The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

Feng Qingyang was furious.

He had always felt that after decades of seclusion, his mindset had become calm and undisturbed, but now a donkey had shattered it.

Feng Qingyang, who was extremely angry, felt a little better when he saw that a small number of flowers and plants had not been ruined.

It's alright, at least they left him some.

But when Feng Qingyang saw that the flowers and plants were still relatively intact, his expression couldn't help but darken again.

These flowers and plants are of little value; he used them to decorate the ginseng and he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum).

Feng Qingyang felt a bit depressed at this moment.

It would be better to ruin them all.

Feng Qingyang gritted his teeth.

"Who the hell raised this donkey?! If you come again, I'm going to stew you!!!"

……

"Don't go there again."

After descending Jade Maiden Peak, Jiang Ning gave Maodou some instructions.

"The flowers and plants there were planted by someone. You ruined their plants, and you're lucky they didn't do anything to you. But don't go there again. Mount Hua is so big, there's plenty of grass for you to eat."

Maodou grunted and nodded listlessly at the donkey's head.

Chapter 268: The Assessment

Although Jiang Ning unexpectedly learned of Feng Qingyang's secluded location, he didn't take it to heart and treated it as just an interlude.

After returning from Jade Maiden Peak, Maodou rushed to the kitchen. Jiang Ning went back into the house and took out a tortoise shell from under his pillow. The shell was covered with dense writing.

"Cultivate inner peace and regulate qi, gather your essence and calm your thoughts..."

Quiet cultivation of Qi is the foundation of practicing Innate Qigong. This means that one must first learn to be still. If the mind is not still, the Qi has nothing to rely on, which will lead to an inability to concentrate the mind and thus make it impossible to practice Innate Qigong.

Calming the mind is only the first step. The second step is to focus one's mind and stop thinking. Although one's spirit is concentrated after calming the mind, it is often a time when distracting thoughts arise and one is prone to wild ideas. At this time, what needs to be stopped is the wild thoughts. Only by stopping them can one meet the basic requirements of practicing the Innate Skill.

"Keep your mind focused on the void, concentrate your intention on the energy center, at the time of sperm production, observe the timing of sperm collection..."

Jiang Ning murmured the incantation and mental techniques of the Innate Skill, then shook his head after a moment.

He has memorized the incantation by heart, and can even recite it backwards, but it is of no help to his breakthrough. Cultivation is not something that can be achieved by simply knowing the incantation and mental techniques. Perhaps his time has not come, or perhaps his mental state is not right.

Jiang Ning put the tortoise shell back under his pillow and then sat cross-legged on the bed to practice the breathing techniques of the Innate Skill. Although he had reached a bottleneck, he couldn't say that he had completely stopped practicing.

Five days later.

Following the departure of Qingcheng and Emei, Abbess Dingyi, Daoist Tianmen, and Master Mo Da are also going down the mountain.

“Two nuns, Brother Mo, Brother Tianmen, why don’t you stay at my Mount Hua until June and then go to Mount Song together? Why rush? I’m worried that the demoness’s men haven’t left Shaanxi yet, and I’m afraid you’ll be ambushed on your way back.”

Yue Buqun said with a sincere expression.

At this time, he led the Huashan Sect members to see off the various sects.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Yue, it shouldn't be a problem."

"That's what Master Dingyi said."

"I already routed those witches' henchmen last time, and with the cold weather now, they probably won't come back."

Mr. Mo and Taoist Tianmen shared the same idea.

Ever since Master Mo received the list from Lu Bai, he has been eager to return to Hengshan. Tianmen Daoist, on the other hand, couldn't stay any longer because his several senior uncles had already returned to Taishan before him. He was afraid that Yu Panzi and the others would cause some trouble.

"OK then."

Yue Buqun said, "Please take care on your journey, everyone. See you again at Mount Song in June."

"Ah."

Master Dingyi and Master Mo nodded.

Tianmen Daoist cupped his hands and said, "Sect Leader Yue, farewell."

Yue Buqun smiled and said, "Brother Dao, please take your time. If you have time later, I will play a few more games of chess with you."

Upon hearing this, Tianmen Daoist's face darkened slightly.

These past few days, Yue Buqun has been dragging him to the chess pavilion to play chess. Yue Buqun has had a great time these past few days, but Tianmen Daoren's experience has not been pleasant.

He can play chess, and his skills are quite good, but he's almost sick of it after playing for the past few days. He probably won't touch a chess piece for months after he goes back.

"Goodbye, goodbye."

The Taoist priest from Tianmen cupped his hands in greeting, then led the disciples of Mount Tai away.

