I Was Wrong About You

Liu S sui left the cliff terrace, heading into Various Peaks, and never returned.

The last image he left behind was his small face, slightly flushed with anger, and his eyes, brimming with tears at having to part.

The only person who saw this was Jing Jiu, but he soon forgot the image as well.

Just as he had told Liu S sui, the Great Dao stretched endlessly ahead. No one could remember everything in the past, nor did they need to.

From that perspective, he truly was a born cultivator.

After Liu S sui left, Jing Jiu continued to live the same way, except that he now had to make his own bed and fold his own bedding. The courtyard felt rather quiet and deserted, and it took him a few days to grow accustomed to it again.

During this time, the Outer-Sect Disciples' sneers and jibes at him began to multiply again across the cliff terrace.

Liu S sui had entered the inner sect, while he was still idling here. Anyone would have found it an embarrassing situation.

Jing Jiu felt nothing much about it, however. He remained in his little courtyard, silently placing sand into that porcelain dish, just two or three grains a day.

It was not that he was good at enduring things. He simply did not care.

But Master Lü could not hold back, and came to the little courtyard again one night.

He carefully examined Jing Jiu with his sword sense and found that there was still no Dao Seed in his body. He could not help feeling deeply disappointed.

Without a Dao Seed, the meridians would not grow. How could he absorb the primordial energy of heaven and earth?

Without True Essence, how could the Dao Seed become a towering tree and bear Sword Fruit?

By now, he was certain that Jing Jiu was not a disciple taken on early by a senior from one of the peaks.

Jing Jiu could guide his fellow disciples in cultivation entirely because his knowledge and comprehension were extraordinarily outstanding.

"To deduce things out of thin air and still be right nine times out of ten... it seems your family background really is exceptional."

Master Lü looked at him and said, "I imagine your family is no ordinary aristocratic clan even in Chaoge City."

"There are quite a few books at home," Jing Jiu said.

"Talent alone cannot be relied upon in the end. Empty discourse does nothing for the Great Dao, unless you only intend to use it to sit examinations. If you refuse to put in the hard work of tempering your body, do not expect to enter the Spirit Embracing Realm. In the end, it will all come to nothing."

Master Lü sighed and said, "I have thought about this for a long time. If you insist on continuing like this, I can recommend you for a steward's position somewhere. The daily work there is arranging ancient texts and studying scholarship in depth. It should suit you very well."

Jing Jiu knew he meant Shiyue Peak, the mountain that specialized in collecting the Green Mountain Sect's sword arts and true methods, searching for the Great Dao among piles of old papers.

Master Lü continued, "You can still earn merit for the sect there, and even be rewarded with immortal medicines to prolong your life. You simply will no longer be eligible to receive a true sword, but... that is not where your aspirations lie anyway."

Jing Jiu was somewhat surprised. He had not expected the man to truly care about him and arrange a fallback that did indeed seem very suitable.

Of course, he would not agree. He did not like Shiyue Peak, and in another year, he would be leaving this place.

Spring came once more, and willow fluff drifted across the sky.

More than half of the three-year period had passed. The Outer-Sect Disciples at South Pine Pavilion grew increasingly anxious, cultivating at every moment. Plumes of white vapor could be seen everywhere on the cliff terrace.

By now, the vast majority of the disciples had entered the Spirit Embracing Realm. A few, such as Xue Yongge, had even glimpsed the possibility of filling their Spirit Seas to completion.

Only a tiny number of those who were too dull or indolent could see no hope at all.

Of course, from beginning to end, there had only been one person who remained indolent despite having the chance to cultivate in the Green Mountain Sect.

"What did you want to see me about?"

Master Lü looked at Jing Jiu, who stood before him, and asked.

He had grown numb to Jing Jiu's lack of ambition. Although it was exceedingly rare for Jing Jiu to leave his little courtyard and seek him out at the Sword Hall, he could muster no interest.

"I'm ready to leave," Jing Jiu said.

Master Lü had picked up his teacup and was about to take a couple of sips. At these unexpected words, his hand froze in midair.

