Lonemoon purposely called him Jian Xing. His name meant that he would prosper and do well in sword cultivation. After all, these people would end up leaving the sect one day to set up their own sects. When the time came, Jian Xing could be expected to set up a sword cultivation sect. Just thinking about this made Lonemoon happy.

Therefore, Lonemoon worked hard at training this boy. From the foundations of sword cultivation, to the technique of attracting auras into his body, Lonemoon taught Jian Xing very seriously. Jian Xing, on the other hand, was intelligent and learned fast. Among all the nine new disciples, he was the first to learn how to attract aura into his body.

As for the others, Fatty was put in charge of teaching them the basics. Lonemoon only offered tips every now and then. What's more, although Fatty was naturally lousy at sword cultivation, he was very good at everything else. Naturally, Lonemoon had little to worry about by setting him in charge of the rest of the disciples. Among the rest of the disciples, not one of them had an innate sword embodiment. Instead, their body types were quite ordinary. All of them, including Jian Xing's sister, Zhi Lin, had four spirit roots.

The good thing about them was their characters. Although they would not be able to specialize in any one cultivation, they would surely be able to set up their own sects and teach their own disciples. The best part was that the plane was still considered a newborn. It was the best time for people to pick up cultivation. As long as they did not slack off, it would not be difficult for them to eventually ascend to immortality.

Fatty was obviously more reliable than Lonemoon, who was driven by his dream to further sword cultivation. After observing the eight disciples for several months, he began to plan more targeted training. He would only request for Yi Qing's help from time to time when he met with difficulties in teaching sword cultivation. Yi Qing would then offer some tips and guidance.

Therefore, the entire sect became fired up in teaching and cultivating… except Shen Ying!

As a hundred-thousand-year-old lucky token, Shen Ying's contribution to the sect was just one - watering the plants!

With Radish around before, she had to go to the rear garden every single day to water the plants that he planted. Now that Radish had become Mushroom, however, Shen Ying left the watering of the mushrooms to the squirrel demon instead.

Perhaps because their friends.h.i.+p had been established on one fruit, the squirrel demon took a liking toward Shen Ying. Moreover, the immortal meridian was planted in the rear garden. The squirrel demon had to go close to the immortal meridian each day in order to plant mushrooms that could convert the immortal Qi from the meridian into spirit Qi. While the squirrel demon planted mushrooms there day in and day out, Shen Ying watered them. Then, she would gnaw on her fruits and the squirrel demon would eat its pine nuts. As time went by, their friends.h.i.+p strengthened.

"Greetings, Respected Immortals!" As the two of them were chewing on their respective foods, they heard the gentle voice of a girl. They turned around to see a young girl dressed in white robes. She was bowing toward them. She looked about ten years old, quite bright, quite short. They could already picture the dignified woman she would become in the future.

Mushroom was quite close to Fatty. From his stories, it recognized this girl as the younger sister of Lonemoon's disciple, Jian Xing. Her name was Zhi Lin. Immediately, the squirrel demon jumped atop a rock and waved its hands, shaking its head profusely and saying in a slightly panicked tone, "I'm not an immortal or whatever. Just call me Mushroom." It had just developed its sentience not long ago and did not yet have a name. Since Shen Ying had been calling it Mushroom, it decided that it should just take that to be its name.

"Elder Sister Mushroom," Zhi Lin greeted smoothly and sweetly. She turned to face the person beside the squirrel demon. "And how should I address this older sister?"

Shen Ying hesitated, then said, "Shen Ying."

"Elder Sister Shen," Zhi Lin greeted. She looked curiously at Shen Ying and asked, "Exalted Master Hui told me to come to the rear mountain to pick a few spirit herbs to be used for refining pills. I wonder if you two elder sisters can-"

"Go ahead, go ahead!" Mushroom waved its hands."Since Hui Ze told you to do so, just go ahead and do it."

"Thank you, Elder Sisters!" Zhi Lin smiled even more sweetly and nodded toward the both of them. Then, she turned toward the field full of spirit herbs and began to identify the kind of herbs she needed to pick

Mushroom could not help but stare at her for awhile longer. It was a demon, and humans were normally afraid of demons. That was why after Fatty told it that the disciples would likely avoid it even though it was just a young demon, Mushroom decided to follow Shen Ying to plant mushrooms in the rear garden. Zhi Lin was the first among the nine new disciples to take the initiative to talk to it. Naturally, this made Mushroom extremely happy. This was why it could not seem to take its eyes off Zhi Lin.

As it observed Zhi Lin, it saw that Zhi Lin was getting closer and closer to the immortal meridian. In a panic, Mushroom called out, "Wait! You can't pick those mushrooms!"

Zhi Lin paused, then retracted her hand. She turned around and smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, Elder Sister Mushroom. I thought they were spirit herbs!"

"That's alright," Mushroom waved it off.

Shen Ying, however, jumped down from atop her rock and dusted off her behind. "I'm done watering the plants. Mushroom, I'm going back in for some food."

"Oh, alright." Mushroom nodded its head and turned to smile at Zhi Lin once again before following Shen Ying in. "I'm going to look for Hui Ze as well."

"Goodbye, Elder Sisters!" Zhi Lin waved to them politely. Her gaze landed on Shen Ying.

She had not noticed before she started to cultivate. She thought that this woman had been of the same rank as the other two Exalted Masters. But after she learned how to attract auras into her own body, she discovered that this woman they called Shen Ying did not have any immortal Qi around her body. The other Exalted Masters, however, treated her very differently. What was so amazing was that from time to time, this Shen Ying would even offer some guidance to Exalted Master Yi Qing. Exalted Master Yi Qing, on the other hand, seemed to always want to be close to her. This made all the disciples extremely curious about her ident.i.ty.

However, Zhi Lin noticed that Shen Ying did not seem to like talking very much. After staring at Shen Ying for awhile, a strange expression flashed across Zhi Lin's face. She turned back and continued picking herbs.

——————

Perhaps Lonemoon liked the feeling of teaching disciples. These days, Lonemoon seldom came to the rear hall to steal Shen Ying's food. Without her father watching over her shoulder all the time, Shen Ying felt completely free. She finally lived a few years of comfort, doing nothing but eating and sleeping all day.

The nine pioneer cultivators in this plane were improving rapidly. In these few years, they had almost completed their Foundation Establishment. Jian Xing himself was already in the late stages of Foundation Establishment and was just one step away from forming his core.

Lonemoon estimated that it was about time for them to undergo experiential training so that they could gain more practical experience, but…

"Me?" Shen Ying paused.

"Mm. You and Fatty should bring them out," Lonemoon said again very seriously.

"Why?" Why her?

"Two divine races are caught in a battle, and they're very near to Purple Night Palace!" Lonemoon frowned. "There is a group of people there who have not regained consciousness. Hong Meng asked for us to go over and drag them here for lessons." Chef was in charge of dragging them here and Lonemoon was in charge of giving the lessons.

"Oh."

"I've chosen the location for experiential training. You'll bring them away from the city, near the seaside. Although it's not that dangerous given Fatty's cultivation, this plane has not yet developed its rules after all. What's more, these disciples are going out for the first time. You'll have to be there just in case." Mandarin for sword