Firstly, one needed to possess a strong will to complete the work.
Secondly, one needed to possess the knowledge of what should be done, regardless of whether it was physically possible on a usual basis.
These were the two prerequisites for spirit resonance, or at least those were the ones that Zhao Yunxiao could think of.
He let out a helpless sigh.
If it was really that simple – everyone would be achieving spirit resonance left, right, and centre.
In the end, it was still a phenomenon that numerous smiths had spent their lives pursuing, so how could a simple outer disciple like himself figure it out that easily?
As he had thought, what happened was all luck.
At this point, he felt even more convinced that turning down the chance to be known as the smith for that mythical grimiron bow had been the right choice.
But even though spirit resonance was a topic far out of reach for his current level of understanding, it was not as though Zhao Yunxiao had nothing to learn from the earlier experience either.
He closed his eyes and thought back to the entire smithing process.
Under the influence of spirit resonance, the way he worked might not have been the most energy efficient, but it was definitely on point.
He wanted to engrave to heart every little step, every little nuance.
Even if spirit resonance was not achievable in the future, he wanted to at least be able to replicate the smithing process itself as much as possible!
Smithing was a long process, but thankfully he did not have to go through his memories in real time.
In his head, the entire process replayed again and again at multiple times the original speed, allowing Zhao Yunxiao to repeatedly experience what it was like.
Zhao Yunxiao opened his eyes after an hour had already passed.
But looking around him, Zhao Yunxiao could not help but frown.
Didn't Senior Tian say that he would be back within the hour?
This administrative deacon is far too unreliable!
Just as he was cursing in his heart, Zhao Yunxiao saw a few documents lying around on the desk.
It appeared that Tian Guiren had left too urgently earlier, and did not have the time to pack things up properly.
Well, Senior Tian did say to stand in for him for an hour. To do so effectively, he naturally had to know what's going on first... right?
Zhao Yunxiao confidently picked up the documents to take a look.
Roster schedule!
His eyes lit up upon realising what the first document was about, and immediately went on to flip through it.
Good, it would seem that he did not have any troublesome disciples scheduled for his next shift.
Then again, these things could be rather unpredictable at times.
Before today, he definitely wouldn't have thought that Nie Hanchang would create this much trouble for him as well!
And this trouble actually yielded him great benefits in the end, so who knew?
Perhaps troublesome disciples could be more beneficial sometimes?
Hmm?
Zhao Yunxiao's heart skipped a beat when he saw the next document.
Sky Fortress Forging Formula.
It was a name that Zhao Yunxiao recognised immediately.
This was the forging manual that Tian Guiren had been researching recently – a high level forging manual reserved solely for inner disciples and above in the Sect Library!
Under normal circumstances, outer disciples were not allowed to go through this manual.
Should he, or shouldn't he?
What a meaningless question.
There were no witnesses here, so why wouldn't he?
Zhao Yunxiao unrolled the scroll, and immediately started memorising every little detail that was on it.
He knew that he did not have much time, so his emphasis was on remembering everything first.
As for the actual understanding portion, that could come later during his own free time!
***
Inner Grounds – Heavenly Swirl Complex.
At this moment, Lu Zhiying was seated with other new disciples as they patiently waited for what was to come.
However, the atmosphere among them was slightly strange right now.
Specifically, everyone was looking at Lu Zhiying with complex feelings.
"So, you are saying that you have tried out four different jobs in this one week that we have been here?" one of them asked.
"Not just that, but you also helped to fight off a monster, challenged the Hundred Puppets Array, and are currently learning dance directly from the founder of the Frost Lotus Dance Troupe so that you can perform in the upcoming New Year celebration?" another added.
Lu Zhiying looked at the sceptical expressions hanging on their faces, and realised that perhaps she had unwittingly shared too much.
It was just that everyone here came in together as new disciples, and had all been enthusiastically sharing about their individual experiences over the past week.
Infected by their excitement, Lu Zhiying naturally said what she went through as well.
Who knew that the response would be like this?
"You know, hearing about something is different from actually experiencing it. Sometimes, not saying something actually reflects better on you than boasting about something completely unbelievable," a young man said with furrowed brows.
Then again, it might be more apt to call him a boy instead of a young man.
The sixteen year old Lu Zhiying was already considered a young lady by Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi who were in their late teens, but this person was even a couple years younger than her.
That high and mighty expression on his face actually looked rather adorable when coupled with his childish facial features.
Lu Zhiying remembered his name from earlier – Bei Pinzi.
He had left an especially strong impression on Lu Zhiying because of his serious demeanour and competitive nature that was a great contrast against his baby face.
From what she had heard, Bei Pinzi came from a wealthy merchant family. His parents had hired people to train him since young before bringing him to the disciple recruitment test, where he passed with flying colours.
In other words, he was a pampered young master.
But that was not important, and neither was his allegation that she was merely boasting.
Everything she said was the truth anyway.
Whether everyone else wanted to believe it was their choice.
However, such a response did cause Lu Zhiying to think that perhaps there was something different about Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi?
After all, everyone here had been assigned their own buddies upon joining the sect, and she only went through all those experiences because she was following them around!
"Has anyone told you that you look really adorable when you are serious, Junior Martial Brother Bei?" Lu Zhiying asked with a smile.
