Chapter 001-2 – Going Up The Mountains To Seek A Master
Translated by: Ken
Edited by: Ulamog, Dedition
Zhang Hao laughed as he spoke. “Of course to those who are accepted, they will provide meals. Not only that, the food should be good. Didn’t Grandpa Sun mention, immortals all eat immortal fruits and drink exquisite nectar. Come along with me to learn under the scholar. When we both transcend to become immortals, even becoming an emperor won’t be impossible!”
Hai Long scratched his head and replied “Isn’t it four years of work? Let’s leave this till later. I can’t bring myself to believe such an illusory tale. There isn’t proof.” Hai Long was a little put off by Zhang Hao’s gleeful expression, but he already somewhat believed this whole matter.
Zhang Hao disappointedly said “Seems like I’ve used so much saliva for nothing, I knew there was no ambition in your heart, even if you went with me, I’m afraid the sect will only accept me as a disciple and ignore you.”
Hai Long’s expression darkened “What the h.e.l.l did you just say? I’m not your equal? Apart from the looks department, which other area are you better than me? Hmph, what’s so good about your pretty little face. Isn’t it just seeking discipleship? Fine, I’ll go with you, when the time comes I’m afraid I cannot be certain who the one getting rejected will be. Tomorrow morning I’ll head over to study with you after I’m done chopping the firewood. Don’t forget I’m the smartest in the village!”
Zhang Hao secretly smiled in his heart, growing up together, of course he understood Hai Long’s aggressive and compet.i.tive temperament was the most p.r.o.ne to provocations. He grabbed Hai Long’s shoulders, shook off the dry mud on his cloth garments and said “Very well, smartest guy in the village, come over to my house. Yesterday, Uncle Li brought some sweet potatoes over so you’ll be able to enjoy some with me.”
Hai Long evidently showed more interest in sweet potatoes than immortals, as glimmers of light could be seen within his eyes “Wa, there’s sweet potatoes to eat, that’s great! These few days I’ve been eating too much dry grains to the point of constipation. Finally I am able to change my life, hurry, let’s go to your house for the sweet potatoes.” Both of them laughed as they made their way towards the village.
Four Years Later. In the Cloudlink Mountain Range
Cloudlink Mountain Range was situated at the western frontier, stretching out to about 10,000 li away from the center, the range was made up of 72 continuous and undulating mountain peaks. Each mountain peak stretched to the clouds, and there we’re strange rocks in between the peaks, with flowing springs seen all around, the varying water and clouds seemed to look like connecting bridges, twirling around the various mountains waist. Therefore these sights earned them the name of Cloudlink Mountain Range.
The Cloudlink Sect was situated inside Cloudlink Range, and was hailed as one of the 7 Great Sects, it was only that their land was remote, and their influence was therefore not as strong as the other 6 Great Sects. The Cloudlink Sect’s history and longevity on the other hand, trumped the other 6 great sects. Legend has it, 10,000 years ago, Cloudlink Sect’s Founder reached the peak of enlightenment atop the Cloudlink Range, and thus attained immortality whilst leaving behind a large amount of cultivation treasures. A thousand years later, several fated individuals chanced upon the area and managed to attain the Cloudlink Founder’s legacy. In order to show their grat.i.tude, these individuals created the Cloudlink Sect. Even today, the 72 peaks of the Cloudlink Ranges lie within the spirit array left behind by the Cloudlink Founder, which outsiders simply cannot enter.
Today, marks the fifth year and also the Cloudlink Sect’s disciple acceptance date. Thousands of bright light rays shot out of Heaventake Peak, something big seemed to be happening to all the surrounding clouds of the 72 peaks, the mist scattered, and numerous snaking paths appeared at the outer regions of the Cloudlink Range. By treading these paths, one would directly arrive at the 12 outer peaks of the Cloudlink Range, where the disciple acceptance trial was to take place.
Cloudlink sect’s requirements for disciples were much stricter than the other 6 great sects and many people would partic.i.p.ate in the disciple acceptance trials, but those that were able to pa.s.s the trial could be counted with two hands. From the start, this place was already located a great distance from the central plains, coupled with the harsh requirements, the number of people who signed up grew less and less as time went by.
The tens of thousands who took part in the disciple acceptance trials when Cloudlink Sect flourished was but a distant memory, not even a hundred people partic.i.p.ated in the most recent trials of 5 years ago, and the most pitiful thing was that not a single person pa.s.sed.
On Groundspirit Peak, one of the 12 outer peaks of the Cloudlink Ranges, 4 simply dressed middle-aged men could be seen standing at the summit. Their looks were ordinary and were draped with the simplest of garments, and sported longswords on their backs respectively.
