Chapter Sixty-Two: Cultivating in the Founding Sect

Kao Mountain City was not a city that truly leaned against a mountain.

What it leaned on was a sect.

Two days later, Su Yizhao and Chi Xiangdong arrived at this sect. Above the grand gates, the three characters “Kai Mountain Sect” were inscribed in bold, powerful strokes.

Su Yizhao asked, “Daoist Chi, do we really have to start from the very beginning?”

Chi Xiangdong retorted, “Don’t you find that cultivating your ‘Profound Body Technique’ has been a bit too easy?”

Su Yizhao thought to himself, Every technique I practice comes easily to me.

“Isn’t it a little late to start over?”

“It’s never too late to start anew!” Chi Xiangdong smiled. “Looking back, I feel I’ve wasted my life up until now. Beginning again at this moment is still not too late!”

Su Yizhao felt lost.

With the aid of the ‘Profound Qi Creation Art,’ all of his cultivation went smoothly.

So far, he had only truly sensed the Dao once, and that was a fleeting moment.

Could this be wrong?

Chi Xiangdong urged him to join a proper sect, to experience systematic cultivation.

That was why he had come to the Kai Mountain Sect.

However, as soon as he saw that he and Chi Xiangdong were surrounded by children, he grew somewhat irritable.

“Fellow Daoists, are you here to join our sect as well?” A cultivator in rough linen robes approached them on the square.

This cultivator looked sturdy, his hands calloused, face tanned, his gaze scrutinizing the two newcomers.

At this point, Su Yizhao could only nod awkwardly.

The square was filled with children of eleven or twelve.

He and Chi Xiangdong stood head and shoulders above the rest, impossible to ignore.

At that moment, more than a thousand children stared at them, chattering noisily.

“Silence!” the cultivator barked. “Body refinement is not achieved through mere hard work—it also requires talent. In one night, those able to comprehend our sect’s ‘Kai Mountain Body Refinement Technique’ may join us. Those who cannot comprehend it must make their own way down the mountain. The same applies to both of you!”

Su Yizhao and Chi Xiangdong nodded.

“Our ‘Kai Mountain Body Refinement Technique’ is renowned throughout the entire county. Countless disciples travel from afar to study here. Pass the first test, and you become an outer disciple. Now, listen carefully!”

The square instantly fell silent.

“All of you have some foundation in Profound Qi, which is good. The first realm of body refinement is the Tempering Stage. Simply use Profound Qi to temper your body. Once you possess the strength of an ox, you are considered to have entered the early Tempering Stage. Listen to the incantation!”

“Man consumes the five grains, and thus impurities are born. The art of tempering lies in refining the body, washing away all impurities, and thus succeeding…”

Su Yizhao and Chi Xiangdong exchanged glances, both feeling that this exercise was child’s play.

Given their cultivation, did they truly need to listen to such incantations?

The cultivator was only at the peak of the Four Profound Realm, unable to discern their true level.

Yet this Tempering Stage meant little in their eyes.

Feigning seriousness, the two sat cross-legged, circulating their Profound Qi, beginning to refine their flesh and blood—but what impurities could possibly remain? Even if there were any, such simple tempering could not remove them.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, the two found it hard to keep up the act.

To their astonishment, a child had already stood up and cupped his hands respectfully. “Senior, I have completed the tempering and entered the early Tempering Stage!”

The cultivator was overjoyed. “Excellent! What talent! Your future is boundless! Come here and let me check!”

Su Yizhao and Chi Xiangdong exchanged wry smiles.

Check? Was this a joke?

They abandoned the notion of standing up and continued to sit, pretending to cultivate.

Only after an hour, when more than a dozen children had succeeded and the cultivator could no longer check each one, did they slip into the ranks.

Late at night, in a cultivation chamber, Su Yizhao asked softly, “Daoist Chi, do you still want to persist?”

Chi Xiangdong insisted, “It’s not me—it’s you, Daoist Su!”

Su Yizhao nodded, indicating his understanding. “So why are you here?”

“Having chosen to follow, naturally I’ll stay with you,” he replied.

Su Yizhao fell silent.

In the darkness, the two closed their eyes.

There were twelve people in the chamber. Aside from the two of them, the rest were the newly admitted children. These twelve had been the top twelve of the day.

Suddenly, Su Yizhao opened his eyes. “Shall I give you the gold token? You can go first.”

Chi Xiangdong’s heart trembled, but he answered without hesitation, “If we go, we go together!”

“What are you two whispering about? Hurry up and get some rest! There’s training tomorrow!” A childish voice rang out—the first child who had completed the tempering.

Su Yizhao and Chi Xiangdong exchanged another wry smile. No matter how far they had fallen, they would hardly argue with a child.

What’s more, at this moment, this child was their senior brother.

A senior brother’s instructions could not be ignored!

Soon the chamber was engulfed in silence.

For five days, the two trained quietly alongside the other one hundred and thirty-one children.

But to call it training was an exaggeration—they did nothing but meditate and lift weights.

Meditation was for refining the body with Profound Qi, to further purge impurities. Weightlifting was to test their progress.

A thousand pounds signified the initial stage; ten thousand pounds, the peak.

Yet for the two of them, lifting a ten-thousand-pound stone cauldron was almost effortless.

The child’s name was Gou Haitian, and his talent was indeed remarkable.

He made progress every day, reaching the mid-stage of body refinement in just five days.

As senior brother to over a hundred disciples, Gou Haitian played his role well. Apart from his own training, he supervised everyone else.

Because Su Yizhao and Chi Xiangdong appeared lazy, they became his prime focus. He admonished them daily.

Su Yizhao had thought he would be the first to lose patience with these days, but to his surprise, it was Chi Xiangdong who cracked first.

“That brat actually dares to lecture me!” Chi Xiangdong grumbled, glaring at Gou Haitian, who was lifting a five-thousand-pound cauldron in the distance. “It seems we can’t afford to be so low-key!”

Despite their laziness, the two kept pace with Gou Haitian, making daily progress.

Su Yizhao, however, remained calm. “And who was it who insisted we come here?” he said lightly.

Chi Xiangdong was left speechless.

Just then, the linen-robed cultivator appeared and called out, “Little brothers, tomorrow you may rest. You can stay in the sect or go down the mountain to visit your families and report on your training!”

“Wonderful! This was so boring!”

“Ah! The lights of Kao Mountain City, here I come!”

“Cuihua of Kao Mountain City, here I come!”

…

The children cheered, so much so that even Su Yizhao felt tempted to go down the mountain.

Gou Haitian did not cheer. He set down the cauldron and walked over to the two.

Su Yizhao’s face remained calm, his lips unmoving, speaking only with his throat. “Looks like our senior brother won’t let us go down the mountain.”

“He wouldn’t dare!”

The two sat cross-legged, eye level with Gou Haitian as he approached.

“You two have good talent. These days, you’ve managed to keep up with my progress,” Gou Haitian said. “How about this—tomorrow, come with me down the mountain!”

Su Yizhao and Chi Xiangdong exchanged yet another wry smile.

Clearly, this brat wanted to take them along as his entourage to show off in Kao Mountain City…