At the first chime of the wind chime in the early morning, Gu Ningyun finished her final Minor Orbit and opened her eyes.
Six in the morning—there were still three hours before class began at nine.
After a night of cultivation, Gu Ningyun felt refreshed and energized. The spirit energy in her dantian had almost filled the entire space.
Once the spirit energy completely filled her dantian, she would be able to expand it and enter the first level of Qi Refining.
However, Gu Ningyun felt that reaching the first level so quickly might lead to an impetuous foundation. She planned to compress the spirit energy within her body, only breaking through when she could no longer hold it back.
She stood up and tested her senses. She had initially worried that the mysterious power would be too conspicuous, but it turned out that the power was only particularly obvious within her body.
From the outside, this power was restrained and completely indistinguishable from normal.
As for the fact that she had nearly filled her dantian with spirit energy in just one night, Gu Ningyun felt it was no cause for concern.
Official disciples of Xiaoyao were all like this; she was just cultivating a tiny bit faster than them. It was perfectly reasonable.
Gu Ningyun was very satisfied with the current situation. Being flamboyant when necessary and keeping a low profile when appropriate suited her style perfectly.
The parts she revealed were excellent enough to get her what she wanted from the sect.
The parts she kept hidden were her trump cards.
...
After washing up, Gu Ningyun headed to the dining hall with a growling stomach.
At this hour, there were only a few scattered people in the hall.
She had just finished a fragrant steamed bun made of spirit wheat and was picking up a bowl of steaming spirit rice porridge when she saw Jun Luo walk through the entrance.
Seeing that Gu Ningyun had already nearly finished her meal, a flash of surprise crossed Jun Luo's eyes.
Gu Ningyun waved at him. “Good morning, Jun Luo.”
Jun Luo nodded, his cold features softening slightly.
After greeting her companion, Gu Ningyun quickly finished her meal and returned to the Cloud Residence.
With more than two hours to spare, she went to her study and took out the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》 once again.
The body refining course had been difficult from the very start.
She had a premonition that their schedule would only get tighter, and the courses would likely become more frequent and difficult.
She needed to take advantage of the relatively relaxed initial stage to digest as much of this massive book as possible.
It would be a huge joke if she passed all the future assessments but couldn't leave the sect because she hadn't finished memorizing this thing.
...
Seven days of study passed under Martial Uncle Lu's increasingly intense body refining training.
Soon, it was the eighth day of the initial stage. At nine in the morning, the ancient script assessment began.
Gu Ningyun sat upright in the schoolroom.
On the desk to her left was a sheet of yellow paper covered in ancient script, which Martial Aunt Yang had just handed out.
There were also several lines on the paper twisted into patterns.
The assessment required them to translate the ancient script into the common script within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
Gu Ningyun scanned the text. It seemed to describe a method for carving a lost array pattern from thirty thousand years ago.
The content was roughly a thousand words long. Although her grasp of the ancient script was excellent, writing a thousand words with a brush in such a short time was still a bit of a rush.
After visualizing the layout in her mind, she began writing directly on the blank paper.
She was so familiar with every ancient character that she hardly needed to think. She translated fluently, reading the original text and writing the translation simultaneously.
Even with such speed, she barely had time to check her work before the incense stick burned out.
When Martial Aunt Yang announced that time was up, Gu Ningyun clearly heard a howl of despair from young Jiang Yao sitting behind her.
She glanced at her companions' expressions. It seemed Jiang Yao was the only one who hadn't finished.
After collecting the original texts and the answer sheets, Martial Aunt Yang said softly, “Once the results are out, you can check them on your identity jade tokens. Now, head to the square. Your Martial Uncle Lu is waiting there.”
...
Thanks to the tempering from the spirit herb packs and their daily training, the body refining assessment for the initial stage wasn't too difficult for them. They only needed to run one hundred and twenty laps within one hour to earn a Grade A.
If they exceeded one hundred and twenty laps, they could even earn a Distinction.
Over the past seven days, Gu Ningyun had fully mastered the ancient script. As for body refining, if she went all out now, she could run over three hundred laps in an hour, far exceeding Martial Uncle Lu's requirements.
The results for the body refining assessment were available immediately. After finishing their run, they checked their disciple tokens; as expected, all five of them had received a Distinction.
Martial Uncle Lu gathered them together. Looking at the exhausted, sweat-soaked little ones before him, he spoke in a gentle tone, “Have these past few days been exhausting and agonizing?”
“Agonizing, no. But I feel like I'm about to die of exhaustion, yes,” Wen Xuan said, waving a hand weakly.
Martial Uncle Lu chuckled. “Do you know what the fastest way to increase your strength is?”
Jiang Yao rubbed his head. “Training like crazy? Constant involution?”
“That's not necessary. We have a simpler way.”
Martial Uncle Lu continued, “In my opinion, besides building a solid foundation, actual combat is the fastest way to digest what you've learned and increase your strength.
“There is a Trial Tower on Preaching Peak. Disciples can train in the tower by paying sect points, and there is no danger to your life.
“The first level of the Trial Tower generates opponents based on your strength. No matter your cultivation level or ability, you can go there to train. Once you've learned how to fight, you can go.”
Hearing this, Gu Ningyun saw out of the corner of her eye that Jiang Yao's mouth had fallen open, his youthful face filled with longing.
Jiang Yao is quite the overachiever himself, Gu Ningyun thought, silently looking away.
Jun Luo, on the other hand, showed no reaction, appearing as though he had already known.
Martial Uncle Lu winked at them. “So, do you want to earn some sect points ahead of time?”
Hmm? If Gu Ningyun remembered correctly, the 《Xiaoyao Basic Guide》 stated that outer sect disciples needed to reach the third level of Qi Refining before they could accept missions to earn points.
Could it be that Martial Uncle Lu had found some loophole to exploit?
Seeing their curious faces, Martial Uncle Lu said, “Book Peak has a permanent task for translating ancient scripts. Because people who know the script are scarce, the point rewards are very high.
“Your Martial Aunt Yang is a personal disciple of Book Peak. Since translating scripts isn't dangerous, it doesn't trigger the rule that you must be at the third level of Qi Refining to take missions. She can issue some tasks to you.”
Gu Ningyun's eyes widened. “That means if we earn points early this way, we can go straight to the Trial Tower to train as soon as we learn combat. We'll be miles ahead of the other groups.”
“Exactly.” Seeing that they understood, Martial Uncle Lu nodded. “This method is unique to our group. Ancient script isn't a required course for the sect; only our group teaches it.
“Your Martial Aunt Yang is a personal disciple of Elder Lin from Book Peak. She was the only one from her generation of inner sect disciples to enter Book Peak.
“In other words, among the inner sect disciples leading this year's groups, she is likely the only one who knows ancient script.”
Wen Xuan took a deep breath. “Following Martial Aunt Yang is just too wonderful!”
Gu Ningyun nodded in agreement. “It’s a real blessing!”
Not only that, but she was thinking even deeper.
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