Chapter 1

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

This chapter is edited by Rain. Thank you for your contribution!

Chapter 1

Outside Lianyun City, in front of Lianyun Mountain, a magnificent Immortal Ascending Platform towers above a lush green lawn. From today onward, this intricately carved stage becomes the site of the grand recruitment event for the hundred sects, officially commencing.

This large-scale recruitment is the sole opportunity for ordinary individuals without any background to embark on the path to immortality. Held once every ten years, it lasts for three days. Once a sect recruits enough disciples for that year, they will leave immediately. At the end of the three days, whether they have selected their ideal disciples or not, this temporary Immortal Ascending Platform will vanish, leaving behind an empty field.

Those aspiring to seek immortality must first pass an age check. At the entrance to the Immortal Ascending Platform, a gate measures bone age. Anyone over twenty-five years old is barred entry. Once past this gate, the next test is for Spiritual Roots.

In a remote corner of the platform, a round-faced boy cautiously placed his hand on the Spirit Measuring Stone before him. The transparent spirit stone remained murky gray, showing no signs of change.

“No Spiritual Root, next!”

The boy’s eyes widened in disbelief, struggling to accept that he was not destined for the path of immortality. Desperately, he tried to reason with the cultivator overseeing the test. “Immortal Master, the Spirit Measuring Stone must be broken! There’s no way! How could I not have a Spiritual Root?!”

The Spirit Measuring Stone had recently been replaced and was in perfect condition. If its energy had been depleted, it would have visible cracks. The Foundation Establishment cultivator in charge waved his sleeve, sending the noisy boy flying, landing unceremoniously on the ground. Disoriented, the boy lay there for a while, unable to cause further commotion.

Slightly to the right of the recruitment square’s center, the Beast Control Sect occupied an area ten times larger than the smaller stalls, with five lines of people queuing up. One of the lines was testing spiritual roots. The spirit stone emitted faint, multicolored lights of varying lengths. “Five Spiritual Roots, the purity of the Gold Spiritual Root is at the Xuan level, tier three, Qi Refining first layer. Let’s go, let’s go.”

The girl in charge of recruitment absentmindedly stroked the golden spirit cat dozing on her lap, waving her hand impatiently to dismiss the candidate.

The young rogue cultivator with Five Spiritual Roots hurriedly said, “I want to apply as a manual labor disciple!” He had done his research.

Although the recruitment event had only just begun, the female cultivator in charge still showed some patience. Glancing at him, she explained, “A rogue cultivator, I see? You must be out of the loop. Our Beast Control Sect only accepts manual laborers starting from Four Spirit Roots this year. Those with Three Spiritual Roots can qualify as outer disciples. We don’t accept Five Spiritual Roots for manual laborers anymore.” Turning to a fellow cultivator at another table, she added, “Senior Brother, let’s put up a sign to save time for those with Five Spiritual Roots.”

Hours had passed since the recruitment began. Hundreds of sects tested spiritual roots simultaneously, with countless Spirit Measuring Stones revealing the harsh truth to dreamers. Many hopefuls who came seeking immortality were left disheartened.

Lianyun Mountain connects the Mortal World and the realm of cultivation, but the Spirit Qi is too thin. Among ordinary people, only one in a thousand possess a Spiritual Root, and of those, seventy percent have the common Five Spiritual Roots, while twenty-five percent have Four Spiritual Roots.

Disciples from the Mortal World with Five Spiritual Roots cannot enter top-tier sects and are limited to being manual laborers in second-tier sects. Even in small sects, they can barely qualify as outer disciples. However, small sects often lack resources, and after years of hard work, they may still fare worse than manual laborers in larger sects.

Some sects are too small and weak, so joining such a sect is not as beneficial as becoming a rogue cultivator. After all, rogue cultivators are now protected by an alliance. Although it is much harder at first, it offers greater freedom.

Four Spiritual Roots are slightly better but still not much improved, while Three Spiritual Roots offers a much wider range of choices.

Along with the Spiritual Root, the purity of the Spiritual Root, the disciple’s age, ability, and background also influence how much value a sect places on new disciples.

Suddenly, the Spirit Measuring Stone of a small sect glowed with bright red and green colors: “Fire and Wood Dual Spiritual Roots, Fire Spiritual Root at Earth level one, Wood Spiritual Root at Earth level three, no cultivation.” A dual Spiritual Root, especially Fire and Wood Dual Spiritual Roots, both with Earth-level purity, is excellent for alchemy.

