The disciples of the Tongzhi's Hall looked at Jian Dan with round, admiring eyes, already resolving that when it came time for Foundation, they would face the tribulation as Zūnshàng instructed.
Seeing their little faces, Jian Dan could tell what they were thinking. She pressed her lips into a smile and continued:
"I ask you to take the Foundation tribulation with the body because you have been soaking in body-tempering baths all this time. Those medicines need a final tempering by thunder to reach their best effect. Since you all practice body refinement, it should not be a problem."
To prevent any misunderstanding, Jian Dan added two more lines: "Of course, there are exceptions. If your body is injured, or you have not done your daily body refinement, stubbornly taking the tribulation will leave hidden injuries and harm your future path. Judge yourselves by your condition. If you are unsure, ask your elders."
"Yes, Zūnshàng."
Noticing that the class time was nearly up, Jian Dan decided not to introduce new material. Instead, she chatted with the children.
"Do you know why I, your Zūnshàng, first began taking tribulation thunder with the body?"
"Isn't it because it makes you stronger?"
This time a little boy named Le Tian answered.
"That is an understanding I gained only after enduring later stages of tribulation." Jian Dan kept smiling as she replied.
"Zūnshàng means that before that, you did not know body-taking tribulation would aid cultivation?" Yu Jiajia blinked her big eyes and offered a guess for everyone.
"Mn. Jia Jia is right."
Now everyone was puzzled. They whispered among themselves but could not find a good explanation. Only Mao Dou hesitated, wanting to speak.
Jian Dan called directly on her disciple: "Mao Dou, you say it."
"Yes."
Dressed in moon-white robes of a personal disciple, the young boy already showed poise. He rose, cupped his hands, and considered his words before speaking:
"I guess that at the time Master did not have enough spirit stones to buy defensive arrays and medicines to restore spiritual power, so…"
Hearing Mao Dou's answer, Jian Dan nodded with satisfaction. This clear-eyed view of himself was one reason she had accepted him. He did not forget his roots.
"Mao Dou is correct."
"Ah?"
The children were a bit surprised. In their eyes, Zūnshàng seemed to have never lacked resources, advanced swiftly, and enjoyed extraordinary fortune. They had never imagined Zūnshàng too had faced the embarrassment of short funds.
"Hehe, what is so strange about that? I also cultivated from the Qi Refinement stage. Before I entered the sect, I was a Loose Cultivator, running every day for resources. To save a spirit stone or half a stone, I would take tribulation with my body and risk it."
Mao Dou, Yu Zongfan, and the twenty children pricked up their ears. It was the first time they had heard Zūnshàng speak of her cultivation experience.
"When I could not hold on, only then would I activate the hard-won defensive array plate. After the tribulation, there was no time to stabilize the realm. I swallowed healing pills and left the tribulation site at once.
If I did not leave, I would become a pill for beasts to raise their cultivation. And there were always ill-intentioned cultivators watching from the shadows, coveting my storage bag.
That is also why Loose Cultivators, when fighting for their lives, sometimes show greater combat power than sect disciples."
Here, Jian Dan suddenly shifted the angle to combat strength.
"Yu Zongfan, you explain why."
"Master, it is because, for survival and advancement, they fight with everything they have and grasp every opportunity. They know that a single failure might cost them their lives."
"Very good. Sit."
Jian Dan lowered her fan slightly, and Yu Zongfan returned to his seat.
"They are hardy grass. You are greenhouse flowers. Cherish what you have now. Do not waste the resources invested in you. Prove to everyone that even greenhouse flowers can be the most dangerous blooms. Understand?"
"Understood."
The reply was unusually loud.
"One last reminder. Do not underestimate any cultivator, especially a Loose Cultivator. When they become your opponent, you will find they are not necessarily weaker than you."
"Yes."
"Good. That is all for today. Dismissed."
With a wave, Jian Dan let the children return to their routines.
However, led by Yu Jiajia, the children saluted Jian Dan, then swarmed Mao Dou and Yu Zongfan, clearly wanting to ask questions.
"Yu Zongfan, you have not seen your junior brothers and sisters in a while. I grant you one hour of leave to catch up with them. Afterward, bring Mao Dou back to the peak."
"Thank you, Master."
Yu Zongfan accepted at once, grateful for the opening.
Mao Dou was the oldest of the group and had hoped to return with Master, but Zūnshàng arranged matters clearly. He could only agree and stand beside Yu Zongfan to endure the barrage of questions.
Jian Dan shook her head with a smile and stepped out of the Tongzhi's Hall, riding sword light back to her peak.
After this lesson, those twenty carefully selected juniors pondered Zūnshàng's words. Favored children like Yu Jia Jia went straight to ask their own Ancestors.
The Yu Clan's Ancestor listened, fell silent for a moment, and had to admit that what Jian Lu said was true.
Then the Ancestor added: "Jia Jia, do you know your robe, your boots, your storage bag, and the defensive spirit treasure you wear would be the full kit of a Yuányīng Zhēnjūn in a small cultivation clan? If we converted your gear into spirit stones, it could at least raise a Loose Cultivator from Qi Refinement to Golden Core."
Yu Jia Jia understood immediately what Zūnshàng meant by cherishing current resources. She trained even harder thereafter.
Following Jian Dan's class, all twenty children accumulated steadily and advanced one after another to the ninth level of Qi Refinement, stepping into late stage.
Meanwhile, Mao Dou and Yu Zongfan chatted noisily with their junior brothers and sisters for a full hour, satisfied everyone's curiosity about how they had taken Master as their teacher, and then the crowd dispersed contentedly.
Mao Dou wiped nonexistent sweat from his brow and said to the smiling Yu Zongfan: "Junior Brother, next time you stay to bond with them. I am terrified of that group. Their questions are too strange and too many."
Yu Zongfan chuckled at his senior's complaint and explained: "They are young. They rarely leave the sect, so they are curious about everything outside. Say what you know. Others will teach them the rest.
Master also wanted you to stay so you could all get acquainted. Do not be fooled by their age. Each one is the cherished heart of a peak or some senior expert. Their backing is hard as iron. They are our future network."
"Zūnshàng worries we lack allies of our own age, so she arranged this?"
"Mn. More or less. Zūnshàng also said she is a Loose Cultivator by origin, with no clan to lean on. She hopes the three of us will make more friends in the sect, so at least we will have company when we go on trials."
The two used a light-body technique as they spoke, heading back toward Tianyue Peak.