Chapter 49

As Su Jiu bought a talisman brush at a stall, she suddenly noticed several Inner Gate Disciples of the Azure Tide Sect coming out of a nearby shop and walking straight past her.

"True Person Yi Xiu really got hurt?" The girl's voice sounded disbelieving.

One of the female cultivators looked regretful. "Hurt? Her injuries were terribly severe. They say she'll be stuck at Golden Core for the rest of her life."

"She's lucky she managed to preserve her golden core at all. Senior Sister said there are cracks in it."

"As someone with five spirit roots, True Person Yi Xiu had such a hard time reaching Golden Core. Who would have thought she'd suffer a calamity like this?"

"And apparently, she only has twenty years of her lifespan left." That alone ruled out any possibility of shattering her core and cultivating anew.

"What a shame, that high-quality Five Elements Cultivation Method..."

The disciples had already gone some distance, and the rest of their words drifted in and out of earshot, indistinct. Su Jiu dared not probe these Foundation Establishment cultivators with her divine sense. If they caught her, she would certainly get a beating.

"Little immortal? Little immortal? Are you still buying this talisman brush and demon beast blood?"

Only then did Su Jiu realize she had been standing at the stall for a long time, holding that bottle of demon beast blood.

She picked up a talisman brush she had taken a liking to, handed the spirit stones to the stallholder, and turned to leave.

When that female cultivator mentioned a cultivation method, Su Jiu had fallen into a momentary daze. In her previous life, she had begun practicing the Water-Wisdom Cultivation Method personally taught to her by Ning Hai when she reached the third level of Qi Refining. It was paired with the Water-Wisdom Sword Art. In this life, however, because she had entered the Outer Gate, she had yet to encounter a cultivation method she could practice.

Mian Mian, Jin Chen, and the others had probably all begun practicing cultivation methods already. Only she was still accumulating her Cultivation Level through meditation alone.

Su Jiu claimed she did not care, but in the end, she still found it hard to swallow.

Perhaps the Heavenly Dao had finally heard her plea.

Early one morning, Xia Meng pounded hard on Su Jiu's door.

When Su Jiu opened it, she saw Xia Meng's excited face. Several others stood behind Xia Meng with smiles on their faces. Clearly, something good had happened.

"Su Jiu, come on!" Without waiting for Su Jiu's response, Xia Meng grabbed her and pulled her outside.

Su Jiu still looked puzzled even after Xia Meng dragged her out the door.

"What happened?" The hand pulling Su Jiu's arm finally paused.

Xia Meng widened her almond-shaped eyes. "Su Jiu, don't tell me you still haven't heard?"

"What should I have heard?"

"True Person Yi Xiu is going to choose ten people from the Outer Gate to teach her cultivation method!"

Still bewildered, Su Jiu followed Xia Meng and the others to the Outer Gate Hall, only to find it already packed with people. Standing in the center was a female cultivator dressed in white robes edged with blue embroidery.

The female cultivator looked around thirty, with an excellent bearing and refined manners. A faint smile rested on her face, but it did not reach her eyes. What lay there instead was despair, though she concealed it very well.

The female cultivator infused her voice with spiritual energy so that all the surrounding Outer Gate disciples could hear her.

"My name is Yi Xiu. You may address me as True Person Yi Xiu. As you should all know, my journey along the path of cultivation has all but reached its end."

The somewhat noisy crowd below fell silent at once.

"The year I reached Foundation Establishment, I was fortunate enough to obtain an attribute-less, superior-grade cultivation method. It was this method that later caused my Cultivation Level to surge, allowing me to form my golden core in one fell swoop."

"Today, I will hold a trial here and select ten Outer Gate disciples to inherit my cultivation method."

Attribute-less. A superior-grade cultivation method.

Those few words stirred towering waves in almost everyone's heart.

After all, even many Inner Gate Disciples practiced only low-grade cultivation methods. Where could so many superior-grade cultivation methods possibly come from? Almost anyone who could practice one would go very far along the path of cultivation.

Immediately afterward, Su Jiu saw True Person Yi Xiu take out a formation disk. She tossed it upward, and it expanded without limit.

When everyone came to their senses again, they found themselves in a boundless Rocky Wasteland.

Yi Xiu's voice came from every direction. "The first ten to leave the Rocky Wasteland will inherit my Five Elements Cultivation Method."

In her previous life, Su Jiu had gained some understanding of various formations. Although she had never studied them deliberately, she could still break simple ones.

Thus, before long, a small figure appeared in the otherwise empty hall.

The peak masters and elders gathered before the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror in the Heavenly Origin Hall were astonished.

Luo Cang closed his fan and narrowed his eyes at the little girl in the mirror. "She understands formations," he said with certainty.

"How is that possible? Formations aren't as simple as drawing talismans, refining pills, or forging artifacts. Besides, this Rocky Wasteland Formation is a third-tier formation!"

"Seventh, what do you mean by that? Since when was artifact forging simple?"

"Drawing talismans isn't simple either, all right? With your complete lack of talent, why don't you try drawing one?"

"How is pill refining simple? Easy for you to talk when your own back isn't aching from the work."

The Seventh Elder's single remark nearly set the hall erupting into an argument. In the end, Luo Cang steered the conversation back on course.

"Formations don't have requirements as stringent as talisman drawing, pill refining, or artifact forging. With talent and sufficient spiritual energy, even a Qi Refining cultivator can inscribe a second-tier formation. Conversely, without talent, even someone at the Spirit Severing Stage cannot inscribe a first-tier formation."

"This little girl is rather interesting. She emerged from a third-tier formation without even looking disheveled. Other than an understanding of formations, I can think of no explanation."

What he did not say was that there was, of course, another kind of person: those who did not inscribe formations, but specialized in learning how to break them. Yet once someone understood how to break formations, inscribing those formations would become considerably easier as well.

Yi Xiu clearly had not expected the first person to appear before her to be a little girl. She frowned, and after a brief moment of thought, more or less concluded that Su Jiu probably already understood the art of formations thoroughly.

She had activated the Rocky Wasteland Formation to test these disciples' character, not their ability to break formations. Su Jiu clearly no longer fell within the scope of that test.

"Go back," Yi Xiu said flatly.

Clearly, she meant that Su Jiu had failed.

Su Jiu paused. "Forgive my impertinence, Senior, but may I ask why?"

Impatience showed on Yi Xiu's face. It had been a long time since anyone with a lower Cultivation Level than hers had questioned her like this. "I do not teach people who take clever shortcuts."

Su Jiu felt a surge of resentment, but forcibly suppressed it. "May I ask, Senior, how breaking a formation properly makes me someone who takes clever shortcuts?"

Yi Xiu narrowed her eyes and began sizing up the small figure before her. "I set up the formation to assess your character, not for you to break it. You came straight out by breaking the formation. If that isn't taking a clever shortcut, what is?"

Su Jiu froze and pressed her lips together. How could she have known Yi Xiu had such a purpose in mind? "Then why did you say before the trial began that the first to leave the Rocky Wasteland would win? You never stipulated that we could not break the formation to leave it."

Yi Xiu was already growing angry. "You're questioning me? What right does a mere Qi Refining disciple like you have to question me? If I don't want to teach someone, then I don't want to teach them. And you are someone I simply do not want to teach."

Then Yi Xiu took a deep breath and sneered. "Besides, a disciple with your disposition surely won't get very far. Better not waste my superior-grade cultivation method."

With a sweep of her sleeve, Yi Xiu sent Su Jiu flying out the door. That sweep carried Yi Xiu's wood spiritual energy, striking Su Jiu so hard that she coughed up a mouthful of blood.