As soon as this young dual Spiritual Root talent appeared, several elders responsible for recruitment from large sects rushed over to compete for the disciple, “Join our Miaoyin Sect; our Tianyin Elder is a second-tier Pill Master.”

“Miaoyin Sect focuses on music cultivation; even with a Tianyin Elder, resources are very limited. Our sect has many Pill Cultivators, especially those skilled in teaching new disciples. Join my Tianjing Sect, and you will be the direct disciple of Elder Cangmu, who just became a second-tier Pill Master!”

“Come to my Beast Control Sect instead. Tianjing Sect has many alchemists, and resources for you are limited. Unlike us, the Beast Control Sect can offer you plenty of resources!”

The leaders of the top sects also tried to attract him, “We are from Tianheng Sect; with your level of cultivation, you will be an inner sect disciple. Once you join, there is a chance to be accepted as a personal disciple by an elder.”

However, since they only recruit disciples from the Mortal Realm, these top sects naturally do not place too much importance on the matter. The person sent over had merely reached the early stage of the Golden Core Stage, but could still crush other sects.

After all, the Tianheng Sect is the number one sect in the cultivation world; their direct disciples start with a Single Spiritual Root, and there are ten with Heavenly Spiritual Roots. The treatment provided by this Golden Core cultivator was limited to inner sect disciples, as he was just a manager and could not accept disciples on behalf of the elders.

Top sects have many rules and a clear promotion system, but their resources far surpass those of ordinary small sects. Large sects like them do not lack servants or outer disciples. They are here to reinforce the prestige of the number one sect, and if any excellent talent arises, they will not let it slip away.

However, the Tianheng Sect does not expect to find top talents here. Mortal World disciples are still no match for those from the cultivation world, and the truly remarkable talents that top sects notice are like one in a million.

Today is the first day of recruitment. The individuals who have traveled far to come here are somewhat familiar with the various sects. After hesitating for a moment, the disciple with Fire and Wood Dual Spiritual Roots finally chose Tianjing Sect. “I wish to join Elder Cangmu of Tianjing Sect.”

The cultivator from Tianjing Sect happily handed over a disciple badge and brought the person to their sect’s stall. The cultivators were still in line, and those from small sects responsible for recruitment looked on with envy. This talent was probably the best in the Mortal World recruitment this time.

A few hours passed quickly, and many sects gradually issued several badges. However, in a corner, the Qingxu Sect had not a single person waiting in line.

Qingxu Sect was once a well-known sect, but it had since split due to internal divisions, forming two sects: Qingxu and Tianyuan. Nowadays, Tianyuan has become a major sect ranked within the top fifty in the cultivation world, while Qingxu Sect has gradually declined, having only a rundown hill and a few small disciples.

If it were not for the current leader of the Qingxu Sect holding it together, this small, broken sect would have long been overtaken by other powers and completely disappeared from the cultivation world.

However, if another ten years passed and the grand competition of a hundred sects arrived, if the Qingxu Sect failed to recruit enough fresh blood, it would be forcibly taken over by the Tianyuan Sect, losing its name and heritage.

Even without prior knowledge of the sects, one could easily judge the ranking of each sect by observing the size of the land, the decoration of the stall, and its advantageous location. With just a small wooden table and a chair, the Qingxu Sect was at the very bottom of the hundred sects.

No one was in line, and the cultivator sitting in the chair was in a disheveled position, lazily asleep on a recliner with a book turned upside down on their face, covering a stunningly beautiful face.

There was a sign on the table, “Qingxu Sect, accepting Five Spiritual Roots with at least Earth-level purity and Four Spirit Roots for destined disciples; without a Spirit Measuring Stone, please do not disturb.”

“Are they crazy? They won’t even spend money on a Spirit Measuring Stone, and such a small and shabby sect is being so picky.”

Passersby looked at the little worn table and shabby sign, muttering a few words and shaking their heads as they lined up at other sects. It was exactly this indifferent and careless attitude of the Qingxu Sect’s leader that left the little stall with no one interested for several hours.

