Chapter 25 : Chapter 25
Chapter 25: Three Years Later
Moreover, everyone knew that she had been punished by the sect, so they basically ignored her.
One month later…
Ye Liuyun walked out of the alchemy room with a tired expression on her face.
“Ah! I am not refining anymore. I cannot keep refining pills all the time. Old hag, can you teach me something else? For example, how to fight?” Ye Liuyun asked after leaving the alchemy room.
“It is not that I cannot teach you, but I am afraid you will cause trouble. I know your personality very well. If I really teach you powerful methods, would you not turn the entire Yunxia Sect upside down?” Lin Qingyou said with concern.
Just refining pills had already caused quite a disturbance in the Yunxia Sect. If she also taught Ye Liuyun combat techniques, Lin Qingyou could hardly imagine what shocking things Ye Liuyun might do.
“Do not say that, Master! Beautiful Master, fairy sister! I promise that as long as you teach me combat skills, I will never call you an old hag again,” Ye Liuyun quickly said.
She did not want to remain a cultivator with no combat ability forever.
Lin Qingyou thought about it again.
“Fine. However, the Cultivation Method you practice cannot increase your strength. Teaching you overly powerful techniques would not have much meaning. I will teach you some combat routines instead. As for how far you can cultivate them, that will depend on your own fortune,” Lin Qingyou said.
When Ye Liuyun heard this, she immediately became excited.
She happily walked toward the place where tasks were turned in.
“Senior Brother Duan, I am here to submit a task. Please check it,” Ye Liuyun said as she arrived at the task reception area, placing the task token and the pills on the counter.
Senior Brother Duan, who was responsible for issuing tasks, was startled when he saw who had arrived.
“It is you again, Junior Sister Ye. You have taken five tasks this month alone. I really cannot understand how you manage to complete them,” Senior Brother Duan said in astonishment after checking the pills.
“Hehe, it is a secret. I cannot tell you. Now give me my contribution points,” Ye Liuyun said, shaking her identity token.
Senior Brother Duan sighed helplessly and took Ye Liuyun’s token, transferring the contribution points she had earned to it.
In just one month, Ye Liuyun had already earned more than three thousand contribution points. That was a great deal. An ordinary disciple’s monthly stipend was only one hundred contribution points.
Afterward, following Lin Qingyou’s instructions, Ye Liuyun went to the back mountain of the Yunxia Sect. Since she wanted to practice and avoid attracting too much attention, the back mountain was the most suitable place.
The terrain there was varied, with tall trees and dense forests, making it perfect for Ye Liuyun.
“All right, this place will do. I will first teach you a palm technique and a movement technique. However, before that, you must learn proper bearing. I am a female cultivator, and everything I possess is only suitable for female cultivators to practice. You are also a woman now, so you should learn proper posture. Otherwise, the routines I teach you will look very ugly when you perform them,” Lin Qingyou said.
Ye Liuyun had been very happy at first, but the moment she heard that Lin Qingyou wanted her to practice proper bearing, she immediately became displeased.
Becoming a woman was already troublesome enough. Now she was also being asked to practice feminine posture. Was that not deliberately trying to embarrass her?
“If you do not want to teach me, I can learn on my own. But do not expect me to learn any strange or unnecessary things,” Ye Liuyun said unhappily.
“Fine, fine. Do as you wish. If you do not want to learn, then do not learn. When you feel embarrassed later, the one who suffers will be you, not me. I will pass the cultivation methods to you now,” Lin Qingyou replied. She had no intention of forcing Ye Liuyun to learn.
Ye Liuyun rolled her eyes at Lin Qingyou.
Then Lin Qingyou extended a finger and touched Ye Liuyun’s forehead. Ye Liuyun involuntarily closed her eyes.
“The palm technique I am passing to you is called 《Fallen Leaves Flying Flower Palm》, and the movement technique is called 《Drifting Delicate Cloud Step》. Because of the Eternal Evergreen Art, the power inside your body cannot increase, so the palm technique will only have the strength of the early Spirit Stream Realm. As for the movement technique, that will depend on how diligently you cultivate it…” Lin Qingyou explained the cultivation method while describing the characteristics and power of the two techniques.
