Chapter 4: Against-Heaven Transformation, The Limitless Profound Clarity Dao

From this point on, after the three of them had performed the apprenticeship ceremony in the main hall under their respective masters, they were officially considered to be under the Qingyun Sect.

【Ding!】

【Congratulations to the host for successfully becoming an apprentice of the Qingyun Sect. You have received the reward: Against-Heaven Comprehension. Comprehending the Heavenly Book and practicing Daoist arts will be as simple as drinking water or breathing.】

The system notification also rang out at this moment.

After the apprenticeship, the heads of each peak left one by one, and the two orphans from Caomiao Village, Lin Jingyu and Zhang Xiaofan, also took their leave in turn, following their respective masters.

Finally, Shuiyue led Su Zhangqing out of the hall door. Shuiyue summoned her Flying Sword, first using her spiritual energy to gently lift Su Zhangqing onto it, then she herself leaped onto the Flying Sword as well.

"Zhangqing, you must hold onto my sleeve tightly and do not look around, so as to avoid accidentally falling off."

Shuiyue instructed, then flicked her sleeve, lengthening it by a few inches, which happened to land right in Su Zhangqing's hand.

Su Zhangqing nodded, then gripped the sleeve tightly and stood obediently behind Shuiyue Dashi, though his eyes were constantly watching how Shuiyue Dashi operated the Flying Sword.

Seeing her disciple looking so well-behaved, Shuiyue Dashi felt satisfied.

Even though Su Zhangqing's natural talent and aptitude were not great, fortunately, his temperament was good, and he was very obedient and sensible; bringing him back to Xiaozhu Peak might not be a bad thing.

With a whistling sound, the long sword headed toward the mountain range of Xiaozhu Peak.

Before long, the Flying Sword gradually descended steadily from the high sky. The mountain range of Xiaozhu Peak was different from the other peaks; it was covered in various flowers and plants, and with a hundred flowers in full bloom, it looked extremely beautiful and smelled incredibly fragrant.

"Disciple, we have arrived."

After Shuiyue Dashi helped Su Zhangqing off the Flying Sword, she followed him down, and the two walked one after the other into the small hall within the mountain range.

As soon as they entered the small hall, the fragrance became even stronger, and immediately coming into view were over a hundred female disciples of Xiaozhu Peak sitting in the hall, practicing their arts.

"Master!"

Hearing the sound, the hundred-plus female disciples all turned their heads and greeted Shuiyue Dashi in unison.

Then they saw a little boy standing behind their master. Everyone was astonished, as Xiaozhu Peak rarely had men visit, let alone a boy brought back personally by their master, who was known for not being close to men.

"Mm."

After Shuiyue Dashi nodded in response to her disciples, she did not explain in the face of their astonished gazes and led Su Zhangqing straight toward the front of the hall.

"Who is this little boy? Could he be Master's little nephew?"

"I've never seen this little boy in the sect before. Perhaps he is a new disciple from another peak, and Master brought him over for us to see."

"This little brother is about the same age as the newly accepted junior sister Lu Xueqi, and he looks so delicate and well-behaved; he is truly adorable."

Su Zhangqing followed closely behind Shuiyue Dashi. The whispering around him did not cease, but Su Zhangqing had no particular thoughts; he simply used his pure, water-like eyes to curiously size up these senior sisters.

As expected, even in cultivation, looks matter.

Not one of the female disciples of Xiaozhu Peak was not beautiful; if they were in his past life, every one of them could have been a star, and there were even a few whose beauty was even more striking, existing as the most vibrant among the hundred flowers.

Among them, a young girl about the same age as Su Zhangqing remained as still as stagnant water in the face of Su Zhangqing's appearance, without a single ripple of emotion. After just one glance at Su Zhangqing, she turned back and began to practice on her own.

