Guidance

After Zhou Buping left, Li Gan began to prepare lunch.

The meal he made was simple: just porridge, though it contained a wide variety of ingredients, including various medicinal herbs used in medicinal meals and exotic beast jerky.

Finally, a large, thick pot of medicinal meat porridge was ready.

As for the taste, it was hard to say.

Regardless, he ate it at least once a day; after eating it so often, he had grown used to it.

The main point was that it was rich in nutrients, providing the energy his body needed for cultivation.

The entire large pot was finished off by Li Gan just like that.

Not long after he finished eating, Li Gan heard footsteps outside.

"Brother Gan."

Following that, the door was pushed open, and Chen Yong, with his honest-looking face, walked in.

However, there was a large, bruised patch on his face.

"What happened to your face?"

Li Gan asked in surprise.

"I was sparring with someone and accidentally got punched," Chen Yong said, scratching his head. "Brother Gan, I used intercepting sword to block, but I was struck by the opponent's hooking sword. I couldn't dodge it no matter what. Their sword piercing fist is clearly not much better than mine..."

As he spoke, he began to gesture in the room.

Li Gan saw the problem at a glance. "This is likely because your internal force is sluggish and uneven when it reaches the zhongfu and tianzong acupoints, causing your fist speed to drop—just a split second too slow. The opponent's hooking sword happened to catch your weak point. I suspect it has to do with the long-term heavy log-carrying exercises you used to do; it affected those two acupoints."

Half a year ago, he had accidentally given Chen Yong some pointers on his fist technique.

Ever since then, Chen Yong had frequently come up the mountain to seek advice.

Chen Yong's attainment in sword piercing fist was merely at the proficient level; he hadn't even reached the minor success stage, otherwise, such a weakness wouldn't have appeared.

With Li Gan's perfected level of sword piercing fist, giving Chen Yong pointers was more than enough.

"It does feel a bit like that. So, how do I fix it?"

Chen Yong said, frowning.

"It's easy to fix. Doesn't the chore hall have professional masseurs? Go find one with good technique and get a proper full-body massage. Especially for those two acupoints—have them focus on kneading and pressing those areas," Li Gan said.

"Their price is too expensive. One session and more than half a year's worth of monthly stipends are gone."

Chen Yong shook his head like a rattle-drum.

He sent all of his monthly stipends home to help out.

After all, his family was very poor; where would he have any money left?

Li Gan smiled, walked up to him, and had Chen Yong assume the fixed sword stance from the sword piercing fist. Then, he pressed his fingers onto several acupoints on Chen Yong's body. As his internal qi circulated, it passed through the zhongfu acupoint and entered the tianzong acupoint, kneading back and forth.

Hiss!

Chen Yong grimaced in pain, yet he couldn't move at all, as if he had lost control of his body.

A moment later, Li Gan released Chen Yong.

Chen Yong plopped onto the ground.

But when he moved his arms, he felt that the areas that had been stinging were now warm and incredibly comfortable.

"I've adjusted your condition, but you need to rest for a few days. Don't practice your fist techniques for now," Li Gan said.

"Brother Gan, you... did you just use internal qi?"

Chen Yong looked at him in disbelief.

Only internal qi could be channeled into his body.

Internal force could not possibly achieve that.

"Is it that strange?" Li Gan said calmly.

"Brother Gan, you've actually become a ranked martial artist."

Chen Yong's voice trembled slightly.

Although it was not uncommon for menial disciples to become ranked martial artists, they were usually quite old.

For a menial disciple like him, if he really wanted to clear the eight extraordinary meridians, it would likely take several more years, and he might even never be able to clear the final ren and du meridians.

For Li Gan to have become a ranked martial artist in just four short years—this speed was nothing short of astonishing.

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind: could Brother Gan have already become an inner disciple?

Becoming a ranked martial artist in just over four years meant that passing the re-examination for the inner sect should be a breeze.