At the same time, a scene began playing in Ye Liuyun’s mind. The person in the scene was Lin Qingyou herself, personally demonstrating the routines of these two techniques.
How should it be described? This palm technique combined with the movement technique looked very much like a dance. It was extremely pleasing to the eye. However, Ye Liuyun also understood that any combat routine must be used flexibly. When each movement was demonstrated individually, it naturally resembled a dance.
Because Lin Qingyou transmitted her cultivation insights directly through her divine sense, Ye Liuyun could see everything clearly. After watching it once, she already understood how to practice it.
After the transmission was complete, Lin Qingyou withdrew her finger.
“All right. Practice it yourself. How far you can cultivate it depends on your own perseverance. By the way, did the Yunxia Sect not give you two manuals? You should read them when you have time. It is still necessary to learn the sect’s own techniques. Otherwise, people may become suspicious,” Lin Qingyou said before returning to the ring.
As for Ye Liuyun, she closed her eyes and began practicing along with the scene in her mind. Only when her body became familiar with the routines and movements could it be considered true mastery.
The place where Ye Liuyun practiced was a forest filled with fallen leaves. It was quiet, and leaves constantly drifted down around her. As her mind moved, her body followed. She repeatedly practiced each move and stance, her speed gradually increasing.
The once stiff movements became smoother and smoother with each repetition, and her footwork became increasingly steady.
“So this is what practicing martial techniques feels like? It actually feels quite good. It is much more comfortable than sitting all day refining pills,” Ye Liuyun said.
From practicing with her eyes closed to practicing with her eyes open, it took her only three days.
It took just one week to go from unfamiliarity to completely mastering the routines. However, this was only mastery of the form. The routines themselves had no killing power yet. Her speed and strength were still far from sufficient.
But Ye Liuyun knew that developing true power was not something that could be achieved overnight. When she was still in the mortal world, Lin Aoxue had forced her to learn martial arts for a period of time.
However, because she had always been lazy, she only learned the routines superficially. She suddenly felt some regret. Why had she not practiced more diligently with Lin Aoxue back then? Of course, after she had transformed into a woman, she completely stopped practicing martial arts out of fear that her identity might be discovered.
Days passed one after another in this manner.
Ye Liuyun rarely returned to her residence. When she grew tired of practicing, she went back to the Alchemy Pavilion to refine pills. When she grew tired of refining pills, she returned to the back mountain to continue practicing.
This world also had the cycle of four seasons.
Ye Liuyun switched back and forth between pill refining and martial practice. Regardless of anything else, Ye Liuyun certainly possessed perseverance. Whether it rained or snowed, whether it was freezing or scorching hot, she never missed a single day of practice. She spent half a month refining pills and the other half practicing martial techniques.
During this time, she had considered going to see Lin Aoxue, but unfortunately Lin Aoxue was in the inner sect. As an entry disciple, Ye Liuyun could not enter the inner sect unless Lin Aoxue herself came out to see her.
She had tried several times, but each time she was turned away. In the end, she had no choice but to temporarily stop worrying about Lin Aoxue and focus on her own affairs.
However, Ye Liuyun did not notice that while she practiced the Fallen Leaves Flying Flower Palm and the Drifting Delicate Cloud Step for a long time, her body movements were gradually becoming less and less like those of a man.
Perhaps this was intentional on Lin Qingyou’s part. Both techniques belonged to a soft and graceful style, rather than the fierce and forceful style typically practiced by men. With prolonged practice, and with Ye Liuyun already being a woman now, it was basically impossible for her to maintain the mannerisms she had when she was male.
Unless someone reminded her every day.
Unfortunately, no one reminded her, and no one found it strange either. After all, she already appeared to be a pure and gentle young girl. No outsider would say something like, “Why are you becoming more and more like a woman?”
This was a gradual physical change that occurred unconsciously, and Ye Liuyun herself could not perceive it.
And so, the three years of cultivation life as an entry disciple passed quietly without her noticing. To Ye Liuyun, it felt as though only a few months had passed, not three entire years.
“All disciples who entered the sect three years ago, please gather at the Martial Arena. The formal disciple entrance examination will begin shortly.”
A majestic voice echoed across the sky above the Yunxia Sect.