Let Su Zhangqing guess, that was likely the heroine from the story. Just as Su Zhangqing followed her to the front of the hall, Shuiyue Dashi sat on the main chair, and Su Zhangqing stood before her, quietly waiting for her instructions.

"My disciples, this little boy is named Su Zhangqing. He is the disciple I have newly accepted today. From now on, he will be your junior brother and will live and grow up at Xiaozhu Peak for a period of time."

Shuiyue Dashi first introduced Su Zhangqing's identity, then said with a solemn expression: "Those who practice the Dao emphasize purity of the six senses, so you need not mind that he is male. Practice your own Daoist arts diligently and look after each other as senior and junior siblings; you must not deliberately exclude him. Do you understand?"

"We understand, Master!"

The female disciples responded in unison.

But in their hearts, they were all shocked. This little brother was actually a disciple recruited by Master? Since when did Xiaozhu Peak accept male disciples?

Wasn't Master always distant from men? That she would personally break the tradition of Xiaozhu Peak—which had been passed down through the generations—of not accepting male disciples was truly unbelievable.

However, many disciples also felt happy. Xiaozhu Peak had always been all sisters, and this time there was actually a little junior brother, and he looked so well-behaved and cute.

Let alone excluding him, they couldn't wait to shower him with affection.

Of course, these words could not be spoken aloud, otherwise, if Master heard them, they would certainly be punished.

"Alright, Zhangqing, from now on, these are all your senior sisters."

"I have a total of one hundred and forty-two disciples under my tutelage. Excluding those who have already gone down the mountain to practice, there are one hundred and twelve disciples in the mountain. I will not introduce them to you one by one; you will know how to address them after you interact with them."

Shuiyue Dashi said to Su Zhangqing.

"Very well, Master."

Su Zhangqing bowed slightly in response.

"Today you have become my apprentice. There are twelve sect rules and twenty prohibitions in our sect. In a moment, your senior sister Wen Min will teach them to you."

After Shuiyue Dashi finished speaking, she cast a glance at Wen Min, who nodded to indicate she understood. Then Shuiyue Dashi added: "Our sect's Daoist arts place great importance on foundations. Since you are a beginner, I will first teach you the basic Daoist arts. You must remember them firmly and practice on your own. If there is anything you do not understand, you may come and ask me, or you may ask these senior sisters of yours. Do you understand?"

"This disciple understands!"

Su Zhangqing nodded, feeling a bit excited inwardly.

Shuiyue Dashi smiled back and pointed to the meditation cushion beside her, letting Su Zhangqing sit down. She first taught him how to meditate and contemplate, then roughly explained the human body's meridians and the circulation of essence and Qi, and finally passed on the first layer of the 'Great Ultimate Profound Clarity Dao' cultivation method to Su Zhangqing.

Following Shuiyue Dashi's instructions, Su Zhangqing first silently circulated the method on the meditation cushion, but after just one cycle, he discovered something was wrong.

The Daoist art he was circulating seemed even more profound and powerful than what Shuiyue Dashi had taught, and it was even more ingenious in how it moved essence and Qi through the body's meridians.

With this, Su Zhangqing felt his dantian crack like an eggshell, directly reforging the dantian. The surrounding spiritual energy also began to be attracted toward Su Zhangqing at this moment, being guided into his body and beginning to flow toward his dantian.

Does this count as officially stepping onto the path of cultivation? 【Host is practicing the Daoist art 'Great Ultimate Profound Clarity Dao', triggering Against-Heaven Comprehension, successfully improving the 'Great Ultimate Profound Clarity Dao'. The host is now practicing the 'Limitless Profound Clarity Dao'.】

Su Zhangqing felt a slight shock in his heart. Is this Against-Heaven Comprehension really this terrifying?

Although this 'Great Ultimate Profound Clarity Dao' is the basic Daoist art of the Qingyun Sect, according to the descriptions in the story, it is also considered a supreme Daoist art of the highest order in the world, yet it could still be directly improved by his comprehension.

(End of chapter)