The Xuanyue Sect stood towering and majestic. On the wide bluestone square in front of the gate, disciples who had come to sign up for the cultivation assessment were bustling about.
A cultivator dressed in a plain white robe was meticulously performing his registration duties. With his left hand firmly holding a thick registry book and his right hand holding a writing brush that emitted a faint glow of spiritual energy, he looked deeply focused.
“Name?” the white-robed cultivator asked in a clear voice.
“Zhang San,” a slightly youthful boy hurried to answer, his eyes full of longing for the path of cultivation.
“Age?”
“16,” the boy replied loudly.
“Cultivation aspiration?”
“Dharma cultivator,” the boy said without the slightest hesitation.
“Good, go inside and take the assessment,” the white-robed cultivator said, recording rapidly in the registry book without even raising his head.
As time passed, the queue of disciples in front of the entrance grew shorter and shorter. When the last disciple finished reporting his identity, the white-robed cultivator gently waved the brush in his hand to cast a spell. The brush and paper acted like nimble birds, flying into his storage bag on their own.
He patted the hem of his robe, preparing to turn around and leave.
Right at that moment, an urgent shout came from behind him, “Immortal Lord, wait, wait!”
Jiang Ruansheng had a half-eaten peach blossom cake stuffed in his mouth, his cheeks puffing out like a small hamster. He was hurriedly dragging Ling Rong along, running at a jog as he called out loudly.
The white-robed cultivator turned his head, his brow furrowing slightly, and asked with a hint of blame, “The cultivators in charge of the assessment are about to disperse, why are you only coming to register now?”
Jiang Ruansheng hastily swallowed the peach blossom cake in his mouth, scratched his head in embarrassment, and said, “We ran into an accident at the bottom of the mountain just now, encountering an evil spirit, which delayed us for quite a while, we are truly sorry, Immortal Lord.”
“An evil spirit? How could there be an evil spirit at the bottom of the mountain?” The white-robed cultivator looked completely puzzled. After all, Mount Xuanyue was filled with abundant spiritual energy and a strong masculine presence, so how could an evil spirit from the underworld appear here?
Jiang Ruansheng scratched his head, gave a foolish smile, and said, “I do not know either, that evil spirit just popped out out of nowhere, I almost died.”
In his heart, the white-robed cultivator assumed Jiang Ruansheng was just making up an excuse, so he did not press further and directly took out his paper and brush to prepare for registration.
He asked rather crossly, “Name?”
“Jiang Ruansheng,” Jiang Ruansheng quickly corrected his attitude and replied.
“Age?”
“16.”
“Cultivation aspiration?”
“Sword cultivator,” Jiang Ruansheng answered decisively.
“You actually want to learn the sword?” Hearing these words, the white-robed cultivator’s eyes were filled with astonishment.
After all, everyone throughout the Xuanyue Sect, and even the entire cultivation world, knew that Immortal Venerable Wangshu, Wen Pinglan, who was responsible for teaching the sword cultivation lineage, had never taken another disciple since the Demon Venerable Ling Rong perished a hundred years ago.
Since then, in every corner of the mountains and the cultivation world, various rumors had circulated with vivid details, all claiming that Immortal Venerable Wangshu had become thoroughly disheartened by this rebellious disciple who turned into a demon, and did not plan to accept any more disciples in the future. Because of this, over the past hundred years, anyone who came to the Xuanyue Sect wanting to practice the sword was rejected without exception.
Over time, everyone participating in the disciple recruitment convention this year knew it clearly in their hearts, and absolutely no one dared to apply for sword cultivation.
“What is wrong with learning the sword?” Ling Rong could not help but ask from the side, a trace of confusion in his tone.
The white-robed cultivator did not answer his question, but shook his head instead, advising, “I suggest you change your aspiration.”
Jiang Ruansheng’s eyes were firm, and he stubbornly said, “I just want to learn the sword.”
Seeing how obstinate he was, the white-robed cultivator waved his hand helplessly, “Fine, fine, just do not regret it then.”
Subsequently, he turned his gaze to Ling Rong, “What about you?”
Ling Rong pondered for a moment, then slowly said, “My name is Goudan.”
Hearing this, Jiang Ruansheng’s eyes widened, thinking to himself: Didn’t he say his name was A-Rong at the beginning, why did he change his name again now?
The white-robed cultivator was equally surprised. The youth in front of him did not look poorly dressed, and his every move carried an extraordinary aura, making him look like a child from a wealthy family no matter how one viewed him. But the name “Goudan” was truly too rustic, completely mismatched with his temperament.
