Chapter 7#
Chapter 7#
After Xu Wang left, Xue Jingci remained where he was, lost in thought.
Usually, the tavern had little business, and the owner often saw Xue Jingci dazed, but today was exceptionally different.
He looked like the discarded old plaque—lifeless as withered wood.
The owner hesitated to speak but eventually turned and left the tavern silently.
It wasn’t until dusk that the owner returned carrying a chicken, only to find Xue Jingci still sitting in the same spot, unmoved.
Since coming to this tavern, Xue Jingci had been as busy as a little spinning top every day, making the whole place look brand new.
The owner had never seen him in such a lost and despondent state.
He lifted the wild chicken in his hand and shook it, asking, “Spicy chicken for dinner tonight?”
Hearing someone speak, Xue Jingci finally came to his senses. Without taking the chicken, he headed toward the kitchen: “No, tonight we’ll have greens and tofu.”
The owner immediately became anxious. With his high cultivation, he had reached the Inedia stage long ago and usually looked down on food. It wasn’t until he happened to eat Xue Jingci’s cooking that he became obsessed with it.
He quickly chased after him, thinking he had to improve Xue Jingci’s mood so he could have a good meal.
“That guy Xu Wang—it’s lucky if even one out of ten words he says is true. If you want to know any news, you’d be better off asking me.”
Only then did Xue Jingci take the chicken.
“If you make me a table of good wine and food, I will tell you everything I know about the Lingxu Sect, Xie Zheng, and Li Xuanfeng, without reservation.”
Hearing this, Xue Jingci finally pulled himself together and prepared a table of dishes. He didn’t waste the tofu either, making it into a fresh, fragrant, and numbing spicy dish.
He did indeed have many questions in his heart.
If Xie Zheng had truly taken another master, why hadn’t his main mission been judged a failure?
Xue Jingci’s main mission was to take Xie Zheng as a disciple, teach him to the Nascent Soul realm, and complete the apprenticeship mission.
He opened the system panel and carefully checked the mission progress.
The mission progress in this world was very special; it wasn’t a straight line but rather in the shape of a small flame. Xue Jingci had thought the flame would go out, but for some reason, it seemed to be burning even brighter now.
Seeing Xue Jingci silent and not picking up his chopsticks, the owner said directly, “Are you wondering why Xie Zheng joined the Lingxu Sect and took Li Xuanfeng as his master?”
The words “took Li Xuanfeng as his master” (re-apprenticed) surprised Xue Jingci slightly. Xu Wang had said the loose cultivators here didn’t believe a word he said.
The owner saw through Xue Jingci’s thoughts and said, “Don’t be surprised. Having spent many days with you, I naturally know you’re not someone who speaks empty words.”
“Even though you ascended from the mortal realm, you must have heard of the Heaven’s Gate demon-subduing, right?”
Xue Jingci nodded. Back then, the demon race ran rampant, and the mortal world was like hell. Fortunately, the human race figured out cultivation methods, giving them a fighting chance.
Later, among the human cultivators, a top-tier genius of the Dao of Arrays was born. Together with the four great families, they set up the Heaven’s Gate Array, finally isolating the terrifying demons above the array.
“However, in recent years, the Heaven’s Gate Array has shown signs of loosening. A powerhouse predicted that within a hundred years, the demon race will break free from the array’s shackles and cause widespread suffering. And the person who can save everything…”
“Is it Xie Zheng?” Xue Jingci asked.
The owner shook his head: “Heaven’s secrets are hard to predict. That powerhouse spent months of painstaking effort on divination, only to calculate that the person comes from the mortal realm. Over the years, the great sects have repeatedly descended to the mortal realm to bring back exceptionally talented individuals. Xie Zheng is just one of them.”
“But his cultivation progress is the fastest, truly once in a millennium. He quickly stood out among hundreds of people and became the person the prophecy points to.”
