Chapter 3

Yin Xianyu only had time to close her eyes. A gust brushed past her, and when she opened them again, she was somewhere else entirely.

What met her eyes was a desolate wasteland. Before her stretched a boundless expanse so vast it made the heart tremble—one hundred and eight thousand li of it, endless as far as the eye could see.

The ground was cracked black earth. Twisted black shrubs crawled out of the fissures, their branches bare of leaves and studded only with dense, vicious thorns. Great swathes of bramble-choked forest left no place to set foot.

Standing in such an immense land made a person feel impossibly small. An invisible force pressed down on the air; it didn’t seem like ordinary spiritual energy, but something older and wilder, a primordial aura from the first beginning of creation. Yin Xianyu had never been here before. It should not be part of the lands of the Nine Provinces.

She tried to circulate her spiritual energy and found that its flow was at least thirty percent slower than outside. It was like swinging a sword underwater; every movement met resistance. Yin Xianyu steadied herself on her flying sword in midair, but she saw no Lingzhan Mountain disciples nearby.

Disciples from other sects entered one after another, though none of them seemed particularly strong. Among those present, she was one of the higher-level cultivators; with no place to land on the ground, everyone was flying on swords and draining spiritual energy in earnest. Some were even riding flying magical artifacts.

Spiritual energy consumption here was nearly double what it was outside, so naturally everyone saved where they could. Several people were already casting envious glances at the disciples with magical artifacts.

Once inside the Xuanxu Realm, everyone’s landing point had been scattered. Unless a sect’s disciples came with the same spiritual artifact, it would be easier to locate one another.

Fortunately, Yin Xianyu had originally intended to come alone. Still, this place was dangerous; she needed to follow the crowd for protection. One of the ten immortal sects would do. The sects would only think she was a wandering cultivator traveling with them, and they were usually fairly tolerant of that.

Yin Xianyu steadied herself and quickly swept her gaze over the surroundings. The Lingzhan Mountain formation was not nearby, and the disciples who had landed with her also began moving.

Her thoughts were a mess. After arriving here, the blockage in her spiritual energy had only grown worse; she had no time to think about what had just happened. She could only press down the doubts in her heart and quickly follow these people on her sword.

Several disciples from other sects followed behind their flying vessel, borrowing its momentum as they chatted idly along the way.

“Those must be Shangqing Sect disciples,” one said. “They’re only at Foundation Establishment, but the sect actually gave them such a magical artifact to use. As expected of a great sect.”

Shangqing Sect, ranked second among the immortal sects, was organized as a single whole from top to bottom; unlike Lingzhan Mountain, it didn’t divide itself so clearly into separate branches.

Its disciples possessed an especially vast array of magical treasures.

Magical treasures were divided into immortal grade, upper grade, middle grade, and lower grade.

Magical implements were the lowest tier. They could be activated with spiritual energy; for an ordinary mortal to obtain even one would already be extraordinary. But for disciples above Foundation Establishment, they were still fairly common.

Spiritual artifacts were above magical implements. They contained spiritual power of their own, unlike magical implements, which were ordinary dead objects. The most commonly used treasures among the formal disciples of the major immortal sects were spiritual artifacts, though such items were hard to come by. Ordinary Golden Core disciples might have one, but among Lingzhan Mountain’s Foundation Establishment disciples, most still used magical implements.

That alone showed how abundant Shangqing Sect’s resources were; even its Foundation Establishment disciples used spiritual artifacts.

Magical treasures were another category entirely, beyond those two. They were rare even in the hands of ordinary disciples, but once refined, they became higher-tier treasures with greatly increased power, killing without leaving a trace. If two Golden Core disciples fought and one side possessed a magical treasure, that side’s chances of winning would rise greatly.

Even so, ordinary Golden Core disciples found it hard to activate treasures of that level. They consumed spiritual energy like a flood; even in full-force combat, one use wouldn’t last long before exhausting the cultivator’s internal power.

Such treasures easily stirred up greed. If one lacked sufficient strength, it was better not to reveal them lightly. Yin Xianyu’s natal sword was a Hanguang Sword, left behind by her master. The sword she was riding now was only an ordinary magical implement issued when she passed the inner-sect assessment.

Above that was the star artifact, a magical treasure refined by a great power; by then it was no longer something a Golden Core cultivator could activate.

Xie Qingrang’s Chi Ling Sword was a lower-grade star artifact, which had drawn the envy of many. But there were few bold enough to covet it; Xie Qingrang’s strength needed no explanation.

Above that was an immortal artifact, a thing so rare it was almost never seen in the world. It could only become the sect’s mountain-protecting treasure and would not be brought out easily.

“Of course. Though we’ve lost our sect group, following these people is still pretty good. Once their main group charges ahead, we can follow behind and pick up some leftovers. That should be fine, right?”

Several of them spoke in low voices, not bothering to avoid Yin Xianyu at all; clearly, they had already taken her for a wandering cultivator freeloading a ride on the flying vessel.

Yin Xianyu did not argue; she simply followed behind in silence.

She had hidden her cultivation level, so right now she looked no different from an ordinary Foundation Establishment disciple. Her aura was unstable. Since she could follow along for now, she might as well not force anything. Once she had regulated the spiritual energy in her body, it wouldn’t be too late to search for what she wanted.

Shangqing Sect did not drive away the few wandering cultivators following behind them, only letting them trail along.

