Chapter 2

The Su Family was one of Peace City's four great Aristocratic Clans. In this little backwater, it counted as a local power, but compared with true cultivation clans, it had little to distinguish itself.

Su Jiu was a baby girl the Su Family Head and Madam Su had found in the woods while hunting six years earlier. Tiny Su Jiu had been wrapped in cotton leaves. At the sight of her, Madam Su had thought of her own newborn daughter, and compassion had stirred in her heart. She had brought Su Jiu back to the Su Family, which had gained another Young Lady from that day onward.

Besides Su Jiu and Su Mianmian, the head of the Su Family had another daughter born of a concubine: Su Qingqing, the central figure in this incident. Su Qingqing's mother had been one of Madam Su's maids. She had used a few tricks while Madam Su was pregnant, resulting in Su Qingqing's birth.

When the maid became pregnant, the Su Family Head had not intended to keep the child in her womb. Madam Su had ultimately persuaded him otherwise, but the maid had died of severe hemorrhaging while giving birth to Su Qingqing.

As for whether it had been an accident, she had been only a maid. No one cared.

Last month, a group of little sprouts had gone to play at the foot of Great March Mountain. Su Qingqing had lost her footing and nearly fallen into a hunter's trap. At the critical moment, Su Jiu had caught her and pulled her up, but who could have guessed that a venomous snake lay coiled out of sight at the mouth of the pit? As Su Jiu hauled Su Qingqing up, the snake had bitten her, and she had immediately lost consciousness.

Afterward, Su Jiu had awakened, leading to that conversation among the little sprouts.

Over the next few days, quite a few people came to visit Su Jiu, one after another. Su Mianmian and Su Qingqing came most often.

The little girl, Su Qingqing, always arrived the instant Su Mianmian left. Su Jiu guessed Qingqing must have been hiding somewhere nearby to know exactly when Mianmian departed.

Clearly, Su Qingqing was terrified of this elder sister born to the principal wife.

Once Su Qingqing saw Su Mianmian leave, she slipped in quietly from behind the house, carrying a plate of pastries.

"Second Sister, hurry and eat. Today's Cloud Pear Cake is still a little warm. It hasn't cooled completely yet."

Su Qingqing gave a shy little smile. Her timing had been quite good today; she had not waited nearby for long before Su Mianmian left.

Su Jiu pinched her adorable little bun of a face and said, "Qingqing, Mianmian is actually very nice. She just has a sharp tongue."

Everyone said children should not suffer for their parents' wrongs, but few could truly live by that principle. Most people in the Su Family looked at Su Qingqing a little differently. Having lost her mother at birth, Su Qingqing was particularly sensitive to the attitudes of those around her. She could tell almost at a glance who treated her well and who did not.

"I know." She did understand that about Su Mianmian. Though Su Mianmian was fierce, she had never physically bullied her. Still, the sight of that fierce-looking Su Mianmian frightened her.

Half a month later, Su Jiu had fully recovered and resumed her daily training with her companions.

Su Jiu looked at the wooden sword in her hand, feeling as though a lifetime had passed.

None of the Su Family's successive heads had possessed particularly good aptitude. Those with good aptitude had all been taken away by the Azure Tide Sect.

Every ten years, the Azure Tide Sect came to Peace City to take disciples with spiritual roots back to the sect. Those without spiritual roots remained in the Su Household. Some with poor spiritual roots also chose to stay, either entering marriage alliances or becoming Lineage elders to train the next generation of disciples.

Peace City was a small place with no facilities for testing Spirit Roots, so they had to wait for the Azure Tide Sect to come recruit disciples before they could learn whether they possessed Spirit Roots and the aptitude to cultivate.

The head of the Su Lineage and its several elders, for instance, had mediocre aptitude. The Lineage head was somewhat better and had reached the great perfection of Qi Refining, while the elders were all stuck at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining.

Even the core cultivation method they practiced had been given to them by the Azure Tide Sect.

The head of the Su Lineage had once asked whether the Lineage's younger disciples could practice these core methods, but the Azure Tide Sect's representative had rejected the idea. Everyone's spiritual roots had different attributes, and the suitable core methods differed accordingly. What he had taught them was the most universal method, the Spirit Guiding Art, which could be practiced by those with any spiritual root. But for someone with truly outstanding spiritual roots, practicing the Spirit Guiding Art would be tantamount to wasting both time and aptitude.

A cultivator could practice countless techniques over a lifetime, but only one core cultivation method. Besides, they did not advocate letting children draw qi into their bodies at too young an age.

Thus, in Peace City, anyone whose Spirit Roots had not yet been tested only trained their body.

While the little sprouts underwent clan training in the square, the Lineage head and several elders were holding a rather important meeting in the main hall.

"The Azure Tide Sect will send people to test Spirit Roots this July."

The elder seated at the far right, dressed in purple Daoist robes, looked startled. "How can that be? Isn't next year the tenth year?"

His little grandson was five this year, but the Azure Tide Sect only tested children aged six and above, because Spirit Roots had not fully developed before the age of six.

Cultivators could only begin cultivating once their Spirit Roots had fully developed. Starting too early carried a considerable risk of damaging them. It was like filling a cup with very thin walls: once enough liquid accumulated, the cup would break. Yet a cup's walls could be repaired, while Spirit Roots could not.

The head of the Su Lineage did not know why the Azure Tide Sect was recruiting early, either. After all, the Su Lineage was merely one of the sect's affiliated Lineages and could not possibly know everything concerning it.

Another elder said, "Could the other three clans know the reason? If recruitment in Peace City is starting a year early, it should be the same for all three of them."

The Su Family Head shook his head. "I sent Ah Si to ask. They've all only just received the news."

"What a pity. Those five-year-olds in the Lineage will have to wait another ten years." The black-robed Daoist stroked his beard, his manner carrying an indescribable air of gloating.

The purple-robed Daoist flung his long sleeve and stormed out.

The purple-robed and black-robed Daoists had been at odds since their youth, constantly chasing each other's cultivation progress. They had even reached the eighth level of Qi Refining at almost the same time. Knowing they had probably reached the limit of their own advancement, they had begun comparing grandsons instead.

The black-robed Daoist's grandson was now four, while the purple-robed Daoist's grandson was five. The purple-robed Daoist had assumed his grandson would enter the Azure Tide Sect next year and begin cultivating ten years before the black-robed Daoist's grandson. He had never expected the Azure Tide Sect to make such a dramatic move and recruit early.

The Su Family Head had always left these two senior elders to their own devices. Neither was young anymore, and however much they squabbled, they would not cause the Su Family any trouble, so he let them be.

The next day, the Su Family Head announced the news to the little sprouts. The children aged six and above erupted with excitement. Entering the sect a year earlier meant they could begin learning more things a year sooner.

Su Mianmian's eyes sparkled as she shook Su Jiu's arm. "A Jiu, A Jiu, did you hear? We can enter the sect this year!"

Su Jiu sighed. "How do you know we even have a Spirit Root?"

Doused with this basin of cold water, Su Mianmian calmed down considerably, though she still looked utterly proud. "Of course I have a Spirit Root. Does that even need thinking about?"

Dressed in red, with a whip coiled twice at her waist, her long ponytail swished behind her head. With those large almond-shaped eyes, it was easy to see that she would grow into a beauty. For now, though, she was still young, and the baby fat had yet to fade from her face, lending her an extra touch of lively charm.

Su Jiu smiled and shook her head. She had never paid close attention in her previous life. So Su Mianmian had been this adorable as a child.