“Therefore, what techniques he practices and who he takes as a master are all major matters concerning the entire cultivation world. I’m afraid it’s not up to him to choose.”
So that was it—simply a standard protagonist plot.
Xue Jingci took a bite of the spicy chicken, and his mood gradually improved.
He asked again, “How can a loose cultivator who ascended by their own power join the Lingxu Sect?”
The owner explained everything one by one, and finally couldn’t help but ask, “Are you really going to find him?”
Xue Jingci raised his wine cup, his wide sleeve sliding down slightly with his movement, revealing a thin and pale wrist. “Thank you for taking care of me these past four months, Owner.”
The owner looked at that wrist, knowing that his meridians must be chronically congested and his qi and blood stagnant. Even with a Golden Core cultivation, going to a sect like Lingxu, where geniuses gathered, he would only be able to become a bottom-tier disciple, doing the hardest and most tiring sect missions.
He might as well live freely as a loose cultivator.
He usually didn’t care for others’ business, but now he couldn’t help saying, “Given Xie Zheng’s current status, even if he still acknowledges you as his master in his heart, it’s absolutely impossible for you two to resume your relationship as master and disciple.”
Xue Jingci drank his wine in one gulp and said firmly, “But there are still things I haven’t taught him. I’ve already made up my mind. As long as I can stay by his side, I don’t care about having a title.”
“You…” The owner gripped his wine cup, wanting to say something, but saw Xue Jingci’s cheeks flushing slightly—he seemed drunk.
“Forget it, drink up.”
The two continued drinking until the owner eventually finished the entire jar of wine and passed out on the table.
He was drunk for two whole days. Xue Jingci couldn’t wait for him to wake up; on the second day, he temporarily closed the shop, left a note, and departed.
Only after Xue Jingci left did the owner get up. His gaze swept over the newly carved plaque outside the tavern.
The three large characters “Chuci Gui” shone brightly in the sunlight, exceptionally eye-catching and possessing the aura of a century-old famous shop.
The owner considered whether to change back to the original inconspicuous sign, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.
As he was about to get up, he saw out of the corner of his eye a piece of paper held down by a wine cup on the table.
It was left by Xue Jingci—a complete method for brewing wine with wild peaches.
The owner shook his head, carefully hid the wine Xue Jingci had brewed, and casually scooped a few ladles of water into the other wine jars.
Xue Jingci headed north, first taking a spirit boat for part of the journey and then switching through several teleportation arrays. Finally, five days later, he reached the outer boundary of the Lingxu Sect.
With one look, he immediately understood why the owner had said the Lingxu Sect was different from other places.
In the Upper Realm, whether it was a sect, a family, or loose cultivators, they all lived on mountain peaks.
But the mountains of the Lingxu Sect, large and small, all floated in the air. Their bases had been sliced through with a sword, no longer connected to the mountain ranges of the mortal world.
Outside the peaks, techniques large and small flickered in and out of sight, shining with golden flowing light and forming a magnificent barrier.
Truly the number one immortal sect.
Xue Jingci looked at the System. The closer they got to the Lingxu Sect, the more listless the System became, to the point where it was almost in tears.
“What’s wrong with you?” Xue Jingci said as he picked up the System.
“Wuwu… Host, do you really feel that not having a title is okay?” Just thinking about the expression on the host’s face when he said those words made the System’s heart ache as if pierced by a knife.
It knew that the host only looked fragile but actually had unyielding pride. Yet regarding Xie Zheng, he would actually become so humble.
The Crematorium Plane was truly too bitter.
“It doesn’t matter.” Xue Jingci said as he handed his name card to the mountain-guarding disciple. “Although he cannot call me Shizun in front of others, he can address me as Old Xue in private.”
System: “…?”
It took a long time for it to realize what the host was thinking, and then it let out a heaven-shaking flurry of meows: “No! That address is absolutely unacceptable!”
Xue Jingci, however, didn’t hear the System’s voice.