“6th Senior Brother, the spirit array has already been opened for 4 days, yet we have not even been able to see as much as a ghost, could it be that there isn’t even a single partic.i.p.ant this time round? I remember that 5 years ago, at least there were close to a hundred partic.i.p.ants…at this rate, I’m afraid our Cloudlink Sect will truly be left without any successors…”
The man that was referred to as 6th Senior Brother sighed softly “9th junior brother, you have to mind your language, what do you mean by ghosts? If master hears you, you’ll have to bear the consequences. Ai.. Speaking of this, we’ve been at the Groundspirit Peak for 20 years but have only accepted less than 10 disciples. The number of partic.i.p.ants that are able to pa.s.s the trial simply number too few. This has left the Cloudlink Sect with not a single member of the 5th generation.”
“6th Senior Brother, 9th Junior Brother, the two of you stop complaining. This can’t be blamed on us, who asked the ancestor to set such strict rules? These requirements are simply, simply…” The four men looked at each other and simultaneously sighed “perverse”.
Cloudlink Sect’s 2nd generation consisted of 9 people, they were respectively in charge of Heaventake Peak, Cloudsummit Peak, Elysian Peak, Immortalization Peak, Skyrock Peak, Boundless Peak, Hingeknot Peak, Flameruin Peak and Waterstop Peak. Although all of them cultivated the teachings of the Cloudlink Founder, they each have different levels of comprehension which resulted in different types of cultivation. Below the 2nd generation, there were also over 40 people in the 3rd generation, apart from seeking cultivation knowledge from their masters, they also each lived on individual peaks. There were even more people in the 4th generation, their numbers count amount to over 400, they all accompanied and lived with their respective masters on their peaks. Normally, the 12 outer peaks were devoid of people, and only acted as boundaries within the spirit array’s outer region.
As for the 4 men atop Groundspirit Peak, they studied under Cloudlink Sect’s 2nd generation Skyrock Peak patriarch’s 3rd disciple Daoming Zhenren, namely Ling Tong Zi ranking 6th, Ling Zhi Zi ranking 8th, Ling Yan Zi ranking 9th and Ling Yu Zi ranking 11th. Today, their objective was to accept disciples. During the disciple acceptance trials every 5 years, the spirit array surrounding Cloudlink Sect’s 72 peaks would open remain open for 5 days, and today was already the last day, it is a pity that not a single partic.i.p.ant turned up for the trial and the 4 them were idly chatting.
Ling Yan Zi said softly; “This is truly too abnormal, for us to have pa.s.sed the tests that time was because we were all fortunate, we managed to get through with zero probability of pa.s.sing.”
Ling Tong Zi laughed bitterly: “Master and Grandmaster did not force us to accept disciples, however, without a 5th generation, we would have to personally complete all the menial ch.o.r.es by ourselves. Forget it, as long as a single person appears today, I will accept him at any cost, this way, we can at least relieve some worries in the future.”
The other 3 people’s gazes all fell on Ling Tong Zi and nodded simultaneously, evidently all of them have long since gotten sick of doing menial ch.o.r.es.
Ling Yu Zi said “6th Senior Brother, since your cultivation base is the highest amongst us, why don’t you use your Skyvision Technique to check if there’s any potential partic.i.p.ants approaching Groundspirit Peak. It’s getting late, if there still is no one to be seen, then we’re doomed.”
Ling Tong Zi nodded, made an incantation gesture and exclaimed, “All-seeing eye heed my command, release Sky Vision”. A blue light shot out from within Ling Tong Zi’s incantation, shrouding both his pupils with blue hues. Ling Tong Zi’s head swayed and his blue pool-like pupils emanated a deep light and started to rotate. A circular wave of pale green light lightly circled his body and emitted a dull fragrance.
Ling Zhi Zi praised, “6th Senior Brother’s cultivation has clearly improved! Seems like it has already entered late Firm Dao stage, Dao Embryo fragrance has appeared within his skyheart technique and it won’t be long before he enters the Fetal Formation stage. Ai, yet the rest of us are still stuck in the Soaring Cloud stage.
Ling Tong Zi’s face suddenly overflowed with a gleeful expression, as if he had made a discovery, the blue light within his pupils faded, “Excellent! There’s hope for us”.
Ling Yan Zi hurriedly asked, “What is it? 6th Senior Brother, how many partic.i.p.ants are here for the trial?”
Ling Tong Zi chortled, “I clearly saw that two people had already entered Groundspirit mountain, they should be approaching the middle area by now. Although there are only two people, they should be enough to handle the menial ch.o.r.es”.
Ling Yu Zi let out a delighted sigh “My hardships have finally ended” As his ranking was the lowest within the group, he was the one that did the most ch.o.r.es, therefore it was no surprise that he was the happiest to receive this news “6th Senior Brother, why don’t I go and receive them, I really can’t wait any longer”.
Ling Tong Zi knitted his brows and said “Junior Brother, although we are more accommodating this time, we still have to maintain a proper master-disciple stance, don’t forget that they will become our sect’s disciples in the future”.
Ling Yu Zi helplessly nodded, flashed a gesture with his right hand, then floated to sit on top of a boulder and squinted “Then at least let me check them out using the Skyvision technique”.