095. Little Sword Pond

"Junior Sister Cheng, come lend a hand!" Wei Baichuan called loudly.

"Coming!" Hearing him, Lingyu ran over from the mountain gate. "Senior Brother Wei, what is it?"

Wei Baichuan pointed toward the female cultivator in the side hall. "This senior from White Deer Nunnery needs looking after. Take care of her."

White Deer Nunnery was a Buddhist sect that admitted only female disciples. In plain terms, it was a nunnery. Of course, a nunnery in the world of cultivation was somewhat different from one in the mortal world. Its nuns wore monastic robes and straw sandals as well, but their rules were not nearly so strict. Some of them even grew out their hair and returned to secular life after a time.

A guest like this was not one male disciples could easily receive. After all, she was a renunciant. Such visitors were always received by female disciples.

"Understood, Senior Brother. Rest assured." Lingyu accepted the spirit tea handed to her by a servant and stepped into the side hall.

"Senior, please have some tea."

The Buddhist nun from White Deer Nunnery, who was at the Foundation Establishment stage, looked up at the sound. First she seemed puzzled, then surprised, and finally she smiled. "Thank you."

She appeared to be barely in her twenties, with delicate features and a face touched with compassion, carrying a quiet and serene air.

"May I ask how I should address you, Senior?"

"This humble nun's monastic name is Dijing."

"So it is Senior Dijing. May I ask whether your visit to our Taibai Sect is to see family or to call upon a friend?"

"Neither to see family nor exactly to visit a friend." Dijing handed a jade clasp to Lingyu, smiling faintly. "Would you trouble yourself to deliver this to Master Xia?"

Lingyu looked at the jade clasp in her hand and blinked. Something about this did not seem quite right. A nun, carrying a keepsake, asking to see one of their sect's masters?

She gathered herself and put on a smile again. "The Master Xia you mention... would that be our sect's Master Xia Daozhong?"

"Just so." Dijing's expression remained calm as she brought her palms together. "If you deliver this to Master Xia, he will surely understand at a glance."

"..." Lingyu took the jade clasp. "Please wait here, Senior. I will report it at once."

Dijing smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

After leaving the side hall, Lingyu immediately gave instructions to a runner disciple. "Take this jade clasp to Shaoyang Peak. Report to Ancestor Master Xia that Senior Dijing of White Deer Nunnery has come seeking an audience." She then described Dijing's appearance and cultivation level.

"Understood, Senior Sister Cheng." The runner disciple gave a sharp whistle, summoning a spirit crane used for message delivery, and headed toward Shaoyang Peak.

"Junior Sister Cheng—"

Before she had even finished here, someone was calling again over there.

"Coming!" Lingyu hurried away without stopping.

Working in the guard office required two things above all: diligence and quick wits. For Lingyu, neither was much of a problem, and she soon won Wei Baichuan's admiration. Even Steward Gao gradually began to trust her.

There was no helping it; the guard office was far too short-handed. To serve as a guard disciple here, one had to know the sect's affairs inside and out. Whenever someone came looking for another person or asking about some matter, one had to understand immediately and act accordingly. Beyond that, one also had to be attractive in appearance, neither servile nor overbearing, and unable to tarnish the sect's image. Very few who met those standards were willing to come to the guard office, because once you worked here, you could hardly rest. It was extremely disruptive to cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, Lingyu had spent a full month in the guard office. When her term was up, Steward Gao asked whether she would be willing to remain there long-term.

This was excellent news. Just like Wei Baichuan, although he too was a guard disciple, he was also something of a petty leader, and ordinary disciples had to give him some face. Moreover, working here not only completed the tasks assigned by the sect, but also came with additional pay. Work one month, rest two months, and it would not overly interfere with cultivation.

After considering it for several days, Lingyu felt the position suited her well and agreed.

Leaving aside everything else, the guard office was a place where news traveled swiftly, and one could also meet many disciples from other sects. That alone was a benefit.

She had already inquired about Foundation Establishment. When a Qi Refinement disciple's true essence reached its limit and could no longer absorb spiritual qi, they had to transform qi into liquid and forge the Dao foundation. To establish that foundation required two conditions: first, full completion of Qi Refinement; second, an opportunity.

The first required no explanation. As for the so-called opportunity, it mainly meant a great surge of spiritual qi entering the body, a quantitative change giving rise to a qualitative one, widening the meridians, expanding the dantian, and forcing qi into liquid form. In the world of cultivation, such opportunities generally came in two ways: taking a Foundation Establishment Pill, or sitting in the eye of a spirit vein and using the vast spiritual qi of the spirit eye to violently force open the meridians.

Compared to the two, attempting Foundation Establishment through a spirit eye was cheaper, but far more difficult. Taibai Sect disciples at the Qi Refinement completion stage were granted one chance each year to go to the spirit eye and attempt Foundation Establishment, but fewer than one in a hundred succeeded. Taking a Foundation Establishment Pill gave a much higher chance of success, but the pills were simply too expensive, and there were never enough to buy. For most disciples, there was no hope at all.

Lingyu knew that obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill would not be easy. She could only do as most disciples did: try to establish her foundation through the spirit eye while slowly waiting for a chance to obtain a pill.

After receiving the female cultivator from White Deer Nunnery, the month at last came to an end. Lingyu went to Steward Gao to return the guard token and had him record the completion of the task in her disciple token.

The task was done, and the next one would not come for two months. During this month, she had thoroughly studied the Water and Fire Sword Manual and slowly cultivated the mental method within it. Now it was time to devote herself to gradually transforming her sword qi.

Before that, she paid another visit to the Hall of Seeking the Dao.

