Chapter 8 Part 1
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This chapter is edited by omileye ibrahim. Thank you for your contribution!
Chapter 8: Things That Bai Lian Loves (1)
Just after the New Year had passed, the entire Duxian Sect became busy from top to bottom.
At the beginning of March.
The Duxian Sect would hold its traditional competition among newly enrolled disciples from the past three sessions.
At the end of March.
The Duxian Sect’s Immortality Promotion Meeting would be held once again.
This time, however, was different from before.
Thanks to Ju Yunzi and the Blood Tree Patriarch successively entering the Transmigration Stage.
Thanks to the great renown that Bai Lian had recently gained from her adventures abroad.
Many geniuses who had once ignored the Duxian Sect began to reconsider their choices.
Thus, the sect decided to hold the Immortality Promotion Meeting a year ahead of schedule.
It was still a month before the grand event, yet the small town at the foot of the Duxian Sect was already overcrowded.
The dream of longevity is an irresistible allure.
Even as early as the first half of last year, some people had already arrived from distant lands.
Not for anything else—just for a good start!
Here, heroes gathered.
Here, wealthy men walked.
Here, noble ladies from prominent families strolled.
Here, peddlers struggled, the impoverished defied fate, and scholars chased after fox fairies in the mountains.
A hundred people had a hundred different backgrounds.
Yet, they all shared the same desire—an equal chance at immortality.
[“The Immortal caresses my head, guiding me to eternal life.”]
“If possible, I definitely want to join Qiongming Peak—how amazing would that be?”
“Stop dreaming! Qiongming Peak only accepts female disciples.”
“My blade is sharp—I can become a woman anytime!”
“…”
“In my opinion, Chingming Peak is the strongest! Qiongming Peak only stands out because of White Emperor Bai Lian, but Chingming Peak has more powerful disciples.”
“No, no, no! Zhuyan Peak is the best—I love the name!”
“I will always support Yunluo Peak!”
In a teahouse.
People listened intently to the storyteller recounting legends of the Immortals while lively discussions filled the air.
This—this was the heat that dreams gave off.
But in the northwest corner of the teahouse, one girl sat quietly, completely out of place.
She had a beautiful face, an ordinary cascading bun, and a pair of sharp black eyes filled with spirit.
She wore a deep brown cloth dress, and by her right foot lay a cracked wooden sword.
Alas.
She sighed.
She had arrived in town yesterday evening in a light rain.
Like the others, she had come to join the Duxian Sect.
But unlike them, she wasn’t chasing the dream of immortality.
“Immortal?”
She was already a cultivator.
Two years ago, she had reached Foundation Establishment with the help of Heaven’s Way Elixir.
Had nothing gone wrong, she might have already been touching the threshold of the Golden Core Stage by now.
After all, her family was a well-known cultivation clan from the Sand Region.
Her ancestors had even reached the Soul Changing Stage.
She herself had always been praised as “gifted.”
[Water-type Spiritual Root with Evaporation Characteristics!]
Even within Wushan Holy Palace, one of the four great sects, such talent was considered elite.
She wasn’t worried about passing the Duxian Sect’s assessment.
She was worried about how to enter Qiongming Peak.
That woman…
She thought of An Lan.
Before coming here, she had read everything she could about Qiongming Peak.
Since An Lan settled there, she had refused to accept new disciples for nearly eighty Immortality Promotion Meetings.
The only reason Qiongming Peak had a few new disciples was thanks to Bai Lian.
Clearly, An Lan had no interest in “raising children.”
And that was her greatest obstacle.
How worried can you be?
Like a river flowing endlessly eastward.
She twisted her legs uneasily.
If she couldn’t enter Qiongming Peak, then when would she be able to complete her task?
It’s too exhausting!
She turned her head.
The conversation had shifted from which peak was the best to discussing Bai Lian.
They first praised Bai Lian for what she had done in Qingxu.
“White Emperor Bai Lian wanted to give that merperson a chance to reform, but the merperson was so arrogant that she had no choice but to reluctantly put it down.”
“There was the Green Emperor in the past, but now we have the White Emperor!”
Then they talked about their experiences on the way to the Duxian Sect.
“When the flying boat manager heard that the cultivator was White Emperor Bai Lian’s Younger Martial Brother, he immediately waived his travel fee!”
“Oh no, my younger sister has gone mad—she insists that she will only marry White Emperor Bai Lian!”
“That’s a stretch! Only the Eldest Princess of Heluo Country is worthy of White Emperor Bai Lian.”
“I’m not joking. Your sister’s chest is too flat—she has no chance!”
[Flat]
The girl lowered her head slowly.
She was not flat.
What she saw now was a genuine pair of “snow peaks.”
Of course—
The most eye-catching was the mountain road nestled between the peaks.
Narrow.
Dark.
Framed by majestic cliffs.
“Does Bai Lian really like this type…?”
She rested her chin on her hand and slowly drifted into memories.
Twenty days ago.
Deep in the Sand Region, beneath a desolate sand pit—
The girl received an order.
Expressionless, she walked into the dimly lit room.
The room was crowded with many people.
Yet she felt nothing but cold.
Cold outside.
Cold inside.
She wanted to go home.
But she was afraid to go home.
She had seen these cloaked figures kill a Transcendency Stage cultivator with a single strike.
She was only at Foundation Establishment.
Not even strong enough to scratch their robes.
Escape was impossible.
“For my father!”
She sighed softly.
Last year, her father had tried to forcefully break through to the Nascent Soul Stage.
But due to excessive reliance on Medicinal Pills, he had suffered pill poisoning.
His Nascent Soul failed to form.
His Golden Core shattered beyond repair.
She had no choice but to place her last hope in these mysterious strangers.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm.
But why had she been called here?
“Test subject?”
“Sacrificial pawn?”
“Cultivation cauldron?”
Her face paled.
Because those around her were all her age, the last option felt the most likely.
Her fists clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her skin.
She shut her eyes—
And only reopened them after a long while.
“For my father!”
At that moment, it felt as if something escaped from her body.
And all her strength left with it.
She sat there, numb.
A long silence.
Then—
The voices of several mysterious figures pulled her back.
“This must be handled carefully—we cannot let anyone see through our intentions.”
Yes.
She let out a bitter smile.
