The next morning, it was not yet five o'clock when Wan Yunting woke up. He carefully opened his room door and went out, trying not to make too much noise, so as not to wake up his grandfather Ouyang Shen, who lived next door, and...
After washing up, Wan Yunting looked up at the snow-covered mountains in front of him. It wasn't snowing today, so the sun should come out...
"Who is it? Can't a person sleep?"
Duan Yingying, who was sleeping comfortably in her warm bed, heard the knock on the door, which bothered her. Her lazy and annoyed voice cursed, while Wan Yunting, standing at the door, sternly said, "You have ten minutes to get up. If you don't, you'll bear the consequences."
"Ah, you're so annoying!"
Hearing the man's words, Duan Yingying immediately sat up. She grabbed her hair in frustration and annoyance, her sleepy almond-shaped eyes wide open. She glared fiercely at the door, muttering to herself, probably cursing Wan Yunting's ancestors for eighteen generations...
Ten minutes later, Duan Yingying still came out of the room. She saw Wan Yunting standing outside the door, wearing a thin practice uniform and stretching to loosen his muscles. He turned and said when he saw her come out, "Let's go, come with me for a run to Santai Peak. I heard that the disciples of the Wudang Sect meditate and practice there every morning..."
Watching Wan Yunting run, Duan Yingying, who had to follow him, had her cheeks puffed out, mumbling, "I finally came to Wudang Sect to play, and I still have to practice. I knew I shouldn't have come."
Wan Yunting, running ahead, could hear her mumbling. He turned and glanced at Duan Yingying, saying, "So, when I wasn't home, you were slacking off and not practicing every day?"
Realizing she had said too much, Duan Yingying covered her mouth, too guilty to look at the man in front of her. She forced herself to say, "Who says so? I got up at six o'clock every morning to meditate and practice, and practiced swordsmanship according to your requirements. I never slacked off."
"Heh heh."
Wan Yunting turned his head and gave her a sideways glance, then ran towards Santai Peak, a not-very-high mountain behind Wudang Sect. He said, "Hurry up and catch up. Whether you're slacking off or not, I'll know after testing you later."
"Tch."
Duan Yingying, following behind, rolled her eyes disdainfully and made faces and small gestures at Wan Yunting's back...
Santai Peak is a mountain peak within the inner sect of the Wudang Sect. To the left is another peak, covered in white snow, with beautiful and spectacular scenery. On the summit of Santai Peak, there is a platform, which is a practice ground, a small square. The ground is paved with bluestone, and the uneven, pitted appearance shows that it has been trodden on by countless generations of Wudang Sect disciples practicing, a trace of time hard-stamped by their feet.
"Breathe steadily, feel every acupoint in your body, don't be impatient..."
At this moment, on the small square, thirty inner disciples of the Wudang Sect were sitting cross-legged in neat rows on the snow-covered bluestone. Facing the biting cold wind of the morning, they were uniformly meditating and practicing qi gong.
Two disciples wearing blue daoist robes, Xiu Qi, the second disciple under the sect leader, and Qin Yuan, the fifth disciple, were their senior brothers, guiding them in their meditation and practice.
At the same time, at the edge of the mountain cliff of the square, under an old pine tree, there were several flat large bluestones. The eldest disciple Xian Yun, the third senior sister Xu Yuxin, the sixth junior brother Yang Xuan, and the seventh-ranked Zi Qing were all sitting cross-legged in meditation.
"They're up so early?"
Wan Yunting, with Duan Yingying, ran up and saw that they were already in a meditative state. He guessed they had woken up at five o'clock to practice, which made Duan Yingying click her tongue, "They're really diligent."
Wan Yunting turned his head, made a shushing gesture to her, and whispered, "How dare you say that? Look at why the Wudang Sect can be the leader of the major sects. Look at how hard their disciples practice. Unlike you, who still want to sleep in. Go meditate over there quickly."
Seeing an empty large bluestone ahead, Wan Yunting led Duan Yingying over. At the same time, Xiu Qi and Yang Xuan on the square saw them and revealed strange glances, but said nothing, continuing to supervise the thirty junior brothers' practice...
Wan Yunting and Duan Yingying sat cross-legged on the large bluestone, which could accommodate two people at the same time. He first guided Duan Yingying in meditation, and then he also focused and entered meditation.
Now Wan Yunting is in the middle stage of Martial Dao Dan Jin. The qi in his dantian is gradually condensing into a qi pill. Therefore, he has been getting up frequently to practice recently, wanting to break through to the late stage of Dan Jin...
Time passed by little by little. After hearing the shouts of boxing, Wan Yunting and Duan Yingying finally finished their practice and opened their eyes. They saw that Xiu Qi and Yang Xuan, and the eldest disciple Xian Yun had already started guiding on the square. Those junior brothers were practicing Tai Chi, Wudang Long Fist, Ten Duan Mian Palm, and other common Wudang Sect martial arts by meditating...
Wan Yunting turned his head and saw that Zi Qing was still meditating. It was evident that her concentration was very strong. So Wan Yunting got up and called Duan Yingying down from the large bluestone. He had her start practicing the Pure Yang Fist technique of the Wuliang Daoist Temple nearby and corrected her, "Your strength is too weak, and your punches are too slow. You're not using internal energy to punch. You can't generate power like this. You have to be like me..."
While guiding Duan Yingying, Wan Yunting demonstrated how to punch. This scene also made Xiu Qi, Yang Xuan, and the eldest disciple Xian Yun from afar look at them with interest. The third senior sister Xu Yuxin raised her eyebrows and said, "It seems that the new abbot from the Wuliang Daoist Temple is not simple!"
