Wang Yi Enters the Immortal Gate

The old man walked around the younger brother twice, sizing him up. Stroking his beard, he asked, "What's your name?"

"Student Wang Yi," the younger brother replied, cupping his hands.

"Are you willing to follow me and join the Tai Hao Sword Sect to practice immortal cultivation methods?" the old Daoist asked.

As he spoke, he reached for a palm-sized cloth bag at his waist and pulled out a small, radiant sword. The sword was a little over a foot long and flew into the air. It grew rapidly in the wind, reaching a length of ten feet and a width of several feet in moments.

The old man pointed at a large rock in the distance, and the giant sword shot towards it like lightning, cleaving it in two.

"BOOM!"

The rock, as large as a small mountain, immediately shattered into pieces.

The sword danced in the air for a circle, then shrank back to its original length of just over a foot and landed in the old man's hand.

The younger brother's mind was in disarray from the sudden influx of information. It was too sudden, too powerful. He was so stunned that he couldn't react at all. The old man seemed satisfied with his shock and waited patiently, stroking his beard. The others were also frozen in place.

"An immortal! I've only heard legends before, I never thought I'd have the chance to see one with my own eyes. I can brag about this for the rest of my life!"

"If I can seize this opportunity to become a disciple of an immortal, I'll be an immortal master myself from now on."

"Why hasn't this kid agreed yet? I'm getting anxious for him."

After a moment, Wang Yi finally regained his senses. He turned to look at Wang Hong and said to the immortal master, "Can you bring my elder brother with you?"

The old Daoist followed the younger brother's gaze to find Wang Hong. Wang Hong was internally conflicted, hoping to also join the immortal sect but worried about becoming a burden to his younger brother.

The old Daoist shook his head and said, "This must be your elder brother? His aptitude is too poor; he has four-element spiritual roots. I don't have the authority to accept him into the immortal sect. Only Golden Core elders in the sect have such authority, unless you can persuade a Golden Core elder in the future, or if you yourself cultivate to the Golden Core stage. Of course, with your single spiritual root aptitude, cultivating to the Golden Core stage should not be a problem."

The younger brother was still unwilling to give up and asked, "Is there no other way besides this?"

Wang Hong, fearing his brother would continue to pester the immortal master about his affairs and ruin his future, waved his hand and said, "Little brother, just follow the immortal master with peace of mind. Don't worry about me. Just come back to see me after you've cultivated the immortal path."

The old Daoist glanced at Wang Hong. He didn't particularly mind; as long as there were no conflicts of interest, he was happy to befriend someone with such heavenly talent.

He said, "Besides this, there's the path of a rogue cultivator, but the path of a rogue cultivator is truly too difficult." The old Daoist shook his head as he spoke, then said to Wang Hong, "When you are stronger, you can go to Qingxu Mountain west of Chu State. Within Qingxu Mountain, there is Qingxu Immortal City. However, this path is too perilous for mortals."

The Wang brothers thanked the immortal master for his guidance. The younger brother turned to Wang Hong and said, "Brother! Wait for me. When I achieve success in cultivation, I'll come back for you. I'll find a way to get you into the immortal sect too."

The brothers stood aside, talking and feeling reluctant to part. The old Daoist then tested the spiritual roots of the remaining dozens of people, but no other excellent spiritual roots appeared. The old Daoist was content; as long as he brought Wang Yi back, he would receive a substantial reward.

By this time, a large crowd on and off the stage had knelt down. Some begged to be taken as disciples, some sought elixirs for healing and eternal life, some asked for the immortal master's blessing for wealth and guaranteed wins in gambling, and one teacher asked for the immortal's blessing for his daughter-in-law to give birth to a son. There were also requests for...

The old Daoist couldn't possibly attend to all of them, and his face turned a little green. He wasn't a demonic cultivator, nor could he slaughter people for such trivial matters.

He could only release his Foundation Establishment pressure, scaring everyone into kowtowing like pounding garlic. Some even thought the immortal master had agreed and kowtowed even more vigorously.

The old Daoist tossed the small sword into the air again. Once it grew to over ten feet long, he leaped onto the flying sword, grabbed the younger brother, and pulled him onto the sword. Then, he threw out two porcelain bottles, which landed in the hands of Wang Hong and the old dean.

