Chapter 2: Rapid Rise

After all, he was a child at heart. He was still feeling sad about the cowherd leaving home the moment before, but the next moment he shifted his attention to the flying sword under his feet.

The flying sword was about ten feet long and nearly a foot wide, with carved patterns and yin and yang carvings on it. The metallic luster showed that it was extremely heavy, but it was as light as a swallow and could carry people to fly. The cowherd was puzzled.

The cowherd was about to ask a question, but when he looked up, he saw that the Taoist priest was pale and bloodless, so he didn't dare to ask more.

The two flew for a long time with a sword. Just when the cowherd was about to fall asleep, he suddenly stopped and found that he was already on the ground.

Looking up, the clouds and mountains were misty, and there was nothing else.

Could this be the location of the Five Elements Gate mentioned by the Taoist priest?

Could he have been deceived by some quack?

The cowherd boy was still daydreaming when two figures shot over from a distance. After seeing the Taoist priest next to the cowherd boy, they moved faster, stood still, bowed and saluted, and called him "Elder Yuanxu". This gave the cowherd boy some peace of mind, and he secretly thought: It seems that his future master still has some weight in this so-called Five Elements Sect.

"Take him down and take good care of him."

After saying this, the Taoist priest who called himself Yuanxu flew away on his sword like a fire on his butt and disappeared.

This not only made the cowherd boy at a loss, but also the two people did not expect to encounter such a thing. However, Yuanxu Zhenren was an elder of the Five Elements Sect, and they dared not disobey his words. But how to take care of this rustic little kid in front of them?

The key is, what is the relationship between this child and Elder Yuanxu?

After taking a deep look at the cowherd boy, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

This is just a mortal with no cultivation. Maybe he is a chores boy recruited by Elder Yuanxu from the secular world?

"I'm afraid it's a mortal that the elder saved." One of them said to himself casually. The cowherd boy was stunned, but then he thought that he was indeed saved by the Taoist priest, so he didn't say anything to defend himself. His silence was regarded as a tacit agreement by the two men, and the man continued to ask: "Boy, what's your name?"

"My surname is Xiao, Xiao Qingyun!"

The cowherd boy - Xiao Qingyun, tried his best to be neither arrogant nor humble.

"Xiao Qingyun? Humph! The name is quite appropriate! Let's go, I'll take you to the residence."

While speaking, the man released the flying sword and motioned Xiao Qingyun to follow him.

The flying sword is nearly five feet long and only half a foot wide. It is undoubtedly much smaller than the flying sword of Taoist priest Yuanxu, but it also makes Xiao Qingyun envious. He doesn't know when he can have his own flying sword. Xiao Qingyun's daze made the man very impatient, and he grabbed it on the sword and flew away with his companions laughing at him.

Xiao Qingyun was really frightened, but soon, he forgot the shock and was deeply shocked instead.

The flying sword flew out for only three breaths, and the tip of the sword seemed to touch a layer of water waves. After a "wave" sound, the scenery in front of him suddenly changed - or in other words, it was completely a different world: the white clouds were still there, but in the endless sky, the green mountains were unchanged, and there were all exotic flowers and plants, layers of mountains and rivers, and towering pavilions. Occasionally, white cranes flapped their wings and golden scales swung their tails. From time to time, colorful sword lights flew from different peaks to other peaks. It was really a fairy atmosphere!

So this is the real Five Elements Sect!

After less than a quarter of an hour, the man stopped the flying sword on a rather short peak.

"This is the residence of the new errand disciples. Take care of yourself!" The man pushed Xiao Qingyun off the flying sword three feet above the ground and left quickly without looking back. His voice with a hidden warning came from the air, "Behave yourself! Don't cause trouble for us, otherwise you will be in trouble!"

Although Xiao Qingyun was not injured after being pushed off the flying sword, he was confused for a while: When did he become a new errand disciple?

He looked around and didn't recognize anyone. He wanted to ask where Yuanxu was, but he didn't know who to ask. He remembered the warning from the man just now, so he didn't dare to act rashly. He just thought it was a test from the old Taoist master, or an assessment of the new disciples by the sect.

Just as Xiao Qingyun was looking around, someone came up to accommodate him. Obviously, there were new disciples coming to report often, so Xiao Qingyun just made the best of it.

Although the mountain is low, there are many vacant stone houses with all kinds of daily necessities, so Xiao Qingyun settled down there peacefully.

Unexpectedly, he stayed there for ten days until Taoist Yuanxu came to visit him.

"What are you doing here!?"