Seeing that Yin Xianyu wasn’t joining in their conversation, a female cultivator who looked very amiable moved closer, as if she wanted to speak with her. Her face was round, and her body was surrounded by rich spiritual energy without the slightest trace of impurity. She handed Yin Xianyu a very common spirit herb and said,

“Sister, I’m a disciple of Zhengqi Sect. My name is Ye Yinian. Which sect are you from? Did you get separated from the people in your sect? Right now, if we keep following these disciples, we’re very likely to find Shangqing Sect’s entry trial team. Would you like to come with us later?”

Zhengqi Sect was a small wandering-cultivator sect at the foot of Lingzhan Mountain; Yin Xianyu had heard of it before.

Yin Xianyu reached out and accepted the spirit herb. After checking it and finding nothing unusual, she gave a vague answer. “I’m a disciple of Lingzhan Mountain. I got separated from my Senior Sisters. I’ll see later whether I can find them. If I can’t, I might follow behind Shangqing Sect.”

Ye Yinian looked properly awed and quickly cupped her hands in salute. “So you’re a cultivator from Lingzhan Mountain. Forgive my discourtesy.”

The girl’s expression turned a little awkward. Clearly, she wasn’t used to speaking to people like this and looked a bit funny. Yin Xianyu, however, had no airs about her and said, “Junior Sister Ye, there’s no need for that. It’s nothing serious. I’ll give you this fruit to help you recover your energy.”

“My surname is Han; just call me Senior Sister Han.”

The formal disciples of the ten immortal sects all carried some degree of pride, and they weren’t very polite to wandering cultivators. Yin Xianyu didn’t have that kind of haughty bearing, which earned Ye Yinian a bit of goodwill toward her.

Looking again, although Yin Xianyu’s robe was gorgeous, the sword she rode was only the most ordinary magical implement. Clearly, she had no backing within the sect and was the most ordinary kind of disciple.

That put Ye Yinian at ease. She clumsily accepted the fruit Yin Xianyu handed over, a sincere smile appearing on her face. She looked very approachable and easy to get along with, so the two of them naturally started talking.

Their mountain sects were close, so there was no shortage of things to discuss.

Ye Yinian couldn’t help but start talking about what had happened in Lingzhan Mountain’s inner-sect assessment over the past two days.

“Senior Sister Han, have you heard about what happened during the entry assessment a few days ago?”

Yin Xianyu felt a little uneasy. Had the news spread that quickly, all the way to the outer sect?

“I’ve been in closed cultivation recently, so I haven’t heard anything. Junior Sister Ye, did you also come to take the entry assessment a few days ago?”

Zhengqi Sect was a small sect beneath Lingzhan Mountain, and such sects could naturally participate in the sect’s disciple recruitment assessment. After all, all wandering cultivators wanted a great sect to back them.

Ye Yinian was no exception. She scratched her head, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Yes, Senior Sister. I spoke too casually and forgot that I’m also a disciple of Lingzhan Mountain.”

She still felt that one day her dream had finally come true, and it all seemed somewhat unreal. Although her mother was the master of a sect and they had a small spirit vein, it still couldn’t compare to a great sect like Lingzhan Mountain, one of the ten immortal sects.

Her entire sect had put everything behind her as the sole seedling; for now, she still didn’t quite know how to adjust.

Yin Xianyu smiled and said nothing. She wore a veil that left only a pair of gentle eyes exposed, gesturing for Ye Yinian to continue. Her attitude didn’t make Ye Yinian feel any hostility.

“Oh right, where was I just now? Do you know about Senior Sister Yin from Qingxu Sect?”

Yin Xianyu let out a quiet breath. Good; so it really was her. Could it be that in these past two days, she was the only one making a scene? She clearly remembered that in previous years, the entry assessments had never lacked excitement.

Yin Xianyu was full of doubts but could only remain silent and nod along. She thought she had already heard all those matters before, and had no idea what else could be said. Judging from the girl’s honest nature, she probably wouldn’t say anything too outrageous.

Ye Yinian had no intention of stopping. The best way to narrow the distance between two strangers was to talk about secrets.

“I heard that she and Immortal Lord Qingrang used to be friends...”

Yin Xianyu relaxed. Indeed, Ye Yinian was an honest person. She had already heard this news. Though its truth was doubtful, it wasn’t too outrageous.

Seeing that she had no reaction, Ye Yinian leaned in a little stubbornly and said in a mysterious tone,

“But that rumor is common knowledge. It’s not strange that you’ve heard it, Senior Sister Han. I have something even more impressive. Since we’re from the same sect, and you gave me that spirit fruit, I’ll tell you.”

Yin Xianyu nodded, thinking that she already knew those things anyway, but out of courtesy to Ye Yinian, she obediently prepared to listen.

Then Ye Yinian first put up a barrier, afraid someone might overhear, and then, from such close range, used a thousand-li transmission on Yin Xianyu. The voice landed vividly in her ear: “Senior Sister Yin and Immortal Lord Qingrang had a real relationship. It was just that Immortal Lord Qingrang cultivated the Heartless Dao, abandoned her after using her, and the two of them broke off all contact for life.”

Yin Xianyu: ?

Yin Xianyu: ????????

She even suspected that her own ears had gone wrong. The chaotic flood of memories made her gaze even more blank.

At this moment, she truly began to doubt herself for a moment. These rumors were so vivid and detailed that they didn’t seem fabricated out of thin air. Yin Xianyu’s heart shook violently; for an instant, she nearly failed to steady the magical implement and fell from the sky.

TL Note:

natal sword is a cultivator’s personal bonded sword, often tied to their life-force.