Deep in the night, Ye Chen jumped out of the Small Spirit Garden, found a secluded spot, and sat cross-legged on a rock, quietly contemplating the mysteries of the dantian sea True Fire.
Since obtaining this True Fire, Ye Chen had benefited immensely.
First, he repaired his Dantian, then he opened his dantian sea, and his True Qi was also refined to be incomparably pure.
It could be said that his Foundation at this time was even more solid than when he was at the Zhengyang Sect.
“Truly extraordinary,” Ye Chen murmured, then closed his eyes to rest, his state of mind clearer than it had ever been.
Soon, the thin spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathered, forming a vortex with him at the center.
He drew it in, absorbing it through the acupoints across his entire body, pouring it into the dantian sea, and then refining it with the golden True Fire.
On the other hand, he also split the True Fire into countless strands, injecting them into his meridians or wrapping them around his bones, using it to refine his muscles and bones.
As time passed, through this subtle process, his meridians were widened and became flexible.
His bones, refined by the True Fire, had their flaws smoothed out, becoming smooth and resilient, with specks of golden light lingering upon them.
At an unknown time, he jumped down from the rock, feeling an unprecedented sense of comfort in his body after the refinement by the True Fire.
“Very good.” With a hearty shout, Ye Chen took a step, his True Qi surging and gathering in his palms, with traces of lightning even dancing between his fingers.
Rushing Thunder!
With a loud shout, he struck a rock with his palm.
Boom!
The powerful palm wind, carrying the sound of thunder, caused the rock to shatter.
This palm technique was a combat Profound Art he had obtained during his training.
It was named Rushing Thunder Palm, possessing the momentum of Rushing Thunder and the sound of thunder; it was aggressive and domineering.
Precisely because of this, performing this technique required an extremely high level of Physical Body strength; otherwise, the violent Rushing Thunder Palm might injure his own meridians and bones while harming the enemy.
This was the drawback of such a domineering Profound Art.
However, for him, this drawback could be completely ignored.
With the True Fire refining his body, the strength of his Physical Body and the resilience of his meridians and bones were already more than enough to ignore the self-harm caused by the Rushing Thunder Palm.
Hoo!
After exhaling a long breath of murky air, he took out the scroll Zhang Fengnian had given him and spread it out to read.
The Hengyue Sect was divided into the Inner Sect and the Outer Sect.
The Outer Sect consisted of one hall, one house, two gardens, three peaks, and eight pavilions.
One Hall: Law Enforcement Hall.
If an Elder committed a transgression, they would be handed over to the Law Enforcement Hall for disposition.
One House: Discipline Hall.
If a Disciple committed a transgression, they would be handed over to the Discipline Hall for disposition.
Two Gardens: Spirit Herb Garden and Spirit Fruit Garden.
Three Peaks: Tianyang Peak, Diyang Peak, and Renyang Peak, which were the three main peaks of the Hengyue Outer Sect.
Eight Pavilions: Spirit Artifact Pavilion, Scripture Repository Pavilion, Spirit Pill Pavilion, Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Qiankun Pavilion, Task Pavilion, Intelligence Pavilion, and Jiuqing Pavilion.
The Inner Sect, however, consisted of one hall, one house, two gardens, seven pavilions, and nine peaks.
In comparison, the Inner Sect had one fewer Spirit Pill Pavilion but six more main peaks.
“It is exactly the same as the Zhengyang Sect,” Ye Chen muttered, touching his chin.
He had once been a Disciple of the Intelligence Pavilion at the Zhengyang Sect, and in his daily life, besides Cultivating, he collected simple intelligence.
It was precisely because of this that the last time he went down the mountain, he was crippled by a Disciple of the Qingyun Sect, who destroyed his Dantian.
However, as a former Disciple of the Intelligence Pavilion of the Zhengyang Sect, Ye Chen still keenly sensed that the Hengyue Sect was just like the Zhengyang Sect: peaceful on the surface, but surging with undercurrents beneath, where the internal strife between various factions never ceased.
At an unknown time, he put away the scroll, stretched vigorously, and then returned to the Small Spirit Garden, where he collapsed and fell asleep.
The night passed without incident, and dawn arrived in the blink of an eye.
Early in the morning, just as a touch of red clouds appeared in the east, Ye Chen opened his eyes.
With a long exhale of murky air, he flipped off the bed.
His face was ruddy, his spirit was incredibly energetic, and even his aura had become much stronger.
After eating a simple breakfast, Ye Chen walked out of the Small Spirit Garden.
What met his eyes was an exceptionally long stone staircase leading up to the Spirit Mountain.
It disappeared into the clouds, and Ye Chen could not even see the end of it.
Taking a deep breath, Ye Chen lifted his feet and walked up step by step.
With every step, he could deeply feel the vast and majestic energy rushing toward him.
Taking the final step, Ye Chen looked up at the world before him.
In the distance, the mountains were vigorous, ancient trees stood tall and towering, Spiritual Qi was hazy and misty, clouds swirled and permeated the air, and from time to time, cranes danced through the clouds.
“I have found the feeling of being at the Zhengyang Sect,” Ye Chen smiled, greedily absorbing the Spiritual Qi drifting in the air.
Following the route Zhang Fengnian had told him, Ye Chen walked in one direction.
Morning was the time when Spiritual Qi and the essence of the sun and moon were most pure.