Li Gan watched Chen Yong's reaction and sighed inwardly. He knew that now that he had become a ranked martial artist, it would be impossible for their friendship to remain as simple and pure as it once was.

As expected, Chen Yong became much more reserved afterward.

After all, Li Gan was a ranked martial artist with a high probability of becoming an inner disciple. The gap between him and a menial disciple like Chen Yong had suddenly widened, making him feel unreachable.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, over half a month had passed.

The day of the true disciple selection was drawing closer.

Topics regarding the true disciple selection gradually became more frequent within the Divine Sword Sect.

None of this had anything to do with Li Gan.

He lived on the mountain and rarely had contact with the outside world.

Dong!

The clear, resonant sound of the chen bell broke the silence of the Divine Sword Sect.

Before dawn had even broken, Li Gan was already practicing the heartless sword art amidst the lingering echoes of the bell. As he swung his long sword, it moved around his body like a dragon of steel. Invisible sword intent permeated the air, causing it to hum with the constant sound of swords.

Once he finished the sword routine, Li Gan felt refreshed throughout his entire body, his understanding of the heartless sword intent having deepened by another level.

Hoo!

Li Gan let out a long breath and, with a thought, summoned his system panel.

Host: Li Gan.
Cultivation: Postnatal Realm (Ninth Layer 99/100).
Sacrificial Vessel: Chen bell (Dharma 451/10000).
Martial Arts: Sword piercing fist (Perfected), Heartless sword art (Perfected).
Martial Intent: Heartless sword intent (Virtual Image 31/100).
Secret Technique: Myriad transformation sword qi.

His cultivation had already reached the ninth layer of the postnatal realm, nearing perfection.

He practiced his swordplay now only to comprehend sword intent, no longer cultivating his internal energy.

In this way, his cultivation realm would not break through to the xiantian realm.

As long as I can comprehend the flawless vajra method of the heartless sword art in the sword grinding cave this time, I will have a chance to achieve a perfect xiantian.

Li Gan pondered to himself.

At daybreak.

Li Gan headed down the mountain.

He first arrived at Yanmen Valley.

"Let's go."

Zhou Buping said, walking toward one of the exits.

That was one of the entrances into the inner sect.

In the inner sect, on the plaza outside the Divine Sword Hall.

A large number of official inner disciples had gathered.

After all, it was the true disciple selection.

Although ninety-nine percent of the official disciples didn't even have the qualifications to participate, this was undoubtedly one of the most important selections in the Divine Sword Sect.

Once one became a true disciple, it was equivalent to stepping across the threshold into the upper echelons of the Divine Sword Sect.

The peak masters of the seven main peaks, the five directional sword envoys, and even the divine sword sect master were all necessarily drawn from the true disciples.

The highest position an official disciple could reach was that of a power-holding elder.

The crowd was buzzing with discussion.

"Who do you think will win a true disciple spot this time?"

"I'm guessing Senior Brother Chang from Dishui Peak. It's said that he grasped sword intent before he even entered the xiantian realm."

"Senior Sister Bai from Lingxu Peak also grasped sword intent, and even earlier than Senior Brother Chang."

"I think Senior Brother Nangong from Guiyi Peak has a pretty good chance too."

"Senior Brother Nangong hasn't grasped sword intent for very long. Compared to Senior Brother Chang and Senior Sister Bai, he's still a bit lacking."

"Maybe there are some hidden experts among the others."

"That possibility is too low. The final outcome for the true disciple spots usually comes down to just those few people."

In front of the Divine Sword Hall, the divine sword sect master, the masters of the seven peaks, and numerous elders had already arrived.

Additionally, there were over a dozen inner disciples, all of whom were qualified to participate in this true disciple selection.

The requirements for the true disciple selection were extremely high.

One could not be over twenty-five years of age.

One had to have grasped at least one secret technique.

And one could not be a xiantian martial artist.

Those who could meet these requirements were basically one in a hundred among the inner disciples.

Even so, the fact that so many people were still qualified to participate in the true disciple selection showed just how profound the foundation of the Divine Sword Sect was.