The eldest disciple Xian Yun smiled and nodded, saying, "If our seventh senior sister went down the mountain to discuss swords with him, how could he be described as simple!"
The fifth senior brother Qin Yuan said, "At the grand ceremony of worshiping ancestors at Wuliang Daoist Temple last time, during the sparring and martial arts competitions among the major sects, everyone said he was a martial arts prodigy. He broke through to the middle stage of Martial Dao Dan before he was thirty. He does have some skill!"
The second senior brother Xiu Qi, however, showed a disdainful expression and laughed, "Being young does not mean being good at martial arts. No matter how good your talent is, if you can't practice well, it's useless in actual combat!"
"Second senior brother is right."
The sixth junior brother Yang Xuan nodded and teased Xiu Qi, "Why don't you go spar with him, second senior brother?"
Xiu Qi turned and glared at the kid, "You little brat, are you digging a trap for me?"
"Heh heh, not at all."
Yang Xuan pointed at Wan Yunting over there and said with a smile, "Everyone says he's a martial arts prodigy, praising him to the skies. Don't you, second senior brother, want to test his true abilities?"
Xiu Qi immediately turned to look at the eldest disciple Xian Yun. In fact, he had been itching to do so for a long time.
"Stop messing around."
The eldest disciple Xian Yun smiled and said, "Our Abbot Wan is a guest. How can you act recklessly and break the etiquette?"
"Eldest senior brother, it should be fine to spar with him, right?"
The sixth junior brother Yang Xuan is definitely the kind of person who enjoys stirring up trouble. He wanted to instigate the second senior brother Xiu Qi to spar with Wan Yunting to see if he was as powerful as rumored.
After all, the major sects outside all said that Wan Yunting was a martial arts prodigy rarely seen in a thousand years, and the rumors were detailed. Therefore, Yang Xuan and Xiu Qi naturally felt unconvinced.
At this moment, Wan Yunting suddenly ran towards them and smiled at Xian Yun and the other senior brothers and sisters, "Senior brother Xian, excuse me, can you lend us two steel swords?"
The eldest disciple Xian Yun, with the demeanor of a family leader, nodded and smiled, "Of course. Yang Xuan, go and get the swords from over there for Abbot Wan."
Yang Xuan nodded, went to the weapon rack over there, and took two Tai Chi steel swords used for practice. Wan Yunting then smiled and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Abbot Wan."
Xian Yun replied with a smile. However, Yang Xuan said, "Abbot Wan, my second senior brother wants to spar with you. Is that okay?"
"Hey, sixth junior brother, you little brat..."
Upon hearing this, Xiu Qi glared angrily at Yang Xuan. Wan Yunting in front of him froze and looked at Xian Yun and Xu Yuxin. The fifth senior brother Qin Yuan quickly said, "Abbot Wan, don't take it seriously. My sixth junior brother just likes to talk nonsense. I hope you don't mind him."
Wan Yunting, who had reacted, understood their intention and generously said with a smile, "Sparring is great. Actually, when I discussed swords with Senior Sister Zi Qing last time, I was thinking about coming to Wudang Sect this time and sparring with all the senior brothers and sisters. It would be my honor to witness the orthodox martial arts of the Wudang Sect."
As soon as he said this, the eldest disciple Xian Yun secretly praised this Abbot Wan's broad-mindedness. Seeing that he had agreed, he nodded and smiled, "Alright then, second brother, you spar with Abbot Wan. But remember, friendship first!"
"Yes, eldest senior brother."
Xiu Qi was excited and responded with clasped fists.
Seeing that the second senior brother was about to spar with Wan Yunting, the surrounding junior brothers and sisters stopped and cleared a space. Duan Yingying over there also hurried over. Even Zi Qing, who was meditating on the large bluestone, opened her naturally dazed phoenix eyes at this moment and turned slightly to look over here...
The numerous junior disciples formed a circle, with Wan Yunting and Xiu Qi in the center. He smiled and said, "Are we competing with fists and feet, or with swords?"
Xiu Qi's eyebrows revealed a hint of arrogance. Although he was outwardly polite to Wan Yunting, he inwardly disdained him. Not to mention Wan Yunting's youth, even if he was the abbot of the Wuliang Daoist Temple, to the orthodox Taoist Wudang Sect, the Wuliang Daoist Temple was merely a third-rate minor sect, completely not on the same level as the Wudang Sect.
"I wonder if Abbot Wan is skilled in fist and foot combat, or swordsmanship?" Xiu Qi asked.
Wan Yunting smiled, then looked up at him and said, "Both are just so-so, not very skilled."
Xiu Qi couldn't help but snort coldly in his heart and said, "Then let's compete with swords. After all, it's enough to make Senior Sister Zi Qing go down the mountain to seek you for a sword discussion, so I believe Abbot Wan is more skilled in swordsmanship."
Wan Yunting said no more, tossed the Tai Chi steel sword in his hand over, and smiled, "Then please, Senior Brother Xiu, enlighten me!"
Then, Xiu Qi, who received the steel sword, casually flicked out a few sword flowers, directly assumed a stance, his sharp gaze fixed on Wan Yunting, and smiled, "Abbot Wan, I hope you will go all out. Although we are prioritizing friendship, being too polite is meaningless."
Wan Yunting also slightly assumed a stance, nodded, and smiled, "Okay, Senior Brother Xiu, let's give it our all."
"Refreshing."
Xiu Qi was pleased. Immediately, he narrowed his eyes, rushed forward, and thrust his long sword directly at Wan Yunting, "Abbot Wan, watch out for the sword..."