Outside the Scripture Transmission Hall of the Jade Spring Sect stood the disciples' quarters.
The Registered Disciples, excited all day, had gone to bed early. Chen Shuangbai alone sat on his bed beside the window, opening it a crack to let the bright moonlight fall upon him.
He had been a visitor from beyond this world, yet had entered this flourishing age of cultivation.
For his first ten years, he had lived in a daze. Then, three years ago, he awakened the wisdom of a previous life and discovered a luminous, mystical moon above the spiritual altar in his sea of consciousness, endlessly cycling through its phases.
[Great Yin Dao Fruit].
Whenever Chen Shuangbai dreamed after awakening that wisdom, he would come to this place and bask in the bright moonlight it emitted.
As time went on, Chen Shuangbai felt that both his memory and physique had improved considerably. For that reason, tales of a "child prodigy" still circulated in White Water City, where the Chen family lived.
But those were not the most wondrous aspects of the [Great Yin Dao Fruit].
Its greatest wonder was that it had raised Chen Shuangbai's Spirit Root aptitude from low-grade class C to mid-grade class B. During the Spirit Root test, it had even manifested the phenomenon of "snow-covered green bamboo."
Though he could not compare with the class A Spirit Root geniuses before him, the fact that it had raised his Spirit Root so far in only three years made it a priceless treasure.
But for some reason, after that, it stopped slowly improving his aptitude.
There are too many restrictions in the mortal world, so it can't show its full power. Perhaps here in the Jade Spring Sect, I can uncover the greatest use of this "Dao Fruit."
Cultivation! Immortality! Now that I, Chen Shuangbai, have come to a world where cultivation flourishes, how could I not see the view from the mountaintop?
As he thought, drowsiness suddenly washed over him, and before he knew it, he fell asleep.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning.
Chen Shuangbai and the other Registered Disciples were awakened by the lingering notes of a jade chime outside. After a quick wash, they hurried to the Scripture Transmission Hall halfway up the mountain.
Though Sunken Jade Valley was called a valley, the Jade Spring Sect's grounds included not only the river valley but also the mountain ranges stretching around it.
When Chen Shuangbai arrived, however, Deacon Tian, whom he had seen during the day, was nowhere in sight. In his place was a middle-aged Daoist whose hair and beard were both white.
The Daoist sat cross-legged on a prayer mat in the middle of the bluestone plaza, eyes closed, seemingly dozing.
Beside him stood the two formal disciples from the temple whom Chen Shuangbai had seen the previous day, a man and a woman.
Once everyone had arrived,
the disciple named Qiao Yu raised a hand and struck the jade chime standing nearby. Its clear, lingering note rang in everyone's ears, stirring their spirits as the drowsiness and discomfort of waking early gradually faded.
Only then did the Daoist slowly speak.
"Now that you have entered the mountain, the sect rules require that you be taught the Jade Spring Qi Ingestion Method today. I hope you will cultivate diligently, develop a sense of Qi soon, refine Law Power, and formally set foot on the path of immortality."
The teaching lasted a full half day.
The cultivator delivering the teaching, Daoist Lingxiu, first explained the original text of the Jade Spring Qi Ingestion Method three times in meticulous detail. Then he explained it three more times in plain language. Finally, he had the Registered Disciples raise whatever they did not understand before departing at an unhurried pace.
From beginning to end, he showed no impatience or disdain whatsoever, truly making Chen Shuangbai see him in a new light.
By the time the sun was high in the sky,
the stomachs of the Registered Disciples, who had yet to cultivate spiritual power, were growling one louder than the next, and only then did the session end.
After going to the dining hall under the Expenditure Hall and eating their fill, the disciples returned to their quarters and gathered in twos and threes to discuss the introductory Method Formula they had just been taught that morning.
Chen Shuangbai was no exception.
A total of three geniuses with Spirit Roots had come from the area around his home in White Water City.
One was named He Qi, and the other Fu Qianlan.
The former had a mid-grade class B water-aspect Spirit Root, while the latter had dual water and wood aspects like Chen Shuangbai, though hers was high-grade class B.
Neither of them, however, had produced a phenomenon during the Spirit Root test.
Since their hometowns were close, the three had talked at length on the way here and had become friends.
He Qi was a chatterbox, and his mouth had not stopped going on the way back.
Fu Qianlan, on the other hand, was very quiet, but she was keenly observant. She might not speak, but when she did, she went straight to the heart of the matter.
"It still won't work. I tried cultivating just now, but I didn't feel anything after all that time!" He Qi said, slumping over the table in discouragement.
"Old Chen, Qianlan, what about you?"
he pressed.
Fu Qianlan shook her head slightly. Her voice was as melodious as a yellow sparrow's as she said, "The same for me, but didn't they tell us during the teaching?
"You can't rush developing a sense of Qi. Even those with excellent aptitude need at least seven days."
She might have been better off not saying it, for her words left He Qi even more discouraged.
"Seven days? That's so long!"
"In seven days, I could make a trip to the capital to see my cousin."
"What about you, Old Chen?"
He was quick to make himself familiar with people, and once he had grown close to Chen Shuangbai, he had taken to calling him Old Chen.
Chen Shuangbai replied, "Same here. Let's just take things as they come."
"True."
He Qi thought for a moment and felt much better. Smiling, he said, "After all, we're not those three class A geniuses. We can't enter the inner sect as soon as we join and enjoy the treatment of inner disciples.
"We'd better stay here in the outer sect and climb up one step at a time."
There were twenty-eight disciples in their group. Most had class C or class B aptitude, and only three were class A.
Those three had been taken inside by members of the sect's inner sect after entering the mountain gate, and the others had not seen them since.
But that was only to be expected.
It was perfectly normal for those with better aptitude to enjoy more privileges and better treatment. There was nothing to be jealous of.
After chatting for a while,
the disciples dispersed and returned to their own rooms. They closed their doors and prepared to cultivate, trying to perceive the legendary sense of Qi.
Chen Shuangbai did the same.
After closing his door, however, he also found a wooden stick and used it to bar both the door and the window. Only after making sure an ordinary person could not push them open did he return to his bed and slowly close his eyes.
But he was not cultivating. Instead, his consciousness sank into his sea of consciousness.
His sea of consciousness, usually calm and unruffled, had changed.
A Jade Slip had appeared beside the [Great Yin Dao Fruit].
On the Jade Slip were several archaic seal-script characters.
Their forms were exactly the same as the writing Chen Shuangbai had seen in the Jade Spring Qi Ingestion Method that morning!
To stand out, successfully develop a sense of Qi, have his name entered in the register, and become a formal disciple of the Jade Spring Sect,
he feared it would be a hard battle if he did not take a "shortcut."
The [Great Yin Dao Fruit], its light waxing and waning, hung quietly above Chen Shuangbai's spiritual altar.
It made no sound, neither dazzling nor dim.
Yet its many wonders flowed out in silence, nourishing Chen Shuangbai's mind and spirit.