"These are two elixirs to strengthen the body. They are a gift to you." With that, he turned into a beam of light and instantly vanished into the sky. The two quickly bowed in thanks. Wang Hong looked at the elixirs in his hand with a sense of loss.

The more than one hundred people who had been brought onto the stage knew they had likely missed their chance to enter the immortal path, and they wailed in unison. Having witnessed the methods of immortals, who wouldn't yearn for it? The opportunity had been so close.

The news of an immortal visiting Qingyang Academy quickly spread throughout Qingyang City, and the entire city was abuzz. The next day, the county magistrate personally visited the academy to inquire. Upon confirming the news and learning that the immortal had even bestowed elixirs, he became even more envious. The county magistrate also personally met with Wang Hong, the immortal's elder brother, and presented him with fifty taels of silver.

The news, like wings, soon spread beyond Qingyang to the prefectural capital and even to several surrounding prefectures. Through the embellishments and distortions of storytellers, the news had become severely warped.

Eventually, it became a tale of a demon appearing at Qingyang Academy, attracting an immortal master to vanquish it. The immortal master was described as being as tall as a mountain, with eyes like copper bells, a mouth that could swallow several cows, and possessing three heads, six arms, and wings on his back. He battled the demon for three days before finally killing it.

Afterward, the immortal master selected over ten students from the academy as his disciples and gifted the academy dozens of bottles of immortal elixirs. It was said that merely smelling one of these elixirs could prevent all illnesses, and consuming one could instantly increase a martial artist's power by fifty years. This caused the entire martial arts world to erupt. Although the rumors were somewhat exaggerated, there's no smoke without fire. Furthermore, some foolish individuals firmly believed the rumors.

As outsiders were not allowed to enter the academy freely, people of all sorts could be seen lurking around the academy's entrances and exits for days, trying to gather information.

Wang Hong consumed one of the elixirs the next day. If he kept it on him, people would constantly find excuses to "just take a look" at what the elixir looked like, and after looking, they'd want to smell it, practically wanting to swallow Wang Hong along with it.

Fortunately, Wang Hong was still carrying the title of "immortal's elder brother," so no one dared to forcibly snatch it from him yet. No one dared to incur the wrath of an immortal.

Wang Hong swallowed the elixir in front of some people. Instantly, his face turned red, and he staggered back to his room like a drunkard to meditate and digest the medicinal power.

Wang Hong felt the elixir transform into a warm energy upon entering his abdomen, flowing throughout his body. He felt as if he were soaking in hot water, his entire body feeling warm and comfortable.

Wang Hong quickly sat down and began circulating his internal energy cultivation method, guiding the warm current in his Dantian. The internal energy in his Dantian accumulated more and more, and Wang Hong felt his Dantian gradually swell, as if it were about to explode.

Suddenly, there was a "bang" from within his body. The airflow in his Dantian seemed to find an outlet, descending from the Dantian, passing through the Wei-lu point at the tailbone, and ascending along the spine through the Ming-men point. It paused for only a moment before rushing past the Zhi-yang point and directly towards the Feng-fu point behind his head. Wang Hong calmly guided the internal energy upward. After only a few breaths, with a "hum," the internal energy passed through the Feng-fu point and entered the upper Dantian in his brain.

The internal energy did not linger in the upper Dantian for long. Wang Hong then guided it downward through the Ren meridian to the lower Dantian. This circulation of internal energy along the Ren and Du meridians for one cycle was known as the Lesser Heavenly Cycle. It also signified that Wang Hong had officially become a Houtian Stage martial artist.

Wang Hong had only started cultivating internal energy a few days ago, and with just one elixir, he had become a Houtian martial artist. The methods of immortals were indeed extraordinary. This single elixir was equivalent to at least five years of cultivation.

Wang Hong moved lightly around his room, feeling his senses sharpened and his mind refreshed. He clenched his fists, feeling his entire body filled with strength. Generally, martial artists who reached the Houtian realm could exert a strength of six hundred jin.

Just as Wang Hong was about to find a place to test his strength, there was a "knock! knock knock!" at the door.

When he opened the door, a young man in student attire stood outside. "Wang Hong, the dean is looking for you."

Wang Hong asked with some confusion, "Do you know what it's about?"

"I don't know. You'll find out when you go there."

"Okay, thank you! I'll go now."