A Test for Dugu Yan

Hearing this, Luo Can stroked his chin and pondered for a moment before saying, "Taking Dugu Yan as my disciple isn't impossible. It's just that—"

"Just what?" Dugu Bo hurriedly asked.

Dugu Yan, standing nearby, also widened her eyes, her little face filled with nervousness.

"She must pass my test first," Luo Can said slowly.

When he had taken Ye Lingling as his disciple, it was partly because she was the daughter of his benefactor, and partly because a six-year-old child was highly moldable and easier to teach.

But Dugu Yan was different. This girl had been spoiled by Dugu Bo since childhood, and he did not yet know what her temperament was like. If he was going to take her in, he first had to see her character and perseverance.

"Name it!" Dugu Bo immediately said.

"It's simple." Luo Can pointed toward the distant mountain range beyond the window. "Travel from here to Jueming Cliff outside Baican Village and climb to the top—then she'll have passed."

Ye Shengxin gave a soft "Mm" from the side.

"This old man has heard a little about that Jueming Cliff. For Spirit Masters above Soul Ancestor rank, climbing it would not be difficult, but—"

He looked at Dugu Yan. "For such a young child to climb a hundred-zhang cliff alone would be no easy task."

As soon as he finished speaking, Dugu Bo fell silent.

His withered fingers unconsciously clenched, and a trace of struggle flashed through his eyes.

On one side was the opportunity for his granddaughter to become Luo Can's disciple. On the other was his worry over sending a child of only seven to climb a dangerous peak. The choice was far too difficult.

Just then—

"I'll climb!"

A crisp voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence in the hall.

Dugu Yan raised her little face, her gaze fixed resolutely on Luo Can. "I'll climb it!"

From the effects of that bottle of medicine earlier, as well as Luo Can's effortless method of clearing the toxins within her body, she had vaguely realized that taking the person before her as her master would be an enormous opportunity.

A hint of approval flashed through Luo Can's eyes.

"Good." He grinned. "I like kids with guts like yours."

Before his words had even faded, he rose to his feet and grabbed Dugu Yan by the shoulder. The Golden Dragon Wings behind him unfurled with a swish, and a fierce wind erupted!

"Yanyan!" Dugu Bo cried out in alarm.

But Luo Can moved too quickly. With a beat of his wings, he shot into the sky as a streak of golden light. In the blink of an eye, he vanished above Ye Mansion, leaving only a fading afterimage behind.

Dugu Bo hurriedly rushed out of Ye Mansion, but where could he still see them?

Three minutes later.

At the foot of Jueming Cliff.

Luo Can folded his wings and gently set Dugu Yan down on the grass at the base of the cliff.

The little girl shook her slightly dizzy head, steadied herself, and looked up at the towering perilous peak before her.

The thousand-zhang cliff face was as sheer as if carved by blades and axes, nearly vertical. Its surface was covered in weathered cracks and slick moss. Many spots offered no footholds at all, and from the base of the cliff, its summit was completely hidden within the clouds.

"Little girl."

Luo Can crouched down until he was level with Dugu Yan's eyes.

"This path has no turning back. Once you begin climbing, you either reach the summit or—fall."

He paused.

"I'm looking forward to seeing whether you can stand at the top."

After saying that, he spoke no further. With a flash, he leaped several times and vanished into the clouds above.

Dugu Yan stood where she was, staring up at Jueming Cliff. After a moment, she took a deep breath.

She rolled up her sleeves, revealing her slender arms, then walked to the cliff wall. Her little hands gripped a crack in the rock, and her feet pressed against a protruding stone—

"Hey!"

She exerted force and climbed upward.

At the summit.

Luo Can sat cross-legged by the cliff's edge, and he could "see" everything clearly.

The route Dugu Yan had chosen was even more treacherous than the one those young boys and girls had taken before. In many places, the rock face was exceedingly slick, with no obvious footholds at all.

However, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul granted her an acute instinct for danger. Whenever venomous insects lurked in the cracks or stones were loose, she always sensed it ahead of time and avoided the danger.

Next, Luo Can watched Dugu Yan's climbing progress while guiding the thirty-one young boys and girls diligently practicing the Embryonic Breathing Meditation Method.

"Keep your breathing slow and steady. Focus your attention on your dantian. Yes, just like that..."

"Don't rush to sense your Soul Power. Relax your body first..."

Time quietly passed amid his instruction and observation.

Half an hour later, Dugu Yan had climbed to the middle of the cliff face.

At that moment, the abyss beneath her feet was shrouded in clouds, bottomless and unfathomable. The summit above remained far beyond reach. Worse still, from here onward, the cliff became even steeper, with fewer and fewer points to climb from. In many places, she had to rely entirely on arm strength to move through the air.

