Chapter 66: 66. Chapter 66

66. Chapter 66

Guan San is currently stroking the server, please complete your subscription to defeat him! The mountain bandit, having just been beaten up, felt his mind in disarray in the wind.

Fortunately, he wasn't left in disarray for long; after being declared unqualified, the losers who had been lying on the ground howling were taken away one by one by newly appearing streams of light. Just as the two of them stared at each other in a daze, a new voice rang out, this time a female one:

"The current Ascension Ceremony has concluded, with two candidates qualified."

Two candidates qualified?

Song Zhicheng looked at Bai Tian, and Bai Tian looked at Song Zhicheng; for a moment, neither knew what to say.

A total of three thousand and two people participated in this Ascension Ceremony, and now only two had qualified. From now on, whenever they went out, they could boast that they were the ones who had eliminated three thousand weaklings.

Over three thousand people participated in the selection, yet only a tiny fraction could step onto the path of Xiuxian. This was the first time Atian had a real sense of what Zhao Kuo meant when he said, "Those with aptitude are one in ten thousand."

Admittedly, perhaps many people, like the original Atian, intended to live an ordinary life honestly and had never thought of striving for the path of Xiuxian. Furthermore, who among those who came to participate in the Ascension Ceremony didn't have confidence in themselves? Yet, even among this group of people with promising futures in Xiuxian, the elimination rate was incomparably cruel.

"My goodness," Song Zhicheng sat down on the ground with a thud, took off his straw sandals, and picked at his feet. "I didn't expect that I would really hit the jackpot. It's just a pity for my brothers; they'll have to fight for their own futures."

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the world was unpredictable. He had originally thought he was born to be a bandit boss, and now he was going to cultivate immortality. Regardless of how far he could go, it sounded as magnificent as a storybook tale.

"Sister from the Bai family, it looks like you and I will be fellow disciples from now on." He looked rough and careless, but he was actually very attentive; he had remembered Bai Tian's name after hearing it only once. "I'm a crude person; if there's anything I do that displeases you, just say it straight!"

Then could you please stop picking at your feet?

Years of education as a young lady prevented the words from slipping out. Atian covered the lower half of her face with her sleeve, leaving only a pair of sparkling, limpid eyes exposed, looking truly gentle and lovely.

Perhaps because all the losers had been sent away, the jumping stream of light returned to the two of them, circled them a few times, and finally turned into a silk ribbon that lay horizontally between them.

Atian tentatively reached out to grab one end of the ribbon, and the flexible silk actively wrapped around her wrist. Song Zhicheng put on his shoes and followed suit, reaching out his hand, only to receive a ruthless whipping from the ribbon.

"Hey! Hey! Why is this piece of junk looking down on me!" Song Zhicheng yelled in anger, then was tied around the waist by the ribbon and enjoyed a thrilling, stimulating swing in the air.

One had to admit, this ribbon's flying technique was much better than Zhao Kuo's Sword Controlling Technique. At least Atian didn't feel any bumps during the smooth ascent. It wasn't until she suddenly broke through the water's surface that she realized this wasn't flying, but surfacing.

The Sword Washing Pool was truly a pool. Streams of pool water flowed quietly around her, yet they were as light as mist, dissipating like smoke and clouds the moment they were touched. The huge Broken Sword that pierced through the entire Floating Island was soaking in the crystal-clear pool water. Only then did Atian notice that its blade was actually moon-white; this seemed to be the color of the Beihai Sword Sect. Unlike her first sight of it outside the Floating Island, despite being so close to it, she didn't feel that oppressive sword aura, as if it were just a plain and unremarkable ornament.

The ribbon carried the two of them away from the water and threw them directly onto the lakeside. There, a Sword Attendant Boy was waiting. Seeing the two of them land in a disheveled heap, he then leisurely made a bow.

"Senior Brother Song, Senior Sister Bai, this disciple is a Sword Attendant Boy under the Sect Master. By the order of the Sect Master, I have come specifically to welcome you both."

Bai Tian helped the bearded man, who was groaning in pain, to stand steady. She discovered that although this boy looked as cute as jade and snow, his expression and demeanor were incomparably dull, and his eyes were like a pool of stagnant water, looking like an inanimate object.

In reality, the Sword Attendant Boy was just a Sword Rack that Duan Xuan had casually enlightened; his true form was indeed an inanimate object without thoughts.

His appearance had to start with the Beihai Sword Sect's old rival, the Fangxian Dao.

In myths and legends, wherever there are immortals, there must be auspicious clouds and white cranes. Regarding this, the Fangxian Dao, which had always branded itself as the orthodox Daoist sect, put their minds to it. Not only did they decorate their mountain gate with swirling clouds and mist, but they also didn't know where they got thousands of immortal cranes, enlightened them into human form, and let these white crane boys take care of all the daily trivialities. In their spare time, they would even let them turn back into their original forms to dance among the clouds—what a scene of an immortal sect.

Once such a crooked trick was released, it immediately triggered a craze for imitation in the cultivation world. Even the Taixuan Sect, which had always been at odds with them, secretly started raising immortal cranes.

As a stubborn duck that never admitted it was unpopular, the Beihai Sword Sect naturally didn't want to be out of touch with the latest fashion in the cultivation world. However, the trick of raising immortal cranes wasn't very applicable here.

Friend, have you ever seen a Sword Cultivator who doesn't control a Sword but sits on an immortal crane?

Even if the immortal crane agreed, the Sword wouldn't!

