Su Wenjiu left Command Hall Peak and returned toward Aurora Valley.
Flying across the sky, she looked down at the gradually shrinking Azure Jade Sect, her heart unable to calm for a long time.
Who would have thought that such a small sect harbored such a powerful figure?
She had grown up under all kinds of halos and had always held herself in high regard. But it was only after this journey that she truly understood the meaning of “there’s always someone stronger.”
Her little glow was nothing in front of a true powerhouse.
Not to mention Zhong Qing—even just the speed of his disciple Lin Feng’s cultivation was something she could never catch up to, no matter how hard she tried.
Once she got back, she had to make it clear to her sect—people from Azure Jade Sect must not be offended!
…
Days passed, sun rising and setting.
In just under half a month, spring began to return to the land. The temperature grew warmer, sunlight blanketed the earth, and flowers and grasses started to emerge again. It was nearly the season when all things revived.
Zhong Qing, dressed in white robes, lay on his recliner, quietly sensing his own cultivation.
[Host: Zhong Qing]
[Cultivation: Moon Profound Realm]
[Disciple: Lin Feng, peak Innate Realm, 100x boost active]
[Bond activated: Waste tie 1/2]
[Acquired constitution: None]
[Acquired special skills: Sixth Sense Aura, Heavenly Eye]
Since accepting Lin Feng and activating the thousandfold boost, in just a month’s time, Zhong Qing had relied on cultivation feedback to break through from the Star Profound Realm to the Moon Profound Realm.
If word got out, many would be green with envy.
Take Su Wenjiu for example. Though she had also reached the Moon Profound Realm, she had started laying her foundation from the time she could barely walk, combined with Aurora Valley’s massive resources to reach this level.
By contrast, Zhong Qing had reached it effortlessly.
Lin Feng’s cultivation was now at the peak of the Innate Realm. He was only a step away from the Celestial Profound Realm. Once he crossed that line, he’d enter the ranks of true experts.
“Although the speed is fast, I still need to find the second waste disciple as soon as possible,” Zhong Qing muttered.
After all, the feedback between waste tie 1/2 and 2/2 was a difference of thousandfold and ten-thousandfold!
But recently Zhong Qing had done his research.
The criteria for “waste” were extremely strict.
It had to be someone completely incapable of drawing even a trace of spiritual energy into their body.
In a cultivation world like this, such a person was even harder to find than someone with a purple-level talent.
Even ordinary mortals who pretended to meditate could absorb a little spiritual energy just by breathing, strengthening their bodies over time.
If not for that, Zhong Qing would’ve already run into the secular world and grabbed any random person off the street to fill the quota.
But maybe the system had heard his plea.
[Ding! Disciple candidate found. Host, please proceed to accept your disciple.]
“Oh?” Zhong Qing’s eyes lit up and he sat upright.
[Host, please go to Heavenly Peak City immediately. The qualified candidate is currently in Heavenly Peak City.]
As the system voice faded, an unseen force pointed Zhong Qing in the right direction.
“Heavenly Peak City, huh?”
Zhong Qing packed up quickly and headed straight there. The thought of receiving ten-thousandfold cultivation feedback was just too exciting.
With Moon Profound Realm cultivation, he could travel thousands of kilometers in a day.
Heavenly Peak City was only 400 kilometers from Azure Jade Sect. Not long after, Zhong Qing arrived.
The city bustled with people and prosperity filled the streets.
Though it was a mortal city, nearby sects—including Azure Jade Sect—often bought supplies here, so cultivators were a common sight.
Following the system’s guidance, Zhong Qing made his way to the central square of Heavenly Peak City.
By the time he arrived, he saw that the square was already packed with people.
At the center sat a few elders, with rows of sect disciples in uniform behind them.
In front of them were several talent-testing stones, with many people lined up to be tested.
The scene was nearly identical to the last time he recruited a disciple at Azure Jade Sect.
Listening to the crowd, Zhong Qing soon understood the situation: Flying Sword Sect was recruiting outer sect disciples here at Heavenly Peak Square.
Flying Sword Sect was a first-rate sect in the Eastern Domain, even superior to Azure Jade Sect.
This was a rare opportunity for ordinary people.
But the event was already nearing its end.
“Congratulations to those who tested white-level or higher talent. You will board our Flying Sword Sect’s airship shortly and officially become outer sect disciples,” announced one of the elders at the top.
Those with white-level or higher talents lit up with joy.
Most others, however, looked dejected.
Just then, in the group of rejected applicants, a filthy little boy stepped forward and bowed to the Flying Sword Sect elder.
“You were eliminated. What are you doing here?” A sect disciple stepped up to shoo him away.
The boy quickly pulled a token from his tattered clothes.
“Senior, I have a Flying Blade Token. Can I become a disciple of Flying Sword Sect?”
“Flying Blade Token?”
The elder at the top was surprised.
Flying Sword Sect did indeed issue Flying Blade Tokens—anyone holding one could be admitted unconditionally.
After confirming the token was genuine, the elder looked down at the boy. “Where did you get this?”
“Reporting to Elder. Five years ago, a Flying Sword Sect elder was badly wounded and being hunted. He gave this token to my parents and asked them to save his life. He promised that anyone holding it could enter the sect unconditionally.”
“But to protect his whereabouts, my parents were killed by his enemies. Before he died, my father gave me this token.”
The boy spoke earnestly. When he mentioned his parents’ deaths, his eyes filled with tears.
The elder remembered the incident—it was true. One of their Grand Elders had been gravely wounded and rescued by a mortal household.
But his face remained emotionless. In fact, he looked faintly disgusted by the boy’s filthy appearance.
After a long pause, he crushed the token to dust and waved his hand casually. “Fine. You’ll enter as a servant disciple. Go mine for the sect.”
“A servant disciple…”
“Well, at least I’ll have food to eat.”
The boy looked genuinely grateful and quickly bowed. “Thank you, Elder!”
…
Zhong Qing finally found his disciple.
It was this very boy.
But to his surprise, the boy had already joined Flying Sword Sect before he could act.
And the boy’s background shocked him.
The sect’s response left him with nothing but disdain.
Sure, the boy had no talent, but his parents had saved a Flying Sword Sect protector at the cost of their lives. And now they wanted the boy to mine?
Assigning him to a light duty and making sure he had food and shelter would’ve cost Flying Sword Sect nothing.
But luckily, he was about to become Zhong Qing’s disciple.