This was Li Shangyan’s first time cultivating.
Like many first times, before you actually do it, you’re always full of curiosity.
But once you begin.
You discover that the process is very tiring!
But also very satisfying!
Especially the instant you break through a barrier.
Well, to be precise, a realm breakthrough.
That was exactly how Li Shangyan felt right now.
Feeling the warm current within his dantian swell by another fold, Li Shangyan fell into deep thought.
“Didn’t they say cultivation for a Five Elements Perfection practitioner is very slow?”
“Why do I feel like I broke through again?”
Looking at the small pendant in his hand, which had already turned into powder, Li Shangyan seemed to understand a little more.
That piece of jade was tiny, only half the size of a fingernail, but its quality was extremely high.
At the very least, it was at the level of a mid-grade Spirit Stone, and perhaps even a high-grade Spirit Stone.
Glancing outside at the sky, it was already morning.
Li Shangyan remembered Wang Yuan’s instructions from yesterday: today he had to make a trip to Purple Garden.
So after tidying himself up, he headed toward the mountainside.
As an outer disciple, he was only allowed to live below Ziyang Peak.
Although he had now stepped onto the path of cultivation, he still had not learned any techniques.
He could only rely on his own two legs to walk.
Fortunately, his spiritual energy was still fairly abundant; climbing three thousand meters barely made him sweat.
After asking for directions all the way, he finally found Purple Garden.
Thinking about the senior brothers he had asked along the way, their faces had immediately changed the moment they heard he was going to Purple Garden.
Li Shangyan could not help feeling a little uneasy.
“Ye Ziyuan… the name sounds pretty nice, but I wonder if she has three heads and six arms. Why is everyone so afraid of her?”
Just as he was thinking about it, he had already arrived at Purple Garden.
It was a detached little courtyard, and from the outside it looked rather ordinary.
But the gate and walls carried a faint purple hue.
He still could not see what was inside the walls.
He knocked on the door, but there was no response.
The door was slightly ajar, so Li Shangyan pushed it and walked in.
However!
The instant Li Shangyan’s foot was about to step inside, he yanked it back as if he had been burned by boiling water.
Because behind the door was actually a cliff!
And he had almost stepped straight into it!
In an instant, Li Shangyan’s heart pounded wildly, and he felt a surge of relief after surviving disaster.
“Damn it! What kind of lunatic builds a door on the edge of a cliff…”
Li Shangyan could not help cursing.
Then he suddenly remembered that although this place was on a mountainside, the surrounding area was actually quite flat.
There were trees all around, so how could a cliff suddenly appear inside a small courtyard?
After thinking for a while, Li Shangyan gripped the doorframe and carefully stretched out his right foot.
He tried to probe with his foot, only to find that what he touched was a hard surface.
“Is this an illusion?”
Li Shangyan looked ahead. Although it was clearly a cliff, he could stand on it safely.
That feeling was a bit like riding the clouds and mist.
Thinking that the Xuan Yuan Sect would not try to kill him, he carefully walked inward.
After about a minute, the scene before him suddenly changed.
Li Shangyan found himself in a purple bamboo forest.
In that forest, sunlight filtered through the dense bamboo leaves, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow, adding a touch of mystery and dreamlike beauty to the quiet space.
The air was filled with a faint bamboo fragrance and an indescribable spiritual energy. Li Shangyan could not help taking a deep breath, only to feel his mind clear at once.
He looked around and saw that deep in the bamboo grove, there was a faintly visible exquisite pavilion.
The pavilion was built on a base of purple jade, with glazed tiles on the roof, gleaming brilliantly in the purple light, like a palace from a fairyland.
A gentle breeze passed by, making the bamboo leaves rustle softly.
“So this is Purple Garden? Truly extraordinary.”
Li Shangyan marveled inwardly and quickened his pace toward the pavilion.
As he drew closer, he felt an even denser ripple of spiritual energy.
Arriving before the pavilion, Li Shangyan straightened his clothes and lightly knocked on the door.
This time, a clear and pleasant voice quickly came from inside: “Come in.”
As soon as he pushed the door open, an even richer spiritual energy surged toward him, almost making him feel suffocated.
Yet at the same time, it was strangely refreshing, as if every pore in his body were greedily absorbing that pure energy.
The interior was simple yet elegant. Several paintings of mountains, rivers, flowers, and birds hung on the walls, each brushstroke carrying an air of transcendence.
In the center stood a rosewood table, and beside it sat a woman in purple.
She was lowering her head to sip tea, her posture elegant, like a fairy detached from the world.
She was seated sideways, so Li Shangyan still could not clearly see her face.
But the first thing that seized Li Shangyan’s gaze was that tall, full, and rounded figure.
Although the woman wore a slightly loose purple Daoist robe, one could vaguely make out a waist slender as a willow branch.
A light grip would reveal graceful curves, and below that, the lifted fullness was like a peach.
“You must be the Li Shangyan that Steward Wang mentioned, right?”
The woman lifted her head, and a pair of clear, water-like eyes looked toward Li Shangyan. Her voice was gentle and lovely.
That skin, white as jade, and that perfect face made Li Shangyan’s heart seem to skip a beat.
Only one word flashed through his mind!
Peerless beauty!
Stared at by those eyes, Li Shangyan seemed to snap awake all at once.
He hurriedly bowed. “This disciple is Li Shangyan. Greetings, Elder Ye…”
At the same time, he cursed himself for being so useless!
He had seen plenty of beauties on Douyin, yet he still could not help being drawn to the peerless beauty before him.
At the same time, his curiosity only deepened!
Why were Wang Yuan and the other fellow senior brothers so afraid of this Elder Ye?
Li Shangyan’s heartbeat gradually steadied, but the look of astonishment in his eyes had not fully faded.
Knowing how awkward he had just been, he quickly composed himself and put on a serious expression.
Seeing this, Ye Ziyuan’s lips curved slightly. She seemed unconcerned by Li Shangyan’s reaction, and in fact it made her a little more interested.
“Sit.”
Ye Ziyuan pointed to another chair beside the table, her voice carrying both authority and warmth, a combination that left no room for refusal.
Li Shangyan sat down as instructed, trying his best to appear proper and respectful.
“Why did Steward Wang send you to find me?”
Ye Ziyuan set down her teacup, her gaze revealing a hint of inquiry.
Li Shangyan took a deep breath and recounted yesterday’s instructions from the Sect Leader and Wang Yuan one by one, including how he had been recommended to Purple Garden.
“Oh? Five Elements Perfection?” A flash of purple light passed through Ye Ziyuan’s eyes. “Interesting, but I have no time to teach you!”
Hearing that, Li Shangyan managed a bitter smile.
From the Sect Leader’s words yesterday, he had already sensed that becoming a disciple here would not be easy.
But being rejected face-to-face by such a peerless beauty still left him somewhat disappointed.
That meant that from now on, his path of cultivation would have to be explored on his own.
If he could cultivate alongside someone this beautiful, it would always be a pleasing sight.
And if, by some chance, a story like “Guo’er and his Aunt” ever happened, that would be even more desirable.
Seeing himself rejected, Li Shangyan could only stand up and prepare to leave.
But at that moment!
The woman in purple suddenly spoke again, her voice seeming to carry a hint of trouble: “However, since Uncle, the Sect Leader, has already spoken, refusing you outright would seem disrespectful to him.”
“How about this: I’ll give you a test. If you pass it, I’ll reluctantly teach you a bit.”
Hearing that there seemed to be hope, Li Shangyan quickly asked, “May I ask what the test is?”
However!
The woman in purple said, “Come back tomorrow. If you can stay in Purple Garden for a full day, then you will count as successful.”