Chapter 42 By The Sword
In the same night inside the library cave of White Goat Cave, Nangong Caishu closed the two books that she had read carefully several times. Then she breathed and only calmed down after breathing a hundred times. She closed her eyes.
She looked inside herself using her usual cultivation method. Then her mental power slowly spread outside her body.
But unlike in the past, she was not in a hurry to use her mental power to capture the surrounding primal energies of the universe. She allowed her mental power to stay afloat in the silent library cave.
Her cultivation was limited. Her flowing mental power could only cover the inner cave and couldn’t reach the outer cave.
Compared to the surrounding world, the area covered by her mental power was like a pitifully small pool.
But thinking of the possibility, she did not feel any urgency.
She maintained this state and waited with calm and patience.
As time passed, many minuscule droplets of water, tiny dust motes, and even plants and fur so small they could not be detected appeared in her perception.
These minuscule things silently entered the world of her mental power, falling into the pool of her range, and disrupted her absolute calm.
Wind rose around the pool.
Numerous fine winds blew through the pool.
The weak breezes seemed to be alive with the majority of them instinctively repelled by the pool. They then passed silently after contacting the pool and only created minor ripples.
But some seemed to be testing, and appeared to touch the surface of the pond.
Nangong Caishu started to feel shocked.
But she still did not do a thing. Like a pond in the rainy night, she calmly accepted all water that flowed towards her.
Those breezes could not truly enter the pond, but she started to see different colors.
She started to see many colors in the wind like small stars.
She could not control her emotions.
She was so excited she started to tremble all over. She breathed with an open mouth, unable to maintain her internal vision. She opened her eyes, unable to continue cultivating.
She wasn’t able to succeed and draw the primal energies of the universe into her body in one try, but she already felt a crucial change.
She understood the true meaning.
Acceptance and tolerance were much more useful than forcibly taking.
The Green Vine Sword School students around her were still deep in thought and immersed in the books they had chosen. They had not noticed her state just now.
She returned the notebooks to their original position with something like reverence. Then she walked out of the inner cave and then the outer cave until she reached the stone building outside the library cave.
It was still completely dark outside and a while away from sunrise
Yet she sat down inside the stone building and waited fwhile acing the rope bridge.
She really wanted to see Ding Ning again, driven by some unknown emotion.
She sat high up in White Goat Gorge, waiting for the sun to rise. She looked down on White Goat Cave and watched as the entire sect changed. She was the first student of Green Vine Sword School to experience this.
All kinds of sounds started to occur in the silent White Goat Gorge.
Before the sky was even bright, the figures of many White Goat Cave students appeared on the paths of White Goat Gorge.
A cultivator’s cultivation was based on body, method and technique.
The method referred to the cultivation method of vital energy.
One who could only absorb the primal energies of the universe and cultivate vital energy could only become a pure container.
Body, the cultivation of the cultivator’s physical body.
The body of a cultivator had to be strong. To live longer, they needed strength, nimbleness, speed, and reactive ability.
Technique was the techniques of using one’s body, vital energy and weapons.
One’s combined ability in body, method, and technique was the true power of a cultivator.
Based on the usual practice of cultivators, all things were quiet during the night. The body needed to rest, and it was a good opportunity to cultivate one’s vital energy. When the day came, all things became active, the temperature rose, and people’s blood and energies became active. This was a good time to train their physical body and technique.
So under the weak light, some White Goat Cave students were walking the steep cliffs, some breathing at the edges of the cliffs and using breathing to strengthen their organs, while others were dancing in the wind and practicing their swordsmanship.
This was a prosperous and beautiful scene.
Even Nangong Caishu, who was waiting for Ding Ning, could not help but think of this kind of scene: in Changling and the Qin Dynasty, countless sects were waking up like this.
The prosperity of countless sects like this represented the prosperity of the Qin Dynasty.
Yet at this moment, she did not know that an argument was starting on a certain mountain path of White Goat Cave.
“Why?”
Su Qin looked coldly at a young White Goat Cave teacher. “I have no objection to Zhang Yi entering the White Goat Huts to cultivate. But how does Ding Ning, who had just joined the sect for a day, qualify?”
This young White Goat Cave teacher was discontent with Su Qin’s attitude. However, facing Su Qin, who was his student but actually had vital energy cultivation close to his, he knew that Su Qin’s future was greater than his. He suppressed his displeasure and said as pleasingly as possible, “This is the decision of the cave master. Since Cave Master has decided this, he must have his reasons since Ding Ning’s test outside the gates were astounding.”