But other sects were using immortal cranes as gate boys; if they still had cultivators doing things themselves, it felt like they were inferior. Thus, after racking his brains, the wise and mighty Sect Master Duan came up with a crooked trick among crooked tricks:

Since there are no immortal cranes, let's just make do with a Sword Rack.

This led to the rigid Sword Attendant Boy before them. He would only be awakened by Duan Xuan when needed; on ordinary days, he would honestly serve as furniture in the Sect Master's room.

"My Beihai Sword Sect was founded in the ancient times and has been passed down for nearly ten thousand years," the Sword Attendant Boy said with a straight face. "Currently, there are one thousand three hundred and six people, including Sect Master Duan Xuan and the various Elders, ranking last among the Four Great Immortal Sects."

You didn't have to add that last half-sentence, did you?

Song Zhicheng's expression shifted, and he finally squeezed out, "This child is really honest."

In fact, the Beihai Sword Sect's ranking was purely due to having too few people. When the cultivation world was selecting the Four Great Immortal Sects, they couldn't shamelessly let their disciples stuff the ballot box like the Fangxian Dao, Taixuan Sect, and Fahua Temple, which was why they ended up in the last seat.

Ignoring the bearded man's grumbling, the Sword Attendant Boy continued, "From today on, you two are disciples of my Beihai Sword Sect. You must abide by the sect's rules and precepts. If you violate them, the Law Enforcement Elder will teach you how to behave."

The tone of this sentence was completely different from the seriousness of the previous one; it was more like he was repeating words taught by someone else.

"The Beihai Sword Sect is divided into three levels from top to bottom: Sect Master, Elders, and Disciples. We are different from those mediocre groups like the Fangxian Dao that have a row of Supreme Elders. That position is just for people who have reached a certain age and failed to achieve Ascension, yet still want to proudly announce it to the world—it's too embarrassing, so we don't have it."

This was yet another completely different tone.

"This sect implements the Senior Brother system. The authority of the Senior Brother is equal to that of an Elder. All disciples must unite under the leadership of the Senior Brother and work together to make the Beihai Sword Sect shine. I know this sounds shameful, but as long as you let go of your unnecessary sense of shame, you can become deeply immersed and unable to extricate yourselves. Come, unleash your true nature!"

Having said this, the boy paused, then opened his mouth expressionlessly and let out a strange laugh: "Hee hee hee."

Clearly, the Beihai Sword Sect had taken a strange turn in the grand event of following trends and was running wildly in an unpredictable direction.

But it was fine; if it was different, then it was different. Anyway, they were broad-minded.

Atian and Song Zhicheng looked at each other, both seeing the words "dumbfounded" in the other's eyes.

This sect... seems a bit wrong!

The servant's face turned bitter upon hearing this, "Replying to Furen, the Immortal Elder only stayed at the door for a while, saying he still had to be busy with the Ascension Ceremony, and then he left!"

"Ah!"

It was hard to say if it was disappointment or relief; upon hearing this, Lady Bai sat back down in her chair, her brows furrowed.

After finishing the chicken leg in her bowl in a leisurely manner, Atian thought about it, but still didn't reach out with her chopsticks to take a second one. Now was definitely not a good time to attract Lady Bai's attention.

"Why did he just leave like that?" Lady Bai muttered, "I was still planning to ask properly about Xin Li's situation."

"Forget it, it's clear that he doesn't want to have any dealings with us," Master Bai, who had finally caught his breath, was quite open-minded. "Once he entered the gates of the Beihai Sword Sect, that brat has nothing to do with us anymore. It's useless to keep thinking about him. Besides, don't we still have Atian?"

Hearing the two words "Atian," Lady Bai, who had been displeased, instantly became joyful. She turned her head to look at the quiet girl, reached out to hold the young girl's hand, and said in a sorrowful tone, "Atian, Mother only has you left."

Atian felt a jolt of spirit upon hearing this, knowing that whether she could eat another chicken leg depended on this moment. Thus, her eye sockets were immediately filled with spreading tears, and she called out "Mother" in a tone that turned a hundred times.

Master Bai rubbed the goosebumps on his arms.

Lady Bai, however, was very satisfied and gave her another chicken leg, feeling that this child bride couldn't be more thoughtful.

Yes, a child bride.

Master Bai and Lady Bai were not Atian's parents, and the only reason the three of them could sit together and eat happily was that Atian was the daughter-in-law of the Bai family—in name.

To explain this issue clearly, one would have to mention the Beihai Sword Sect and the "brat" Bai Xinli, who had caused Lady Bai's emotional fluctuations.

As an ordinary merchant family in the Qixia Kingdom, even if they knew there was a group of people in this world who pursued immortality and possessed heaven-defying abilities, the Bai couple had never thought that such a heaven-sent pie could fall on their own family.

Becoming an immortal is a story found only in fiction.

An Immortal Elder is a reclusive expert one can never touch.

That said, the Beihai Sword Sect—a top-tier immortal sect that is among the best in the entire Yuanguang Continent—is actually located within the Qixia Kingdom, and every fifteen years they open their mountain gates wide to harvest a crop of leeks, so even the Bai family, situated in such a remote town, can hear news of the Ascension Ceremony.

And the Bai family's only son, Bai Xinli, happened to encounter the opening of the Ascension Ceremony when he was five years old.

The master of the Bai family, who was single-mindedly grooming his son for the imperial examinations, originally had no intention of joining in the excitement; people with cultivation aptitude in this world are one in ten thousand, and his own ancestors were all ordinary people, so he had no intention of daydreaming, but he could not stop his relatives and friends from being extremely eager for that so-called Ascension Ceremony, going so far as to bankrupt their families just to send their own children to try their luck.