He had already left the cat with the mountain-gate disciples and was walking alone toward the Heart-Asking Steps.
The great sects were always open to Golden Core loose cultivators with rich combat experience. As long as they passed the Heart-Asking Steps, they could enter the outer sect.
However, moving from the outer sect to the inner sect was an extremely difficult task.
As the number one sect, the Lingxu Sect’s requirements for the aptitude of inner sect disciples were extremely strict; reaching the Foundation Building stage at age seven was nothing there.
Xue Jingci focused his mind and stopped before the Heart-Asking Steps behind the mountain gate.
Dozens of people were traveling with him, all loose cultivators who wanted to join the outer sect. One person was so nervous his palms were sweating, and he secretly stuck a Silence Talisman on himself, but was shouted at by the guide disciple: “Every word and action of a Daoist friend within the illusion will be recorded in the ‘Heart-Asking Record’ for others to see. If you are afraid, you are free to leave.”
On both sides of the long steps, several outer sect disciples had gathered at some point to watch the trial. Hearing this, they began to whisper among themselves: “Outer sect disciples often have to go out to kill demons. Fortunately, there’s this ‘Heart-Asking Record,’ otherwise, who would know what kind of character a teammate has…”
That person gritted his teeth but still stepped onto the Heart-Asking Steps.
Xue Jingci ignored their dispute and released his divine sense to concentrate on studying the array on the long steps. He soon found the array’s core hidden among the boulders on both sides.
This array consisted of two sub-arrays that seemed to amplify the fear in a person’s heart, forcing them to reveal their deepest thoughts.
He saw the person who had stepped onto the steps earlier turn pale, trying hard to keep his lips sealed, but he still couldn’t help but reveal a panicked expression and shout: “You were killed by a demon beast! I wanted to save you, but I was a step too late…”
After another moment, that person half-knelt and cried out loudly, “I was wrong! I didn’t mean to just stand by and watch coldly. Don’t come over…”
“Wang Congyu, failed.” The guide disciple was named Qian Zhen. At age ten, he was selected for the Upper Realm due to his outstanding aptitude and had been taught by inner sect elders since childhood. Naturally, he didn’t much like these loose cultivators of mixed quality in the outer sect.
Seeing that the first candidate was a person of such corrupt character, his expression immediately turned sour, and he judged him a failure without hesitation.
Afterward, five more people stepped onto the Heart-Asking Steps; one passed successfully, while four failed.
The successive failures caused a stir among the trial-takers.
One person couldn’t help saying, “The inner sect disciples of these great sects are different from us. They have countless cultivation resources from a young age, and even when they go out for experience, they are protected by high-level cultivators. They don’t need to fight with their lives, so they naturally don’t have to experience those ugly things. Fine, I just won’t join this sect!”
Having said that, he flew away on his sword.
“I suspect he just has a guilty conscience.” Qian Zhen said with a look of displeasure. “Senior Brother Xie Zheng also had a rough youth and went through countless hardships, yet when he crossed these Heart-Asking Steps, he never stopped for a moment, reaching the mountaintop in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.”
“He was the first person on the Heart-Asking Steps to have a clear conscience.”
Hearing this, Xue Jingci’s eyes shifted slightly.
This guide disciple was from the inner sect; perhaps he could inquire about some news of Xie Zheng from him.
Before he could speak, Qian Zhen said quite impatiently, “Next trial-taker, Xue Jingci.”
Just as Xue Jingci stepped onto the steps, he saw the System chase after him.
“Host, there’s a side quest! The system will later forcibly replace the illusion screen with a fear-filled memory related to Xie Zheng. You need to shout out Xie Zheng’s name on the Heart-Asking Steps to complete the mission.”
Xue Jingci was just worrying about how to make others believe he knew Xie Zheng so it would be easier to gather information later, and here came such a timely mission.
However, did he and Xie Zheng have any fearful memories together?
