Author's note: Sponsored by Mark S! Thank you! ^^
Host's note: This story is only being hosted on RRL. I'm not the author of this story, I simply have his permission to post here.
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“Xie Mei, after thinking about it for a while, I’ve decided to lift your status as a servant. Instead, why don’t you become a cultivator with me? For the past two months, I’ve noticed that your innate quality is quite good, so I can guarantee that your accomplishments won’t be small in the future.”
Over the past months, Jin Xia discovered that Xie Mei had possessed an innate quality of 4 after observing her using his soul force. Since servants were often neglected and looked down upon, very few people would take the initiative to examine their innate quality. No one wanted to waste precious spirit stones on somebody who’s innate quality they could already somewhat predict.
And likewise, the moment Xie Mei had been taken in as a young orphan and branded the title of a servant, no one bothered to check her innate quality from that point forth.
Fortunately, Jin Xia had decided before to observe the people around him, in order to grasp a better idea of the overall strength in his household. Otherwise, perhaps Xie Mei’s decent innate quality would have never been known even now!
Innate qualities range from 1 to 12, with 1 to 2 assessed as normal cultivators, 3-4 being higher than average, and 5-7 being classified as geniuses. There are no one in the history of the Eastern Moon Continent with an innate quality over 8.
While others may require special stones or items to test a person’s innate quality, with Jin Xia’s ability to use his soul, he was able to detect the quality of the other party’s soul with a detailed glance.
After hearing Jin Xia’s words, Xie Mei was greatly shocked in her heart. She…did not have to be a servant anymore? She could be a martial arts cultivator?
“I..I wouldn’t dare to neglect my duties as your servant, young master Jin Xia…and there’s no way for me to become a cultivator at this point.”, Xie Mei said as she slowly lifted her head up and gazed at her lord.
She did not feel as if it was possible for her to become a cultivator anymore at her age.
Besides being forbidden to cultivate due to her status as a servant, one must know that in the world of WuDang, many people begin cultivating on the path of martial arts at the age of twelve.
While some may start earlier, there were rarely ones who would start later.
After all, as one ages, their meridians would begin to harden and solidify itself in one’s body, making it harder to absorb the World Qi around them.
Only when one’s young, would one be able to easily absorb the World Qi and ensure their meridians remain soft and open.
For Xie Mei, who was now sixteen of age, she was long past the timeline in which she should have been cultivating.
“Haha, you do not have worry about being able to cultivate at your age now. I have my methods to help you, as long as you agree to become a practitioner. And if I say that you are not a servant anymore, then you are not. No need to be reserved with me. But if you still wish to serve me, then from now on you’ll be my only personal maid and assistant. Your position will be similar to mine; your words will be the equivalent of my commands. So, what do you think? You won’t reject my offers, would you?”, Jin Xia laughed as he assured Xie Mei.
Xie Mei looked on at her young master with a dazed look after hearing what the latter had said. It was almost like a dream to her. Everything had progressed too quickly.
But Xie Mei quickly snapped out of her daze as she replied, “Ah, I, I wouldn’t dare to reject young master Jin Xia’s benevolence. If this is what young master’s wishes, then Xie Mei will abide by your wish! I will serve master, and only master Jin Xia, and will work hard on the path of cultivation so to not let you down!”
Then, Xie Mei directly gave a deep bow as excitement bubbled in her twinkling eyes. Never in her dreams would she have thought that she would be given the chance to cultivate and have her lowly position suddenly turned upside down.
“Mn”, Jin Xia nodded as he smiled at Xie Mei. “I will announce this to the whole clan later, so don’t worry about anything. From now on, you’ll move in to the housing quarter next to mine. And there will be servants assigned to you to attend for your daily needs.”
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“Next, follow me to my room. I will begin to open all your meridians, so you can begin practicing as soon as possible.”
Jin Xia turned around as he walked towards his housing room. Although Xie Mei still felt a tiny bit of skepticism, she nodded and speedily followed behind Jin Xia.
Once inside, JIn Xia had Xie Mei sit in a cross legged position on his bed as he sat behind her.
Although Jin Xia could use the Twelve Dragon Transformation Pill to forcefully reconstruct the entire being of Xie Mei, he did not wish for her to suffer through the extricating pain. If she failed to endure, Xie Mei could even die.
Thus, taking Xie Mei’s life as a priority, Jin Xia decided to personally expend some energy to help her open the meridians.
“I will start now. Close your eyes and relax.”, Jin Xia said in a gentle voice.
Xie Mei nervously bit her red lips as she nodded.
Placing both of his palms on Xie Mei’s back, Jin Xia circulated the Qi energy inside him and directed it into Xie Mei’s body.
As the Qi coursed throughout Xie Mei’s body, it began to attack the meridian points and forcefully opening them. While Xie Mei had felt a sharp pain each time one of her meridians were opened, she bitterly endured and did not make a sound. Beads of sweat continued to slide down her forehead as she fought the intense pain.
Jin Xia had a satisfied smile on his face when he saw that the young girl had not so much utter a cry of pain. Her endurance and stubbornness were quite good.
After an hour, Jin Xia had successfully opened all twenty meridians inside Xie Mei’s body. With this, not only could she cultivate at a higher and more efficient rate than other cultivators, the amount of power she would be able exhibit would naturally be many folds greater.
“Alright, we are done.”, Jin Xia said, while Xie Mei slowly stood up.
Then, Jin Xia pulled out three blue parchments from his clothes and handed it over to Xie Mei. “Now that your meridians are open, you can now cultivate. Here are three martial art books. The one named [Soul Transformation], will help boost the power of your soul. It has no layers, so perhaps it’s closer to a mantra than anything else.
While your innate quality of 4 is pretty decent, by practicing that soul-based mantra, your innate quality should further grow.”
An innate quality is connected to one’s soul, and in normal circumstances, there would be no way of changing it. But through practicing certain rare techniques, one may be able to train their soul and attain a higher innate quality.
Given Jin Xia’s ability, if he still had his powers when he was a deity, he would have been able to easily expand Xie Mei’s innate quality by giving her some of his soul energy.
But alas, in his current state, he didn’t even have his complete soul! He merely has a small portion of it right now. Therefore, Jin Xia could only rely on giving her techniques in hopes that she could quickly improve.
“The other one named [Celestial Fairies Tempering Body Art] is a body cultivating skill with 3 layers. If you continue to cultivate it, your physique will become much stronger than even those of the same cultivation. Withstanding attacks from opponents more powerful than you is not impossible either.
The last one, [Four Season Palm], which has 4 layers, should suit your fighting style. If you practice this technique diligently to a certain level, you may even be able to manipulate the weather. Though of course, that is only possible if it’s trained to its pinnacle stage.”
Jin Xia slowly explained as he gestured to each of the technique books in Xie Mei’s hand.
Listening to her young master’s explanations, Xie Mei felt as if the books that were in her hands weighed a hundred tons. Although she was not a cultivator as of yet, Xie Mei had at least heard about various tales and bits of martial knowledge growing up.
Even if Xie Mei could not estimate the value of the three parchments in her hands, she could still tell that they were extremely precious.