Chapter 168 168. In tranquility, contemplate action.
Stillness brewing motion, the sisters agreed that going out for a walk would be beneficial, but some matters needed to be addressed before they could leave.
Liao Ya took a deep breath and stood with her hands behind her back, exuding the dignified presence of a sect leader, as she called out to Su Erya, "Erya, come here."
The young girl, who had been practicing the Running Horse Stance, immediately ran over and bowed respectfully, "Master Liao!"
The continuous nourishment and training during the past days had allowed the young girl's body to fully develop, making her look as a girl her age should. There was a spiritual air about her brows and eyes, and she seemed to be the makings of a beauty.
Over the past half year, everyone had seen Su Erya's behavior—her upright character and firm mind, qualifying her for formal entry into the sect.
Liao Ya said earnestly, "Your stance practice is good, and I am satisfied. Very well, today I shall formally accept you as my disciple!"
Erya, merely a nominal disciple thus far, was overjoyed upon hearing she could officially become an apprentice and quickly knelt to the ground, "Thank you, Master Liao!"
Liao Ya solemnly accepted her bow and continued, "You are familiar with all three of us, have you thought about which mentor you wish to follow?"
This was allowing Su Erya to choose her master and establish their formal relationship as master and disciple.
Ordinarily, someone would certainly choose to be apprenticed to Lu Yao, for who wouldn't want a Spirit Refining Expert as their master?
However, Su Erya stole a covert glance at him, then resolutely kowtowed three times to Liao Ya.
Liao Ya was delighted, feeling that the young girl was grateful and that her own guidance had not been in vain.
After enjoying her happiness briefly, Liao Ya quickly straightened her charming face, maintaining the dignity of the teacher's path, "Although I accept you as my disciple today, whether you receive the true transmission will depend on your performance. Do not become complacent!"
Respectfully, Su Erya replied, "Disciple will follow the master's orders with care."
Finally, she turned to Lu Yao and Liao Qe and, with her hands cupped in a fist and palm salute, she bowed deeply, calling out crisply, "Uncles."
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The two of them stood and solemnly received her gesture, signifying their acceptance.
After the rites were concluded, Lu Yao smiled and said, "The name 'Erya' sounds like a milk name. Do you have a formal name?"
Erya first shook her head, "I do not have a formal name; I've been called this since childhood..." then she quickly added, "Please, Uncle, grant me a name!"
Lu Yao thought for a moment and then said, "Let's call you Su Erya, in the hope that you will be as refined and graceful as your name suggests."
"Su Erya..." Su Erya grinned happily and said, "Thank you for the name, Uncle! It's really beautiful!"
And so, Su Erya became a formal disciple of the Liao Family Fist, entitled to reside openly in Jin Garden.
The sensible young girl chose a quiet little house in a side room, not far from Lu Yao's main residence.
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Having settled Su Erya's affairs, there were still three treasures soaring in the sky.
Lu Yao planned to take them along when going out. For spirit pets, accompanying their master on excursions to gain experience could greatly benefit their Spirit Wisdom, as well as enhance the bond between them.
Moreover, there was another important task at hand—to enable the three sparrowhawks to advance to the Organ Refining Realm!
Thanks to countless generous investments, the pets had grown several sizes larger than their wild counterparts and possessed heightened spirituality. It was time for them to advance to organ refining.
At that moment, the three Spiritual Sparrowhawks had caught a weasel and flew up to the sky. At a height of 2,000 meters, they released their claws, allowing the weasel to plummet rapidly before swooping down to catch it just before it crashed to the ground, repeating the process over and over.
Initially, the weasel was utterly terrified, releasing both urine and feces, but after a while, it became resigned to its fate, its spirit broken by the game.
Afterward, the sparrowhawks switched games, treating the weasel like a ball in the air, tossing it back and forth—you throw it to me, I throw it to you... until their master called them back.
The three birds of prey swooped down to land, with Ji Xiang and Ru Yi each holding half a weasel in their beaks, trying to ingratiate themselves with their master.
