More Than Just an Identity

He gritted his teeth and pushed his climbing speed just a fraction faster.

By then, Gu Ningyun had already been teleported back to the starting point, ready to begin her fourth lap.

When she had passed Mu Chenze earlier, she noticed a specific technique he used that seemed to save a lot of effort. On her next climb, she subconsciously tried it out, and it indeed made things much easier.

However, for the sake of training her body, she silently dialed back her spirit energy.

It seemed she couldn't just focus on her own thoughts all the time. Whenever the opportunity arose, she should observe those who excelled and learn from their methods.

Perhaps in the future, she could discuss cultivation insights with her companions.

They could learn from and validate each other's progress.

She shook out her aching arms. Although she looked fast, her body was actually quite exhausted.

But with body refining in mind, she maintained her spirit energy at a moderate level, refusing to rely on it too heavily.

By the time she finished her fourth lap, she was still half a lap's height behind Jun Luo.

She was now utterly spent, her limbs trembling with weakness.

Forcing herself to complete the final lap, she slumped weakly against a tree trunk at the base.

Ah, she was truly exhausted.

Body refining was certainly not as simple as it seemed.

However, thinking about the fatal flaw of being a 'glass cannon mage'—dying the moment someone got close—she was more than willing to attend Xiaoyao's mandatory body refining classes.

Let it be exhausting; it was worth it.

Unlike her initial worry about running out of spirit energy, after five laps, she had only reached her physical limit, while nearly half of her spirit energy remained.

Furthermore, in the short time she had been resting, another fraction of it had already recovered.

Though unexpected, she was more than satisfied with this situation.

She had achieved the best body refining results with minimal spirit energy consumption.

In the future, if she ever had to fight, she would be able to use the most efficient amount of spirit energy to achieve the best results against an enemy.

Moreover, the automatic operation of her cultivation technique allowed her to absorb spirit energy every second of the day.

Under normal circumstances, her spirit energy was an endless stream that was difficult to fully deplete.

Even if it did run dry, she didn't need to worry much; she wouldn't need to enter a meditative state to recover, as the energy would replenish itself.

If all else failed, she could always use her trump cards.

However, she had a gut feeling that the mysterious power could not be easily exposed. If she ever used spirit energy containing that power, she had to ensure there were no survivors.

Yes, it would be best to destroy all evidence.

As for the star power, she would wait until she studied the accompanying techniques to see what it could do.

Sensing the automatic circulation of her techniques, Gu Ningyun discovered another wonder.

When her internal spirit energy and star power were in balance, the technique absorbed equal amounts of both.

But after she had just consumed spirit energy, she clearly noticed that the amount of spirit energy being absorbed increased while the star power decreased.

The more spirit energy she consumed, the greater the gap became.

Gu Ningyun guessed that if she ever completely ran out of spirit energy, she might absorb only spirit energy to recover faster.

That would allow her to escape a state of depleted energy much more quickly.

The 《Record of Primordial Stars》 truly lived up to being a divine-rank technique; even the secondary function of driving her main cultivation technique was incredibly reliable.

Feeling a bit of strength return to her body, Gu Ningyun glanced at Martial Uncle Lu nearby, then at Jun Luo, who was already meditating to recover his spirit energy.

She sat cross-legged and circulated the 《Xiaoyao Wind Records》, recovering her spirit energy at full speed.

Active cultivation was much faster than the automatic process. Wind spirit energy flowed through her acupoints and into her meridians, entering the Minor Orbit circulation.

The spirit energy in her dantian increased at a visible rate.

As the cyan hue deepened, she finally compressed it back to its previous density.

She then mobilized her spirit energy along the routes she had used during the climb, soothing her limbs.

As for other parts of her body, the human meridians were complex, and she didn't dare to experiment recklessly.

Gu Ningyun opened her eyes. The spirit energy and star power in her body were once again in balance.

Once she stopped her active cultivation, the techniques reverted to their automatic state, and the absorption rates of both energies balanced out again.

By now, the other three companions had also finished their laps and were meditating nearby.

A spirit energy barrier surrounded them, likely placed by Martial Uncle Lu, who was currently standing guard over them.

The two martial uncles were truly wonderful.

Gu Ningyun pondered the meaning of the word "guide."

These martial uncles were clearly only one generation older than them. They had only recently entered the inner sect, broken through to Foundation Establishment, and truly stepped through the gates of cultivation.

Yet they had come back to lead these rookies, guiding them step by step onto the path of immortality.

From what she understood, every generation of outer sect disciples was required to take on this task as a guide after their first promotion assessment.

Once the assessment results were out, those who successfully entered the inner sect would serve as guides for the new outer sect disciples, just like Martial Uncle Lu and Martial Aunt Yang.

Those who didn't make it into the inner sect would serve as guides for the new handyman disciples, like the two senior disciples in white robes and green belts she had seen on the other immortal boat back in Yushui City.

This was a tradition of Xiaoyao, said to have been passed down for a hundred and ten thousand years.

The martial uncles had done it, the generation before them had done it, and so on, all the way back to the seniors and patriarchs of Xiaoyao.

After Gu Ningyun and the others finished their own promotion assessments, they too would serve as guides for the next batch of new disciples.

For the people of Xiaoyao, being a "guide" was more than just an identity; it was a responsibility and a legacy.

Gu Ningyun took a deep breath and propped her chin on her hands.

This was Xiaoyao.

Well, no matter how good a sect was, as long as there were people, there would be conflict and hidden corruption.

She still had to maintain her resolve—to be cautious in word and deed, to lay low when necessary, and to keep a low profile.

But when the situation was right, she also had to show her excellence to be valued by the sect and receive resources.

Gu Ningyun pulled her thoughts back. Not far to her left, Jun Luo had already finished his meditation and was currently reading a jade slip.

Her sharp eyes caught the title: it was the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》.

She knew it! Even when she wasn't looking, others were secretly grinding!

Gu Ningyun closed her eyes again and began reviewing the 《Almanac of Heavenly Wonders》 she had memorized recently.

She found that as her knowledge accumulated, she gained new insights every time she reviewed.

For example, by comparing and contrasting different spirit herbs, she discovered that some were mutually exclusive. Some spirit herbs appeared to have similar effects, but their processing methods and growth environments were entirely different, leading to different applications.

Others had different effects, but under specific circumstances, a combination of several other herbs could be used as a substitute.

Furthermore, she could categorize and summarize spirit herbs based on their growth environment, attributes, effects, and the parts used.

After creating these summaries, every time she learned about a new spirit herb, she would mentally categorize it.

She found that after this classification, the spirit herbs formed a system in her mind. If she needed a specific herb, she could find it instantly.

If she went out for a trial in the future, she could immediately list the spirit herbs likely to appear based on the environmental characteristics of the area and perform targeted harvesting.

The brain of a cultivator was truly efficient; once organized, it was more convenient than a computer.

...

The surrounding spirit energy fluctuated. Gu Ningyun opened her eyes to see that her other three companions had also finished recovering.

The fluctuation had been Martial Uncle Lu taking down the protective barrier.

"From today onward, you will begin true body refining. Are you ready?"