However, as the cultivator responsible for registration, he could not ask too many questions, so he could only silently write down this name in the registry book.
The reason why Ling Rong said this was simply because he did not want to expose his real name, fearing that others would recognize his true identity. After all, even Jiang Ruansheng, who had absolutely nothing to do with the immortal sects, could associate the name “Ling Rong” just by hearing the character “Rong” in his name, let alone those people in the Xuanyue Sect who had heard more or less about the events of that year.
The white-robed cultivator continued to ask, “Age?”
“18,” Ling Rong replied.
“Cultivation aspiration?”
“Sword cultivator,” Ling Rong’s answer was concise and powerful.
“You want to cultivate the sword as well?” The white-robed cultivator frowned again, thinking to himself that these two youths today were rather interesting, both being so obsessed with the path of sword cultivation. As for whether the Sect Master would actually accept them as disciples, that would depend on their own luck. However, the white-robed cultivator believed that before long, these two youths would likely be kicked out.
“Why can we not cultivate the sword?” Ling Rong took half a step forward and asked.
The white-robed cultivator sighed, finally explaining, “There is something you do not know, the one responsible for teaching the sword cultivation lineage is our Sect Master, Immortal Venerable Wangshu. However, starting from a hundred years ago, the Immortal Venerable has never accepted a disciple again.”
“Why?” Ling Rong felt somewhat confused upon hearing this.
Jiang Ruansheng was equally very confused.
The white-robed cultivator’s expression turned grave, and he lowered his voice, saying, “Two hundred years ago, on a snowy night, the Immortal Venerable picked up a little beggar and took him in as a personal disciple, pouring all his efforts into nurturing him. Who could have imagined that the rebellious disciple would later fall into the demonic path, burning, killing, pillaging, and committing all kinds of evils, even imprisoning the Immortal Venerable in the demon realm for a whole century!”
Speaking to the point of excitement, his sleeves trembled violently, “Although the Demon Venerable has perished now, the Immortal Venerable was disheartened, and has never accepted a single person since then.”
Ling Rong’s eyelashes trembled slightly, cold sweat seeped from his palms, and even his breathing became sluggish.
So in the eyes of everyone, he was still that rebellious disciple guilty of terrible crimes.
Did Master refrain from taking disciples for a hundred years because he hated him?
Perhaps he did.
Inside the trial grounds, the gilded patterns on the green jade steps shone brightly.
The elders sat upon chairs carved with cloud patterns, their eyes like burning torches as they scrutinized the youths gathered in the trial grounds to participate in the disciple recruitment convention. The ice jade seat at the main position was empty and unoccupied, with a faint, lingering sword intent swirling around it.
“It seems that for this year’s disciple recruitment convention, the Sect Master will not show his face again,” Elder Ciyan stroked his silvery-white long beard, his tone full of helplessness.
Beside him, Elder Qingliu lightly tapped the armrest, sighing, “The knot in the Immortal Venerable’s heart is difficult to untie, if this continues, the sword cultivation lineage is afraid to wither away.”
On the other side, Ling Rong and Jiang Ruansheng walked side by side on the winding bluestone road. They were getting closer and closer to the trial grounds.
Jiang Ruansheng scratched the back of his head, holding it in for a long time before finally being unable to resist, “Benefactor, isn’t your name A-Rong? Why did you say your name was Goudan when you reported your name just now?”
Ling Rong’s footsteps paused slightly, lowering his eyes to stare at the moss in the cracks of the stone slabs, and only after a long while did he say with difficulty, “Actually, my original name is Goudan, just now, I was a bit embarrassed to say it out loud. A-Rong is my childhood name.”
He spoke haltingly, the tips of his ears flushing a suspicious shade of red.
“Oh! So that is how it is!” Jiang Ruansheng realized suddenly, immediately beaming with smiles, “Then should I usually call you A-Rong, or Goudan?”
Ling Rong said, “Um, Goudan.”
“Alright, Brother Goudan!” Jiang Ruansheng’s loud shout pierced his ears.
Hearing him call out like that, Ling Rong only felt his cheeks burning, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Giving a scattered response, he buried his head and walked rapidly.
Panicked and losing his way, he walked straight into a body carrying a cold, crisp sword intent.
Ling Rong staggered backward, his lower back bumping against the stone steps, causing him to gasp from the pain.
“Brother Goudan, are you alright?” Jiang Ruansheng said in a hurry.
“I am fine,” Ling Rong straightened his body.
The moment he raised his head, his breathing suddenly came to a standstill.
A familiar, cold, and otherworldly face appeared before his eyes.