Spring passes and autumn comes, flowers bloom and wither; in the blink of an eye, five years have gone by. Tian Zongyu has grown from a ten-year-old boy into a fifteen-year-old youth. During these five years, he has transformed from a full-time firewood-cutting disciple at Tiandi Sect into a semi-professional cultivation disciple. A semi-professional cultivation disciple means that in the morning, he learns some basic cultivation techniques of the Tiandi Sect, while in the afternoon, he still goes to the back mountain to practice cutting firewood.
In his spare time from cutting firewood, Tian Zongyu has been obsessively practicing and studying the "Rogue Cultivation Technique." Although the text is filled with many profound and difficult-to-understand characters, he tirelessly reads and studies it over and over again. He has become thoroughly familiar with the content contained in the "Rogue Cultivation Technique."
After five years, through his practice of the "Rogue Cultivation Technique," Tian Zongyu's temperament and his own skill have far surpassed the influence of the Tiandi Sect's cultivation techniques on him. Unconsciously, he can clearly feel a sharp perception of the surrounding things, as if he has a shared life connection with all living beings around him.
One morning, Tian Zongyu, along with a hundred other disciples who were practicing firewood-cutting, had just taken their seats in the Tiandi Sect's hall for beginner cultivators when the intermediate cultivator brother responsible for teaching basic cultivation techniques walked in with a cheerful expression. Standing at the front podium, he said with a smile: "Junior brothers and sisters, I have some good news. The Tiandi Sect's once-in-ten-years outstanding disciple expedition will set off tomorrow. According to tradition, the Tiandi Sect will select the most outstanding senior cultivation disciples under five inner sect uncles to go outside for a year of practice. As you know, in addition to the five most outstanding senior disciples, five junior cultivation disciples will also be sent to accompany them. Now, I will announce the names of these five accompanying disciples. Those whose names are called should immediately return to their dormitories, pack some simple belongings, and prepare to depart with the five senior disciples tomorrow. Remember to pack light, as your responsibility is to accompany, mainly to take care of the travel belongings of the five senior cultivation disciples."
At this point, the intermediate cultivation brother cast his eyes over the one hundred sitting junior disciples.Good news, is this also good news? Being an attendant, frankly speaking, means being a follower, responsible for the hard work of carrying the bags. Seeing the ill-intentioned gaze of that intermediate cultivator senior brother, all the informed disciples below had already lowered their heads, fearing that the beast would call their names. Only those who did not understand and had recently joined, still looked at him with excitement, foolishly acting as if they were being sold but still counting the money for someone else.
"Wu Yi..."
As soon as the voice fell, a faint muttering was heard: "Damn it, why am I so unlucky!" Over ten disciples sitting nearby looked at him with sympathy.
"Sun Dali..."
"Ah, I protest." As soon as this name was called, a burly and muscular disciple stood up. "Senior Brother, you should find someone else. I think I'll stay at Tiandi Sect to continue training!" Sun Dali said somewhat aggrievedly.
The intermediate cultivator senior brother gave him a side glance: "Junior Brother Sun, going out for this experience also counts as training, and you can see the wonderful world outside. Moreover, all your strength, if left inside Tiandi Sect, wouldn't that be a waste? Therefore, protests are invalid."
Sun Dali glared at him fiercely, pouted, and sat down sullenly.
"Tian Zongyu..."
When the intermediate cultivator senior brother called this name, he clearly paused, seemingly prepared to face another challenge, but no sound came from below, and no one stood up.
"Lin Yunfang..."
"Ah..." The crowd below exclaimed in unison. All eyes turned to the seated female disciples, sparkling with light; some involuntarily swallowed.
The intermediate cultivator senior brother snorted coldly, showing great disdain for the lecherous looks of the junior brothers below.
"Luo Qianqian..."
"It's unfair!" After this name was called, a disciple exclaimed in despair. The male disciples here once again looked toward the female disciples.
"Senior Brother, are there any female disciples going out for this experience?" a trembling voice asked.
"Yes, they are Senior Sisters Shi Yin and Ouyang Qin."
