Because of what happened with Liu Fuyin yesterday, Ji Zhaoxi had been shaken up and swore she would train seriously from now on, determined to crush her rival beneath her heel.
Their families had been sworn enemies for generations — the Ji family slaughtered pigs, and the Liu family raised silkworms. The Liu family thought the Ji family was crude and uncouth for butchering pigs every day; the Ji family thought the Liu family was strange and superstitious for talking to bugs all day. Ji Zhaoxi felt this was no longer just a personal rivalry between her and Liu Fuyin — this was a full-blown war between the Ji and Liu families.
Liuli was munching on snacks, looking at Ji Zhaoxi with confusion. “But miss, you’re already better than Liu Fuyin.”
Why say all those things about surpassing her? Miss was already ahead of Liu Fuyin, and Liuli didn’t like hearing it.
The next day, at the first light of dawn, Tianjue Sect was wrapped in drifting clouds and mist, the distant mountain peaks barely showing their tips, with a faint scent of sandalwood lingering in the air.
Ji Zhaoxi had been waiting at Wen Shubai’s doorstep since early morning. Starting today, she would never sleep in again.
But she had arrived far too early, and after waiting a long while, she still hadn’t seen many people on the path.
Just then, the Second Elder strolled by with a yawn, looking full of energy. The two of them exchanged a silent, awkward stare.
“Second Elder, you’re up early too,” Ji Zhaoxi greeted him.
She thought to herself: impressive — he’s elder-ranked after all. Though he’s usually unserious, seems he does have his moments of discipline.
The Second Elder scratched his head sheepishly. “This old man hasn’t gone to bed yet.”
He’d just gotten back from fooling around down the mountain.
Ji Zhaoxi: …
Seeing her waiting at the entrance to Wen Shubai’s courtyard, the Second Elder figured she was there to see him. He stroked his beard and probed cautiously, “Miss Ji, this old man watched your training yesterday, and you seemed to be… enjoying yourself?”
What was going on? The letter he’d received hadn’t said anything like this.
Ji Zhaoxi nodded bashfully. “Because Senior Brother said I have some natural talent.”
“I’d wanted to come to Tianjue Sect to have fun anyway, but since Senior Brother put it that way, I figured I shouldn’t waste this gift of mine.”
The Second Elder’s mouth twitched. “Shubai said that?”
Ji Zhaoxi nodded emphatically.
The Second Elder let out a few laughs, then walked off with his hands clasped behind his back, nodding to himself.
What exactly was Shubai thinking? He couldn’t quite make sense of it now. This Miss Ji doesn’t even have a spiritual root, and he’s over there singing her praises — isn’t he just making her fall deeper into delusion?
But the one getting paid was him, and the one teaching was Wen Shubai.
The Second Elder quickly consoled himself. Whatever, not their problem.
The morning mist over Tianjue Sect gradually thinned, and birds began to chirp in the woods. Ji Zhaoxi leaned against the wall and kept waiting. She’d better not come this early next time.
She had assumed someone as accomplished as Senior Brother barely needed to sleep, but turns out he slept plenty.
Ji Zhaoxi closed her eyes while waiting for Wen Shubai, and she discovered that waiting with eyes closed was especially comfortable — there was a sensation of her whole body going weightless.
Creak —
The courtyard gate let out a soft sound, and footsteps gradually approached from inside. Wen Shubai opened the gate and paused.
He had thought that at this hour, the only things on the peak would be the cranes and the morning mist. His gaze settled on the young woman by the door.
She was leaning against the stone wall, her usually clever and lively eyes now tightly shut, her head bobbing up and down like a pecking chick.
“Little junior sister…”
“Little junior sister?”
After calling her several times, Ji Zhaoxi finally woke up in a daze. She stared blankly at the man before her, whose eyes were filled with a gentle smile, and was silent for a moment.
“Senior Brother, I just entered a state of flow.”
Ji Zhaoxi steadied herself against the wall and stood up, speaking with utter seriousness: “Cultivators should enter that state often, right?”
Wen Shubai let out a low chuckle but said nothing.
He hadn’t expected Ji Zhaoxi to be up this early today. It wasn’t yet time for training.
Today she was supposed to continue hauling water, but Wen Shubai was worried she might resist, so he planned to start her on chopping firewood instead.
Though the “three thousand loads” claim might have been exaggerated, when it came to chopping firewood, she should be more adept at it than other tasks — the Second Elder had never stopped praising how skilled she was at it.
When Wen Shubai led Ji Zhaoxi to the woods and she saw the piles upon piles of timber, she was completely dumbstruck.
“Little junior sister, this is black pine wood — hard as iron. I’m sure you’ll find it satisfying to chop.” Wen Shubai explained gently.
It was specially used for disciples to train their strength.
If these exercises could help little junior sister build her confidence, that would be the best possible outcome.
Ji Zhaoxi stared back at Wen Shubai, who looked at her with an encouraging expression.
She realized Senior Brother had really high expectations of her.
But she didn’t want to disappoint him. Black pine wood, then — chop it is!
Ji Zhaoxi raised the axe with a grave expression, but she didn’t forget to worry about Wen Shubai beside her. “Senior Brother, stand back a bit — I’m afraid I might hurt you.”
Seeing how serious Ji Zhaoxi looked, Wen Shubai became even more certain he’d made the right call.
Indeed, chopping wood was making little junior sister more confident.
Thunk —
On the first swing, the heavy axe got stuck in a crack in the wood. Ji Zhaoxi immediately realized something was off the moment she struck.
She cleared her throat, planted her foot on the log, and tried to pull the axe out. She was drenched in sweat from frustration, but the axe wouldn’t budge an inch.
The atmosphere was dead silent. Wen Shubai watched for a good while, then reached over and pulled the axe out for her.
Ji Zhaoxi smiled at him. “Senior Brother, I haven’t done this in a while. I’m a bit out of practice.”
Wen Shubai nodded. “Little junior sister’s chopping form certainly looks like it’s been trained before.”
Ji Zhaoxi stepped back a few paces, her expression turning even grimmer. She raised the axe and swung it fiercely at the black pine — the blade whistling through the air — but all it left was a faint white scratch on the bark.
Ji Zhaoxi was quiet for a moment, then looked at Wen Shubai. “Senior Brother, I think this axe isn’t very good.”
Wen Shubai nodded understandingly and helpfully switched out a different axe for her.
This time, there was no way she wasn’t splitting this wood.
She made an even bigger show of it this time. She swung her arm in a full arc and brought the axe down on the same gap as before.
CLANG —
The axe struck at an angle on the black pine, and the force from the impact jolted straight up through her hand and into her head. The axe flew out of her grip and ended up embedded in a tree trunk in the distance.
“Brother, that was just a slip-up.” Ji Zhaoxi coughed lightly in explanation.
Wen Shubai nodded calmly again, with no hint of doubt.
On the fourth attempt, the axe got wedged in the wood again — so stuck she couldn’t pull it out no matter what.
Ji Zhaoxi was sweating from exhaustion.
She was silent for a long moment, then looked at Wen Shubai seriously. “Senior Brother, it seems I’m not very good at chopping black pine. If it were any other kind of tree, I could definitely chop it.”
The sound of chopping echoed through the forest without pause. Every time Ji Zhaoxi made a commotion, the birds in the woods would fly out to watch the show. By the end, she was gasping for breath, but she finally managed to chop the black pine into pieces.
Ji Zhaoxi figured that if she could get good at chopping trees, it might also come in handy down the road when she had to chop pigs.
