Great Bamboo Peak.
The night passed peacefully.
The next morning.
The air on Great Bamboo Peak was especially fresh, invigorating everyone.
At the breakfast table.
Tian Buyi had, for once, not worn a stern expression.
Though he still looked imposing even when he wasn't angry, the anticipation in his eyes was impossible to hide.
Everyone hurriedly polished off their breakfast.
Song Daren was just about to take Ye Xuan to the back mountain to chop bamboo for their morning lesson, as usual.
That was a tradition on Great Bamboo Peak!
Every new disciple, no matter their aptitude,
had to spend three years chopping Black Bamboo on the back mountain to temper their character and strengthen their body.
"Seventh, stay behind."
Tian Buyi set down his teacup and spoke at an unhurried pace.
At his words,
Su Ru, who had been clearing away the dishes, paused and looked at her husband in surprise.
Song Daren was even more startled. He instinctively looked at Ye Xuan, then at his master.
What was going on?
Was Master making an exception for Junior disciple brother?
"What are you looking at?"
"Hurry up and get out!"
Tian Buyi felt a little uncomfortable under his eldest disciple's gaze and scolded him irritably.
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Song Daren hunched his shoulders and hurriedly ushered his junior brothers out.
Before leaving,
Du Bishu winked at Ye Xuan, clearly meaning, "Junior disciple brother, you're on your own!"
Soon,
only Tian Buyi, Su Ru, and Ye Xuan remained in the main hall.
"Buyi, you're going to teach him yourself?"
Su Ru walked over, refilled Tian Buyi's teacup, and asked gently.
She knew her husband far too well.
He was usually lazy, and aside from cultivation, eating, and drinking, he'd never had much patience for the painstaking work of teaching disciples.
"Madam, you don't understand."
"He's an Innate Dao Body!"
"Whether Great Bamboo Peak can turn things around depends entirely on this boy!"
Tian Buyi lifted his teacup, gently blew away the tea leaves floating on top, and smiled smugly.
Just thinking about Cang Song made Tian Buyi grit his teeth.
That old fool was always putting on airs, and with so many disciples and such profound cultivation, he'd given Tian Buyi no end of grief.
Now that he'd found a treasure, if he let this uncut jade remain undiscovered, then Tian Buyi really would be a fool.
"Besides,"
"that ordinary, clumsy method of chopping bamboo might not suit Seventh."
"An uncut jade should naturally be carefully polished."
Tian Buyi set down his teacup and turned to look at Ye Xuan, who had been standing quietly off to the side.
His gaze instantly grew stern, though it also held a hint of expectation.
"Seventh, come with me."
With that,
Tian Buyi clasped his hands behind his back and strode toward the meditation room, his large belly jutting out before him.
Ye Xuan obediently answered and hurried after him.
Watching the tall and small figures disappear, Su Ru shook her head helplessly, but her eyes were full of amusement.
Great Bamboo Peak was about to get lively.
The meditation room was filled with the gentle fragrance of sandalwood.
A huge character, Dao, hung in the center. Its strokes were powerful, carrying an imperceptible pressure.
"Sit."
Tian Buyi sat cross-legged on a cushion and pointed to the empty one opposite him.
Ye Xuan sat down as instructed, his back straight and his expression respectful.
"Seventh!"
"The Daoist magic of our Qingyun Sect originated with Patriarch Qingyunzi two thousand years ago!"
"Building on the classics of Daoism, he created the Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao!"
"This art draws upon the transformations of heaven and earth and explores the principles of yin and yang. It has three realms: Jade Purity, Shangqing, and Taiqing!"
"..."
Tian Buyi didn't rush to teach him the incantation.
First, he gave a long account of the Qingyun Sect's history and the origins of its Daoist magic.
Ye Xuan listened attentively.
He'd known these details by heart for a long time.
But experiencing them firsthand and listening to the master of Great Bamboo Peak explain them slowly gave him a different feeling.
Though this chubby man usually seemed unreliable,
his understanding of Daoist magic was absolutely at the grandmaster level.
"Though our branch of Great Bamboo Peak has few disciples,"
"that doesn't mean we're any worse at Daoist magic than the other branches!"