Before he could think carefully, the illusion array on the steps activated, and the surrounding scenery changed rapidly, transforming into a dense forest.
In the distance sat someone meditating.
Perhaps the night was too dark, as that person reached out and lit a fire-starter, placing it to the side. The firelight flickered, reflecting his face.
It was an extremely cold, noble, and dignified face, with a high bridge of the nose and eyebrows sharp as swords. His features were as if carved with an axe or cut with a knife—absolutely perfect. If one had to pick a flaw, it would be those thin lips, which, even in silence, added a touch of coldness that kept people at a distance.
After many years, Xue Jingci still recognized at a glance that this was his disciple, Xie Zheng.
Before he could react, his body moved with the illusion, walking toward the vicinity.
This was his first time going out with his disciple to hunt demon beasts. They went to a forest filled with miasma that was easy to enter but hard to leave.
Once someone blundered in, they definitely wouldn’t be able to get out for at least ten days to half a month.
And Xie Zheng had been in the Foundation Building stage for less than a month and could not yet fully maintain Inedia. Therefore, before the trip, Xue Jingci had put quite a bit of dried meat and cakes in the storage bag.
But they had only been in the forest for two days, and Xue Jingci had already finished all the dry rations.
Xue Jingci pinched the storage bag, a look of chagrin flashing in his eyes.
He only then realized he was different from the past—he was no longer a person who traveled alone.
Fortunately, there were many mushrooms in this forest. Xue Jingci leaned in to sniff them and dug up some that looked sweet and delicious. Then he used spiritual energy to start a fire and boiled a pot of soup for Xie Zheng.
Once it was ready, he walked over to Xie Zheng: “Sorry, I’ve finished everything we brought out.”
“…I’ve never raised a living person before.”
Xue Zheng suddenly opened his eyes.
It seemed to be the first time he had seen Xue Jingci show this slightly dazed expression, and he couldn’t help but curve his lips.
That coldness that kept people at a distance vanished instantly. Amid the shifting firelight, his entire face became gentle.
“Master made this?” Xie Zheng immediately took a sip. “I’ve never had such delicious soup before.”
Xue Jingci also wanted to take a sip, but the hurried breathing of a demon beast suddenly came from behind him. He blocked Xie Zheng behind him, drew his sword and leaped up, engaging in a fight with the sneak-attacking beast.
When he had dealt with the beast and looked back, he saw Xie Zheng fallen face-down on the ground.
Xue Jingci didn’t have time to collect the monster core. He ran back quickly and helped Xie Zheng up, only to see his lips turning purple and his breath extremely weak.
The mushrooms were poisonous!
For the first time, Xue Jingci felt a sense of fear. He hurriedly asked the system if there were any quick detoxification items.
Only after helping Xie Zheng detoxify did Xue Jingci catch his breath.
On his very first mission, he had nearly killed his disciple through neglect.
Xue Jingci carefully placed Xie Zheng on the ground and turned to cut several pieces of meat from the wild boar demon.
He roasted the meat but had no appetite to eat, occasionally touching Xie Zheng’s forehead in worry.
It wasn’t until they had endured the night that Xie Zheng woke up.
Xue Jingci thought he was physically weak and should eat something to supplement his energy, so he handed over the roasted wild boar leg and asked, “Do you… still want to eat?”
He wasn’t quite sure if Xie Zheng still dared to eat.
Xie Zheng didn’t hesitate; he took it and took a bite. Seeing Xue Jingci still standing there in a daze and not eating, he said warmly, “After drinking the soup yesterday, I saw a very interesting scene.”
“The stones on the ground jumped one onto another’s head, building themselves into a mountain.”
“The birds in the forest all flew before me, twisting their bodies and saying loudly, ‘Congratulations to the Sect Master for founding a sect and recruiting many disciples’.”
After saying that, Xie Zheng himself couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Only then did Xue Jingci believe Xie Zheng was truly recovered. However, he didn’t laugh but said seriously, “Who’s to say you won’t actually found a sect in the future.”