He had long since given up on Jing Jiu, but... in the end, he still cherished talent and could not quite resign himself to it, which was why he had not expelled Jing Jiu from the sect. Yet now Jing Jiu was giving up? He no longer even wanted to go through the motions of idling his days away?

Master Lü felt rather dispirited. With a bitter smile, he asked, "Where are you planning to go?"

Jing Jiu thought for a moment and said, "As for which peak, I haven't decided yet."

"Then think it over yourself. Whether it is that village or Chaoge, it is your own affair in the end... wait!"

Master Lü abruptly came to his senses and asked, "What did you say? Say that again?"

"I said I haven't decided which peak to go to," Jing Jiu said.

"You mean the Nine Peaks?" Master Lü asked uncertainly.

"Yes. I'm ready to enter the inner sect," Jing Jiu said.

Master Lü could scarcely believe his ears. "Do you know what you're saying?"

"My Spirit Sea is more or less full. I should count as having completed the Spirit Embracing Realm."

Recalling these two years of meditating without pause, day and night, constantly absorbing the primordial energy of heaven and earth, even Jing Jiu felt somewhat moved.

Master Lü did not believe such a thing at all. With a thought, he enveloped Jing Jiu's body in his sword sense, ready to punish him harshly under the sect rules as soon as he exposed his lie.

Now he truly was somewhat angry.

There was a crack.

The teacup fell to the floor and shattered.

The tea soaked the floor, continuously giving off steam, like the white vapor rising from the heads of the disciples diligently cultivating in the woods.

Master Lü stared at Jing Jiu, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

Silence filled the Sword Hall.

"What is going on?"

Master Lü was somewhat dazed, and his voice trembled slightly. "I wasn't mistaken?"

"You weren't mistaken," Jing Jiu said.

An exceedingly long silence followed.

The tea on the floor gradually cooled, and white steam no longer rose from it.

Master Lü finally calmed down as well, but he still looked at Jing Jiu as though gazing at an immortal. His words carried clear apology and regret. "So... I was wrong about you after all."

Jing Jiu patted his shoulder and said, "That wasn't your fault."

A streak of sword light illuminated the cliff terrace, and the gentle spring breeze turned a little sharper.

An immortal master from Past Arrival Peak arrived by Sword Control.

At the sight, the disciples stopped cultivating one after another and gathered before the Sword Hall.

Everyone guessed that another disciple must be about to take the inner sect examination, and they could not help feeling stirred and excited.

Who would follow Liu S sui to become the second inner disciple from this batch at South Pine Pavilion?

Some thought it should be Senior Brother Yuan from Lelang Commandery, while others guessed it might be the quite gifted Junior Sister Yushan.

More disciples believed that it would undoubtedly be Xue Yongge.

But then the disciples discovered that all three people they were discussing were right beside them, rather than inside the Sword Hall.

Xue Yongge's expression was somewhat dark. He was already very close to completing the Spirit Embracing Realm and had thought he would be the second person from South Pine Pavilion after Liu S sui. Who could have imagined someone else would beat him to it?

He stared at the entrance leading into the Sword Hall, thinking resentfully, Who could have hidden it so well all this time, without letting so much as a whisper slip?

The wind brushed his white robes as Jing Jiu walked into the Sword Hall, led by Master Lü.

At the sight, everyone was too shocked to speak.

They knew Jing Jiu was very clever and had great comprehension, but they knew even more clearly that he had no desire to improve and was exceptionally lazy. Who had ever seen him practice even once?

Someone like that could actually complete the Spirit Embracing Realm? He was actually eligible to take the inner sect examination?

Xue Yongge's expression turned exceedingly ugly.

If some other Outer-Sect Disciple had suddenly encountered a fortuitous opportunity and gotten ahead of him, he could only have accepted the fact, however annoyed he was.

But that person was actually Jing Jiu, whom he had always looked down on most?

"How is this possible!"

He shouted angrily, "How could his Spirit Sea possibly be full? Did Master Lü even check properly?"