One of Wen Shuyi's Dao protectors was a sword cultivator, but he practiced the Dao of Emotionlessness, which was not the path Wen Jingshu wished to pursue.
Still, guiding Wen Jingshu through the basics was more than within his capabilities.
Upon learning that Wen Jingshu wanted to focus on the sword, Zhao Xun gave her a third-grade, low-tier heavy sword without a second word, instructing her to swing it ten thousand times a day.
On her first day of practice, Wen Jingshu, not yet realizing the severity of the task, was full of enthusiasm. However, she had barely swung the heavy sword ten times before her strength gave out.
The heavy sword truly lived up to its name; even though she was already in the early stage of the Foundation Establishment Stage, she still needed both hands just to lift it.
For her to swing it ten times, Zhao Xun already considered her to have great perseverance.
However, he always remained hidden in the shadows, never showing himself unless absolutely necessary.
Wen Jingshu did not expect guidance from someone who was not even half a master to her. She gritted her teeth and persisted, using every ounce of her strength to swing it another ten times. This time, she truly could not lift the sword anymore.
Her arms throbbed with unbearable pain, and her spiritual energy was completely drained. Without hesitation, Wen Jingshu pulled out a pill Wen Shuyi had given her and swallowed it.
Watching her actions, Zhao Xun sighed inwardly with pity.
Relying on pills at such a young age would only make her cultivation unstable even if she advanced in the future.
Initially, Zhao Xun had taken some interest in Wen Jingshu, but seeing her take a pill, he instantly lost interest, withdrew his divine sense, and stopped paying attention to her.
Wen Jingshu knew nothing of this, and even if she did, she wouldn't have cared.
She certainly knew that meditating after completely exhausting her spiritual energy could expand her meridians, but sword practice was all about practice making perfect. Mastery led to variation, variation to adaptability, and adaptability to comprehension, which ultimately condensed into intent.
Even those born with innate sword bones had to swing a sword a million times to generate their own sword intent. How many times had she swung hers?
Since she was blessed with the Innate Immaculate Spirit Body and was immune to pill toxins, and since she had an abundance of pills to support her, why shouldn't she use them?
Besides, the worldly spiritual energy she could mobilize during the Foundation Establishment Stage was no longer enough to expand her meridians; only the volume of spiritual energy after forming her core would benefit them.
With her thousand years of experience as a talisman cultivator combined with the effects of the Intelligence Awakening Pill, every decision Wen Jingshu made was carefully considered.
On the first day, Wen Jingshu consumed a hundred Rejuvenation Pills and barely managed to swing the sword over a thousand times.
The Rejuvenation Pills Wen Jingshu consumed were all top-grade Rejuvenation Pills specially provided by Wen Shuyi, which had excellent restorative effects and extremely low pill toxicity.
Her exhausted body instantly became energized after taking a Rejuvenation Pill.
A few breaths later, her body felt even clearer and more unblocked. This was the sensation of the Innate Immaculate Spirit Body automatically expelling the pill toxins.
For the first time, Wen Jingshu clearly sensed the benefits of her spirit body, and for the thousand and first time, she marveled at how incredible her current talent was.
It was so good that she wouldn't have dared to even dream of it.
The Wen family, whose motto was to keep a low profile, shared the exact same philosophy as the talisman cultivator Wen Jingshu. She swung her sword and planted spiritual herbs during the day, and only refined pills in the dead of night.
This way, even if someone accidentally wandered in during the day, they wouldn't notice anything unusual about her.
As for sleeping?
Nonexistent.
Being an overachiever had long been engraved into the very bones of the talisman cultivator Wen Jingshu.
The world was vast; while her talent might be top-tier, it didn't rule out the existence of people with even better talent.
She wasn't afraid of those with higher talent having a higher cultivation; she was afraid of those with lower talent having a higher cultivation.
Seeing Wen Jingshu work so hard, Wen Shuyi didn't say much.
In cultivation, hitting a wall and gaining enlightenment on one's own led to a much broader perspective than receiving guidance from others.
Little did she know, Wen Jingshu was actually thoroughly enjoying herself.
As a talisman cultivator in her past life, Wen Jingshu's aptitude had been mediocre, and her talent in the four auxiliary arts had been even more ordinary. She could barely draw talismans, and the process had been extremely arduous.
