Jiang She awoke early the next day to meditate early. As a cultivator she set a strict morning routine for herself.

She tempered her body on a freezing waterfall in the woods behind her pavilion, not only did she train her external body it could also be counted as a form of showering.

She wandered around the sect until she found a cafeteria that served food. Of course due to her lack of real currency she could only begrudgingly go the day without breakfast. She spent the rest of the day training the "Dragon Erupts from the Earth" technique under the guidance of her master.

A light meal was brought to her by servants of the sect around midday, she then dedicated the rest of the to the "Dragon Erupts from the Earth" and the temperament of her body.

On the second day she awoke early and began practicing the "Dragon Erupts from the Earth" from morning to night.

And so for a month she practiced a singular move, all the way to the realm of perfection according to her master. A single kill-shot he described it as, even a peak Qi Condensation Realm expert would suffer under the blow of her sneak attack.

Jiang She was practicing her Nine Serpents Sure Kill Formula when she was interrupted by two outer disciples carrying a large sack slung over their shoulders.

" You entered the sect with this waste Zhou Xia." The lead outer disciple sneered. "Here take the pathetic clown."

The two sect disciples threw the sack down to the ground.

"He can only blame himself for offending young master Feng." The lead disciple arrogantly said, before they walked away.

"Is that the bumpkin master?"

"I believe so."

"What should we do with him?"

"The world of cultivation can be quite fierce." Her master sighed. "The least we can do for the poor boy is to bury him."

Jiang She hauled the sack to the woods behind the pavilion. Although she didn't know Zhou Xia well he at the very least deserved a quiet resting place.

She borrowed a shovel from some sect servants and got to digging. After a few minutes of digging she had managed to unearth enough dirt to create a suitable hole to throw Zhou Xia into.

"We may not have been very well acquainted village boy. But I'm sure you were a decent person. May you have better luck in your next life." She respectfully bowed, while kicking the boy's corpse into the grave.

"Master, you should impart more cultivation techniques to your disciple, lest she offends a strong young master and dies an early death like the village bumpkin."

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"Well I suppose another technique wouldn't hurt-

Her master was interrupted by the supposedly dead Zhou Xia waking back up. He tore through the sack and leaped out of the grave.

He looked around incredulously but composed himself in a fraction of a second.

"Impossible... So in the end I survived... Even the heavens can't keep me shackled!" Zhou Xia majestically shouted.

"Don't worry. I'm here for you now." He sauntered over to her postilion and caressed her cheek. "You don't have to worry about a thing now."

"..."

"My current state is far too weak. I must get stronger." Zhou Xia sighed bleakly and paraded off.

"Master, did dying turn the village bumpkin into a retard?"

"The poor boy." Her master muttered. "He must've suffered a blow to the head."

"Ignore him, he walks his own path." Her master said.

And so Jiang She spent a year in the Divine Saint Sect training under the tutelage of her master. Zhou Xia spent the majority of his time in the woods of the mountains and rarely came down to the pavilion. However. the more often he came down the more displeasing his face became to Jiang She.

By her second year she had completely mastered the first three layers of the Nine Serpents Sure Kill Formula. Zhou Xia had caught the attention of the sect elders after breaking though 4 stages successively. It was as if he had become another person.

It was around then the annual outer court ranking competition was announced. Jiang She cared little for pointless competitions but the rewards for this competition were far too important for her to give up.

The first ranked disciple would be given the Low-tier Earth Grade spiritual fruit "Mystic Fire Mist Berry."

It was a spiritual fruit that could repair her shattered meridians.

She had underwent two years of harsh training and was no longer the naive girl from the hills. She even looked forward to the competition. It was the perfect opportunity for her to show off and cement her place as the greatest genius in the Divine Saint Sect.

Jiang She did more than just train for two years. She also gathered information on potential rivals and threats in the outer court.

A real genius not only trains hard but also prepares accordingly for every situation. She had gathered information on every significant threat and devised strategies to ensure her victory in the competition.

This competition was only a small stepping stone for Jiang She. Her ambition was far more grand then just winning a small outer sect competition. She was going to catapult her way into the inner court through the competition and become the number one disciple of the Divine Saint Sect.