Chopping Wood, Asking About the Sword

On the night Qingshi Village was slaughtered, Wenchen hid in a woodpile behind the stove. He heard a demon beast crunching bones, and he heard a streak of swordlight descend from the sky. Daoist Taixu took him back to the Tianjian Sect. Instead of teaching him swordsmanship, he first had him chop eighty logs. Find the grain and split along it; the axe will naturally bite in.

As he kept chopping, he sensed qi gathering in his dantian. From Qi Refining to Nascent Soul, Wenchen chopped his way up through every realm.

His senior brother was called Wenjian. He used firewood as hidden weapons and steamed buns to pass himself off as the sect leader. The red horse was called Xiaohong, and pretended to be dead to fool his senior brother for three years. His master was called Taixu. He bragged that a casual swing could chop any wood, then retired and built four soup stoves. But after Zhao Si butchered Qingshi Village on behalf of Blood Slaughter Ancestor, he reported back, saying, "The kid is definitely dead." If word got out that Wenchen was alive, he would be the first name on Blood Slaughter Ancestor's list.

Chopping wood teaches steadiness; swordsmanship teaches killing. Before his enemies come looking for him, he has to master both.