Chapter 53: Refusal
Yu Jingjing led Zhang Su to a Quiet Chamber.
Three disciples, carrying a bowl of a thick, paste-like medicinal agent, came before Zhang Su.
"Zhang Su, don’t be nervous. The final test is to assess your Root Bone. As long as your Root Bone isn’t too poor, you should be able to enter Bamboo Sword Peak."
"Test my Root Bone?"
"Yes. This is the medicinal agent for testing your Root Bone. It needs to be applied to the skin all over your body, so you’ll have to take off your clothes first."
As she said this, Yu Jingjing inexplicably blushed a little.
"Alright."
Without hesitating, Zhang Su directly took off his clothes.
The three disciples then began to apply the medicinal agent to his body.
Soon, the agent was spread over his entire body.
It left Zhang Su with a cool, chilling sensation.
The power of the medicine seemed to be seeping into his body.
"We just need to wait for the time it takes an incense stick to burn," Yu Jingjing said.
And so, inside the Quiet Chamber, Zhang Su waited quietly.
Yu Jingjing, meanwhile, observed Zhang Su’s condition.
In the blink of an eye, the time it took for the incense stick to burn was up.
Yu Jingjing’s brow furrowed.
It was as if she had encountered something unbelievable.
Zhang Su glanced down. "What is it?"
"This... this is impossible..." Yu Jingjing murmured under her breath. "Your foundation is so profound and your comprehension is excellent; there’s no way your Root Bone could be this bad. How could it be a Low-Grade Root Bone... Even a mid-grade one would have been acceptable."
Yu Jingjing truly found it incredible.
She checked again and again.
She was afraid she had made a mistake in the test due to her own negligence.
But no matter how many times she checked, there was only one result: Low-Grade Root Bone!
Root Bones were classified as Lower-Grade, Mid-Grade, High-Grade, and Peak-Grade.
The disciples who could typically enter Bamboo Sword Peak basically all had High-Grade Root Bones.
In fact, the Outer Disciples of the Guiyuan Sect were all geniuses from their respective regions.
Even the worst among them were upper-mid-grade, which was the minimum qualification to be accepted as a disciple by the Guiyuan Sect.
As for a Low-Grade Root Bone?
They were actually quite rare in the Guiyuan Sect.
Yu Jingjing didn’t know Zhang Su’s background.
Zhang Su hadn’t been accepted as an Outer Disciple of the Guiyuan Sect for his outstanding talent. Rather, the Su Family had spent silver and pulled some strings to forcefully stuff Zhang Su into the Guiyuan Sect’s Outer Sect.
’Why did it have to be a Low-Grade Root Bone? To forge such a profound foundation with one... that’s truly... unbelievable.’ Yu Jingjing was in a difficult position.
"What’s the matter? Can a Low-Grade Root Bone not enter Bamboo Sword Peak?" Zhang Su asked, his tone calm.
"Er... that’s not necessarily the case. Whether you can enter Bamboo Sword Peak isn’t for me to decide. The Master has to make the final call..."
"How about this: I’ll go report to the Master and let him decide."
Yu Jingjing thought about it. ’I can’t make the call on this matter. Only the Master can decide.’
"Go bathe and change your clothes first, then wait. I’ll go report to the Master right now..."
After speaking, Yu Jingjing turned and left the Quiet Chamber, heading towards the back mountain of Bamboo Sword Peak.
「Soon, Yu Jingjing arrived at the back mountain.」
On this back mountain, there was, surprisingly, a waterfall.
The waterfall cascaded down, a magnificent sight.
In front of the waterfall, a gray-robed elder sat cross-legged on the ground.
He seemed to be observing the waterfall with his full attention.
Yu Jingjing cautiously approached the elder from behind and bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Master."
This gray-robed elder was none other than the master of Bamboo Sword Peak, the Guiyuan Sect’s Postnatal Realm Elder, Qu Zhengliu!
Qu Zhengliu didn’t even open his eyes. "Jingjing, what is it?" he asked lightly.
"Reporting to Master, you instructed me to personally receive the disciple recommended by Elder Zhao. I have met with that Zhang Su and conducted the three tests."
"Zhang Su’s foundation is incredibly profound, far surpassing most disciples of Bamboo Sword Peak. His comprehension is also excellent—he even grasped the Wind and Thunder Sword Technique from the Sword Wall. It’s just his Root Bone..."
Her voice trailed off here, hesitant.
"What about his Root Bone?" Qu Zhengliu asked.
"Reporting to Master, Zhang Su’s Root Bone is... Lower-Grade!"
"Hm? A Low-Grade Root Bone? Are you certain?"
"Master, I have confirmed it repeatedly. It is indeed a Low-Grade Root Bone."