This young teacher felt helpless seeing Su Qin’s expression grow uglier after those words. He said in a sincere voice only the two of them could hear, “I’m just responsible for passing on the message … also, the Cave Master put you three in. You already have permission to use the spirit vein to cultivate, why do you have to care about who the other two chosen are? You can only use one spirit vein.”
This young teacher felt that he was very sensible, and even felt he put himself in a petty-minded position. Yet Su Qin’s expression grew colder.
“This is not a problem of how many spirit veins I can use, but one of justice.”
“You know as well using spirit veins to cultivate is the highest reward of White Goat Cave. If it is easily given to a newly joined disciple, then will any of the new disciples in the future actually work for the sect?”
His voice was not loud, but cold and clear. It spread out far among the mountain paths and into the ears of many White Goat Cave disciples who were working on their cultivation.
The young teacher’s expression changed gradually.
He started to understand why Su Qin had grown more of a show-off recently and taken stronger positions within the sect.
Because White Goat Cave had joined Green Vine Sword School, because the level that White Goat Cave used to exist in was not accepted any longer by the empress and the dynasty.
If he could get most of White Goat Cave’s people to stand behind him, he was likely to become the master of White Goat Cave, and climb to higher levels more easily.
“Your ambition comes too quickly and too early,” the young teacher scolded with an unusually ugly expression.
Su Qin sneered instead. He looked at the White Goat Cave students who were gathering at him out of the corner of his eye. He lowered his voice. “But I hear people need ambition to live. I also hear that carp need to take advantage of the situation in order to cross the dragon gates. I also hear, people need to get famous as early as possible.”
The young teacher’s expression grew even uglier. Yet when he saw the angry gazes of the surrounding people, he felt slightly panicked and didn’t know what to do.
“Cave Master has made such arrangements because he qualifies.”
At this time, a cold emotionless voice came behind the young teacher.
Everyone’s gaze gathered on Li Daoji who walked out of the thin mist.
The sword hilt in front of Li Daoji gave off a faint intimidating red light.
The hundred White Goat Cave students gathered nearby hesitated slightly but their silence held an explosion that could go off at any time.
Su Qin smiled slightly.
He felt no matter the result, he would gain more popularity.
“What qualifications?” He looked dismissively at the sword hilt in front of Li Daoji and thought inside, even if you are stronger than me now, in the near future, I will surpass you.
“Ding Ning is already in Profound Understanding.”
Li Daoji”s face showed a rare smile, a cold and disdainful smile.
He looked at Su Qin whose expression immediately froze and added, “Ding Ning joined the sect yesterday. He reached Profound Understanding yesterday … he reached Profound Understanding in half a day.”
“What!”
Disbelieving shouts rang out across the valley.
Su Qin paled. He did not speak, but the exclamations helped express the disbelief he felt.
Everyone, just like the students of Green Vine Sword School in the library cave, could not believe this was true.
In their memories, in all of Changling, only one or two people had reached Profound Understanding in half a day after truly starting their cultivation.
The young teacher also shook as well.
He knew that he would not be the one to resolve this matter after Li Daoji appeared but he had not expected news like this.
A monster who reached Profound Understanding in half a day … if this kind of monster did not qualify to cultivate with the help of the spirit vein, then who in White Goat Cave qualified?
“Is this true?”
A young voice sounded.
The one who spoke was Shen Bai.
He was the one who was most fiercely opposite to Ding Ning’s entry at the start but now his shocked gaze held a flame like hope.
If this was true … if White Goat Cave had a monster like this that could grow, then would White Goat Cave be as humiliated in the future as they were now?
Li Daoji glanced at him. He did not answer Shen Bai’s question and said in a cold and mocking tone, “There is no meaning to discussing qualifications now. Yesterday, the principal of Green Vine Sword School, Di Qingmei, has said that our White Goat Cave students will also attend the sword trial festival. If they can win, they are able to receive the same rewards as the Green Vine Sword School students. But the three spirit springs of White Goat Cave will also be rewards for the victors.”
“What!”
A wave of exclamations once again rang out in the valley.
Li Daoji looked coldly over every person present. “The cave master has already agreed … so if you are angry, if you feel White Goat Cave has lost something and want to gain it back, do it by your sword.”