Lin Qi touched the bracelet Great Aunt Lin had given her and obediently said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister."
Yuan Xi turned and rubbed her head, laughing happily. "Second Junior Sister, you're so well-behaved!"
"I've wanted an obedient, adorable junior sister for ages, but Master doesn't like taking disciples. If you run into anything you don't understand in the sect, you can come find me."
Lin Qi felt a little depressed.
Why did everyone love patting her on the head? Was it just because she was short?
Though she thought so, Lin Qi still thanked her politely.
"Thank you, Senior Sister. I hope you won't find me annoying in the future."
After getting off the Talisman Crane, Yuan Xi led Lin Qi straight to the Internal Affairs Hall.
Before they entered, Yuan Xi reminded Lin Qi, "Junior Sister, Master instructed that when speaking to outsiders, it's best to say you've already turned five, so as not to draw attention."
In all the years Tianyi Sect had stood, not a single disciple had entered the sect at four years old.
If people learned Lin Qi's age, those harboring ill intentions might set their sights on her.
Naturally, Lin Qi understood True Monarch Qingyun's painstaking concern. "Senior Sister, I understand!"
Yuan Xi calmly led Lin Qi into the Internal Affairs Hall.
The menial disciple responsible for distributing supplies immediately greeted her with a smiling face upon seeing her.
"Senior Sister Yuan is here."
His gaze flicked to Lin Qi beside her, and he asked curiously, "Senior Sister, who is this?"
Yuan Xi introduced Lin Qi with a smile. "This is my second junior sister, Lin Qi, Master's newly accepted disciple. I brought her to collect her supplies."
Hearing this, envy and surprise immediately flashed through the menial disciple's eyes.
He respectfully said, "Greetings, Senior Sister Lin. Please wait a moment. I'll bring Zonglei Peak's supplies over at once."
Lin Qi had already learned from Yuan Xi aboard the Talisman Crane about Zonglei Peak's status.
Besides the common peaks of pills, talismans, artifacts, spirit beasts, and the like, Tianyi Sect also had Broken Sword Peak, Zonglei Peak, and Slaughter Ice Peak standing side by side.
These three peaks were Tianyi Sect's core fighting force. Their disciples were outstanding in strength; of every ten disciples with exceptional aptitude, nine came from these three peaks.
In the Cultivation World, strength reigned supreme.
When disciples of the three peaks went out, they were always more respected than disciples from other peaks.
Lin Qi collected the supplies that belonged to her and quietly listened as Senior Sister Yuan Xi told her about the sect.
When they arrived beneath Zonglei Peak's Stone Steps again, her soul trembled.
She had to start climbing again!
Seeing her dejected little face, Senior Sister Yuan Xi could not help laughing. "Xiao Qi, you'll have to get used to it sooner or later."
Lin Qi nodded silently. "Senior Sister, I can do it!"
She had sworn to defy the heavens and change her fate. What did such a small setback count for?
As she climbed the Stone Steps again, a bone-piercing chill seeped through Lin Qi's entire body, and her body stiffened for a moment.
"Senior Sister, why do I feel like these Stone Steps are different from the ones I climbed last time?"
Yuan Xi was not surprised she had asked. "This is what the Stone Steps originally look like."
"These stones were transported by Master from the depths of the Forest Sea in the Northern Continent, and they are exceptionally precious. Back then, True Monarch Tinghan of Slaughter Ice Peak personally came to ask for them, but Master still refused to give them away."
Once Lin Qi heard how good these Stone Steps were, she immediately cast aside all those messy thoughts and climbed upward with all her strength.
She thought that since climbing the Stone Steps could temper her body, perhaps she should climb them several extra times every day?
As Lin Qi pondered, she suddenly asked, "Senior Sister, do you think we'll run into Third Junior Brother if we go up now?"
Senior Sister Yuan Xi shook her head. "We won't see him. Third Junior Brother should be trapped in an illusion. Master said that if he couldn't climb Zonglei Peak today, then he definitely wouldn't be able to."
Lin Qi felt a small sense of regret.
How nice it would have been if she could run into Luo Ci on the way. She really wanted to greet that boy.
Climbing Zonglei Peak again was far easier than Lin Qi had imagined.
This time, she climbed for only one hour. When she reached the summit, she still had strength left to gaze into the distance.
Looking at Tianyi Sect's mist-wreathed peaks rising one after another, a lofty ambition suddenly surged within her: I shall stand atop the highest peak and see all mountains dwarfed beneath me.
Yuan Xi seemed to sense it and smiled with considerable gratification.
Because Lin Qi was True Monarch Qingyun's personal disciple, she was assigned an independent little courtyard.
There was an empty plot of land in the front yard and a garden planted with purple flowers in the back. It had a separate bedroom and cultivation room, making it very spacious for one person.
Lin Qi planned to ask Senior Sister Yuan Xi what kind of flowers those purple blossoms were when she had time.
After examining her room, she impatiently took out her little treasury and began checking it.
When she came to Tianyi Sect, Great Aunt Lin had stuffed her with a storage bracelet. She had taken one glance inside and been dazzled.
Lin Qi seriously suspected that Great Aunt Lin had emptied half the Lin Family for her sake.
Now, she too was a little rich lady.
Lin Qi checked the resources the sect had given her.
Inside the jade token were one hundred low-grade Spirit Stones and three bottles of medicinal pills: one bottle of Foundation Establishment Pills, one bottle of Qi Replenishing Pills, and the remaining bottle contained Body Tempering Pills.
She had heard these were unique to Zonglei Peak. The other peaks mostly received things like Blood Replenishing Pills or Spring Return Pills.
Thinking of the Stone Steps that tempered one's physique, Lin Qi vaguely figured something out.
There were also two sets of Daoist robes in the jade token. One was rather luxurious, meant for certain formal occasions. The rest consisted of a wooden sword and two manuals.
One explained the sect rules, while the other was a manual teaching disciples how to undergo Qi Induction and cultivate.
Lin Qi did not hurry to read the cultivation manual. Instead, she carefully read through the sect rules first.
Only after finishing the sect rules did she open the cultivation manual and begin Qi Induction.
She assumed a meditative posture, held her breath, focused her mind, and emptied herself of everything.
As time slowly passed, she gradually overlooked the existence of everything outside, including her own fleshly body.
Her world was gradually soaked in dark blue. From the dark blue clouds and mist seeped a ferocious, violent aura brimming with destruction.
The heavy color wrapped around her bit by bit, like nightfall.
Just as Lin Qi was full of doubts, a blinding, icy white light tore through the dark-blue curtain, forcefully and tyrannically swallowing the dark blue radiance.
At a speed visible to the naked eye, the white light occupied more than half the space and even began squeezing the dark blue light's territory.
Wherever it passed, nothing could stop it; wherever it struck, nothing could stand against it.
The dark blue light, however, had none of its former ferocity. It shrank back tremblingly, making way for the white light.
Very quickly, the white light suppressed the dark blue light into a single corner.
Lin Qi thought it was finally about to end.
Who would have thought that the white light would suddenly retreat at high speed, while the dark blue light cautiously tested the waters? As one advanced, the other retreated.
After dawdling for most of the day, the white light and dark blue light each occupied half the sky.
Dense spiritual energy rushed desperately into Lin Qi's body.
Reciting the mnemonic from the cultivation manual, Lin Qi calmly and steadily guided the spiritual energy within her dantian.
Vaguely, she heard a soft pop as an endless stream of spiritual energy poured into her dantian.
Qi Induction successful!
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