"Senior Brother Yue, farewell."

Master Dingyi also bid farewell to Yue Buqun and then left with the Hengshan disciples. Among the Hengshan disciples, Yilin couldn't help but turn around and glance at Linghu Chong among the Huashan disciples. She saw a young girl standing next to Linghu Chong.

Seeing the disappointment in Yilin's eyes, Yilin felt a pang of sorrow in her heart.

Before coming to Mount Hua, the person she most wanted to see was Linghu Chong, but after finally meeting him, her feelings were hard to describe.

"Sigh, everyone's gone, and Mount Hua is all deserted again."

Seeing the various factions leave one after another, Lu Dayou couldn't help but sigh.

"What? Feeling bored and have nothing to do?"

After seeing off the various factions, Yue Buqun heard Lu Dayou's words.

Lu Dayou looked surprised and quickly shook his head.

"Master, no, no, what I meant was..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yue Buqun interrupted him.

"I'll find you something to do."

Yue Buqun said, "The fifteenth is coming up in a few days, the day of the sect's internal assessment."

Upon hearing this, the Huashan disciples present were all surprised, but then they became tense.

The assessment was suspended due to special reasons, and now the sects that came to support the Huashan Sect have all left one after another. The Diancang Twin Swords also left long ago, so it is normal for Yue Buqun to propose to restart the assessment.

Although they had expected it, they were still a little nervous when they heard Yue Buqun mention it in person, just like taking an exam.

"However, you don't need to participate in this assessment. This assessment is mainly to see how well your newly recruited junior brothers have practiced during this period. Your assessment will not begin until next month."

Yue Buqun then added a sentence to reassure the Huashan disciples.

"Dayou, Taojun, I plan to have Ning'er preside over this assessment. You guys can assist her from the side."

Upon hearing Yue Buqun's instructions, Lu Dayou and the others quickly bowed and said, "Yes, Master."

Yue Buqun nodded, as if he had just casually arranged something, and went back to his room after returning to Mount Hua. However, the Mount Hua disciples who remained were in an uproar, whispering among themselves.

"The junior brothers actually sent Junior Brother Jiang to take this assessment."

"Shouldn't we let the eldest brother preside over this?"

Some Huashan disciples were puzzled as to why Linghu Chong wasn't allowed to take the exam this time, but instead Jiang Ning was chosen to preside over it.

But this discussion only lasted a short while before stopping, without causing much of a stir.

After all, Jiang Ning's strength is now second only to his master Yue Buqun in Huashan, which is obvious to all. Even though Yue Buqun made this arrangement, they didn't feel there was anything wrong with it. At most, they would just discuss it.

Yue Lingshan was a little worried about Linghu Chong's feelings.

"Senior Brother, don't worry, my father..."

"fine."

Linghu Chong looked at her, knowing what she was going to say, and smiled, "Master knows I find things troublesome, so he makes all the work done by Junior Brother so I won't get tired."

Hearing Linghu Chong say this, Yue Lingshan carefully examined Linghu Chong's face and found that there was nothing unusual about his expression. He didn't seem to be lying or forcing a smile, so she breathed a sigh of relief.

The three days passed quickly.

Training ground.

More than sixty young children, dressed in the uniforms of Huashan disciples, stood neatly in the training ground, with Jiang Ning standing in front of them.

“In the past, your sect’s internal assessments were personally supervised by your master. This time, I will be in charge.”

Jiang Ning looked at his young junior brothers and spoke calmly.

"Yes, senior brother."

The junior disciples answered in unison, including one who called out "Master".

Besides the newly initiated children, his disciple Liu Zhao was also among these Huashan disciples.

At this moment, Liu Zhao was standing in the crowd, looking at Jiang Ning in front of him with a serious expression. His palms were slightly clenched, and he was feeling a little nervous.

"Let's begin."

Jiang Ning didn't waste any more words and prepared to begin the assessment.

"Junior brother, here you go."

Lu Dayou handed over a piece of paper with the names of these dozens of disciples written on it.

Yue Buqun was worried that Jiang Ning wouldn't recognize all his junior brothers, since Jiang Ning had either been away from home or focused on practicing his skills. So he had Lu Dayou write down their names to make it easier for Jiang Ning to call them by name.

Jiang Ning took the paper, glanced at it, and then called out two names.

"Liu Zhao, Ye Ying, you two go first."

Chapter 269: Attack

Liu Zhao, who was in the crowd, did not expect Jiang Ning to call his name first. His already nervous mood became even more nervous. After swallowing, he stood out from among the many junior uncles.

Another person who stepped forward was Ye Ying.