"Then why didn't you mention this earlier?" The male disciples below had started to stir and showed obvious anger.“Senior brother, just now Sun Dali didn't want to be the attendant, right? How about you just let me do it instead!” A disciple stood up and said to the intermediate cultivation senior brother on the podium.
“Who said I didn't want to? I just… just wanted to see if senior brother speaks with unwavering authority. Now I finally understand, your words are like… something that not even a horse could follow.” Sun Dali had already stood up, his face red and neck thick as he debated fiercely.
Watching everyone, who before had feared it and avoided it, now scrambling to be the attendant, Tian Zongyu, calm like still water, couldn't help but shake his head. In his heart, he summed up the group of disappointed senior and junior brothers in three words: “A pack of wolves.”
Early the next morning, the five outstanding disciples selected by the inner hall senior uncle of the Tiandi Sect, together with the five junior cultivation disciples chosen to act as attendants, all stood on the vast ground in front of the grand gate of the Tiandi Sect.
The five junior cultivation disciples were soon assigned to the five outstanding senior cultivation disciples.
Tian Zongyu was paired with An Jiaxiu, the proud disciple of the inner hall senior uncle Feng Bu Gan; Wu Yi was paired with Qiu Shengping, the proud disciple of the inner hall second senior uncle Zhou Hou; Sun Dali was paired with Qi Tianhao, the proud disciple of the inner hall third senior uncle Situ Boxu; Lin Yunfang was paired with Shi Yin, the disciple of the inner hall fourth senior uncle Du Shuiyue; and the remaining Luo Qianqian was naturally paired with Ouyang Qin, the disciple of the fifth senior uncle Huang Lirong.
These five pairings were absolutely classic, perfectly balanced in height, build, and proportion. Once the distribution was complete, the three groups of male disciples on this side couldn't help but glance toward the two groups of female disciples over there, already captivated by the four female disciples of exceptional beauty.
However, under the six pairs of leering eyes, only the junior cultivation disciples Lin Yunfang and Luo Qianqian showed signs of shyness and bashfulness, while the senior cultivation disciples Shi Yin and Ouyang Qin held their heads high, chests out, looking proudly forward, completely unmoved by these six strange gazes.
Seeing the proud expressions of the two senior sisters, Tian Zongyu thought to himself: “What's so great? They just arrived a bit earlier than us and have slightly higher cultivation, that's all.
Hmph, I couldn't care less!” Thinking this, he finally averted his gaze from the beautiful scenery, his expression becoming somewhat expressionless.After the assignments were distributed, the five senior inner-hall uncles gave a word of advice to their respective prized disciples. Then, they bid them farewell and walked toward the main gate of Tiandi Sect.
As soon as the five senior inner-hall uncles left, the atmosphere suddenly became lively. The three senior male cultivators hurried to gather around the four female disciples. An Jiaxiu was the first to speak: "Haha, fellow junior sisters, over the next year, we'll be like grasshoppers on the same rope, so we must take good care of each other!" The other two senior male disciples, including Wu Yi and Sun Dali who followed them, immediately echoed in agreement.
The four female disciples nodded with smiles: "We'll be relying on you three senior brothers from now on." While saying this, Shi Yin couldn't help but look at Tian Zongyu, who was standing alone over here, a hint of curiosity appearing between her brows.
After a brief exchange of greetings, the five senior cultivators no longer said much. Each handed the prepared parcels to their attendants and leapt onto the fine horses that were ready by their side.
"Sigh, although having five junior disciples as attendants during this year's training adds a bit of burden, we are free from the constraints of luggage, which is also not a bad thing!" An Jiaxiu said with an excited expression.
The other four senior cultivators nodded in agreement.
Although the five junior disciples felt a bit awkward, they had no choice but to mount the prepared horses along with them. After all, leaving the Tiandi Sect and experiencing the outside world is an exciting event.
"Clop… clop… clop…" The sound of hooves rose, kicking up a cloud of dust. Ten fine horses, carrying ten young disciples of the Tiandi Sect, galloped forward together toward an exciting future.