It was... nothing short of miserable failure.

With Yingyi disqualified, Wang Wei was the next to try. After losing his balance and steadying himself with qi sense, Elder Da qualified him as well.

One by one, each of the disciples failed. Jian Jue, being the only one who succeeded, grinned ear to ear, looking rather proud of herself. Hmph. Good for her.

Mei had immediately fallen off and would have hit her head if not for the Elder monk.

Those stupid poles... Ding Zhe and Jian Jue made walking of them look so easy. The poles were too narrow to step on stably with even a single foot, and were even slightly slippery!

"Why do we even need to learn balance with martial arts?" Yingyi grumbled.

"It's only natural. Having a good sense of balance makes you able to fight more fluidly, and stop your opponent from knocking you to the ground!" Jian Jue said happily.

"You're not the teacher here." Yingyi harrumphed.

"Now now. It's good for students to learn from each other. The young miss is correct, though I'd add that stable footing will allow you to hit much harder, with the ground to support you." Elder Da smiled.

Liu Qiang grinned mischievously.

"But, what about this?" he said, suddenly shoving Wang Wei.

"Ehh?"

Seeing that he didn't get the cue, Liu Qiang grabbed the struggling boy and lifted him into the air.

"You could have just told me to float!" Wang Wei frowned, as he flew out of reach.

Liu Qiang and Yingyi laughed.

"Aerial combat is something else entirely, but balance is still important! But that's for after you've learnt the basics." the monk said. "Now, we will next test your flexibility. Show them, Ding Zhe."

The young monk raised his foot with a kicking motion, casually touching his forehead with it. He stood there for a few seconds, before doing the same with his other foot.

Mei thought to herself that she'd probably snap her tendons if she tried that.

Finally, Ding Zhe bent down as he stood, squeezing his entire upper body between his legs. It looked almost as if he had tied his body into a knot.

"Wow, you can smell your own butt." Yingyi said.

Him and the chubby boy laughed.

This time, despite Elder Da saying they didn't need results as spectacular, none of them succeeded.

Even Jian Jue couldn't match a monk's inhuman flexibility. Was it some kind of body art or something?

"I'm afraid none of you are ready for our martial arts. But that's not to say you can't begin to practice! If you'd still like to learn, I suggest asking Ding Zhe over here for help with stretching exercises." the elder said. "It takes time and dedication to train the body!"

After saying his goodbyes, Elder Da returned to teaching the other monks.

"So... these stretching practices..." Xiuying started.

"Oh, it's simple, we use those."

Ding Zhe pointed to several scary looking benches and machines.

"You put your legs and hands here, here and here..." he pointed to each of the parts. "Then we tie you down with restrains, and you stay like for an hour. But since you're newbies, I think just 10 minutes will do."

No thanks... Mei refused, backing off with the rest of her friends.

"I'm willing!" Jian Jue said.

"Have fun."

After Ding Zhe tied her down, she held on for a few minutes before starting to cry silently.

...was this supposed to be a torture device?

"Um... couldn't you use painkillers for this?" Wang Wei said, taking out a jar of pills. "Here, Ji-"

"No, no, no!" Ding Zhe hurriedly blocked him. "That's not allowed! It's just as important to train discipline!"

"She looks like she's about to die!"

"What!" Jian Jue yelled. "This is nothing! It's just that the sun is too bright and dust got into my eyes!"

"Okay..."

Mei and the others stood silently, simply watching her, unsure if chattering or messing around would be disrespectful. Not understanding why they were staring silently, Jian Jue felt very intimidated.

Finally, Ding Zhe let her free.

"My arms and legs are still really sore... but my body feel strangely relaxed and a bit more flexible." Jian Jue said.

"Doesn't it? I went through that as well. It was super agonising at first, but after a while, it wasn't that bad." Ding Zhe said as he picked up a chunk of tofu with his chopsticks.

After the "ordeal", the group of disciples were demoralised, so Ding Zhe suggested they go for lunch.

Mei started at the plate of assorted boiled vegetables, rice and tofu before her. Each of them had been given the same meal set by the chef. Not exactly the most appetising selection...

"You don't have to worry about those devices. Those were invented by mortal monks, and they certainly don't have the regeneration of us cultivators. Besides, it's useful for much more than flexibility." the monk rattled on as he ate. "Stretching extends and clears the meridians too, which can help you get rid of impurities and cultivate faster. That's what the senior monks said, at least."

"Hey, don't you guys have meat or anything like that? This is so plain!" Liu Qiang complained as he destroyed the tofu on his plate with chopsticks.

"What'd you expect? This is a Buddhist sect." Ding Zhe said.

"I've seen monks eat meat before."

"Not in our sect."

Ignoring Liu Qiang's complaints, Mei decide to just eat anyway. It wasn't that different from her diet back home.

Wow, they didn't even salt the vegetables.

Though... there was a strange sense of serenity she got as she ate. It was a strange sensation she found hard to put in words.

The other disciples seemed to have felt it as well, with their relaxed expressions. Even the grumpy Liu Qiang seemed much calmer.

Ding Zhe smiled.

"This is but another one of our sect's teachings. Monks practice abstinence not..."

Liu Qiang had suddenly taken out a bottle of seasoning as the monk spoke. Mei recognised it immediately. Wasn't that the seasoning Xiuying sold to him?

With a devious grin, he popped the bottle open before dumping seasoning all over his food.

"Stop! This- what are you...."

Ding Zhe slammed his hands onto the table, struggling to get the right words out.

Xiuying looked absolutely mortified as she tried to wrest the bottle from the Liu Qiang who laughed gleefully.

"Do you have no respect?" the monk yelled.