Chapter 6: Hexu Sect — The Mountain Gates Open

Host: Bai Chen

Age: 16

Cultivation Realm: None

Spiritual Root: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth

Talent Traits: Consummate Mastery — 100% Pill Formation (Purple), Robust Physique (White), Disease Immunity (Green)

A purple-quality Talent Trait!

Bang!

Bai Chen was so excited that he instinctively tried to sit up — and slammed his forehead straight into the bed board above him.

Wincing and baring his teeth in pain, he rubbed his forehead and lay back down.

His head throbbed terribly, yet he simply couldn't help himself — his mouth split into a wide, silent grin as he shook with laughter.

Ha ha ha!

A purple-quality Talent Trait, of all things!

He had thought Feng Ling'er's blue-quality Talent Trait was already exceptional enough — he never imagined there would be an unexpected windfall, with it upgrading all the way to purple!

Good thing he hadn't randomly copied someone's talent earlier. If he had, those green-quality Talent Traits would only have upgraded to blue at best.

But now he possessed a purple-quality Alchemy talent.

A talent that guaranteed one hundred percent Pill Formation!

Even if the quality of the pills produced was low at the start, as long as every single attempt succeeded, it was absolutely worth it!

He'd struck it rich — truly struck it rich this time!

Fantastic!

After grinning broadly for a good while, Bai Chen forced himself to calm down.

Obtaining a purple-quality Talent Trait was wonderful, but today he had been a little too reckless.

He had only thought about seeking fortune in dangerous places, yet had overlooked the fact that the character of the person being saved could itself be a landmine.

Just like that Feng Ling'er today.

He had clearly been saving her, yet her mind seemed broken — she had gone off firing indiscriminate attacks like a cannon aimed at everything in sight.

Today he had been lucky. Even being stopped by people from Hexu Sect wouldn't have caused him serious trouble.

But what if it hadn't been in Shunhe Quarter — what if he had gotten caught up in some struggle over a treasure out in the open world?

He'd have been dead without even ashes left!

Now that he already had a purple-quality trait, from here on out, unless absolutely necessary… no, there would be no "absolutely necessary."

In this world, staying alive was always the first rule.

Copy when he could, and if he couldn't — he would rather go without than ever take such a risk again.

Survival was the only hard truth.

"Tch."

Bai Chen stared at the purple "Consummate Mastery — 100% Pill Formation" Talent Trait and furrowed his brow.

"I already have a purple-quality talent, so why don't I feel anything different?"

He focused his mind and squeezed his palm.

Nothing. He felt nothing at all.

He wasn't sure whether the difference would only become apparent once he actually started practicing Alchemy.

After entering the sect, he would need to find an opportunity to test it as soon as possible.

With his mind wandering through all manner of thoughts about life after joining the sect, Bai Chen drifted off to sleep with a smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Chirp, chirp!"

Sparrows chattered noisily outside the window.

Bai Chen's eyelids fluttered a few times, and he slowly woke.

Gazing out from beneath the bed, he saw sunlight pooling on the floor and stared blankly for a long moment before it registered — it was already the following morning.

These past days, he had been wound so tightly in pursuit of copying a Talent Trait. Now that it had succeeded, the weight on his heart had finally lifted, and he had slept straight through from the afternoon all the way to morning.

He carefully checked the room for anything unusual, then crawled out from under the bed and stretched.

"Another day safely passed. One more day and I can go attend the Disciple Recruitment Ceremony."

As they say, good fortune lifts the spirit — today he felt as though a burden had been lifted from his entire body.

He worked the stiffness out of his joints, then fetched water to wash his face.

He cupped the water and scrubbed his face a few times; the water in the basin quickly turned murky and yellowish.

When he raised his head again, the previously sallow complexion had given way to a fair, luminous face, revealing his naturally refined and handsome features.

Bai Chen grabbed a handkerchief and swiped it haphazardly across his face to dry it, then plopped down onto the rickety chair in the room.

He fished a small mirror out of his bundle and took a look.

"What kind of disguise should I go with today?"

Yesterday's sloppy, sallow-faced look had already been seen by Feng Ling'er — he definitely couldn't use it again today.

