Spirit Ruin, Sword Coffin, Blind Swordsman - Chapter 19 The Long Road to Immortality

As Li Guanqi made his way towards Heavenly Water Peak, he encountered many fellow disciples who had joined the sect at the same time as him.

Young boys and girls, clad in fresh sect attire, brimmed with anticipation for the future. They gathered in small groups, chatting and laughing as they journeyed together.

Heavenly Water Peak was situated in the western part of the Great Xia Sword Sect’s territory. The positioning of the five major main peaks adhered to the principles of the five elements, but the Wind, Thunder, and Ice Peaks stood apart.

Just as Li Guanqi envied others who gathered and chatted together, two figures suddenly embraced him from behind.

“Haha! Guanqi, I can’t believe you chose the Thunder element as your Spirit Root.”

“That’s right, you have a rare Saint-grade Spirit Root!”

“Directly entering the inner sect, it’s like soaring to the heavens.”

A smile played on Li Guanqi’s lips. The newcomers were Lin Dong, who had joined the inner sect of Heavenly Earth Peak, and Li Sheng’an, who had joined the outer sect of Heavenly Metal Peak.

Li Guanqi smiled slightly. He had asked his master about how these two were doing.

“Lin Dong, you’re doing well too. You actually have an Earth element Spirit Root. Your future will be promising.”

The straightforward Lin Dong scratched his head and grinned, “Our family’s ancestral grave is blessed, and our ancestors accumulated virtue.”

Meanwhile, Li Sheng’an, who was beside them, had a satisfied look on his face.

He said to himself, “For someone with a mixed Spirit Root like mine, just entering the outer sect is good enough.”

The three of them ascended Heavenly Water Peak together.

Surprisingly, along the way, they saw that ninety percent of the disciples of Heavenly Water Peak were female disciples.

On this journey, many senior sisters stood on rooftops or high places, continuously chatting and teasing the new disciples.

“Wow, senior sister, have you seen the blind boy carrying a piece of stone on his back?”

“I heard he’s the only disciple accepted by Heavenly Thunder Peak this year and has a Saint-grade Spirit Root that’s rarer than Senior Brother Wu Bing!”

The elegant-looking young woman listened to her junior sister’s chatter and just smiled faintly.

“Li Guanqi, unexpectedly, a blind boy has such an elegant name.”

“His talent is among the best in the entire Blue Cloud Continent.”

“Alright, it’s time to practice.”

The bustling crowd gathered in the grand hall of Heavenly Water Peak.

Each person was given a mat, and they sat cross-legged. The seating arrangement was also very particular, as the cultivation world emphasized hierarchy and order, with the stronger being respected. Li Guanqi wanted the three of them to sit together, but Li Sheng’an said, “You can’t do that. Your current status is the closed-door disciple of the Great Elder of Heavenly Thunder Peak.”

“It means you have a higher status than even the core disciples under the elders.”

“You should sit in the front!”

Li Guanqi looked around and noticed that the expressions of the people around him were somewhat unnatural. Helplessly, he walked to the front. There was only one mat there, and behind it were the inner disciples, followed by the outer disciples.

This time, the Great Xia Sword Sect had opened its doors widely, accepting a total of three hundred and ninety-two disciples, which was considered a relatively large number compare to previous years.

Among them, there were more than sixty disciples who directly entered the inner sect, and among those, four possessed Heaven-Grade Spirit Roots. Even if they had Heaven-Grade Spirit Roots, it didn’t necessarily mean that they would be valued and taken in as disciples by the elders.

Li Guanqi sat cross-legged on the ground, with a case and mat in front of him.

Swish!

A gentle breeze blew, and a woman dressed in an ice-blue robe appeared out of nowhere behind the case.

The serious-looking woman was none other than Elder Lan He, a Gold Core stage expert.

Lan He’s beautiful eyes noticed that many mats were empty, and her face darkened. With a wave of her hand, the doors of the grand hall closed with a resounding boom, leaving the disciples who had been running from outside stranded, wearing bitter expressions.

This door was something they couldn’t knock on; they could only stand obediently.

Lan He sat down on the mat with a stern expression.

“Late on the first day of class! Everyone who was late, stay outside!”

“Class!”

Inside the hall, the disciples straightened their backs. They hadn’t expected Elder Lan to actually follow through with her words. Whether they were inner disciples or outer disciples, as long as they were late, they couldn’t enter. At the same time, the disciples formed their first impression of how the Sword Sect operated.

“She keeps her word!”

Lan He was strikingly beautiful, yet as an Elder in charge of instructing disciples, her gaze always held a hint of solemnity.

Lan He began speaking softly, “I’m sure you all find entering an immortal sect for cultivation quite thrilling.”

“But the first lesson I’m going to impart today is to caution you not to trust others too easily!”

Whoosh!

As soon as these words left her lips, the disciples below immediately began murmuring and discussing the matter. After a moment, Lan He continued, “As you progress in your cultivation, you will come to understand that those who address you as ‘friend’ during normal times may not stand by your side when the chips are down.”

“You don’t need to fully comprehend this saying now; simply remember it.”

Though her voice was soft, it resonated clearly throughout the vast hall. Following this, Lan He’s hand emitted a faint light, conjuring a jade slip into existence. Raising the jade slip, Lan He spoke gently, “I presume you have all received your personal identity jade slips by now.”

“From this day forward, it is imperative that you keep it with you at all times!”

“Because this will be something that will accompany you throughout your entire life!”

While her words held a certain weight, every disciple who emerged from the Great Xia Sword Sect understood the significance of what she was saying.

“The function of this jade slip is quite versatile, with the most important one being the accumulation of merit points within the sect.”

“These points will be recorded in the jade slip, and it also possesses the ability to locate fellow disciples when necessary.”

“You can also use the jade slip to access the items in the treasure pavilion, and other Elder instructors can utilize it for observation.”

“In summary, it is crucial that you safeguard this jade slip! Once you reach the Qi Refining stage, you will naturally gain access to these functionalities.”

Everyone retrieved their jade slips and examined them closely, surprised by how something so small could do so much.

However, what Lan He revealed next completely shattered their understanding of the world!

Lan He continued in a soft voice, “Do you know where we are?”

Someone inquired, “The Northern Region of the Blue Cloud Continent.”

Before the words had fully left their lips, another young man, with slightly reddened eyes, declared in a deep voice, “The Northern Dust Region, within the Northern Region of the Blue Cloud Continent!”

Upon hearing this voice, Lan He visibly hesitated for a moment. Then, when she directed her gaze toward the young man, a knowing expression briefly flickered in her eyes.

She softly said, “So, it’s Zhong Lin, the Young Master of Yuyang Mountain.”

“Yes, where we currently reside is indeed the Blue Cloud Continent, specifically within the Northern Dust Region.”

“This land is what is known as the human spirit realm, or the mortal realm.”

“The human spirit realm is divided into six domains, and you will explore the others on your own in the future.”

“The reason I’m sharing this information with you is to convey that aside from the human spirit realm and the immortal realm, there exists another realm!”

“The Yellow Springs Realm!”

“It is precisely due to the existence of the Yellow Springs Realm that, within the countless tens of thousands of years in the human spirit realm, there have been numerous powerful cultivators who have taken over others’ bodies, as well as individuals who carry memories from their previous lives and undergo reincarnation!”

Li Guanqi was instantly taken aback, thinking to himself, “Reincarnators?”

“When I was at the Spirit Root testing earlier, the Head Law Enforcer slew two cultivators who attempted body-snatching!”

“And now there are reincarnators with memories of their past lives?”

“If I hadn’t entered the immortal sect, I probably would never have known about such things!”