Back then, when she first started drawing talismans, she had to draw a full five thousand before successfully producing one. Now, she succeeded in refining pills on her very first try.
This level of smoothness was both addictive and satisfying, giving her a profound sense of accomplishment every single day.
In the end, she was still limited by her cultivation and insufficient spiritual energy reserves. Currently in the early stage of the Foundation Establishment Stage, she found herself lacking the strength to refine first-grade, high-tier pills.
Seeing that Wen Jingshu was still unsatisfied, Wen Shuyi immediately flicked her forehead.
“Being able to refine first-grade, mid-tier pills at the early stage of Foundation Establishment is already a heaven-defying talent, yet you're still not satisfied after refining a first-grade, high-tier pill?”
Wen Shuyi had already prepared herself for Wen Jingshu's path in alchemy to be incredibly smooth, but it seemed she had still underestimated her.
Wen Jingshu rubbed the spot where she had been flicked and giggled, rarely asking Wen Shuyi to accompany her down the mountain to eat roasted spiritual pig.
Wen Shuyi never refused her sister. Taking Wen Jingshu and one of her Dao protectors, she headed to Yundan City at the foot of the mountain.
Yundan City was under the direct jurisdiction of the Pill Sect. It was home to relatives who had come to seek out Pill Sect disciples, rogue cultivators who came to do business, and Pill Sect disciples who opened shops to sell pills.
As the Pill Sect was one of the four major sects, Yundan City was exceptionally bustling. The original young Wen Jingshu had visited often, but this was the first time the talisman cultivator Wen Jingshu had ever been here.
Looking at the magnificent Yundan City, Wen Jingshu's eyes sparkled.
Because Wen Jingshu had established her foundation at the age of five, her physical appearance was fixed at that age. She would only have one chance to change her appearance when she formed her Nascent Soul.
Wen Jingshu had been depressed about this for a long time.
Was this the trouble of being a genius?
What a sweet trouble.
Wen Shuyi knew the young Wen Jingshu best. Familiar with the way, she first took Wen Jingshu to the Qingsha Clothing Pavilion to buy defensive robes, and then to the Spiritual Artifact Building to buy beautiful yet practical jewelry and hairpins.
Thinking about how Wen Jingshu would soon leave her to go to the Qingyun Sect, Wen Shuyi went on a massive shopping spree for her.
Wen Jingshu already had many things, and with this massive heap of new items, the Yunling Bracelet her father had given her was nearly full. Fortunately, she had the Muyuan Bead, which could also store a vast amount.
The Muyuan Bead was the green bead Wen Shuyi had given her earlier, which she had named after refining it.
Was this the trouble of being a second-generation cultivator?
What a happy trouble.
After their meal, Wen Shuyi took Wen Jingshu to the Beast Treasure Building, which was under the Beast Taming Sect, and said:
“I had the Beast Taming Sect find some spirit beasts for you. See which one catches your eye. Of course, even if you want them all, we can afford to raise them.”
Although demon beasts were an external force, unlike Dao protectors, they were bound by master-servant contracts, which could be considered a direct enhancement of one's own strength.
Wen Shuyi's reasoning made sense, and Wen Jingshu readily agreed.
“Sister, you're so good to me~”
The feeling of not having to worry about anything because someone had already arranged everything was simply too wonderful.
Hearing Wen Jingshu's sweet words, Wen Shuyi smiled foolishly and led her into the Beast Treasure Building.
The manager had already been waiting. Upon seeing the two sisters, he respectfully invited them to the second floor.
To accommodate them, the Beast Treasure Building had temporarily closed its doors to other customers.
Had Wen Jingshu not wanted to come out for some fun, Wen Shuyi would have simply had the people from the Beast Taming Sect deliver the spirit beasts directly to Misty Peak for her to choose.
“Greetings, Daoist Sovereign Ziyang. These are the seven spirit beasts you personally requested.”
With a shake of a beast treasure bag, seven different spirit beasts appeared before Wen Jingshu.
A tiger cub, a wolf cub, a leopard cub, a fox cub, a snake hatchling, an eagle chick, and a lion cub.
Without exception, they all possessed sixth-grade aptitude.
Beasts were similarly divided into nine grades, with each grade further split into three minor tiers. From lowest to highest, they were categorized as demon beasts, spirit beasts, and spiritual demons. As for immortal beasts and divine beasts... those were things of legend, which could only be found by chance and never sought.
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