At this point, the illusion receded like a tide, returning to the image of Xie Zheng poisoned and lying on the ground.
That image was much more terrifying than in Xue Jingci’s memory; blood could be seen seeping from Xie Zheng’s nose and mouth.
The hand Xue Jingci used to hold his sword trembled violently, and the image returned to the moment Xie Zheng was about to drink the soup.
“Xie Zheng, don’t drink…”
[Side quest completed.]
Xue Jingci opened his eyes and found himself at the end of the Heart-Asking Steps at some point.
Qian Zhen was looking at him with an extremely strange gaze. Only after a long time did he announce: “Xue Jingci, pass.”
The outer sect cultivators watching whispered: “Who is this? Why is his illusion related to Senior Brother Xie?”
“What did he mean by ‘don’t drink’? He didn’t even finish his sentence. It’s really uncomfortable.”
Xue Jingci waited quietly to the side until the remaining trial-takers had crossed the steps. Then he approached Qian Zhen and asked, “Do you know which peak Xie Zheng lives on?”
“He’s in the inner sect…” Qian Zhen was about to answer when a look of alertness suddenly flashed in his eyes, and he asked, “What is your relationship with him?”
Xue Jingci said, “Old friend.”
Their voices were very light, but they were still caught by others’ divine senses.
It immediately caused a stir.
Qian Zhen thought about it and decided to return to the inner sect and ask Senior Brother Xie before saying anything more. Although the person before him had a clear and harmless aura, the thing he feared was so strange.
If not for the sect’s rule that one must not probe deeply into what is seen in the illusion, he would have loved to have Xue Jingci explain the whole story.
The disciples who passed the trial were led to the “Heavenly Garments Pavilion.” Soon, outer sect disciples came out to take their measurements for tailoring.
The Lingxu Sect’s disciple uniforms came in two colors: deep blue for the inner sect and light blue for the outer sect.
Placed before Xue Jingci was a sample of the outer sect disciple uniform.
Cloud patterns were embroidered on both shoulders, reinforced with a wind-riding array that allowed for direct wind-flying. The sleeves were directly engraved with storage formations; placing items in the sleeve would naturally store them.
In addition, there were countless mysterious arrays, including the top-tier dust-repelling array.
Xue Jingci tried letting the System rub against the sample, and indeed, not a single hair stuck to it.
The more he looked, the more he liked it. He asked, “Can I get it now?”
That outer sect disciple was also seeing such an eager person for the first time. When his gaze fell on Xue Jingci’s Dharma robe, a look of realization appeared.
This person’s robe looked like it was bought in the mortal realm; the arrays were old and the material was poor. No wonder he was in a hurry for the disciple uniform.
“Disciple uniforms need to be cut and made to order. Take this slip of paper and come pick it up in five days.”
Xue Jingci was slightly disappointed, but he still thanked him earnestly.
Stepping out of the Heavenly Garments Pavilion, Xue Jingci noticed that the inner sect disciple was gone, replaced by a male and a female cultivator to guide them.
Those two wore blue disciple uniforms; they should be outer sect disciples just like them.
“Congratulations to everyone for passing the trial. My name is Chen Zhao, and this is my Senior Sister, Su Zhuyu. It’s getting late today; please fly on your swords and follow us to your residence.”
Xue Jingci activated his long sword and hopped on.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly sensed someone staring intently at him. When he turned back, the gaze had vanished.
Perhaps he had stayed in the illusion array for too long today and was having an illusion.
Not far away.
Chen Zhao only felt his back was soaked. At first glance at Xue Jingci, he felt he looked somewhat familiar. But since the other party was wearing a veiled hat, it was temporarily hard to distinguish his appearance.
Only when that familiar long sword came into view did he startle in horror.
Isn’t this person in the mortal realm… With his aptitude, he actually came to the Lingxu Sect?