As she headed to the training temple, she raised her hand to the light, staring at the ring on her index finger.
The sunlight made it glitter.
Maybe it was a trick of the mind, somehow, she felt like there was now a slightly mythical air to it despite it seeming so ordinary previously.
What would her dad think if he knew that ring actually was some powerful artefact? Or perhaps he already knew?
She shook off her thoughts and continued, quickly reaching the temple.
"No, not like that!"
On the side, the axe elder Xuefang yelled at a rather lanky boy, who looked somewhat frightened.
"You swing it like this!"
Demonstrating, he snatched the axe from the disciple and swung at the dummy. The axe cut deeply and was stuck inside. But with ease, he ripped it out, making the dummy vibrate rapidly.
"I only used the same amount of strength as you did."
As time went on, it was pretty clear he wasn't the best teacher around.
He couldn't clearly explain it in words and when he tried to demonstrate, his actions were hard to follow.
"No! That's not how you do it!"
Variations of that line were repeated over and over.
Mei could tell he had quite a lot of skill with the axe, but unfortunately, he was really bad at teaching. She really expected more from him, especially after his speech about weapons 2 days ago. She wondered what the sect master was thinking, picking him as a teacher.
Time went on, the elder going around and trying to correct every disciple one by one.
Despite his poor teaching, the disciples were able to learn something from his demonstrations. He was quite dissatisfied by most of the students, but for some of them, he nodded in approval, muttering "Not bad for a novice.".
Those students were not Mei, however.
"No! You're swinging with too much force! You're leaving yourself wide open!" he berated her.
Under such tutelage, she felt quite frustrated, though from the looks of it, not as much as the elder.
But as she practised each swing, she felt like she was improving, as if her strikes were getting smoother and stronger! It was quite a satisfying feeling, even making hours go by fast.
As she swung, a glow came from the back of her hands, almost making her drop her axe. It was an intricate pattern, with a closed book depicted in the centre, the library's seal!
"As an outer disciple, you are required to return the books to the library in a week." came the crow's voice. "If you're hearing this, that means there are only 2 hours left. Please be mindful and try not to forget in the future."
Ah... she completely forgot. There went her tempo.
She gave an awkward look to the elder, who simply nodded.
"Well, that's about enough for today. It's roughly 4 already. Disciples, you are dismissed."
Some of the disciples seemed disappointed, but a good number seemed relieved too. The elder's harsh teaching wasn't for everyone.
As she headed out, she saw Xiuying sitting outside on a stool.
"Oh, you're dismissed early too!" she waved.
Mei waved back. Xiuying seemed to focus, making a stool poof into her hands. Mei finally noticed the ring on her hand, apparently a storage ring.
"Come sit here. I'm planning to take everyone somewhere!"
Mei was surprised.
"Well..." she showed Xiuying the library seal. "I forgot to return the books and I only have 2 hours left."
"Oh..." Xiuying said. "I think if you hurry, it might be fine! They still have lessons and I think they won't mind waiting a bit."
Mei nodded and ran off.
That somewhere better be worth all the running...
She ran back to her dorm, quickly grabbing the two books before rushing to the library. As she hurriedly handed the books to the crow, it nodded.
"Be more careful next time!" it cawed.
When she finally ran back, she couldn't stop panting.
The entire group was now here.
"Oh, that was fast," said Wang Wei.
"Ah... you didn't have to run all the way. Sorry, Mei Xiu." Xiuying smiled apologetically.
A wizened old tree stood, its trunk as wide as several buildings. Its branches seemed to stretch endlessly into the skies as if striving for the heavens, casting an enormous shadow.
As Mei stared upwards in awe, a leaf the size of a plate hit her head.
"Isn't it amazing? I found out about this tree while exploring the sect!" Xiuying said, seemingly quite proud of herself. "I heard from one of the elders that it was just a sapling when the sect was just starting out!"
A sense of awe came over her. How old was the sect even?
Wait... suddenly, she thought of something the sect master said.
"Our sect's name is Virtue, by the way. Yes, I am a genius at coming up with names, I know."
No one laughed at his joke.
Her mind went blank for a moment.
That old man was ancient!
No wonder cultivators called people "mortals". Ordinary people basically just lived as long as gerbils to them.
Wang Wei, to the side, seemed to have realised that as well.
"What? The sect master is that old?" he gasped.
Xiuying laughed.
"I guess that's why cultivators are called immortals?" she said.
Mei felt a strange sense of inspiration as she looked at it. She always knew cultivators were immeasurably strong, but now, she felt like she could better grasp how truly powerful they were!
The rest of her friends seemed to have their own realisations too.
They continued their journey, finally reaching the trunk of the tree. Along the way, they saw disciples cultivating in the shade, taking in the vast qi the tree gave off, on par with the qi at the residence of the formation elder, Qiao Shun.
She realised to her dismay that she didn't actually gain any advantages cultivating there after all.
Shouldn't the sect master have at least mentioned the tree during his lectures? There should be plenty of space considering the sheer size of the tree.
Near the trunk, there were a lot more disciples. Most of them "内" embroidered on their robes, indicating their position as inner disciples.
Normally, core disciples would be the ones to cultivate there, but right now, it was lecture time. Naturally, they rushed in to take their spots.