Yuanxu's complexion was much better, but his face was a little ugly, which made Xiao Qingyun quite worried. Did he do something wrong?

Before Xiao Qingyun could figure out how to deal with it, Yuanxu seemed to have guessed something, and pulled Xiao Qingyun up into the sky, heading straight for the Deacon Hall outside the Five Elements Gate.

"Huangfu Wei, you are so bold! How dare you send my Yuanxu's disciples to do chores!?" Pointing at the nose of the person who bossed Xiao Qingyun around that day, Yuanxu asked coldly: "Who gave you the courage? Do you think your Huangfu family wants to climb over my Lu family?"

"Elder, calm down! I really didn't know that this... this junior brother is actually your..." Huangfu Wei didn't finish his words, Yuanxu yelled again: "Junior brother? Who the hell is your junior brother? Although this kid hasn't started practicing yet, my Yuanxu's disciples are inner disciples. How can you, an outer disciple, be qualified to be his senior brother? Or do you not have my head of Yanzhu Peak, Yuanxu Zhenren, in your eyes?"

"This..." Huangfu Wei's face changed again and again. Seeing that Yuanxu was about to lose his temper again, he gritted his teeth and saluted to Xiao Qingyun: "Outer disciple Huangfu Wei greets Xiao... Senior Brother Xiao, please be magnanimous and don't blame me for my unintentional mistake last time!"

From beginning to end, Xiao Qingyun didn't say a word. It's not that he wanted to pretend to be deep, but he didn't know what to say. Although Xiao Qingyun was not familiar with worldly affairs, he was not stupid. After Yuanxu's disturbance, he knew that Huangfu Wei looked down on him. However, seeing Huangfu Wei, who was much older than him, bowed to apologize to him, Xiao Qingyun felt happy but did not know how to respond.

After all, Xiao Qingyun was just a twelve-year-old child, and he was just a cowherd before. He had no experience in dealing with such situations.

He looked at Yuanxu for help, and was stunned when he saw his unfathomable expression.

Xiao Qingyun had a flash of inspiration and had made up his mind.

"Brother Huangfu, right? Ignorance is not a crime. It's my fault that I didn't make it clear in advance. As long as Brother Huangfu doesn't flatter the superior and bully the inferior in the future, that's all." Xiao Qingyun said lightly and with an air of old-fashionedness, but cold sweat was pouring out of his tightly clenched fists. Huangfu Wei's face turned pale, but he had to bow his head and promise: "Thank you, senior brother, for letting bygones be bygones! I will remember your teachings today and will never forget them!"

"Let's put this behind us. Let's go!"

Carelessly waving Huangfu Wei away, Yuanxu led Xiao Qingyun through the clouds.

Xiao Qingyun's heart gradually calmed down. He looked back at Huangfu Wei standing there, and he suddenly realized: he was no longer the cowherd boy before!

He, Xiao Qingyun, was truly on the rise today!

In Yanzhu Peak, Yuanxu Cave, Yuanxu Zhenren sat in the hall.

"Although Huangfu Wei is a disciple of the Huangfu family, he is only a collateral descendant. He has some talent for practicing to the ninth level of Qi training. What's more rare is that he can lower his face to admit his mistakes to you, a person with no cultivation. He is quite sophisticated." Yuanxu drank the fragrant spiritual tea slowly, but his eyes kept scanning the boy in front of him. Xiao Qingyun heard it and replied: "That's all because of the master's reputation!"

"Haha, the boy is teachable!" Yuanxu smiled and asked: "It's the master who is confused. I don't know your name? How old are you this year?"

"My name is Xiao, Qingyun, and I'm twelve years old!"

"Oh..."

Yuanxu didn't move his expression, and didn't seem to care about his disciple's name. He casually pulled Xiao Qingyun over and passed a stream of true energy into Xiao Qingyun's body.

Xiao Qingyun felt a warm current rushing in from the pulse point of his right hand, which was being held by Yuanxu, and then running along his arm to his chest and abdomen, and then slowly going down to his lower abdomen, and then extending from his back to the top of his head, and finally disappearing from the pulse point of his left hand. He felt sore, numb, and itchy, and almost couldn't help laughing out loud.

Just seeing Yuanxu's increasingly ugly expression, Xiao Qingyun couldn't help but feel depressed.

"Master, but... but is there anything wrong?"

"Well... although I'm a little disappointed, it's reasonable." After replying without thinking, Yuanxu was silent again, and after a long time, he said again: "Your spiritual roots are not even satisfactory, but you can barely practice Taoism."

