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

Chapter 7 Don’t Guess What I’m Thinking
Another five or six days passed like this. Apart from the tasks he had to deal with within the Quanzhen Sect, Zhao Zhijing remained consistent, leading his disciples in practice from beginning to end every day.

In the first two days, the disciples thought that their master was traumatized by what happened that day and wanted to show off to other disciples.

By now, the disciples were certain that their master had been stimulated as to go among the masses for such a long time.

He even gave up his time for practicing.

Is it possible that the master’s bee venom could not be completely cured, and his current condition is actually a sign that he knows he has not much time left, so he wants to pass on his legacy?
Privately, the disciples were talking about it. Those who were willing to practice felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If their master returned to normal one day, they would never get the chance again.

Those who are unwilling to endure so much hardship, including quite a few who are unwilling to study, are also discussing nominating a fellow disciple to go and persuade the master that there is no hurdle in life that cannot be overcome.

As for the other fellow disciples, they were just watching for fun at first, but after a while, those who were quick-witted figured out the trick.

"Uncle Zhao has ulterior motives here."

"Hmm? How do you say it?"

"In our sect, three days before New Year's Eve every year, our disciples will compete in martial arts. Did you know that?"

"This is the sect rule that has been passed down since the time of our ancestor Chongyang. Who in the sect doesn't know it?"

The fourth-generation disciple, who thought he was smart, smiled slightly, feeling that he had understood Zhao Zhijing's thoughts.

"That's the reason. Uncle Zhao was humiliated in front of the entire sect because of the great hero Guo Jing. Now he is taking this action to save face during this year's competition!"

A fellow disciple asked, "Even though it's the end-of-year competition, Uncle Zhao should be practicing more, why is he focusing all his energy on teaching his disciples?"

"That's right. I'm from the same hometown as Uncle Zhao's disciples. I heard him say two days ago that Uncle Zhao watched them study literature and martial arts during the day, and sometimes even had them practice alchemy, talisman drawing, medicine, divination and astrology at night."

"It seems that where does Master Zhao find the time to practice martial arts?"

The fourth generation disciple shook his head, looking like he had mastered the whole thing, "You only know one side of the story but not the other."

"Uncle Zhao is already the best martial artist in our master's generation. If he wins first place again this year, what's so surprising about that?"

"But the disciples' skills are different. Uncle Zhao's disciples, Lu Qingdu, Liu Qingxing and others of the same generation as us, are mediocre in strength. Among the four generations of disciples in the sect, they are just in the middle of the pack."

“So I think Uncle Zhao’s move is to encourage his disciples to practice diligently, so that they can win first place among the three or four generations of disciples at the end of the year. That will be considered impressive!”

"Oh oh oh!"

"That's it! That's it!"

The group of fellow disciples were suddenly awakened by what was said and nodded one after another. At the same time, they felt that Uncle Zhao always had an aloof look on his face and most of the time he didn't have a good face towards his disciples.

Now he looks like a guiding light for the teacher, and it turns out he has such a big plan in mind.

"Ah!"

Zhao Zhijing, who was being criticized behind his back by everyone, sniffed and then reached out to touch his chin.

"Who is talking about the Taoist behind my back?"

Seven days had passed since he got up from bed. Zhao Zhijing thought that he should not be too hard on himself, so he did not ask his disciples to practice intensively today and asked them to go back and rest for a day.

Even animals should have one day of rest a week.

So today Zhao Zhijing only brought Yang Guo with him to see the head teacher, Uncle Ma Yu.

Because when Qiu Chuji went down the mountain, he left an order that Zhao Zhijing should take Yang to see the headmaster every once in a while to personally check the child's homework and give him some guidance.

After all, Guo Jing has a deep connection with Quanzhen Sect, and Yang Guo is the son of Qiu Chuji's disciple Yang Kang, so he must be more careful. "Disciple Zhao Zhijing, bring disciple Yang Guo to pay respects to the head teacher."

Zhao Zhijing and Yang Guo knelt down respectfully in front of Ma Yu and performed great greetings.

As the leader of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, Ma Yu is not the most skilled in martial arts, but he is the most respected.

Compared with martial arts, he focused more on the fundamentals of Taoism and devoted himself to meditation, so he was pure, inactive, generous and kind.

When he saw the two of them, Yang Guo looked cute, and was wearing a Taoist robe, with a bit of the immortal air of the boy sitting under Laojun.

Ma Yu was delighted and could not help but recall the past event twenty years ago when he went alone to the Mongolian grasslands to teach Guo Jing internal skills in order to resolve the feud between his junior fellow apprentice Qiu Chuji and the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan.

"Guo'er, are you used to living in the mountains these days?"

After the initial setbacks, Yang Guo now truly accepts Zhao Zhijing as his master, and answers the questions asked by his great master in a proper manner.

Ma Yu heard him speak naturally and fluently, and saw that his face was ruddy and he was dressed neatly. He knew that Zhao Zhijing had taken good care of him, so he turned around and asked, "Zhijing, how is the teaching of our sect's skills going?"

Zhao Zhijing recalled that in the original novel, his predecessor only taught Yang Guo the mantra but not the method of cultivation, and used this to deceive Ma Yu. He thought, you will know if you try it.

"In reply to Master Headmaster, Yang Guo is a very intelligent child. He has memorized all of our introductory cultivation techniques and can circulate them on his own."

"Guo'er, it's a good opportunity for you to demonstrate what you have learned these days to the head teacher."

After hearing the instructions, Yang Guo immediately recited the formula of the Quanzhen Dao Song. In addition, he also recited the Taoist "Classic of Purity and Tranquility".

He is a man of great talent, and now under the guidance of Zhao Zhijing, he is concentrating on his studies. In addition to martial arts, he can now recite some of the scriptures of the three religions that he reads every day.

Ma Yu was very happy after hearing this, and repeatedly praised Yang Guo for his intelligence, and then asked about other things.

"Zhi Jing, has this child gained a Taoist name?"

Zhao Zhijing had thought about this matter, but his master Wang Chuyi was not on the mountain, and Yang Guo was somewhat special compared to other disciples, so he had not mentioned it yet.

"Report to the head teacher, not yet."

"My master, Master Yuyang, is not on the mountain right now. I want to wait until he comes back before making a decision."

Last time, Wang Chuyi and Qiu Chuji brought ten of their followers down the mountain to help Liu Chuxuan and Sun Buer deal with Li Mochou.

He had not returned yet, but a letter had been secretly sent back to the mountain to inform Ma Yu that Li Mochou was quite troublesome and it might take some time.

Ma Yu did not say this, but just nodded and said: "You don't have to wait for your master, I will come up with a Taoist name."

After Guo Jing sent Yang Guo up the mountain, he stayed there for a few days and told Ma Yu about Yang Guo's life story in detail, including the origin of his name and the meaning of the word "Gaizhi".

"Guo'er, if I become your disciple, I should be a disciple of the Qing generation."

"Why not just call me Yang Qingzhi?"

Since the head teacher had spoken, Zhao Zhijing naturally had no objection. Just as he was about to nod, he did not expect Yang Guo to suddenly kneel down.

"Master, I want to be called Yang Qingmu."

Zhao Zhijing was stunned at first, but then he immediately realized that this "Mu" should be the Mu of Yang Guo's mother Mu Nianci.

(End of this chapter)