Cognition

Seeing so many people around, Bian Chunchou hurriedly pulled his two friends away from Six Lectures Peak and found an unoccupied mountaintop to talk.

"Wen Xu, you were so cool just now! But that doesn't seem like you at all." Bian Chunchou spoke excitedly. "Chen Zui, don't you think so?"

Chen Zui merely scratched his head, looking utterly baffled. "Didn't he just speak a few truths? We really aren't familiar with Lin Congcong."

"Forget it, you don't need to understand." Bian Chunchou smiled. "Wen Xu, what happened to you these past few days? Why didn't you reply to any of the message talismans?"

Before Wen Xu could speak, Chen Zui spoke first. "He advanced."

Bian Chunchou: "OvO?"

"Seventh Layer of Qi Refining?" Chen Zui looked at Wen Xu, boundless competitive spirit already blazing in his heart.

Wen Xu nodded. "Mm. A few days ago, as my master put it, I had an epiphany."

Bian Chunchou:!!!!!!

As expected of my brother! He immediately offered his congratulations. "Congratulations, Wen Xu! You're so smart!"

Wen Xu pursed his lips slightly, yet the corners still could not help but curl up a little. "Thank you."

Chen Zui thought, What's there to thank him for? A real man should say: "Wen Xu, want to fight?"

Wen Xu: "..." This humble one is a scholar.

Cognition

Leaping from the Second Layer of Qi Refining to the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, Wen Xu honestly did not feel much. He had merely opened the Myriad Things Arise Art and understood the principle that wind could influence all things.

Then, he began to feel that Birth of Myriad Things, the originally obscure and difficult first level of the Myriad Things Arise Art, had suddenly become simple. It was like when he had taken the child examination: the examiner had handed him a provincial examination paper, and no matter how long he studied it, he could not find the answer. But after his epiphany, the examiner gave him the proper child examination paper, and naturally, he could take the examination smoothly.

Those seven days had felt, even to him, like no more than an instant. When he opened his eyes, he heard his master's voice, brimming with laughter. "Not bad. An epiphany on your first cultivation session, and you've reached the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining."

Only then did Wen Xu inspect his Dantian inwardly. Sure enough, there were five more Qi Seas within it, and every one of them had expanded considerably. He tried circulating the spiritual power in his body; compared to before, it flowed more smoothly by more than tenfold.

Joy immediately rose in his heart. "Thank you for your guidance, Master." He had taken another great step toward the Golden Core.

Cheng Wei smiled and waved a hand. "Easy, easy. But while your cultivation has risen quickly, your body's reactions have yet to catch up. Blades, spears, staves, axes—which do you like?"

Wen Xu considered it, then honestly shook his head. "This disciple has no particular preference."

Cheng Wei was a dragon who seemed unreliable, but those who truly knew him all understood that he was exceedingly meticulous. He was even only meticulous in the places where he believed he ought to be. For example, right now: many people on Yonglu Mountain, including quite a few high-ranking elders, believed he had only taken in a disciple because he was bored and wanted something to play with. As for how seriously he intended to teach him, that was open to question.

But in truth, he was quite a traditional dragon. Since he had accepted this reserved disciple, he inevitably had to pry open the little fellow's defenses. To him, that was rather interesting—and rather challenging. "Is that so? Ah Xu, can you tell your master about your experiences in the Mortal Realm?"

Wen Xu did not understand. "What does Master wish to know?"

"Hey, can't your master learn a little more about his only personal disciple? Your master is over a thousand years old, and I've only ever taken you as a disciple. It's my first time being someone's master, so I have to cross the river by feeling for stones. Shouldn't I ask?" Cheng Wei casually sat down on the ground. He also restrained his aura, making himself look exactly like an ordinary person.

At least, that was how he looked in the face-blind Wen Xu's eyes.

Wen Xu froze, then hurriedly waved his hands. "No, that isn't what this disciple meant. This disciple merely... doesn't know where to begin." Few people had ever been interested in his past.

This little fellow seemed terribly starved for affection. Cheng Wei rested his cheek on one hand and said casually, "Then start with... how you learned to read and write. Ah Xu, were you a scholar in the Mortal Realm?"

"How did Master know?"

"Mhm. Everyone says your master can see into people's hearts. You don't believe it?" As for the truth, although this little fellow possessed an Imperial Destiny, it had been suppressed too fiercely. Thus, some azure literary qi, formed through acquired effort, still lingered around his Destiny Pattern.

Wen Xu: I believed it before, but now I'm not so sure.

"Master is right. This disciple was indeed a scholar in the Mortal Realm."

"Did you earn any scholarly honors?"

"At eighteen, this disciple passed the provincial examination."

Whoa, my disciple is actually a star of literature. No wonder he grasped the Myriad Things Arise Art so quickly. Scholars actually had such an advantage in cultivating immortality? If word of this spread, quite a few shameless old fellows would probably sneak off to the Mortal Realm to seek out disciples to their liking.

"I heard that scholars in the Mortal Realm must be healthy and without any physical defects. You didn't pretend to be blind before?"

At this, Wen Xu was slightly embarrassed. "Mm."

"It must have been hard, right?" Cheng Wei thought about it. He had needed to keep up with his studies while concealing his unusual eyes, and the key was that he had succeeded quite well. Cheng Wei was beginning to admire his disciple's temperament.

Wen Xu instinctively wanted to deny it, but before he could speak, his master's voice sounded again. "Ah Xu, don't casually deny your own hardships and efforts. Deny them too often, and perhaps even you will overlook things that ought to have been valued."

Wen Xu froze, so much so that he forgot what he had meant to say.

"Alright, alright, your master won't chat with you any longer. Cultivation needs both tension and relaxation to last. Go play with your little friends. If you don't go out soon, there won't even be room to set foot among the message talismans on the gate."

Cheng Wei was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and turned back. "I almost forgot. Since you have no preference, start with sword practice. Don't restrict yourself to any particular moves; go choose for yourself in the Scripture Repository Tower. Your master doesn't have any low-level sword arts."

Wen Xu: ...Master truly comes and goes like the wind.