Neither Jiang Xuan nor anyone else in the courtyard knew of the mother and daughter's appraisal and weighing of him.
After taking the pills and finishing his spiritual meal, he slept soundly through the night with the Azure Glaze Sword in his arms.
The next day, Jiang Xuan's routine was no different from usual.
He rose at the first break of dawn, first sweeping clean his tiny "Daoist temple" and earning a dozen or so points of Daoist Acolyte profession experience. Then he meticulously maintained the Azure Glaze Sword and recited the Three Divine Incantations with the sword in hand.
By the time he had finished all this, it was nearly time for morning lessons, so he rose and headed for the training grounds.
Then, still in that secluded corner, he completed the fasting and purification rites in sequence: cleansing his clothes, cleansing his body, cleansing his hands, cleansing his mouth, and cleansing his heart.
Once his mind was clear and his body free of dust, he ran his fingertips inch by inch over the Azure Glaze Sword's blade, establishing an even deeper connection with it.
Only after everything was done did he enter meditation to cultivate.
That morning, Jiang Xuan no longer fixated on opening a single Aperture. Beginning with liver wood, he circulated through Heart Fire, spleen earth, lung metal, and kidney water, completing an entire cycle through the five organs and five elements. In each organ, he successfully opened one Aperture.
Five organs, five Apertures. The five-element origin qi circulated without end, and by the time he completed a full cycle, noon was already drawing near.
Yet after finishing his cultivation, he did not immediately open his eyes.
The five organs, five Apertures, and Five-Organ Origin Qi gave Jiang Xuan a sudden realization.
"My One-Qi Sword can try to transform into the Innate One-Qi Sword!"
Before cultivating, Jiang Xuan had taken the pills and spiritual pastry Dong Hao had given him. Their gentle medicinal power had long since seeped through his limbs and bones, so even after opening five Apertures, he still had strength left within him.
Seeing this, Jiang Xuan no longer hesitated and began attempting to use the One-Qi Sword as a foundation to fuse the Five-Organ Origin Qi.
For his first attempt, Jiang Xuan took the heart as his core.
"The heart is the sovereign official, the root of life, the great ruler of the five organs and six bowels... And the heart belongs to fire; flames can melt all things..."
With that thought in mind, he drew a strand of origin qi from each of the other four organs and poured them all into his heart, intending to use it as a pill furnace to smelt the five elements and forge innate one-qi.
Boom!
After one round of experimentation, Jiang Xuan... failed.
Whether the heat was wrong or the proportions had gone awry, the power of the five elements did not fuse within Jiang Xuan's heart. Instead, it nearly exploded.
Fortunately, with the Clearheart Mirror, Jiang Xuan's control over his own body was extraordinarily precise.
The instant he sensed something was wrong, he opened his mouth and directly expelled that chaotic spiritual power from his body.
"That was close."
Still, after that incident, Jiang Xuan no longer dared to experiment recklessly.
"Phew... I can't rush this."
"My cultivation is still shallow, and my foundation is unsteady. I can't afford to delay the Hundred-Day Grand Examination, either."
"Once I successfully enter the Dao-Bearing Class, open all the Apertures in my five organs, and stabilize my foundation, it won't be too late to deduce and experiment further."
Having abandoned the fusion of the Innate One-Qi Sword, Jiang Xuan's morning cultivation was completely over.
Just as yesterday, Dong Hao came again as soon as noon arrived, inviting Jiang Xuan to have lunch with him.
Jiang Xuan did not refuse, but for the sake of peace and quiet, he suggested eating in the back.
The suggestion made Dong Hao pause for a moment before he immediately nodded with a smile. "Of course."
The moment the words left his mouth, he seemed to remember something. A trace of chagrin appeared on his face as he cupped his hands toward Jiang Xuan in apology. "Sorry, Brother Jiang. I failed to think things through yesterday. You were still weak at the time; I shouldn't have insisted on dragging you to the front."
"It's nothing."
Jiang Xuan's actions and response seemed perfectly normal to him, but to others, they painted an entirely different picture.
Cheng Xiu, who had already thrown his lot in with Jiang Xuan, helplessly smacked his forehead.
Su Linyin and Zhou Lin, who were walking over, both halted at the same time. An indescribable look of speechlessness appeared on both women's faces.
Does he really think he can stand on equal footing with Dong Hao?!
He found eating in the front troublesome, so he suggested eating in the back. Dong Hao took the initiative to apologize, and he accepted it as a matter of course... Such a way of getting along would have been perfectly ordinary between friends in his previous life.
But this was not his previous life. This world emphasized proper rank and order, distinctions between high and low, and above all, that thunder and rain alike were the sovereign's grace.
And in everyone's eyes, Jiang Xuan was the lower-ranking party who had been recruited.
Thus, in the eyes of Cheng Xiu, Nan Zhi, and Zhou Lin, Jiang Xuan should not have presumptuously made any suggestions, much less directly accepted Dong Hao's apology.
This counted as overstepping his station.
Sure enough, my judgment wasn't wrong. Jiang Xuan is far too arrogant. Naturally, those were Su Linyin's thoughts.
After thinking that, even the way she looked at Dong Hao carried a hint of pity. Trying to take someone like him for yourself? You've got plenty of headaches ahead of you.
Though Su Linyin secretly felt that Jiang Xuan was excessively arrogant, and even took some pleasure in Dong Hao's misfortune, she did not reveal any of it outwardly.
