Human Body Diagrams

The so-called Instruction Platform was merely a plaza atop the mountain, with many meditation cushions laid out across it. The disciples sat on the cushions and listened to the Hall of Skill Transmission's stewards explain the path of cultivation.

By the time Zhou Qing arrived, more than half the people were already there.

The other disciples were just as excited as he was. Many had feared oversleeping and missing the appointed time, so they had simply stayed awake all night and climbed the mountain in the dark.

Now, the disciples were gathered in little groups of three or five, chatting amongst themselves.

At a glance, Zhou Qing could tell that the atmosphere among the disciples on the Instruction Platform was somewhat tense.

They had clearly divided into factions.

The largest faction centered around Wei Kuang. More than twenty people clustered around him, their expressions proud as they looked over the others with faint disdain.

These people were all second- and third-generation members of the Azure Cloud Sect in one way or another. Many had previously accompanied their elders to visit the Azure Cloud Sect, while some had simply grown up within the sect.

Although the sect had rules forbidding the private transmission of its cultivation arts, they had absorbed knowledge of cultivation from childhood through constant exposure.

For those with especially favorable circumstances, their elders had long since selected cultivation methods compatible with the Azure Cloud Sect's arts and had them lay their foundations early, allowing them to stand out among the disciples and receive stronger support from the sect.

Thus, when facing disciples chosen from the mortal world, they possessed an innate pride.

Aside from Wei Kuang's faction, the other large faction was the Cloud Prefecture City faction, naturally led by Wei Xu.

Yesterday, Wei Xu had visited each disciple from Cloud Prefecture City one by one, explaining the stakes to them and asking them to support him as Senior Apprentice.

The disciples from Cloud Prefecture City had already forged close bonds during their journey, so his efforts at persuasion met with little difficulty.

Neither faction was willing to sit near the other, leaving a walkway between them.

Wei Kuang, in particular, glared at Wei Xu with a dark expression, his eyes seeming ready to devour someone.

When he had gone to see Wei Xu yesterday, aside from wanting to inquire about Zhou Qing, he had also intended to win him over. Yet not only had he failed to recruit him, he had instead made an enemy for himself.

This left him so stifled that his gaze naturally brimmed with anger.

Wei Xu, however, remained entirely composed.

In his view, the position of Senior Apprentice did not naturally belong to Wei Kuang. Since it concerned his personal path of cultivation, of course he had to contend for it. So long as he did not resort to underhanded methods, his conscience would remain clear.

Apart from these two factions, there were another twenty-odd people sitting scattered about.

They too were disciples chosen from among mortals, but unlike Wei Xu and Wei Kuang, no one among them possessed both the ambition and the initiative to organize them. Thus, they had formed no inclination and were watching from between the two factions.

Zhou Qing saw the situation clearly in an instant and could not help shaking his head with an amused smile.

This struggle for the position of Senior Apprentice was really being treated as a matter of grave importance.

"Brother Zhou Qing, over here!"

Wang Xiaohu waved his plump arm at him, patting the meditation cushion beside him at the same time.

It had clearly been saved especially for him.

This cushion was close to the lectern of the skill-transmitting steward at the front, a good spot for listening to the lecture.

Zhou Qing suddenly felt as though he were saving seats back in university, and he smiled knowingly.

He walked over and sat down. Wang Xiaohu was on his left, Wei Xu on his right, and Nie Yunxi sat to Wei Xu's right.

The companions from Cloud Prefecture City also sat before and behind them, and they all leaned over to greet him.

Zhou Qing smiled and returned their greetings one by one. When he saw Nie Yunxi, he suddenly recalled the rumor Carpenter Wang had once mentioned.

Before his mind could even turn it over, his nose had already unconsciously sniffed forward. At once, a cold, sweet fragrance washed over him.

Nie Yunxi's willow-leaf brows shot up. "Fine rouge and powder."

Zhou Qing found this strange and asked, "How did you know?"

Nie Yunxi pointed at Wang Xiaohu. "Why don't you take a closer look at your good brother?"

Zhou Qing turned his head in confusion and discovered a faint red mark on Wang Xiaohu's right cheek. It looked like the imprint of a palm—one that was small and slender.

Unable to hold back his laughter, Wei Xu said, "Brother Wang must have run into some misfortune. When he saw Miss Nie just now, he suddenly leaned right up to her to sniff her fragrance, and Miss Nie taught him a lesson."

Nie Yunxi said, "I was wondering why he suddenly started acting so frivolously. So he learned it from you."

Zhou Qing said unhappily, "That makes no sense at all. He was the one who acted rudely first, so how could you say he learned it from me? Do I look like a frivolous man?"

Nie Yunxi chuckled. "Hard to say."

Hearing everyone tease him about his embarrassing mishap, Wang Xiaohu quickly changed the subject. "Stop talking about it. It's all my father's fault."

He then recounted the rumor Carpenter Wang had told him about Miss Nie.

Nearly everyone from Cloud Prefecture City had heard this rumor before. After Wang Xiaohu brought it up, they all could not help turning their eyes toward Nie Yunxi, making her blush instead.

Her jade-like face flushed crimson, adding seven parts more charm to her beauty, and everyone stared in a daze.

Nie Yunxi gave a dry cough and said, "I wonder what kind of person the senior who will lecture on the Dao later is. What if we can't understand?"

When she shifted the topic to cultivation, everyone grew serious as well.

This was something they all worried about.

It was their first time coming into contact with cultivation, and they knew absolutely nothing about how to cultivate.

Forget knowledge of cultivation—even many of them could not read.

Now that they were suddenly about to enter a new and incomparably mysterious field, they all felt uneasy deep down.

Zhou Qing smiled. "When the Azure Cloud Sect accepts disciples, it only tests spiritual roots and nothing else. That shows they are confident they can teach the path of cultivation to people who know nothing at all about it."

"So there is no need for everyone to worry. If we cannot understand the lecture later, I imagine it will not be our problem, but the lecturer's. The lecturer ought to be worried that we will go complain to the sect elders."

His lighthearted and amusing words immediately eased everyone's anxious hearts.

"Who wants to complain to the sect elders?"

A familiar voice came from behind them.

Everyone was startled. They hurriedly turned around and found Chen Qingxuan striding over with an easy, unrestrained bearing.

Only then did they realize that the person responsible for explaining the path of cultivation to them was Chen Qingxuan.

Everyone had a good impression of Chen Qingxuan, and they immediately cried out in delight, "Uncle Chen, why is it you?"

Chen Qingxuan smiled. "Why can't it be me? I am also a steward of the Hall of Skill Transmission."

"Zhou Qing, was it you who wanted to complain to the sect?"

Zhou Qing also deeply regretted having been so rash just now. He hurriedly said, "This junior was only joking. Please do not take offense, Uncle Chen."

"Joking about your uncle? Be careful, or I'll mark down a demerit for you."

Chen Qingxuan smiled and shook his head before walking straight up to the lectern at the front.

He took his seat upon the platform, formed a hand seal with his right hand, and swept it through the air. Streams of light immediately flowed from between his fingers, forming two illustrations in midair.

They were anatomical diagrams of a man and a woman, marked with the body's major meridians and acupoints. The male and female bodies were largely the same, differing only in certain subtle details.

The two diagrams were lifelike, no different from real people, and the disciples all blushed furiously at the sight.

Only the disciples from Cloud Prefecture City had celebrated wildly for three days before setting out, and matters between men and women no longer seemed quite so novel to them. Though they were still unaccustomed to viewing anatomical diagrams in full public view, they felt only slightly awkward before quickly focusing their attention on the diagrams.