Yuan Guanyi: Shushu, Interested in Sound Cultivation and the Suona?

Wen Jingshu had long since grown accustomed to the stares of others. Not long after dropping Wei Ruxue off, she turned around and left.

Because of her connection with Wen Jingshu, Luo Yunting did not need to participate in the assessment, leaving only Luo Nannan behind to take it.

Beside Luo Nannan were the other children who had come with her from the Zhou State. She even recognized a few of them as children of the nobility.

Those children had once bullied Luo Yunting. Back then, relying on their family backgrounds, they hadn't feared her retaliation. But now that they had come to the cultivation world, everyone started at the same line, and they couldn't help but feel a little intimidated when facing her.

They knew full well how formidable the background of the senior brother—no, senior sister—who had recruited them that day was.

In their minds, Luo Yunting was still that useless trash with a heavily crippled spiritual root of water and fire. However, Wen Jingshu's treatment of her was clearly different, which made them not dare to be too insolent with Luo Yunting, fearing that Wen Jingshu might wipe them out with a single strike.

Fang Chun was similarly lost in complex thoughts.

Years ago, when Wen Jingshu was recruited by her and subsequently taken away by Wen Shuyi, she had been present for the entire process.

Although Wen Jingshu had later entered Hidden Star Peak under a pseudonym, Fang Chun knew that she was indeed the Wen Jingshu she had recruited.

This matter was of grave importance, so Fang Chun had been specially reminded by the Grand Elder to keep Wen Jingshu's identity a secret. In return, she had received a handsome amount of cultivation resources.

She had thought her interactions with this genius would end there, but by some bizarre twist of fate, the "outer sect senior brother" she had casually pulled in turned out to be this little senior sister again...

When Wen Jingshu arrived at the main peak, it was already packed with people. Alchemists, artifact refiners, formation masters, talisman masters, sound cultivators, spell cultivators, sword cultivators... there were easily thirty to forty cultivators scattered about.

These were all the Peak Masters of various peaks or disciples representing them, who had come to see if there were any suitable candidates among this batch of children.

As the Sect Master, Xu Haoguang was constantly busy and did not show up for this Newcomer Ceremony.

Upon seeing Wen Jingshu's arrival, Zhong Lian waved at her and said, “Shushu, your Hidden Star Peak's seat is over here.”

Someone from Hidden Star Peak?

The moment Zhong Lian spoke, everyone's gaze fell upon Wen Jingshu.

They had heard that Beili had taken on a young disciple, and they had recently heard rumors of this young disciple's glorious feats. However, they hadn't expected her to be so small. Looking at her tiny frame... she was ten years old at most?

The Pill Peak Master was a disheveled, elderly-looking cultivator. His figure was slightly stooped, making him look like an old man from the mortal realm, but his eyes were bright and piercing, warning others not to underestimate him.

Kong Zhengping stroked his beard and said with a smile, “So you are that old fellow Beili's personal disciple, Wen Jingshu? Mm, neither humble nor arrogant, you are indeed a fine seedling. I heard you have three spirit beasts to raise. Here are some little sugar pills I refined, consider them a gift.”

The Sound Peak Master, on the other hand, was a fair-faced young cultivator. He sat in a casual posture, exuding an air of elegance and romance. With a matching smile on his face, he teased,

“It really is a pity for such a lovely, porcelain-like little girl to learn the sword. Why not come to my Sound Peak? You can play light tunes and dance a little every day. How carefree would that be?”

The Qingyun Peak Master was a cold-faced female cultivator. Hearing Yuan Guanyi's words, she immediately became displeased.

“What, a little girl can't wield a sword? By your logic, shouldn't artifact refiners all be burly, coarse men?”

Yuan Guanyi felt somewhat helpless upon hearing Yu Hui's words.

Which of her ears had heard him imply such a thing?

He was no sexist; he was simply appreciating talent!

Yuan Guanyi didn't want to engage in a war of words with Yu Hui. Seeing him remain silent, Yu Hui assumed she had hit the mark and let out a cold snort.

“Pedantic.”

The smile on Yuan Guanyi's face almost crumbled. Taking a deep breath, he told himself, Yu Hui's head was caught in a door when she was a child. I won't lower myself to her level.

The bickering between the two lasted only a few breaths. Wen Jingshu accepted the greeting gift from Kong Zhengping and said, “Thank you, Peak Master Kong.”

Kong Zhengping was also an Eighth-Grade Alchemist. If there was an opportunity, Wen Jingshu wanted to discuss the Dao of Alchemy with him.