As Ye Chen walked along, he saw many diligent Disciples sitting cross-legged on rocks, absorbing and Cultivating, to the point that when Ye Chen walked past them, they only glanced at him briefly.
After making a few turns, Ye Chen arrived in front of a building called the Jiuqing Pavilion.
There were Disciples entering and exiting the Jiuqing Pavilion in twos and threes.
Every Disciple who saw Ye Chen’s unfamiliar face would look him up and down, but when they detected that Ye Chen was only at the Qi Condensation First Level, they would all show expressions of disdain.
“This is the place,” Ye Chen looked up at the building, stepped inside, and handed over his letter of recommendation.
In the main hall, the person receiving the letter was a Green-Robed Elder.
When he heard that Ye Chen had been introduced by Zhang Fengnian, the Green-Robed Elder did not forget to look Ye Chen up and down before opening the letter.
While the Green-Robed Elder was examining Ye Chen, Ye Chen was also secretly observing the Green-Robed Elder of the Jiuqing Pavilion.
“This person looks just too…
too lawless,” Ye Chen thought to himself, clicking his tongue.
It was hard not to, as this Green-Robed Elder’s face was too twisted; his eyes, nose, and mouth were all crooked, and they weren’t even crooked in the same direction, giving Ye Chen a strong urge to go up and straighten them out.
Moving his gaze away from the Green-Robed Elder, Ye Chen looked to the other side.
Besides the Green-Robed Elder, there were three other people sitting there: one with a potbelly, one as thin as a stick, and the third appearing relatively normal.
They were chatting happily, and it seemed they were not Elders of this place, but rather visitors.
These three were the heads of the three main peaks of the Hengyue Outer Sect: Old Daoist Zhong, Ge Hong, and Qingyang Immortal Master.
After reading the letter, the Green-Robed Elder handed it to the other three and smiled, “Three Senior Brothers, discuss among yourselves who is willing to take this little friend Ye Chen as a Disciple.
He was introduced by Zhang Fengnian, so we should give him some face.”
“Oh?
This is a novelty,” the three of them took turns looking at the letter, then looked Ye Chen up and down.
“How old are you?” the potbellied Old Daoist Zhong looked at Ye Chen.
“Sixteen years old.”
“Sixteen years old?” Old Daoist Zhong raised his eyebrows, “Only at the Qi Condensation First Level at sixteen?
Your talent is a bit too…
tsk tsk!”
As he spoke, Old Daoist Zhong coughed dryly, stood up, patted his big belly, and said, “Well, I have matters to attend to at Tianyang Peak, so I will take my leave first.”
Before he finished speaking, the portly Old Daoist Zhong had already slipped out of the hall like a wisp of smoke, afraid that the Green-Robed Elder would drag him back to take Ye Chen as a Disciple.
After Old Daoist Zhong left, Ge Hong also stood up, with his hands behind his back, and glanced at Ye Chen with disdain, “My Diyang Peak does not accept trash.”
Saying this, Ge Hong also walked out of the hall.
Only the Green-Robed Elder remained in the hall.
With Old Daoist Zhong and Ge Hong slipping away one after another, the Green-Robed Elder had no choice but to fix his gaze on Qingyang Immortal Master, “Senior Brother Qingyang, just do me a favor and take him in!”
Qingyang Immortal Master frowned, then shook his head gently and said, “Junior Brother Green-Robed, he is far from meeting the qualifications to enter Renyang Peak.
Forgive me for not being able to agree; his talent is too poor.”
“This…”
“I have matters to attend to, I will take my leave,” saying this, Qingyang Immortal Master flicked his sleeves and walked out of the hall like a gust of wind.
The heads of the three main peaks of the Hengyue Sect had left one after another, and their purpose was already very clear: none of them wanted to take Ye Chen as a Disciple.
Ye Chen understood all of this.
It was easy to imagine: a sixteen-year-old Cultivator who was only at the Qi Condensation First Level—how terrible must his talent be?
If they took him as a Disciple and couldn’t train him well, it would be a wonder if others didn’t laugh at them.
However, if they knew Ye Chen’s true talent, it was unknown whether they would rush back to fight over him.
With the three of them leaving one after another, the Green-Robed Elder was incredibly embarrassed.
Looking at Ye Chen in the hall, the Green-Robed Elder coughed dryly and smiled, “Little friend, it seems you can only be an Intern Disciple.
Are you willing?”
“An intern is fine.
Maybe one day I will be promoted.”
“That is good then.”
The Green-Robed Elder took a white jade token from his sleeve, then, with True Qi lingering on his fingertips, carved the two characters ‘Ye Chen’ onto the token, and then handed it to Ye Chen, smiling, “Little Fellow, this is your token.”
In addition to this, the Green-Robed Elder also took out a jade bottle.
Although the jade bottle was sealed, Ye Chen could still smell the fragrance of medicine; needless to say, what was inside this jade bottle was spirit liquid that helped with Cultivation.
“Because you are an Intern Disciple, you have no Hengyue Cultivation Method and no Sect robes, and as for this jade spirit liquid, you can only receive one bottle.”
“Thank you, Elder.”
Ye Chen took the jade spirit liquid; he did not really care about these things.
“Alright, go to the Spirit Artifact Pavilion to receive a Spiritual Artifact!” The Green-Robed Elder smiled, and as he spoke, he did not forget to pat Ye Chen on the shoulder.
His voice was gentle, without the slightest bit of a powerhouse’s majesty, “Little Fellow, work hard, and in three months, I will see your performance.”