[The door closed.]
[You sat on the edge of the bed, holding the pair of cotton shoes, and stared blankly for a long time.]
[You knew Nanny had a way, but as you looked at the cotton shoes in your arms, you suddenly felt a little reluctant to leave.]
[Nanny's craftsmanship was excellent. The soles were stitched densely and firmly, the stitches so fine they were almost invisible. Two little flowers were embroidered on the insoles, too. They were very pretty.]
[At midnight near the end of the month, you followed Chen San out of the estate. The whole process was no different from last time, only a full eleven years earlier.]
[This time, as you looked at the dark water, not a trace of uncertainty remained in your heart. Before disaster struck, you would definitely go back and save Nanny, even if this was only a simulation.]
[The boat stopped at Liu Family Ferry again, and you went ashore.]
[This time, you neither stayed at an inn nor lingered at Liu Family Ferry. You picked a direction and walked, asking about nearby immortal sects along the way.]
[These immortal sects stood within the territory of Great Xia. Though called immortal sects, they actually had only martial artists within their ranks. The better sect leaders were in the Xiantian Realm, while the lesser ones were only in the late Houtian Realm. But to you, they were already existences far beyond your reach.]
[After asking around, you learned that the closest was the Green Bamboo Sect.]
[Without another word, you asked for directions and hurried toward the Green Bamboo Sect.]
[You encountered two groups of highway robbers along the way and casually dealt with them both. You discovered that since becoming a Houtian Martial Artist, these bandits looked little different from ants to you. This was not arrogance: one casual punch really did finish them off.]
[It was not just your Fists as Big as Sandbags doing the work. You discovered that the power of the Changfeng Fist far exceeded your imagination, too. You had already been quite strong before completing your Spiritual Energy body tempering, let alone now.]
[Liu Daye really had not cheated you. The Changfeng Fist truly deserved the system's rating as a Mid-Grade Mortal Rank martial skill!]
[On the evening of the seventh day, you finally reached the foot of Green Bamboo Mountain.]
[The mountain was not tall, only two or three hundred zhang. A small village lay at its foot, inhabited mostly by woodcutters who went up the mountain to gather firewood. You found an old woodcutter and asked for directions. He raised a hand and pointed halfway up the mountain. "Go up. Once you see a bamboo grove, you're there."]
[You thanked him and started up the mountain.]
[The mountain path was easy to walk. Clearly, someone maintained it regularly.]
[After you had walked for just under half an hour, the view suddenly opened up before you, revealing a lush green bamboo grove. Several wooden houses were faintly visible deep within it. Just as you approached the grove, a figure suddenly flashed out and blocked your path. "Stop! Who are you?"]
[You looked up. It was a young man in his twenties, dressed in a bluish-gray robe. He gripped a longsword and watched you warily.]
[You cupped your hands. "Jiang Mi, a rogue cultivator. I seek to join the Green Bamboo Sect!"]
[The young man looked you up and down. "A rogue cultivator? What realm?"]
["First level of the Acquired realm."]
["First level of the Acquired realm? That'll do. How old are you?"]
[You answered honestly, "Nineteen."]
[The young man's eyes lit up, his delight immediately spilling across his face. "Master! My junior sister is here!"]
[You: "???"]
[Junior sister? What was going on?]
[Before you could react, an elder with snow-white hair and beard floated out from deep within the bamboo grove.]
[Your pupils contracted. This person was definitely an expert in the Late Houtian Stage, or even the Xiantian Realm! You did not know exactly which level, but you knew she was the leader of the Green Bamboo Sect!]
[The sect leader landed before you and stared at you with burning eyes, looking you up and down several times, as though she were examining some rare treasure.]
["Nineteen, first level of the Acquired realm, a rogue cultivator?" she asked.]
[You nodded.]
[The sect leader asked again, "You really are a rogue cultivator? You've never taken a master? Never joined another sect?"]
[Her gaze made you a little uneasy, but you still nodded honestly. "No. I practiced on my own."]
[The sect leader suddenly threw back her head and laughed, her laughter shaking the bamboo grove into a rustling chorus. "Good! Good! Good!"]
[She said "good" three times in a row, smiling until even the wrinkles on her face smoothed out, then seized your wrist.]
["Your root bone may be a little poor, but at this age, with this cultivation, and as a rogue cultivator-what does that tell us? It tells us you're steadfast and resilient, an exceptional talent!" The sect leader's eyes shone frighteningly bright. "A hundred years since its founding, my Green Bamboo Sect has finally found a promising seedling!"]
[Her enthusiasm left you somewhat at a loss. All you could do was nod with an awkward laugh.]
[The young man sidled over and introduced himself with a grin. "I'm Qing Yun, your eldest senior brother. There are only four of us in the sect: Master, me, you, and a second senior brother who went down the mountain to gain experience. He'll be back in a few days. From now on, you're our junior sister!"]
[You: "...Three?"]
[You suddenly had an ominous premonition.]
[As it turned out, your premonition was correct.]
[The Green Bamboo Sect was indeed an immortal sect, and it did indeed have a Xiantian Realm sect leader presiding over it. But apart from that, it had nothing. No cultivation manual pavilion, no pill room, no spirit fields, not even a decent training ground. There was a shelf of books in the sect leader's wooden house, but they were all storybooks, completely useless for cultivation.]
["What about cultivation methods?" you asked.]
[Qing Yun scratched his head. "Master said we have to comprehend cultivation methods ourselves. If we figure them out, they're ours. If we can't, we won't achieve anything by following someone else's, either."]
[You fell silent.]
[That sounded very reasonable, but you kept feeling that something was wrong.]
[You felt as though you had entered another wolves' den. Had you known it would be like this, you would have been better off hunting down a few more cultivation manuals at Gathered Worthies Manor. Their quality might have been poor, but at least you would have had something to practice.]
[But since you were already here, you felt too embarrassed to turn around and leave.]
[The next day, you discovered you had been wrong.]
[The sect leader summoned you to her wooden house and dragged a dust-covered wooden chest out from under the bed. She opened it to reveal a dozen or so booklets neatly stacked inside.]
["Pick one." The sect leader swept her hand grandly, her heroic spirit soaring to the clouds.]
[You froze. "Didn't you say we had to comprehend cultivation methods ourselves?"]
[The sect leader rolled her eyes. "That was for them. You're different."]
["Your eldest senior brother spends every day climbing trees to catch birds, pestering cats and teasing dogs. He's thirty-two this year and only at the second level of the Acquired realm. Your second senior brother thinks of nothing but going down the mountain. Apart from eating, drinking, amusing himself, and spending money, he knows nothing. He's twenty-seven and only at the first level of the Acquired realm.
"Although your natural talents aren't very different, you're willing to work hard and cultivate, and you have perseverance. You've already reached the first level of the Acquired realm at such a young age. Your future achievements certainly won't be small. If I didn't bring out the Green Bamboo Sect's cultivation methods, I'd be letting down our ancestors beneath the Nine Springs!"]
[The sect leader stuffed the most tattered booklet into your hands. "Take it. This is what I used when I was young. It may not be anything brilliant, but it's certainly better than the things you've dug up outside."]
[You lowered your head and saw three crookedly written characters on the cover: "Qi Guiding Art."]
[You fell silent.]
Before you continue