"Huff... huff..."

The little girl's breathing grew heavy. Beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks from the corners of her forehead and dripped into her eyes, bringing a sharp sting. Her palms had been scraped open in several places, and blood mixed with rock dust, burning with pain. More than half her strength had already been spent.

She was not a resident of White Silkworm Village and did not know which route was easier to climb. The path she had chosen was one of the steepest and most dangerous areas on all of Jueming Cliff.

"Can't... can't give up..."

Dugu Yan gritted her teeth and forced herself not to look at the bottomless abyss beneath her feet. Yet the corner of her eye still caught sight of the rolling sea of clouds, and a wave of dizziness suddenly hit her.

She hurriedly closed her eyes and steadied herself.

I have to reach the top!

I want to become his disciple!

Supported by that conviction, Dugu Yan opened her eyes again. She no longer looked downward, focusing only on the cliff face within three feet above her as she searched for the next crack she could grasp.

Then she continued upward, climbing inch by inch.

The sun slanted westward.

A satisfied smile appeared on Luo Can's face.

He truly had not expected Dugu Yan to persist this long.

A nine-year-old child, climbing a hundred-zhang perilous peak alone, her hands and body covered in wounds, her strength nearly exhausted—yet she still refused to give up.

This character and perseverance were enough to make up for any shortcomings in talent.

"Only ten zhang remain."

Luo Can's gaze locked onto the tiny figure at the edge of the cliff face.

The final ten zhang were the hardest stretch.

The rock face was nearly smooth, with almost nowhere to place her feet. Dugu Yan could only dig her fingers into narrow cracks and brace her toes against insignificant protrusions, inching upward bit by bit.

Five zhang.

Three zhang.

One zhang...

Just as the last ray of sunset before nightfall was about to disappear, a little hand covered in blood and rock dust finally grasped the stone at the cliff's edge.

Luo Can walked to the edge, took that small hand, and gave it a gentle pull.

Dugu Yan's body was pulled onto the summit. Luo Can gently placed her on the grass nearby. She lay on her back, her chest heaving violently, her lips slightly purple from lack of oxygen. She had clearly reached her limit.

"I... I made it... didn't I?"

She asked between gasps, her voice almost inaudible.

Luo Can looked at her and revealed a gentle smile.

"Mm, you made it."

As soon as he spoke, Dugu Yan closed her eyes and completely passed out.

Luo Can quickly checked her condition.

Other than exhaustion and several superficial wounds, she was fine. The impurities and stagnant blood expelled from her body through the intense exertion had mixed together, making her look alarming, but they were actually beneficial to her body. He took out a Body Refining Pill, fed it to Dugu Yan, and washed it down with Fate-Defying Spring water.

The warm medicinal power rapidly spread through her body. Within moments, Dugu Yan's pale complexion regained its rosy color, and her breathing became calm and steady.

Soon afterward, faint snoring could be heard.

Luo Can shook his head with a laugh, picked her up, spread his wings, and leaped down the cliff.

At the foot of Jueming Cliff.

Dugu Bo was pacing anxiously back and forth. Ever since Luo Can had taken his granddaughter away, his heart had not settled for a moment.

Just as he was about to lose patience and rush up to search for her, a flash of golden light appeared in the distance.

Luo Can descended steadily before him with Dugu Yan in his arms.

"Yanyan!" Dugu Bo rushed forward in a single stride. Seeing that his granddaughter was unconscious but breathing steadily with a rosy complexion, he finally let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Little Friend Luo, has Yanyan... passed the test?"

There was a trace of nervousness in his voice.

"Mm." Luo Can nodded and carefully handed the little girl in his arms back to him. "Her character is resolute and her perseverance commendable. From today onward, she is my disciple."

Dugu Bo froze for a moment before overwhelming joy surged into his heart. Holding his granddaughter, he gave Luo Can a deep bow.

"All right, no need for such formalities." Luo Can waved a hand. "After you return, have Yanyan consume that Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. Once she has made up for the flaws in her Martial Soul, bring her to find me. I will naturally teach her cultivation."

"Good! Good!" Dugu Bo nodded repeatedly. "This old man will go back and handle it at once. I'll strive to send Yanyan to you as soon as possible!"

"Mm."

Watching Dugu Bo leave with Dugu Yan in his arms, Luo Can finally turned around, spread his wings, and flew toward Fate Defying Valley.

In the valley, Ye Lingling had just finished her training for the day.

The little girl was drenched in sweat, but her eyes sparkled brightly. She was demonstrating the newly comprehended force of her fists toward the Ghost Tiger inside the Barrier. Seeing her like this, satisfaction appeared in Luo Can's eyes.

"Not bad," he thought. "Her progress is even faster than expected. Tomorrow, I can begin the second stage of teaching."