What should he change it to?

After thinking it over, Bai Chen took out his homemade makeup tools and began his "transformation" in front of the mirror.

Two hours later, he had reshaped his peach-blossom eyes into phoenix eyes with adhesive, left his face with a faint yellowish tint to look frail and delicate, and changed into a blue-green robe.

Then, fanning himself with a paper fan, he meandered his way back to the Auspicious Wine House.

After the commotion yesterday, he wanted to gather some intelligence today and find out whether anyone was searching for him.

This time he didn't make a show of buying drinks for people. Instead, he ordered a few small dishes, sat quietly, and listened to others talk.

The tavern was as lively as ever, with everyone chattering loudly about the Hexu Sect Disciple Recruitment Ceremony that was coming the next day.

A few people mentioned the tremendous rumbling sound that had suddenly erupted in Shunhe Quarter the day before, but there was no talk of any manhunt.

They simply assumed some wandering cultivator's Alchemy furnace had exploded.

Bai Chen sat quietly to one side and listened, the tension in his chest slowly easing.

It seemed that either Feng Ling'er had been bluffing — her uncle didn't actually hold that much sway within Hexu Sect — or Hexu Sect maintained strict discipline and wouldn't indulge someone like Feng Ling'er in causing trouble. Or perhaps they were investigating quietly in the shadows.

Whichever it was, things appeared safe for the time being.

Satisfied there was no danger, Bai Chen tossed a bean into his mouth, settled his bill, and left.

* * *

The next day, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, a clear and resonant bell toll suddenly rang out from the direction of Jiuxu Mountain, where Hexu Sect was located.

Bai Chen had woken early to avoid being late for the journey up the mountain, and was in the middle of applying his disguise when the bell rang, causing his hand to pause.

He couldn't help but set down what he was holding, walk to the window, push it open, and gaze toward Jiuxu Mountain.

The bell's sound pierced through the thin morning mist, sweeping across every street and alley of Shunhe Quarter.

It was nothing like the dull, heavy toll of a mundane bronze bell — it carried within it a warm, flowing current of Spiritual Energy.

Nine peals in total, each one more distant and lingering than the last, reverberating until one's eardrums tingled, yet leaving the heart strangely at peace.

When the final toll faded away, the world itself seemed to fall still for a fleeting moment.

Until now, the main peak of Jiuxu Mountain had always been shrouded in a thick, dense mountain mist. Ordinary people could only make out the undulating dark-green silhouette at the foot of the mountain.

Not only was the main peak impossible to see clearly — one couldn't even approach it.

Ordinary folk could hunt and chop wood in the outer areas without issue, but trying to get close to the main peak was another matter entirely.

No matter which direction one walked, one would always end up back where they started.

Hexu Sect and the mortal world were, after all, two entirely different worlds.

Yet the moment the bell's echo dissolved, that sky-blotting mountain mist receded like a tide.

First, the haze at the foot of the mountain dissolved into wisps of pale smoke and vanished.

Then the cloud mist around the mountainside slowly parted, revealing vermilion cliffs, emerald walls, and gnarled ancient pines.

Finally, the densest bank of fog at the summit seemed to be parted by some invisible force, laying the entirety of Jiuxu Mountain bare before everyone's eyes.

Atop the peak, one could faintly make out the upturned eaves and corners of jade towers and magnificent halls, all bathed in a faint azure glow.

The side peaks rose and fell in succession; ancient, unadorned palaces and halls were scattered across the mountainsides, and one could even spot several figures in blue-green robes streaking past on flying swords.

The entire mountain range resembled a transcendent immortal realm unto itself — Spiritual Energy billowing like steam, vegetation lush and verdant.

Simply gazing upon it filled the heart with a sense of pure clarity.

Bai Chen stared, deeply shaken.

So this was what an immortal realm looked like. Nothing more was needed.

As the clouds and mist dispersed completely, a pale azure pillar of light rose from the summit of Jiuxu Mountain and shot straight into the heavens.

From this moment on, the gates of Hexu Sect were thrown wide open to the mortal world.