When she drew near, she even curved her lips at Jiang Xuan and gave him a gentle, proper smile. "Jiang Xuan, it's been a long time."
"Hm?" Before Jiang Xuan could say anything in response, Dong Hao raised a brow and looked at the two of them in surprise. "You know each other?"
"Of course we do." Su Linyin answered softly. "Our two households have long been acquainted, and we are still in contact to this day. Just yesterday, I spoke with Aunt Yue Rong."
"Aunt Yue Rong even specifically told us to look after one another at the Daoist Academy." At this point, she first cast Dong Hao a meaningful glance before turning to Jiang Xuan with a soft smile. "Still, it couldn't be better that you've teamed up with Young Master Dong. I have long heard that Young Master Dong handles matters steadily. With him looking after you, Aunt Yue Rong can rest easy as well."
As soon as she finished speaking, Dong Hao immediately grasped the meaning behind her words. Jiang Xuan's background had always been connected to the Su Household. Though he did not know why Jiang Xuan had not joined the Su Household, the Su Household clearly still had private ties with Jiang Xuan's mother.
At the same time, he understood why Su Linyin had come over—she was openly telling him that Jiang Xuan was talent she had yielded to him, and that he owed her a favor.
After learning this, Dong Hao felt neither anger nor guilt over owing anyone a favor. Only one feeling remained in his heart—astonishment.
He truly could not understand how the Su Household could bear to give up such an uncut jade of a sword cultivator, someone who had achieved Unity of Man and Sword in only a single day.
"Is Jiang Xuan's temperament too flawed for him to be worth cultivating, or... is the Su Household blind, unable to recognize this hidden-edged jade?"
In truth, neither guess was correct. The reason the Su Household had failed to notice before was that Jiang Xuan had possessed no talent for sword cultivation at all before becoming a Clear-Heart Sword Disciple!
Moreover, the Su Household's years of contact with Jiang Xuan had caused them to fall into habitual thinking.
They simply did not believe Jiang Xuan possessed any unusual ability. That was also why Su Linyin could so easily "yield" Jiang Xuan to Dong Hao, and why she felt pity for him.
"Never mind. Whatever the reason, since you were blind-eyed and failed to recognize this talent, Jiang Xuan will be taken in by this young master."
Though countless thoughts swirled through his mind, Dong Hao did not reveal a thing on the surface.
"Hahaha, then I must thank Miss Su for helping smooth things over. Brother Jiang and I hit it off at first sight. I very much want to team up with him and face the grand examination a hundred days from now together..."
As he chatted and laughed, Dong Hao signaled for Nan Zhi, who had accompanied him, to lay out the dining cloth and arrange the food boxes. He then naturally invited Su Linyin to sit and eat with them.
Su Linyin readily agreed.
During the meal, she brought up Jiang Quan's matter with a hint of sorrow in her voice, and in the name of offering condolences, left several bottles of pills for Jiang Xuan.
—No matter what schemes they each harbored in their hearts, as the direct heirs painstakingly nurtured by their Lineages, Dong Hao and Su Linyin's outward conduct was flawless and watertight.
Jiang Xuan... accepted the pills as well.
For one thing, he had use for such things in his cultivation right now. For another, he had no desire to stir up complications at such a critical juncture.
If I refuse to accept them, the Su Household may instead think I bear resentment toward them. That would be more likely to invite trouble, which would hardly be ideal.
Thus, Jiang Xuan ate the meal without a ripple of emotion, while Su Linyin and Dong Hao each harbored their own thoughts. Their verbal sparring never ceased, and undercurrents surged throughout the meal.
After the two departed, they spoke privately for a while longer and reached an unspoken agreement.
After the two left, Cheng Xiu wore another expression of wanting to speak but holding back.
He dearly wanted to teach Jiang Xuan about the duties of a subordinate, as well as the ways of the world among lower-class cultivators.
His behavior carried something of the air of an eunuch worrying while the emperor was not, but while everyone else knew only how to envy Jiang Xuan, he alone had noticed that Jiang Xuan must possess talent. He had made up his mind and voluntarily attached himself to Jiang Xuan, who had "nothing at all." That in itself showed he had a sharp mind.
Because of this, he could clearly recognize that his honor, disgrace, and future all rested upon Jiang Xuan.
And he understood even more clearly that he had absolutely no possibility of switching his allegiance to Dong Hao—he did not think there was anything about him that could attract Dong Hao's interest, any talent or shining point.
Since his prospects and future were tied entirely to Jiang Xuan, he sincerely hoped Jiang Xuan would have smooth sailing in all things and not make the slightest mistake.
Unfortunately, in his understanding, Jiang Xuan was the lower-ranking party before Dong Hao, and he was the lower-ranking party before Jiang Xuan as well.
After Jiang Xuan made it clear that he did not want unnecessary interference, Cheng Xiu did not dare remind him again and again.
In truth, Jiang Xuan had no need for his reminders.
Though Jiang Xuan had not fully analyzed the calculations and schemes of those around him, he understood some of them.
But he understood one thing even more clearly: for truly capable children of Aristocratic Clans, a respectful attitude had never been essential. Nor could respect win respect; they would only take it for granted—after all, they had already seen countless servants who were deferential to the extreme.
"The true reason I can establish myself in this world, and why Dong Hao values and seeks to recruit me, has always been only my cultivation, my potential, and the value I can bring them!"
"As long as that core competitiveness remains, what does it matter if I am a little more aloof?"
Geniuses naturally possessed the privilege of being aloof.