"Wha-?!" Bei Pinzi widened his eyes in shock. "How dare you, you rude woma-?!"
"Ignore them, Senior Martial Sister Lu," a gentle voice came from beside her to interrupt the conversation. "You haven't finished sharing. What else did you do apart from those?"
Lu Zhiying turned to look at the young girl beside her.
Ou Fengtian – another person who had left a strong impression on her.
She looked to be Bei Pinzi's age, probably around fourteen.
Not only were her features pretty, but her demeanour was gentle and elegant as well. Even her usual speaking voice sounded like music to the ears.
Such a precious young lady!
"Sure! But first, how about you share with me what you did? I'm interested in your experience over the past week as well," Lu Zhiying answered with a smile.
"Tch! Bunch of weirdos!" Bei Pinzi clicked his tongue before turning away to talk to others.
In his head, Bei Pinzi decided that both the boastful Lu Zhiying and the naive Ou Fengtian were people that he had to stay away from!
"All right, everyone, enough chatting," a solemn voice sounded out directly in their minds, as though the speaker was right next to them. "The preparations are complete, so all of you come down here."
Everyone tensed up immediately.
They knew that what happened next could very well determine their future potential in the sect.
"Let's go!" Bei Pinzi stood up without hesitation and shot a glare towards Lu Zhiying. "Time to show our worth with our actions instead of words!"
Lu Zhiying had to suppress her laughter upon seeing that adorable face.
Bei Pinzi confidently led the way as the new disciples walked down a long flight of stairs from where they were seated, eventually arriving at a wide clearing where a huge crystal was hovering in mid air.
The huge crystal was almost the size of a small house.
Hovering in the air and giving off rays of seven coloured lights, its beautiful glow seemed to even eclipse the sun.
At the same time, the new disciples could not help but feel a comfortable and warm feeling slowly well up from within them as the light washed over them.
It was as though they had stepped into a hot tub, just that this feeling was much stronger and more comforting than that.
"This is the Heavenly Swirl Crystal – a treasure of the Black Tortoise Sect specifically used to stimulate one's cultivation potential," a middle aged looking man said from beneath the crystal. "Today, you will be forming your spiritual meridian roots here under its influence."
Everyone nodded nervously, Bei Pinzi included.
He was usually very confident, but when faced with the uncertainty of not knowing how his spiritual meridian root would turn out to be like, even he could not help but feel a certain level of nervousness.
Among them, Lu Zhiying was the only one feeling nothing but excitement.
It was not because she was confident of her results, but she had simply decided to accept the outcome no matter what it turned out to be.
"Now then, sit around," the middle aged man said. "It's time to begin."
***
"Hey, have you heard the news?"
"What news? Did something special happen today?"
"Damn, did you forget? Today is the day for the new disciples to form their spiritual meridian roots!"
"Oh, is it already that day? Looking at your response, don't tell me...?"
"Hehe, you won't believe what I'm about to tell you!"
On this day every year, the outer sect would always be abuzz with news about the new disciples who had to form their spiritual meridian roots.
Thanks to everyone's interest in this topic, news of this year's results quickly spread throughout the outer sect.
Regular, true, and golden.
These were the different types of spiritual meridian roots that could be formed, but most people never even considered the possibility of anyone with a golden spiritual meridian root due to just how rare it was.
As for disciples who could form a true spiritual meridian root, it might not be nearly as impossible as forming a golden spiritual meridian root, but they were not exactly all that common either.
In fact, the sect could go for years before having any new disciple who managed to form a true spiritual meridian root.
In that light, what everyone was most interested in finding out each year was whether there was anyone who managed to form a true spiritual meridian root.
After all, if there was indeed a new disciple who managed to form a true spiritual meridian root, they would be slated to enter the inner sect sooner or later as long as nothing went wrong.
Not just that, but possessing true spiritual meridians would also allow for the possibility of eventually entering the Transcendent realm, a goal that would be considered out of reach even for many inner disciples!
And this year, news on the result of the new disciples' forming of spiritual meridian roots exploded within the sect, spreading much faster than usual and reached even those in the inner sect within the span of a day.
That was because this time, it was not just one new disciple who managed to form true spiritual meridian roots.
Instead, there was a total of three new disciples who managed to form true spiritual meridian roots this year!
This was an incredible number, unprecedented in the past few decades!
Bei Pinzi.
Ou Fengtian.
And last but not least, Lu Zhiying.
These names spread like wildfire within the outer sect, and even many inner disciples took their names to heart.
But as news about the new disciples' forming of spiritual meridian roots spread like wildfire within the sect, another piece of news slowly started to creep into people's ears as well.
This other piece of news spread much more slowly, but to anyone who heard about it, the previous hot topic on the new disciples' forming of true spiritual meridian roots would immediately become no longer of interest.
After all, there would be at least one new disciple who managed to form a true spiritual meridian root every few years.
However, even the elders of the sect would find it difficult to create a mythical tier weapon!
Nie Hanchang.
This previously inconspicuous outer disciple, whom some even treated as a fool for focusing on nothing but the bow and arrow, actually managed to pull off such a feat.
As of today, his name had been recorded in the annals of the sect history, known as the first outer disciple to have successfully created a mythical tier weapon in the past century!