The reason for this was that Yun Chuyou, the chief disciple of Qingxu Sect, who should have been in charge of this matter, had suddenly broken through her realm before entering the Mortal World and had to endure the Golden Core Thunder Calamity. She hastily found a nearby mountain to stay in, intending to complete her Transmigration and consolidate her cultivation. As a result, she left her master to report to the Immortal Ascending Platform in her place, to recruit disciples for the sect.

She knew her master’s nature well and did not expect him to do much. She only wanted him to keep an eye on the little stall, preventing their already small territory from being taken by other sects.

After all, this recruitment was directed at mortals, and even top sects usually had protectors at most at the Nascent Soul level, which was more than enough in the Mortal World. Her master was also a Nascent Soul cultivator, at the peak of the late stage of the Nascent Soul Stage. Others respectfully called him Master Qingyun, and he was unafraid of small sects causing trouble.

Of course, even the foundational disciples of large sects were not to be trifled with. After all, if they fought with the small sects, the older ones would come after them; top sects had Golden Core cultivators everywhere, and it was said that the Supreme Elder stationed at Tianheng Sect was even a Transcendence Stage monster, able to wipe out their entire sect with just one finger.

However, Yun Chuyou did not have the energy to manage such distractions. She was fully focused on facing the Thunder Calamity that came with her breakthrough from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core.

The Golden Core Thunder Calamity was a Four Nine Calamity, requiring her to endure thirty-six strikes of heavenly lightning. For some fortunate prodigies, the number of strikes could even double.

Yun Chuyou’s talent was considered above average, but not extraordinary. Her level of Thunder Calamity fell within the normal range, and she smoothly endured the first thirty strikes without even needing to use her protective artifact.

The thunder grew louder, and Yun Chuyou calculated the limits of her body. Despite this, she didn’t use the artifact, planning to continue using the Thunder Calamity to strengthen her flesh and blood.

On one hand, it was a rare opportunity to enhance her physique; on the other hand, she was poor. As the Elder Martial Sister of her sect, her resources were limited. Naturally, she had to budget carefully and save her resources for the next Thunder Calamity or her younger martial brothers and sisters in the sect.

The thirty-six strikes of heavenly lightning battered her, turning her beautiful skin into blackened char. By the final strike, Yun Chuyou’s body was nearly at its limit, waiting for the calamity cloud to disperse and the nourishing rain to fall, which would allow her to recover.

As the calamity cloud began to fade, a bolt of lightning suddenly appeared in the clear sky. Yun Chuyou’s eyes widened in surprise as she tried to activate her defensive artifact. However, by that point, her spiritual power had already been depleted from her previous Transmigration, and she could only rely on passive defense. As the lightning came toward her, Yun Chuyou felt a sense of despair. Was it true that destiny was greater than human effort? She wondered if she would ever return home if she were struck dead by lightning. Resigned, she closed her eyes. Just as she lost consciousness, Yun Chuyou faintly heard a mechanical voice: “System charging complete, loading… loading progress 10%…”

Meanwhile, in the Mortal World, at the recently opened Hundred Sects recruitment conference, Xie Fuzhi sensed something was wrong: his precious apprentice, who should have smoothly Transmigrated, had encountered trouble!

He suddenly leaped up from his chair, grabbed the collar of his newly accepted disciple, and mounted a blue flying sword, shooting toward the immortal realm in the sky.

The little beggar held by Xie Fuzhi looked messy in the wind, “This Qingxu Sect seems unreliable. Is it too late for her to regret now?”

Xie Fuzhi, rushing with all his might, arrived at the site of Yun Chuyou’s Transmigration. The golden lightning had finished striking, and the calamity cloud had finally dissipated, leaving only pure white clouds behind. Soft spiritual rain began to fall, washing away a patch of black ash on the ground and revealing the girl’s jade-like shoulders… The extra Thunder Calamity had reduced everything to nothingness, and Yun Chuyou was now left with nothing.

Seeing his living disciple, Xie Fuzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. Realizing something, he quickly covered the eyes of his newly accepted disciple, “You must not look!”

He cast a protective spell around Yun Chuyou and turned his face away. There should be a proper distance between men and women, even between a master and a disciple.

“Master.”

Hearing Yun Chuyou’s voice, Xie Fuzhi instinctively turned back. Yun Chuyou, having regained her spiritual power, was already dressed in a prepared white robe, looking ethereal and extraordinary.

The green-clad Sword Immortal couldn’t help but feel a pang of wistfulness. That little child had grown into a beautiful young lady.

