Rewinding time a little bit. Early in the morning, Tian Yao made her way to the First Elder's residence. His cultivation abode was a small cave at the corner of his garden. Various types of spiritual trees occupied the garden, highlighting the First Elder's aesthetics. Small spiritual birds had already made their homes in them and were singing their early chorus. But just as Tian Yao's steps fell on their ears, they went completely silent and hid inside their homes, activating the arrays inscribed by the First Elder.
They clearly remembered how a few of them had been caught and cooked the last time these same footsteps were heard. And the bones of their compatriots had been buried beneath the same trees they lived on, haunting their dreams every single night.
Reaching the garden, Tian Yao was puzzled. Why was this place so silent? Looking around, except for a few dropped feathers, there was no sign of any living bird. Her mood dropped. She felt like eating a roasted chicken this morning; it seemed like she would have to forego it for now. Remembering her real objective in coming here, she approached the stone door of the cave abode and, raising her hand, punched with her full strength.
However, the normally expected reaction didn't come. Tian Yao looked at her slightly bruised fist and the silver stone. The stone was still intact, not even a scratch on it. Tian Yao felt something was very wrong. Last time when she had punched, the rock had easily shattered, and this one looked exactly the same. Just as she was about to punch once again, the rock slid aside and the First Elder's disheveled appearance came into her view. A few red drops painting the edges of his white dress.
Afraid that the rock would be broken like last time, The First Elder had replaced it with thousand-year ice iron, which could only be melted by a Soul Transformation cultivator's true fir. But he didn't expect that the sound of someone banging against it would be transmitted inside and nearly make him fall into Qi Deviation just as he was about to break through a minor realm of Soul Transformation. He glared at his unfilial ward, who just gave him a puzzled look as if she had done nothing wrong. Her looks seemed to say that the world might be wrong, but she definitely was not.
"What is it this time?" the First Elder grumbled. He knew full well that this girl was definitely not here to check on his well-being. And Tian Yao did not disappoint him.
"How to make someone stronger in a short time?"
The First Elder paused for a moment. Was this girl finally taking advice from him regarding cultivation? Until now, she had only trained with the martial art techniques initially provided by the sect and those she obtained herself. Feeling a little happy in his heart, he asked, "Who is trying to get stronger?"
"Xiaomeng," Tian Yao replied in a deadpan voice. First Elder's smile froze on his face. Finally, after a few moments he asked.
"Did you try to increase her cultivation by using pills?"
Tian Yao nodded. "Increasing cultivation did not help much."
The First Elder narrowed his eyes. "Did you try training the body?"
"Still no help," Tian Yao said in a downcast voice. The more she trained Xiaomeng, the more quickly she fell down unconscious. Xiaomeng was actually a very good learner who had mastered the art of fainting without showing. She trained it to such proficiency that she was even able to trick Tian Yao which was an achievement in itself.
"Then there is only one method," the First Elder's voice was grim. "A life-and-death struggle." Being a cultivator, he had had his fair share of fights. And in some of them, he had nearly died. But after overcoming all those obstacles, he had gained immense strength and reached enlightenment. Taking out a small talisman from his shirt, he handed it to Tian Yao. "Take a few sect missions above your level. If your life is in danger, use this to escape."
Tian Yao took the talisman and, waving her hands, went back. Left behind, the First Elder took a long look at his garden. The trees were there, but the sound of birds was absent. He spread his spiritual sense and found the birds cowering in their nests. Slightly rubbing his head, he went back to try his breakthrough again. Many times, he questioned his own intelligence over the past year. The golden thigh he had brought had turned into a wealth devouring monster.
In the early morning, the Mission Hall was filled with disciples filing in to select the easiest tasks before others. It was a rough environment where everyone had to bet their life. But with Tian Yao's entry into the hall, everyone who saw her tacitly parted ways to let her through. They didn't want to be ensnared by the clutches of this little ancestor and get thrown out.
Alas, some were too busy covering the mission board to notice the actions of their fellow disciples. And these people found themselves airborne and hitting the stone tiles at the entrance of the Mission Hall. As they got up to fight the culprit to the death, they saw a familiar pair of silver shoes and silver hair. Lightly coughing, they turned their heads and went to wait at the back of the crowd. The mission will kill then later but this one will send them to Fourth Peak right now.
Tian Yao scanned all the missions on the board. Since the First Elder had told her to take a hard one, she directly selected one of the only two highest-ranked missions. Even the staff standing beside her wore a stunned expression.
"Are you sure young miss? These missions have a chance of Core Formation cultivator's involvement," she tried to persuade Tian Yao. But the silver haired girl was only pleased by these words. Now she could definitely get a life-and-death duel for both of them.
"I'm sure," Tian Yao replied with confidence. Registering her and Xiaomeng's names, she went back to her residence. Opening the door to the small room beside her own, she came face to face with the messy wreckage of Xiaomeng sprawled on the bed. She pulled the mattress and tightly bound the sleeping person in the soft cloth. Xiaomeng's face contorted every now and then, but unluckily she did not wake up at this crucial time and was carried on Tian Yao's back.
In no time, Tian Yao had reached the harbor of the sect. Once every month, the disciples who could not fly because they had not reached Core Formation but had still taken missions outside the sect were transported to their respective mission locations by flying ships. And today just happened to be the day. This also played a role in Tian Yao's selection of the mission she had chosen.