"Spiritual roots?"

"Your spiritual roots have all five elements, which is the lowest."

Master Yuanxu did not explain the so-called "spiritual roots", but gave Xiao Qingyun a fierce blow in the most direct way.

Hearing this, Xiao Qingyun clenched his hands tightly, and his face was uncertain.

"If someone else is like you, I will definitely not bother to take him up the mountain, but as the master said, you and the master are destined to be together. Although your spiritual roots are poor, hard work can make up for your shortcomings. As long as you devote yourself to the Tao in the future and build a successful foundation, you can be free for three hundred years. Do you understand?" Seeing Xiao Qingyun's eyes gradually firm and his expression firm, Yuanxu nodded and continued: "The name Qingyun is too utilitarian and useless for practicing Taoism. You should change your name to "Xiao Mian". Encourage yourself and make progress, so as not to let down the immortal fate between the master and you."

Although Xiao Qingyun was a little reluctant to hear this, he still nodded in agreement.

From now on, he is Xiao Mian.

Yuanxu didn't care about these. With a wave of his hand, three things appeared on the small coffee table beside him like magic.

An ancient book, a three-inch high small porcelain bottle and a small black round plate.

"The ancient scroll is our sect's foundation-building method, 'The Secret of the Five Elements Transforming Qi'. It is profound and easy to understand, and is the easiest to use for building a foundation. I see that you can read, so take it back and study it yourself. If you don't understand something, you can always come to me for advice. The porcelain bottle contains the 'Guyuan Pill', which will help you strengthen your foundation and enhance your physique. As for this magic weapon..." Seeing Xiao Mian's eyes fixed on the disc, Yuanxu took it in his hand and threw it into the air. The disc, which was only the size of a fist, grew with the wind and became like a millstone, and then it stayed in the air. Xiao Mian was so amazed that he could not close his mouth. Then he heard Yuanxu explain: "This item is called 'Hunyuan Stone'. Although it is a mid-level magic weapon, it is quite powerful. I will give it to you. But to control this magic weapon, you must have at least the fourth level of Qi training. You must work hard."

"Thank you Master for your favor, Qingyun - no! Xiao Mian will definitely repay Master for his kindness in the future if he achieves something!"

"Let's talk about everything after you build your foundation." Looking at Xiao Mian in an unfathomable way, Yuanxu called the Taoist boy under his seat, pointed at Xiao Mian and said: "This is my new disciple Xiao Mian. I haven't reported to the sect yet. You take my token and go to the inner gate steward hall with him to avoid any blind idlers who will embarrass your senior brother Xiao."

"Yes! Senior brother Xiao, please follow me."

"Thank you, junior brother!"

Respectfully saluted Yuanxu, and then Xiao Mian followed the Taoist boy and left.

For a moment, only Taoist Yuanxu was left in the huge cave.

After a long time, Yuanxu waved his hand at the screen behind him, and a figure appeared behind the screen.

The man looked to be no more than twenty years old, tall and well-proportioned. Although his face was not handsome, he was heroic and majestic.

"Chengfeng, what do you think?" Yuanxu seemed to be very close to the young man, and his tone was casual. The young man also said frankly: "Although this kid is young, he is well-founded and neither arrogant nor humble, but is his spiritual root aptitude really that bad?"

"It is indeed that he has all five elements, which is very mixed. It is the lowest spiritual root for cultivation!"

"In that case, why do you still accept him as a disciple, Grandpa?"

It turned out that the young man was Yuanxu's grandson, surnamed Lu and named Chengfeng.

"Chengfeng, grandpa is already 240 years old this year. Although the life span of a foundation-building cultivator is said to be 300 years, grandpa injured his origin and damaged his foundation in his early years. I am afraid that he will not live to the end of his life. At most, he has less than 20 years of life left..."

"Grandpa, you are now at the top of the foundation-building stage, and you are only one step away from the legendary golden elixir road. As long as you can successfully form an elixir, you can live for 500 years. Why waste your energy on this kid?" Seeing his grandfather shaking his head, Lu Chengfeng was full of doubts, and then suddenly thought of something, exclaiming in disbelief: "Could it be... Could it be that the kid can..."

"The time is not right, the secret cannot be revealed! You just need to keep an eye on him for me! If there is nothing else, go down first..."

"..., yes! Grandson obeys!"

Following Yuanxu's order, Lu Chengfeng turned and walked out of the cave.

Only Yuanxu always sat upright in the hall, slightly closed his eyes, and did not speak or move.