"Those people at Dragon Head Peak only have the upper hand because they outnumber everyone!"
As he spoke,
Tian Buyi raised his voice a little, clearly reminded of some unpleasant memories.
After grumbling for a bit,
Tian Buyi realized he'd gone off track. He coughed awkwardly twice and composed himself.
"Enough idle talk."
"Today, I'll teach you the incantation for the first level of the Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao."
"Pay close attention and memorize it. Don't make a single mistake."
Ye Xuan immediately focused all his attention.
Tian Buyi murmured an incantation, slowly reciting a passage that was difficult to understand.
"Creation unfolds between heaven and earth, with yin and yang at its root..."
Every word of the incantation was precious, containing the principles of heaven and earth.
An ordinary person would be lucky to remember even a tenth of it after hearing it once.
"Have you memorized it?"
After reciting it once,
Tian Buyi stopped and looked at Ye Xuan, full of expectation.
In his experience, even disciples with excellent aptitude needed him to repeat an incantation three to five times. Some even needed half a day before they could just barely recite it from memory.
Back in the day, that foolish boy Daren had needed a full three days!
"Master, I've memorized it."
Ye Xuan nodded, his expression calm.
Maybe this was one of the perks of having crossed into this world!
After hearing it just once, the words felt as clear as if they'd been carved into his mind.
"You memorized all of it?"
"Don't bite off more than you can chew. If you don't understand something, ask. Don't pretend you understand!"
Tian Buyi froze and furrowed his brow slightly.
That was only one recitation!
Hundreds of characters, many of them obscure, and he'd memorized it already?
"Your disciple wouldn't dare deceive you, Master."
As he spoke, Ye Xuan immediately recited the passage from memory.
Every word was clear and precise, without a single mistake!
Even the pauses matched Tian Buyi's recitation exactly!
Tian Buyi's already-small eyes widened, and his mouth hung open. For a long while, he couldn't close it.
This... was this what an Innate Dao Body was?
That was ridiculous!
"Hmm!"
"Not bad. You have a decent memory!"
Tian Buyi swallowed, forcibly suppressing his shock, and nodded with feigned composure.
"But memorizing it is only the beginning!"
"Cultivation is all about understanding!"
"Understand the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and draw it into your body. That's the first step."
"Back in the day, it took your master a mere seven days to draw spiritual energy into his body!"
As he spoke,
a hint of pride appeared on Tian Buyi's face.
Drawing spiritual energy into his body in seven days was considered a prodigious feat in the history of the Qingyun Sect.
Though it couldn't compare to the freakish geniuses who succeeded in a day or two, it was still something to be proud of.
"Go on and try cultivating!"
"Don't rush. Slowly sense the energy around you..."
Before Tian Buyi had finished speaking,
Ye Xuan was already silently cultivating according to the incantation.
In an instant,
Ye Xuan felt as if the world had changed.
The air around him, which had once seemed intangible, now appeared in his senses as colorful specks of light.
That was spiritual energy!
As if they'd found a long-lost loved one, they rushed toward Ye Xuan, jostling to be first.
Tian Buyi had just lifted his teacup to wet his throat when he suddenly sensed something strange in the air.
The air in the meditation room seemed to have solidified.
Then,
an invisible whirlwind sprang up around Ye Xuan.
It wasn't a real wind, but a strange phenomenon caused by the gathering of spiritual energy at its peak!
"This..."
Tian Buyi's teacup trembled in his hand, spilling scalding tea over him, but he didn't even notice.
Was this... drawing spiritual energy into his body?
No!
This was freaking spiritual energy pouring into his body!
Tian Buyi shot to his feet. His whole body of fat quivered, and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
How long had it been?
Not even the time it took to drink a cup of tea!
He'd already sensed it?
And this commotion!
Compared to his own so-called seven-day feat, this was a world of difference!
Back then, he'd had to coax spiritual energy inside and carefully attend to it.
But this boy was like a high-powered vacuum cleaner, sucking in all the spiritual energy around him without a second thought!
"What kind of monster is this boy?"
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