Yun Chuyou did not look at her master but instead gazed at the dirty little beggar, “Is this the new disciple Master has taken for the sect?”

The sword stopped. The little beggar, whose eyes had been uncovered, began to vomit uncontrollably.

Xie Fuzhi frowned and said, “Why are you disrespecting your senior martial sister?” The little disciple was so good-looking, but this beggar had such poor taste, saying such careless things!

He originally thought the young disciple was special, but seeing him like this made him doubt his fortune-telling. Maybe he had miscalculated their connection after all.

The young man looked at his senior disciple, whose face was turning slightly pale. As the Elder Martial Sister of the sect, Yun Chuyou had always had a good temper. She respected her teachers, was smart and capable, worked hard in her training, and took care of her younger martial brothers and sisters without complaint, managing the sect very well.

Xie Fuzhi couldn’t help but worry—what would happen to the Qingxu Sect without his senior disciple?

Yun Chuyou saw the little beggar’s dizzy expression, which looked like he was seeing stars. She softened her expression and handed him a round candy. “The master is a bit anxious, so the sword flew quickly. Suck on this candy, and you’ll feel better.”

Zhong Wei finally came to her senses after the dizzy spell. She breathed in the refreshing scent of grass and trees, raised her pale face, and looked at Yun Chuyou.

Although cultivators have beauty-preserving pills, destiny plays a role; unless one creates a false appearance, there are still significant differences in looks, just like ordinary people. However, compared to ordinary people, cultivators usually have better skin, and female cultivators tend to be fair and beautiful. Even so, Zhong Wei was still taken aback when she saw Yun Chuyou.

It’s not that Yun Chuyou was extraordinarily beautiful, stunning the world. In terms of the delicacy of her features, she was even less striking than her own master, who stood nearby.

Of course, it’s not that she is not pretty. Xie Fuzhi, the master of Qingyun, might not have high enough skills, but his appearance and demeanor were definitely among the best in the cultivation world.

Zhong Wei’s somewhat confused agreement with the disciples of the Qingxu Sect was partly related to how incredibly good-looking Xie Fuzhi was. Unfortunately, as Xie Fuzhi flew her around wildly, the little girl’s affection for him was quickly blown away by the strong winds.

Returning to the topic, Yun Chuyou was not like those female cultivators from the Hehuan Sect. Her looks were not the kind that aggressively attracted attention. She was like a gentle breeze blowing in the spring morning. Her smiling eyes exuded a lot of Spirit Qi.

Zhong Wei herself resembled a stray cat that had been hurt many times; she looked harmless but was quite wild at heart. She was wary of Xie Fuzhi, but when she saw Yun Chuyou’s smiling face, she couldn’t help but feel a little dizzy and instinctively wanted to get closer. However, memories of past hurt instinctively warned her: perhaps this was some kind of trick! Beautiful women love to deceive!

She instinctively took two steps back, but Yun Chuyou wasn’t annoyed. She opened her palm and said, “Look, it is candy.”

She unwrapped a candy that looked the same and popped it into her mouth, filling the air with the fresh scent of green tangerines.

Xie Fuzhi reached out to his disciple, “Chuyou, you can’t be biased; give me one too.”

Seeing that Yun Chuyou was not angry, Zhong Wei carefully took the candy, her voice timid, “Thank you, Elder Martial Sister.”

Yun Chuyou’s expression softened a bit, but it was not as warm as usual. She shot a glance at her unreliable master, feeling a surge of anger all directed at him.

The golden lightning that had just appeared was not a natural thunderbolt but was forced upon her by the story as it began to bind her to the system.

Just as she was transmigrating, her unreliable master summoned the cruel female antagonist from the story, successfully activating Yun Chuyou’s special ability: as long as she could make her sect thrive, she would be able to ascend painlessly and return home.

Since her special ability had arrived ten years late, the system assumed she had already bonded with the Qingxu Sect.

After ten years of transmigration, Yun Chuyou finally realized she was in a book. The incredibly unreliable master before her was the ultimate villain from the story, and the whole sect was filled with wicked characters!

Thinking about the plot of the original book, Yun Chuyou’s hand quietly rested on the sword hilt by her side, and her desire to clean house was already stirring. Instead of trying to make this sect of all villains prosper, it would be better if the lightning had just struck her down!