I am Zhao Zhijing, a poor Taoist priest, and I have disciples all over the world.

Chapter 10 Sadness turns into a river
At this time, Yang Guo was also practicing in the formation, but he was still young and started late, so the other six people in the seven-person formation were all fellow disciples of similar age and strength.

He was also holding a wooden sword.

When Zhao Zhijing called for stop, except for Yang Guo, the wooden swords of the other Taoist children all flew out, and one of them even had the tip of the sword facing inwards, hitting the arm.

Because this wooden sword is much lighter than an iron sword, it is easier to wield it.

But Yang Guo's own foundation was also shallow. The other disciples in the formation also used wooden swords. They looked much more embarrassed than Yang Guo who never let go of the sword. The difference in their skills was obvious.

"Junior Brother Yang, you have only been practicing for three months, but your swordsmanship is more proficient than those of us who have been practicing for a year. I really admire you."

Yang Guo was a lonely child in his childhood. Apart from Guo Fu and the Wu brothers, he had no other friends of the same age. When he was praised by his fellow disciples of similar age, he pretended to be calm on his face, but he was very happy in his heart.

"No, no, it's all because of my master's good teaching."

Yang Guo said a few humble words like a little adult, then immediately thought of his hard work day and night in the past three months. The corners of his still childish mouth twitched, and his happiness disappeared by half.

With that kind of intensity of training, it would be difficult not to be proficient.
Just then, Zhao Zhijing signaled everyone to take a break. An older senior brother from the side took the opportunity to come over and asked, "Junior Brother Yang, all of you disciples under Uncle Zhao have made significant progress in your studies, martial arts, and even in chopping wood and carrying water."

"What secret recipe did Master Zhao use? Why don't you teach us? We are all from the same school, so we should always look after each other."

Although Yang Guo was young, he was very smart and knew that this man had something else to say.

Over the past month or so, everyone with eyes in Chongyang Palace has seen how their master Zhao Zhijing has been training his disciples from dawn to dusk.

He asked this deliberately now, obviously because the morale of the entire Quanzhen Sect had been aroused, and those who wanted to be lazy had become the odd ones out, so he felt resentful.

As early as more than two months ago, there were rumors in Chongyang Palace that Zhao Zhijing would win first place among the third and fourth generation disciples in the national competition at the end of this year.

That's why he cares so much about his disciples.

This rumor is very credible, and Zhao Zhijing actually did so.

The other disciples who sensed a conspiracy did not say anything openly, but began to practice martial arts with all their might in private.

As a result, word spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. In the entire Chongyang Palace, all the disciples were like chicken blood, competing with each other, and no one was willing to fall behind.

This also made Ma Yu feel very gratified. He felt that he had a good eye and had not misjudged Zhao Zhijing.

Only Zhao Zhijing felt that he would never be happy again, so he always raised his face 45 degrees in the dead of night to prevent his sadness from turning into a river.

Now when Yang Guo heard others being cunning in front of him, he felt that they were really ungrateful.

"Brother, you are too kind. Master treats all his disciples equally. As long as you are willing to work hard, how could you possibly fall behind others?"

The older brother hit a snag and immediately frowned, wanting to use his status as a senior to scold him.

But before he could open his mouth, Liu Qingxing had already walked over and said, "Hey, our Junior Brother Yang is so popular, would you like to welcome me as well?"

Seeing that a feud had broken out here, the attention of the nearby disciples was drawn here. That man was afraid of making things worse, so he snorted coldly and turned back to his own formation.

"Junior brother, we follow the master and behave uprightly. There is nothing shameful."

“If there are people gossiping about us openly or secretly, Master has taught us medical skills. We won’t be afraid of the hard work and will treat them one by one!” It seemed that these words were spoken to Yang Guo, but the voice was loud enough that fellow disciples in half of the venue could hear it.

As disciples of Zhao Zhijing, they get up early and go to bed late every day to learn from their master. In the initial stage, they may have some complaints in their hearts because of various difficulties in adapting.

But over time, the improvement in skills is visible to the naked eye, and in this era, people believe in "strict teachers produce excellent students." As long as one is smart, he or she will know that the master is doing this for everyone's good.

When a young team has cohesion, it is like having a nuclear-powered donkey.

Therefore, the disciples became more and more self-disciplined, and some of them even practiced extra during the rest day every seven days.

Just to repay my teacher, I won the end-of-year competition and do my best to prove myself to my teacher.

Then he ruthlessly took down the first disciple of the third generation and became the next headmaster with full legitimacy.

Everyone knew these things tacitly, except Zhao Zhijing, who was kept in the dark. He thought that these disciples were a little stressed and was considering whether he should let them relax appropriately.

With such a mindset, the disciples naturally would not allow anyone to speak ill of the master, nor would they allow anyone to bring shame to the master. Therefore, in front of their peers, each of them stood up straight and united as one to face the outside world.

In fact, there are only a few disciples who deliberately cause trouble like he did just now. Although Zhao Zhijing trains very hard, any discerning person can see that he does not hide anything.

It’s just that many people still have selfish ambitions in the fight for the position of the third generation’s first disciple, so they choose not to help either side and just watch from the sidelines.

At this time, Yang Guo saw Liu Qingxing standing up for him, and immediately shouted: "Yes, Senior Brother!"

Zhao Zhijing, who was at the front of the formation, did not notice the little dispute in the corner of the square. He was thinking about whether he could get some meat to eat or drink some wine. It would be even better.

The Zhengyi Temple on Mount Longhu, where its predecessor was located, is a descendant of the Zhengyi Taoism, and is listed as one of the two major Taoist sects along with the Quanzhen Taoism.

Unlike Quanzhen Taoism, Zhengyi Taoism does not prohibit its disciples from eating meat or drinking alcohol, and even allows marriage.

Otherwise there wouldn’t be that bowl of “hen, cuttlefish and ginseng soup”.

After traveling to the Quanzhen Sect, Zhao Zhijing found that the Quanzhen sect abstains from meat and alcohol. After eating vegetarian food for three whole months, he felt like his mouth was about to become tasteless.

"No wonder there are no masters in the sect. They don't even give us meat to eat. How can we have the strength to fight?"

Zhao Zhijing secretly complained in his heart that in the entire Chongyang Palace, apart from humans, the only meat left were mice and sparrows.

But even if I could bring myself to eat it, with so many eyes staring at me, I can't let you eat it raw without cooking it!
The more Zhao Zhijing thought about it, the more annoyed he became. He looked up at the sky and shouted.

"Get into formation!"

A hundred people quickly assembled in a large formation. Some disciples wailed in their hearts, obviously they had not yet rested.

"Uncle Zhao, the headmaster is looking for you!"

The Taoist boy beside the head monk Ma Yu came closer, bowed respectfully, and then invited Zhao Zhijing to go to the Sanqing Hall.

(End of this chapter)