On his way to Heavenly Water Peak, Li Guanqi met many disciples who had entered the sect alongside him. The young men and women all wore brand-new sect uniforms, and they were filled with optimism for the future.
They walked in groups of twos and threes, chatting happily as they made their way to class.
Heavenly Water Peak was located on the western side of the Daxia Sword Sect. The five main peaks were aligned according to the five elements, while the Wind, Lightning, and Ice peaks stood independently.
As Li Guanqi admired the lively groups around him, two figures suddenly approached and draped their arms around his shoulders.
“Hahaha! Guanqi, I can’t believe you chose a Lightning Spirit Root.”
“Yeah! And you’ve even got the extremely rare Saint Spirit Root!”
“You managed to enter the inner sect directly. What a massive shortcut.”
Li Guanqi smiled. He had already asked around about his two friends and knew which peaks they had joined. Lin Dong had entered the inner sect of Heavenly Earth Peak, while Li Sheng’an had joined the outer sect of Heavenly Metal Peak.
“Lin Dong, you did well too. An Earth Heavenly Spirit Root? Your future is bright.”
The humble Lin Dong grinned and scratched his head. “My family’s ancestral grave probably has smoke billowing out of it right now. My ancestors racked up some good karma.”
Li Sheng’an looked content. Speaking to no one in particular, he said, “With a Mixed Spirit Root, I’m just happy to have made it into the outer sect.”
The three of them continued up Heavenly Water Peak together.
Along the way, they noticed that ninety percent of the disciples in Heavenly Water Peak were women. Many senior sisters gathered on rooftops and other elevated spots to discuss the new arrivals.
“Wow, Senior Sister~ Do you see that blind boy carrying the stone on his back? I heard he’s the only disciple the Heavenly Lightning Peak took in this year. And he has the Saint Spirit Root, which is even more impressive than Eldest Senior Brother Wu Bing!”
A girl with delicate features faintly smiled as she listened to her junior sister chatter away.
“Li Guanqi... I would not have expected someone with such an elegant name to be blind. His talent places him among the best in the Azure Cloud Continent.”
“Alright, it’s time for practice. Let’s not gossip anymore.”
The lively crowd gradually gathered at Heavenly Water Peak’s main pavilion.
Everyone had a cushion and sat cross-legged. It was not a free seating area, as the cultivation world emphasized order, with the most importance placed on the strongest people.
Li Guanqi wanted to sit with the other two, but Li Sheng’an said, “You can’t! Right now, you’re the closed-door disciple of the Heavenly Lightning Peak’s grand elder. That puts you above even the core disciples of other elders. You need to sit at the very front!”
Li Guanqi glanced around and noticed the stiff expressions of those nearby. With a resigned sigh, he walked to the front of the hall, where a single cushion waited. The inner sect disciples sat behind him, and the outer sect disciples filled the back rows.
The sect had accepted a total of three hundred and ninety-two new disciples—a particularly large number. Among them were sixty-plus inner sect disciples, including four with Heavenly Spirit Roots.
Even possessing a Heavenly Spirit Root didn’t guarantee acceptance as an elder’s direct disciple.
Li Guanqi sat cross-legged. In front of him was a low wooden table and a cushion.
A gust of wind blew past, and a lady with a stern expression in ice-blue robes appeared behind the desk. This was Lan He, the third elder of the Heavenly Water Peak. She was at the late Golden Core Realm.
Her beautiful eyes darkened as they swept over the many empty seats.
With a wave of her hand, the pavilion doors slammed shut. The disciples running outside cried out bitterly. Too afraid to knock on the door, all they could do was stand outside.
Lan He bent down and gently sat on her cushion.
“How could you be late on the first day of class? Stand outside, then! Class begins now!”
The disciples in the pavilion sat up straighter. They hadn’t expected Elder Lan to stay true to her words. She didn’t care whether someone belonged to the inner or outer sect—if they were late, they weren’t getting in.
It left a deep impression on them. The sect meant what it said.
Though Lan He was undeniably beautiful, as a teacher, her gaze carried the weight of authority. “I’m sure you all think that embarking on the journey of cultivation is an exciting matter. But today, in this first lesson, I’d like to remind you to never trust easily!”
The disciples exchanged glances, whispering among themselves.
After a pause, she continued, “When you reach a certain level in cultivation, you’ll come to understand. Those who call themselves your ‘fellow Daoists’ may not be those you can rely on in a crisis. You don’t need to understand now—simply remember it.”
Lan He was not speaking loudly, yet her words echoed clearly throughout the large pavilion, spanning a hundred zhang.
Then, there was a flash in her hand, and a jade slip appeared.
She held it aloft. “I trust you’ve all received your identity jade slips. From today onward, you must carry them with you at all times. They will accompany you for the rest of your lives!”
Her tone was solemn. Every disciple who had set foot outside the grounds of the sect understood what it represented.
“These jade slips serve many purposes. Within the sect, their most important function is recording your contribution points. They also have location-tracking abilities, allowing you to find other disciples when needed. Additionally, you can use them to check the items in the Treasure Pagoda or watch recorded lectures by various elders.
“As such, you must keep your jade slips safe! These functions will naturally unlock once you enter the Qi Refinement Realm.”
Everyone took out and studied their jade slips. They hadn’t expected such a small object to have so many uses.
“Do you all know where we are right now?” Lan He asked, surprising everyone.
Someone replied, “We’re in the Northern Territory of the Azure Cloud Continent.”
The moment the disciple who replied finished speaking, another teenager with slightly reddened eyes boomed, “Daxia Territory, located in the Northern Territory of the Azure Cloud Continent!”
Lan He froze for a brief moment, then glanced at the boy with a look of understanding.
“So it’s the young master of Ouyang Mountain—Zhong Lin. You’re right. We are in the Daxia Territory of the Azure Cloud Continent. This world is known as the Human World, also called the Lower World. The Human World is divided into six territories, which you will have the chance to explore on your own in the future.
She paused before continuing, “I bring this up because there is something you should know: aside from the Human World and the Immortal World, there is another world.
A hush fell over the room.
Lan He continued, “Across human history, countless cultivators have possessed corpses, thus becoming people who still remember their past lives!”
Li Guanqi was shocked. Reincarnators?
“The disciplinarians overseeing the Spirit Root Tests have already executed two corpse possessors!”
Murmurs of disbelief rippled through the crowd.
“There are people who can reincarnate with their memories intact?”
“If I didn’t join a sect to learn how to cultivate, I would never have learned about this.”