"So you've memorized the sword manual?" Duanmu Lin asked as he flipped through the sword text in his hands.

"Yes. Please teach me, Uncle-Master. How should this disciple cultivate it?"

Duanmu Lin tossed the sword manual aside and thought for a moment before saying, "If you plan to focus on sword cultivation and seclude yourself for a short retreat, then go to the Small Sword Pool."

"The Small Sword Pool?" Lingyu widened her eyes. "What place is that?"

With a rustle, Duanmu Lin spread open an atlas and pointed to a spot in the northeast corner. "Here. This is called Sword-Question Peak, the retreat site of our sword lineage branch, about a hundred li from the main peak. There is a Small Sword Pool on the peak, ideal for your Qi Refinement stage disciples to go into seclusion. Go rent a spirit crane from the Spirit Beast Hall and let it carry you there."

Taibai Sect occupied a vast territory, spanning hundreds of li in every direction. The main-peak region was the finest part of the spiritual veins, and most of the peaks where disciples lived lay within it. Farther out, however, there were also peaks with excellent spiritual veins, each serving its own purpose.

For example, the beast gardens of the Spirit Beast Hall existed in three separate locations, and those were the true places where spirit beasts were bred. The medicinal gardens of the Hundred Herbs Garden were spread throughout the Taibai Mountain Range, planting different spiritual herbs according to the local climate and soil. There were also some Core Formation cultivators who preferred solitude and built their cave dwellings in remote places. Then there were places like Sword-Question Peak, which took mountains with suitable terrain and spiritual veins and transformed them into retreat sites for disciples.

Lingyu followed Duanmu Lin's instructions. After telling Abi a word, she rented a spirit crane from the Spirit Beast Hall and set off for Sword-Question Peak.

The journey was several hundred li, and she did not know the way. If she tried flying on a paper crane herself, it would be easy to get lost. But the spirit crane knew the route. Two hours later, it delivered her safely and then flew away on its own.

"So this is Sword-Question Peak?" Lingyu stared blankly up at the mountain before her.

In her mind, a place called Sword-Question Peak, and moreover the retreat site of a sword lineage branch, ought to have been jagged and precipitous, with an aloof, transcendent bearing. Yet when she arrived, she found it was merely a small, rather unremarkable peak, with a mountain path winding up to the summit. Its only notable feature was fairly good spiritual qi.

"Little girl, you've been standing there for quite a while. Are you coming up or not? If not, stop blocking the way. I, this old Daoist, still need to sleep!" A voice suddenly rang out.

Lingyu jumped in fright and turned to look. Beside the path was a stone platform, and on the platform sat an old Daoist with tangled hair and beard and sleepy eyes. His plain bluish Daoist robe had been washed so often it had faded white. His feet were bare, without socks, and he wore a pair of hemp shoes that looked half on and half off, ready to slip away at any moment. Leaning against the mountain rock in a half-dreaming state, he even had one hand tucked into his robe, rubbing at dirt and grime...

Even so, Lingyu did not dare underestimate him. Her divine sense was already well trained, and with the addition of the spirit network, no ordinary cultivator could possibly approach her without her noticing. Yet this old Daoist sat here, and she had sensed nothing at all.

There was not the slightest fluctuation of spiritual qi around him, so she could not judge his cultivation level. But the white cloud emblem of Taibai Sect was embroidered on his robe, so he must be one of the sect's stationed cultivators here at Sword-Question Peak.

It was truly rare for someone, upon first seeing her, to address her as "little girl" without the least trace of surprise.

"Senior, is this Sword-Question Peak?" She bowed respectfully.

The old Daoist raised the hand that had just been rubbing dirt, pointed lazily at the cliff wall beside him, and said, "Can't you read?"

"..." All right, there really were the three words Sword-Question Peak carved there. She had spoken nonsense.

"This junior is a sword cultivator, and has come here to retreat. May I ask..."

"Give me your token." Before she could finish, he interrupted her and held out his hand.

Lingyu glanced at that hand and seemed to see black dirt still clinging to it. She hesitated for quite a while, but in the end took out her disciple token and tossed it over.

The old Daoist caught it, swiped a blackened finger across it, and a streak of light flashed. Then he tossed it back. "Go on up."

"Thank you, Senior." Lingyu took the token and carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief before tucking it back into her robes.

The old Daoist said nothing more, lying back down and resuming his rubbing at the grime.

Lingyu followed the winding mountain path slowly upward.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the view suddenly opened before her.

It was a huge platform. In the center of the platform was a shallow pit, within which were inscribed all manner of runes. It seemed to be a highly complex formation, and at the eyes of the formation were planted one flying sword after another, each overflowing with spiritual qi. On the nearby cliff face were engraved three words: Small Sword Pool.

Before coming, Lingyu had made inquiries. From Fangfei, she had learned that the Small Sword Pool was in fact modeled after the sword pool of the Purple Firmament Sword Sect.

Legend said that the Purple Firmament Sword Sect had a sword pool filled with countless spirit swords. Those swords had lost their masters, yet still retained their sword hearts. Inside the pool, one could sense the fierce chill released by the swords. It was the best place for sword cultivators to observe sword qi, sword intent, and the sword heart. Even Core Formation cultivators could gain immense benefit from cultivating there.

The Small Sword Pool of Taibai Sect was nowhere near as formidable as the original, but it had nevertheless been built through the painstaking efforts of the sect's elder sword cultivators. Within it, too, there were countless spirit swords. Only a small portion still retained their sword hearts, but sword qi and sword intent were by no means lacking. It was the finest retreat site for sword-cultivating disciples.