After Yu Jingjing finished speaking, they both fell silent.
She didn’t know what decision her Master would make.
After all, Zhang Su had the favor of Elder Zhao’s recommendation.
Furthermore, Zhang Su’s foundation and comprehension were both excellent.
It was just this Root Bone... it was truly too low.
Even now, Yu Jingjing couldn’t understand how Zhang Su had managed to build such a profound foundation with a Low-Grade Root Bone.
After a long while, Qu Zhengliu finally spoke. "Although he has Elder Zhao’s recommendation, and his foundation and comprehension are good, with a Low-Grade Root Bone, his future achievements are destined to be limited. If someone with a Low-Grade Root Bone were to enter Bamboo Sword Peak, wouldn’t that be an insult to the generations of ancestors of my Bamboo Sword Peak?"
"Go. Tell Zhang Su to leave the mountain. Just say that he and my Bamboo Sword Peak are not fated to be."
Having said his piece, Qu Zhengliu fell silent again.
Yu Jingjing looked like she wanted to say something but held her tongue.
’It’s such a pity,’ she thought. ’But Master’s words also make sense. For a Martial Artist, Root Bone isn’t necessarily the most important thing. But if one’s Root Bone is too poor, one would need to work several times harder than an ordinary person just to have a chance at reaching the level of an average Bamboo Sword Peak disciple. And Zhang Su has a Low-Grade Root Bone... That’s no longer a matter of hard work. It’s a matter of hard work being useless.’
"Master, I understand."
Yu Jingjing took a deep breath, bowed respectfully, and then turned to leave.
Meanwhile, Zhang Su had already bathed and changed his clothes and was waiting quietly in a room on Bamboo Sword Peak.
Before long, Yu Jingjing arrived.
"Zhang Su."
Yu Jingjing’s expression was complicated, but she still spoke. "I have reported to the Master. He just feels that you and Bamboo Sword Peak are not fated to be, so..."
Yu Jingjing didn’t say anything more.
Zhang Su looked up, staring at Yu Jingjing. "Is it because of my Root Bone?"
Yu Jingjing didn’t speak.
But at this moment, her silence spoke volumes.
Zhang Su understood.
"Alright. I will take my leave."
With that, Zhang Su turned and left.
Without any hesitation.
His departure was decisive.
With a complex expression, Yu Jingjing watched Zhang Su’s retreating back until he disappeared. She couldn’t help but feel it was a shame.
"Sigh... why did it have to be a Low-Grade Root Bone? If it were mid-grade, the Master probably would have allowed it. What a pity..."
Yu Jingjing shook her head.
’The only thing to blame is Zhang Su’s poor Root Bone. Even with Elder Zhao’s recommendation, with a Root Bone this bad, the Master couldn’t have lowered the standards even if he wanted to.’
...
Zhang Su slowly walked down the mountain.
At the foot of Bamboo Sword Peak, the group of blocked Inner Sect Disciples was still there.
They had previously watched with their own eyes as Zhang Su produced a Token and was allowed to ascend the mountain.
And now he was coming back down?
Every one of them was astonished.
"It’s him, the former ’Outer Sect First,’ Zhang Su! He went up the mountain with a Token earlier, so why is he coming back down now?"
"Zhang Su probably went up the mountain to become a disciple of Bamboo Sword Peak. But now, it looks like he failed."
"The former ’Outer Sect First,’ and even he couldn’t get into Bamboo Sword Peak?"
"Zhang Su may have been ’Outer Sect First,’ but don’t forget he’s overage. Right now, he’s a disciple in the Guardian Sequence. Bamboo Sword Peak’s requirements are extremely high. Even for a former number one of the Outer Sect, they’ll turn him away if his talent is even slightly lacking."
Gaze after gaze fell upon Zhang Su.
They seemed to be searching for any sign of dejection on his face.
After all, Zhang Su was "Outer Sect First," the one who had surpassed tens of thousands of Outer Disciples, the center of everyone’s attention!
And yet, when he came to the Inner Sect to become a disciple of Bamboo Sword Peak, he was rejected.
How big of a blow must that have been?
How humiliating for Zhang Su?
They seemed to want to see his disappointment.
To see his frustration.
Unfortunately, their expectations were not met.
Zhang Su descended the mountain step by step, his expression perfectly calm.
It wasn’t a forced composure.
Rather... it was as if he truly didn’t care.
As if it were a trivial matter, not worth mentioning.
With Zhang Su’s arrival, the previously noisy environment fell completely silent.
However, when Zhang Su encountered the crowd at the foot of the mountain, he didn’t pause his steps in the slightest.
He just calmly walked past the crowd and left Bamboo Sword Peak.
Leaving behind only a crowd of disciples, staring at each other in bewilderment.