need to participate in the disciple Dharma Examination.” There was only this single sentence; she didn’t even know the time, so it didn’t matter if Sheng Meng didn’t pay attention.
As for the rest, Sheng Meng could go inquire herself. She would help her find where her talents lay so she could specialize in her field.
Pill refining, weapon forging, talismans, and array formations—Sheng Meng knew none of these at all. She only had a body of bizarre, fluid, and unpredictable movement techniques: unexpected, hard to trace, and filled with skill and force, as if accumulated from actual combat.
Facing Sheng Meng, whose every move was aimed right at her vital spots, Bu Chengyue couldn’t help but sigh with emotion: It seems the outer sect is quite decent; everything taught to disciples is very practical, every move fatal.
“With your cultivation at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, if you fight with all your might, you could even battle someone at the late stage of Foundation Establishment. You’re too savage. During the Dharma Examination, you will be fighting against fellow sect disciples, so stop when appropriate.”
Sheng Meng felt exceptionally light and nimble. Is this marrow cleansing? How wonderful.
Concealing her joy and eagerness, she answered obediently, “Yes, Master. Since childhood, this disciple was bullied by others, so everything I learned was for self-preservation. I ask Master to give more guidance.”
What self-preservation? These are clearly counter-kill techniques, Bu Chengyue thought inwardly. She suddenly remembered that on that day, she had sensed killing intent before rushing over. Previously, she thought the killing intent belonged to that male disciple; looking at it now, that might not be the case.
“Second lesson: you must learn to pretend, blending into the light and dust, hiding your sharpness and concealing your edge. ‘A tree that stands out in the forest will surely be destroyed by the wind.’ When you grow into a towering tree in a corner no one pays attention to, people will naturally fear and respect you, and that corner will also become the center.”
Pretending to be weaker in the early stages saves a lot of trouble. The concept of “playing the pig to eat the tiger”—Bu Chengyue truly spoke from practical experience.
“Of course, with your master, you don’t need to hide anything, nor do you need to pretend right now”—after all, she wasn’t strong enough anyway—”just don’t attack too underhandedly or too ruthlessly.”
After pondering, Sheng Meng voiced her true thoughts: “Then what if my underhanded attack is done such that others can’t tell it was me?”
“Then it’s allowed—wait, no, we must be kind, friendly, and united. You can’t execute underhanded attacks on everyone you see.”
“Many thanks for Master’s teachings, this disciple will keep them firmly in mind.”
Immortal Venerable Chengyue felt that she shouldn’t have started teaching her from cultivation methods; clearly, Sheng Meng’s moral education was far more lacking. Lest one day she commits some crime outside and it gets pinned on her master’s head.
“Third lesson: if you cause trouble outside, don’t think about coming to find your master. One must take responsibility for one’s actions.” If something goes wrong, bear it yourself; Master will not accompany you.