Since the Pill Peak had given a greeting gift, the Peak Masters of the other peaks couldn't pretend not to notice, so they all gave her greeting gifts as well.

If she were an ordinary personal disciple, she would definitely be overjoyed to receive so many rewards from her elders. However, Wen Jingshu was no ordinary personal disciple.

But what could she do? Gifts from elders could not be refused, so she could only thank them one by one.

Zhou Fantong had long known about Wen Jingshu through his unreliable son. Seeing her today, she indeed looked pleasing to his eyes.

He had heard from Zhou Yuanshen that Wen Jingshu possessed exceptionally high talent in the Dao of Talismans. Seeing Wen Jingshu approach him, he said,

“What talismans have you drawn lately? Take them out and let this old man have a look.”

Zhou Fantong's words made Wen Jingshu's eyes light up, and she quickly pulled out a low-grade Thunder-Attracting Talisman she had drawn.

In her past life as a talisman cultivator, Wen Jingshu had been a mid-grade third-rank talisman master. But now that she was young again and her cultivation wasn't as high, the highest she could draw was a high-grade first-rank talisman.

Among them, she had drawn the Thunder-Attracting Talisman the most, and what she handed to Zhou Fantong was indeed a high-grade first-rank Thunder-Attracting Talisman.

A cultivator's elemental talismans were rather unique; their rank was determined by the drawing cultivator. If Wen Jingshu became a third-rank talisman master in the future, her Thunder-Attracting Talismans would inevitably become third-rank as well, and so on, up to a high-grade ninth-rank Thunder-Attracting Talisman.

Zhou Fantong took the Thunder-Attracting Talisman, and with one wide-eyed look, he couldn't tear his gaze away.

“You drew this?”

Its aura was rich, the strokes were smooth, and with the unique violent energy of the lightning spiritual root, the quality of the entire talisman had long surpassed the high-grade first-rank!

“Yes, Peak Master Zhou,” Wen Jingshu replied.

Receiving Wen Jingshu's confirmation, Zhou Fantong laughed heartily and said, “I wish to take you in as my personal disciple and become your second master. Would you be willing?”

The moment Zhou Fantong said this, everyone's gaze landed on Wen Jingshu.

As everyone knew, a cultivator could have countless masters in their lifetime.

But there could only be one Master.

Wen Jingshu's Master was Beili.

As everyone also knew, when a second master took a disciple, the most they would usually offer was the status of an inner sect disciple.

After all, Wen Jingshu's primary path was the sword, and talismans were merely a secondary occupation.

Yet Zhou Fantong, as a second master, was actually willing to grant Wen Jingshu the status of a personal disciple?

For a moment, everyone's gaze converged on the talisman in Zhou Fantong's hand.

Zhou Fantong didn't hide it either. Using his spiritual energy, he levitated the talisman into midair and activated it slightly. The Thunder-Attracting Talisman was instantly enveloped in lightning elements, crackling and flashing with visible arcs of electricity.

The old fogies present all had sharp eyes, and they too recognized the extraordinary nature of this talisman at a glance.

Yuan Guanyi was the first to praise, “What a fine talisman! Shushu, have you ever thought of specializing in the Dao of Talismans?”

In her heart, the talisman cultivator Wen Jingshu politely declined.

Talisman cultivators mostly fought by bombarding opponents with talismans, but their shortcoming was also very obvious: they had to dodge.

If they failed to dodge an attack, they would die on the spot.

In team battles, a talisman cultivator not only had to attack but also had to apply buff talismans to their teammates, acting as both mother and father. If they didn't do a good job, they would even be blamed by their teammates, who would question why the talismans weren't supplied in time.

Having played the support role in team battles in her past life, the talisman cultivator Wen Jingshu's summary of the experience was that they were nothing but a punching bag and a scapegoat.

In terms of squishiness, talisman cultivators were only slightly sturdier than alchemists.

But high-grade alchemists had Dao protectors! Talisman cultivators had no such thing!

Retorting once again, Yu Hui said, “Shushu's talent in sword cultivation isn't bad either. I heard that old Daoist Beili boasting that Shushu's Sword Heart has already reached minor success.”

Hearing Yu Hui's words, Yuan Guanyi froze.

A minor success in the Sword Heart at nine years old?

The young male cultivator stood up with a whoosh, circled around Wen Jingshu, constantly sizing her up. After hesitating for a long time, he said,

“Little Shushu, are you interested in giving sound cultivation a try?”

“I have a Heaven-grade lightning-attribute sound cultivation heart mantra. Paired with a suona, I guarantee you'll be invincible among those of the same rank!”