The Foundation Establishment disciples surrounding them were giving Tian Yao curious glances. However, not daring to meet her eyes, just gazed at her from the corners of their eyes. Already accustomed to such looks, Tian Yao 'held' Xiaomeng and boarded their respective ship. Her disciple token and mission acceptance letter were all that was needed. She placed the bundled-up Xiaomeng beside her at one corner of the deck. Then, sitting down, she began cultivating, not wasting a single moment.
The cool wind breezed through the deck. A few disciples sneezed due to the cold. The only Core Formation disciples present were the three responsible for protection and the captain of the ship, all others were Foundation Establishment. Qi Refinement cultivators were just too weak to take any mission outside the sect.
It was soon time for Xiaomeng to wake up. She slightly opened her eyes. Seeing the unfamiliar scenery, she thought that she was still in a dream. So, she again closed her eyes and went back to her slumber. After the time it takes two incense sticks to burn had passed, her eyes opened once again. Still finding the same surroundings, she felt that the dream was very vivid and closed her eyes again.
After one more incense stick's worth of time, as she opened her eyes, she moved her head around to take in the full picture. Her body, tightly wrapped in top-quality spiritual cloth, was finding it hard to do any actual movement. But as her eyes fell on Tian Yao's figure, sitting beside her and cultivating, she knew the culprit responsible for her predicament.
"Hey!" Xiaomeng shouted at the top of her lungs. The whole deck had their eyes focused on her. But Tian Yao still continued her cultivation. "I am talking to you, Tian Yao!" But the subject of Xiaomeng's pleas continued to circulate the Qi along her meridians, sparing her no mind.
Finally, not able to bear it any longer, Xiaomeng brought out her trump card. "If you don't free me right now, I will stop sparring with you."
Tian Yao's eyes flew open. She got up and walked three steps to her right, reaching Xiaomeng. Xiaomeng had a smug smile on her face and as she expected to be freed, she felt a sharp pain in her neck. Her vision went dark. "Good children should listen to those stronger than them." Tian Yao's voice resounded on the deck. Xiaomeng was like a pig being carried to slaughterhouse.
Back at the sect, on the Fourth Peak, Lan Xue was getting a headache. Her returned assistant laid several documents in front of her, each with detailed summaries of the injuries suffered by the disciples. It had been just two days since the disciples who were out on training had come back after exploring the secret realm. And the first thing they did was pick a fight with their new juniors.
Under normal circumstances, that was not something to be worried about. They would have just roughed up the new juniors a bit and let them go. But the tables had turned on them, and now the number of injured on her peak was overflowing. And for some reason, the members of her own peak had gone to cause trouble at the First Peak, coming back with broken arms and legs. They got a one-month detention and a severe contribution point penalty. She would not let them get off so easily after causing trouble for her.
Reading the document, Lan Xue slightly rubbed her temples. "So, how did those at the Fifth Peak get frostbite?"
"They tried to use yin arts to scare the new disciples, but as it touched Rong Ning, it rebounded on them. The result was their half-frozen statues. Luckily, they were all Yin practitioners, so there was no internal Qi collision."
Then Lan Xue looked at the next First Peak report. She just skimmed over it, as she already knew the one responsible. Then for the Second Peak, her assistant answered that a new disciple along with the Grand Elder's grandsons had destroyed the disciples' swords, causing damage to their Sword Dao hearts, which in turn brought about internal injuries.
"What Sword Dao Heart at just the Foundation Establishment realm?" Lan Xue grumbled.
As for the Third Peak, all the senior disciples' arrays malfunctioned and exploded. The reason for it still a mystery. But it just happened when all of the old ones gathered together to check on the arrays after they didn't work on their juniors for the first time, and the juniors left unscathed. It seemed pretty suspicious. But this was still somewhat understandable to Lan Xue. The biggest mystery was, "What happened at the Sixth Peak?"
The assistant hesitated for a few moments before speaking. "They snatched a candy from the new disciple's hands?"
Lan Xue tilted her head and said in a deadpan voice, "So, the disciple got angry and beat more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators, all above the Sixth Layer, to a pulp?"
The assistant hurriedly shook her head. "No. The disciple just cried."
"Oh," Lan Xue made a circle with her lips, then continued, "So, she cried so loudly that a Heavenly Tribulation descended and they became like this?" She remembered how all the disciples were as swollen as tomatoes from the beating, making it hard for them to even sit.
That was actually half correct. And the assistant, fed up with Lan Xue's taunting, covered her mouth and glared. "Let me complete my sentence." After a breath, she removed her hand and combed her hair back.
"Where were we?" she smiled as normal, as if the previous person was not her. "Yes. That girl named Lingling cried. And hearing her, the Core Formation disciples of the Sixth Peak gathered around. As soon as they knew the reason for her crying, they took the Foundation Establishment disciples to the training area for some 'special training'."
Lan Xue extended her hand and sprawled on her desk. "Please get all the things done. I am tired just imagining all these absurd scenarios in my mind." But sadly, her watery pleading eyes had lost their effect on her assistant, who had become an efficiency machine under her own relentless care. Lan Xue had to stay up for a few more days just doing work. She prayed for her Senior Brother and Sister to quickly come out of seclusion.
That night, at the shared boundary between the territory of the Jade River Sect and Gravebone Hall, a small village was filled with screams. Bodies lay scattered all around, their blood drained, only retaining a hint of flesh and bones.