Ping An looked disdainful, knowing well that their master didn't like eating such things, so it hadn't bothered to compete earlier.
Lu Yao, looking at the three increasingly divine and intuitive Spiritual Sparrowhawks, felt great affection and took out a "Wisdom Spirit Pill" to feed each one.
The sparrowhawk swallowed its meal in one gulp, flapping its 1.5-meter wingspan excitedly as it chirped repeatedly.
Liao Qe laughed from the side, "You've already fed it today~ If you keep feeding it, we won't have many blood cores left."
Lu Yao placed his hand on the girl's waist, unperturbed, "There are countless mercenaries from the West around Jinling, we'd get blood cores just by killing a few."
~~~~~~~~~
Before leaving, Lu Yao handed Li'er a Glock and numerous bullets, instructing her to practice her shooting when she was free and to be careful not to wander into the areas where he had laid landmines.
The mined zones were sensitive spots in the gardens where well-intentioned visitors would never tread; only those who entered unlawfully would, and if so, their fate would be out of our hands.
The three loaded their things into the Mercedes and set off.
This time, they did not bring the hefty battle armor.
With drone surveillance and the Fire God Cannon, the attack power was more than sufficient, allowing for long-range sneak attacks to take out the enemies. All they needed to bring along was the "Grenade Sniper."
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As usual, Lu Yao drove, lifting the car and running whenever they encountered rough patches on the road.
"I feel like we'd be faster running than driving if it weren't for all this stuff we're carrying."
After hoisting the car over a small hill, Lu Yao couldn't help but express his sentiments.
In the Marrow-Cleansing Realm, one could easily run at speeds exceeding one hundred kilometers per hour, ignoring terrain, much faster than any classic car.
Upon reaching the main road, the trio got back into the car, this time with Liao Ya taking the wheel.
Severe winter had arrived, making the Jiangnan region cold and damp, stripped of its fine scenery.
On the road, Lu Yao, out of boredom, played with Liao Qe's body, stroking her until she squirmed restlessly in her seat with seductive eyes.
The girl, mindful of her sister in the front seat, firmly held down Lu Yao's hand to stop him from continuing and glared at him several times.
Bored, Lu Yao raised a question:
"Sister, everyone talks about the nine realms of the Martial Path. I only know about Sinew-Strengthening, Bone-Tempering, Organ Refining, Marrow-Cleansing, Blood-Exchange, Innate, Leak-Free, Golden Body... That's only eight, what's the ninth?"
Liao Ya, not very skilled at driving, carefully watched the road as she answered, "It's called the 'Mixed Element' Realm... But no one has reached it since Immortal Qin."
Lu Yao nodded and then asked, "Spirit Refinement also has nine realms: Focused Spirit, Meditation, Forgetting, Fetal Breath, Astral Projection, Divine Manifestation… What about the ones after that?"
Liao Ya shook her head, "There's very little known about Spirit Refinement in the martial community; it's only known that after those stages, one has to endure 'heavenly lightning and thunder.'
"Oh, I see."
"The Martial Path and Spirit Refinement have declined quite a bit since the age of Immortal Qin, especially Spirit Refinement. The greatest practitioners these days only reach the Divine Manifestation realm."
The three chatted casually, with the three sparrowhawks overhead chirping along merrily, thoroughly enjoying themselves and occasionally catching a live creature to take to the skies.
But Lu Yao was not just out to amuse the birds; he wanted them to advance to the Organ Refining Realm through combat!
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Without entering the Organ Refining Realm, the sparhawks would remain merely strong pets. Only by stepping into the Organ Refining Realm could they become "spirit pets" and truly distinguish themselves from their wild counterparts.
Though they had spiritual nature, they lacked the intelligence to purposefully cultivate.
Following the "Sparrowhawk Taming Method" given by the girl from Manchuria, they had to be guided in a special way:
To find opponents to fight, to fully unleash the wildness in their bloodlines, instinctively using the reserves built up in their bodies to advance — that is, to evolve.
The beginning is always the hardest; the first step into Organ Refining is crucial, and Lu Yao had to find a suitable opponent.