A figure stood on top of a waterfall; the silhouette's feet placed firmly on the rocks scattered within the river, while, before her, a bamboo sword was held tightly between her two hands.

The orange sun shimmered behind her as it began its descent, evenfall ever approaching, the suns rays enveloped the orange robes of the figure, the girl's frame superimposed with setting sun.

She slowly began to move around the scattered rocks, the mist of the falling water enclosing her figure; she gracefully sailed in the air between stones, displaying her aerial mastery.

Quick slices of her sword opened up pathways within the mist around her, continuous jabs, thrusts and spins of the sword followed her graceful movements.

An almost imperceptible white light intermittently appeared on her wooden sword as she danced; anyone familiar with Sword-Ken would know that this pure light was something that a sword-user would emanate when reaching the first level of Sword-Ken; swordlight.

Swordlight occurs when one reaches an adequate understanding of the esoteric laws of the Sword Dao; one can identify the heights of one's knowledge of the Sword Dao by their Sword-Ken level; each Sword-ken level holds their advantages and qualities.

The young girl had only touched the fringes of Sword-Ken, let alone the first level; hence she could only intermittently display delicate amounts of swordlight. But, even this was enough to place her at the pinnacle of sword geniuses; such a display of the Sword Dao would allow her name to spread throughout the continent.

The girl carried on her basic sword motions until the sun began to set in the east, and the first signs of night began to appear.

A bald man, in a long robe, had been watching Mengxia's actions with her training-sword since her first movement; the same as he had done since she was old enough to pick up a sword.

This man was Jian Kong, Mengxia's master.

"She's reached the fringes of Sword-Ken; it's time." Jian Kong thought aloud, as he pulled out a silver trinket in the shape of a circle.

The trinket itself was arcane, a beautiful sword was depicted on the face of the object, while behind the sword, dream-like scenes of immortal valleys, celestial bodies and other natural wonders floated past.

"There were only two things within the basket; Mengxia and this trinket. Whoever sent Mengxia to the Ascetic Mountains, informed me in the message that they wanted her to have this trinket once she touched upon Sword-Ken." Jian Kong solemnly said as he looked at the otherworldly object in his hands.

Mengxia began to slow down her movements, till she came to a standstill, her chest heaving from the continuous actions. Even her exceptional Jīng wouldn't be able to refresh her muscles at the rate in which she was practising.

Steam slowly rose from her as the rays of moonlight shone upon her beautiful features, her eyes akin to the moon in the sky.

"Your bald-head radiates light just like the moon in the sky, little Mengxia," A husky chortle came from the banks of the river.

Mengixa turned to the voice, exasperation on her face.

"Master, how many times have you said that now? Also, your head also looks like a moon!" Mengixa's replied, her voice as sweet as a lark.

She walked towards Jian Kong, a beautiful smile on her face.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Look how lucky I am, I get to see this side of the 'Cold Sword Princess'," Jian Kong playfully teased, using the moniker that Mengxian had picked up around the monastery.

"You know I don't like crowds, and I also don't know how to act towards other people," Mengxia scrunched her face in annoyance.

"All I need is my sword, the Dao is my companion," Mengxia profoundly said.

Jian Kong just rolled his eyes to the haughty little beauty before him.

"Some congratulations are in order, a ten-year-old who has touched upon Sword-Ken; average sword-practitioners generally only touch Sword-Ken at the peak of Niwan Opening Realm; while sword-geniuses touch it at the Crimson Palace Realm. While you little bugger, are not even in the Golden Stove Realm yet." Jian Kong patted Mengxia's head, much to her delight.

"Even I, a supposed rare sword-genius, only touched Sword-Ken at fifteen years of age." Jian Kong inwardly laughed.

Mengxia and her Master walked to a pair of flat rocks and sat down facing each other.

Jian Kong stared into the eyes of Mengxia, while she, in turn, became stiff. She knew her Master would only ever do this if he had something important to tell her.

"Before I give you a something, I will first expound on cultivation," Jian Kong said a lecturing tone.

Mengxia's eyes went wide with excitement; she'd often pester her master on information involving the cultivation realms above the Golden Stove realm. Every time she tried to ask him, he would always reply a proverb, "One who looks too far ahead will trip to whats right in front of them."

"The reason the monastery advocates the practice of external -martial arts is so that one can understand what the feeling of a body without Qi is like; this way one can utilise their bodies strength more efficiently. But, in the same boat, one can't practice Qi till their frame is reinforced to a certain level. One generally reaches this level around the age of eleven to thirteen, the use of external martial arts speeds this process up - but not by much," Jian Kong paused as he drew a flask from his belt.

He carried on once he was sure Mengxia was paying attention.

"Some children with talent can begin practising Qi around the age of eight to ten. The average age in which people start training in internal-martial arts is around the age of ten within the monastery; internal-martial arts is what allows one to grow the Qi within their bodies," he said as he poured a glass of wine for himself.

"Qi is within every creature in the world; it is their life's vitality. The more Qi they have, the more healthy, and powerful their body is; at the same time one's life's vitality becomes stronger one's longevity increases."

"Although the increase in life-span is not that large, the further along the Dao one moves the longer they will be able to live for,"

"You would have been one of the children who could practice at around eight years of age, maybe even earlier. But certain circumstances prevented me from teaching you any internal-martial arts," Jian Kong informed the confused girl.

"We'll get to those circumstances in a bit," he waved his hand preemptively answer the question he knew was on the tip of her tongue.

"After once reached the required level in the external-martial arts they will practice Qigong to awake their senses so that they can feel essence in the air around them. You are in the unique situation when you won't have to do that, as you've been at the 'hard' physical level for a few years already; so, you can most likely already sense the essence around you."

Mengxia's Master indicated to her to attempt to sense the essence around her.

She sat down in the lotus position and closed her eyes; allowing herself to sense the air around herself. It didn't take long for her to detect the 'essence' around her, she slowly opened her eyes and saw iota sized lights around her.

"Those little lights you see around yourself is what we call 'essence'. Essence consists of all the elements within the world; fire, water, earth, and wind just to name a few. One will absorb essence into their Xià Dāntián (lower Dantian), and refine it into Qi; once one manages to do this, they will officially enter the Golden Stove Realm," Jian Kong continued his lecture.

Jian Kong bent over and pointed towards Mengxia's navel, and said "This is where your Xià Dāntián is, or will be in your regard. Your Lower Dantian is where you will process essence into Qi which will coalesce in your 'elixir field', within your Lower Dantian. The 'elixir field' is where all your Qi reserves are held, this is also known as the golden stove hence the name of the realm."

"That's all you need to know for now, once you reach the latter stages of the Golden Stove Realm I will tell you more." Jian Kong said as he chugged the last of the alcohol.

"Master, will you teach me an internal-martial art now?" Mengxia lent forward in anticipation.

"No."

Jian Kong broke into raucous laughter looking at the now deflated Mengxia.

"I won't, but I have a feeling something else will." He said as he passed the arcane silver trinket to her.