Seeing this scene, Qin Fengming found himself unable to decide for a moment. He could not help turning to Sect Master Sima, only to see the envy on his face, without the slightest hint of displeasure. After thinking it over, he spoke:
"I am willing to follow the two of you to Luoxia Sect, but I wonder, after I leave, will I still be able to keep in touch with my family?"
Hearing Qin Fengming say this, Sect Master Sima knew that the silver he received each month had already been sent back home. He naturally understood what Qin Fengming meant, and immediately said:
"Qin Fengming, you need not worry. After you leave, I will instruct Elder Wu to have the Luoxia Valley properties near your home send your family one hundred taels of silver each month. All you need to do is cultivate at ease."
Hearing the sect master say this, Qin Fengming immediately felt relieved. He knelt on the ground and heavily kowtowed three times to Sect Master Sima. "Thank you for your deep kindness, Sect Master Sima. If fate allows, Qin Fengming will surely repay you in the future."
When the middle-aged man surnamed Feng saw that Qin Fengming had agreed, he was delighted as well. "Go back to your room and prepare. Pack up the things you use, and we will return to the sect immediately."
Hearing this, Qin Fengming showed a trace of reluctance and said, "Immortal Master, I would like to bid farewell to my master and mistress. Would that be all right?"
After asking who his master was, the middle-aged man surnamed Feng said firmly, "There is no need to bid farewell. It is best not to let your master know about cultivation. Have Sect Master Sima find a reason to inform him."
After a brief pause, he continued:
"Qin Fengming, you must remember this: once you step into the Cultivation World, you must sever your ties with all the ordinary people from your past. This is essential for you, because you may live for several hundred years or even longer. By then, all your relatives will have long since passed away. Dwelling on them will be extremely detrimental to your cultivation. When you break through a realm, you may be controlled by inner demons."
Regarding Immortal Master Feng's words, Qin Fengming was utterly confused. Living for a hundred years, or even several hundred years, was something he had never imagined. As for the talk of inner demons, he understood it even less.
But he could vaguely understand that he would enter an entirely new world in the future, one with an environment completely different from the world he knew. From then on, he would have to face the road ahead all by himself.
Seeing that the middle-aged man was adamant, Qin Fengming said no more. He returned to his room to organize his belongings and clothes. After looking around the room where he had lived for four years, he clenched his teeth and left.
The middle-aged man surnamed Feng flipped his hand, and a miniature shield the size of an infant's palm appeared in it. He tossed it outward, and it grew with the wind, instantly transforming into a shield one or two zhang across that floated before them.
Such a miraculous sight filled Qin Fengming with immense delight. He secretly imagined that perhaps he, too, would possess such wondrous abilities in the future.
After bidding farewell to Sect Master Sima, Qin Fengming leaped onto the shield with the two men. As radiance flashed, it shot toward the depths of the mountains.
Standing atop the enormous shield, Qin Fengming felt incredibly steady. His heart was filled with countless emotions. Looking back at Luoxia Valley, he knew that this journey would take him far from the mortal world, and that he might never see his family again. He was about to enter an entirely new world. His feelings were a tangled mix of every flavor, impossible to distinguish for a time.
After the shield flew a hundred li into the deep mountains, where peaks overlapped one after another, white mist began to appear between the mountains. The farther they flew, the denser the mist became. After they advanced another hundred li, the white mist suddenly vanished.
"Heh heh, Junior Brother, this hundred-li-wide region of white mist is an illusion restriction personally established by a great master of our Luoxia Valley's ancestral generations. Ordinary people who enter it will certainly lose their way. It is also a barrier meant to prevent the villagers outside the mountains from secretly entering our Luoxia Sect."
After Qin Fengming listened carefully, the excitement in his heart grew even stronger.
After flying several hundred li farther, the shield came to a stop beneath a mountain peak.
With a wave of the middle-aged man surnamed Feng's hand, a jade pendant appeared in his grasp. He flicked his hand, and the jade pendant shot forward. In an instant, it seemed to strike an invisible barrier in midair and stopped motionless. Ripples began to appear around it, as though a light curtain stood before them, blocking the way.
Seeing this bizarre scene, Qin Fengming's eyes were already filled with shock.
The young man looked at him and smiled faintly as he explained, "This is precisely where our Luoxia Sect's protective grand formation lies. Unless the formation releases someone from within, even a person with great divine abilities cannot easily break through it."
At this point, Qin Fengming could do nothing but nod secretly again and again. The Cultivation World truly was extraordinary, with unfathomable things everywhere. This also put him on high alert. He reminded himself that from now on, he had to be more attentive and guard against everything at every turn.
While the young man surnamed Wang was speaking with Qin Fengming, a streak of red light suddenly flew down from the mountain peak and struck the jade pendant directly. The moment the two made contact, brilliant light burst forth. After a dazzling flash, a passageway one or two zhang high and one zhang wide appeared in the enormous transparent light curtain.
The middle-aged man pointed out with one hand, and the jade pendant flew back into his grasp. He urged the shield beneath his feet and flew straight through the passageway.
After entering the light curtain, Qin Fengming discovered dense forests everywhere, with birds singing and flowers blooming throughout. In the distance, overlapping peaks rose one after another while rosy clouds danced through the sky. It was already early autumn outside, but there was not the slightest trace of autumn here. It was as though he had entered another world, completely unrelated to the space he had known before.
After flying another two hundred li or so, the enormous shield stopped beneath a lofty mountain peak. The three of them jumped down, and the middle-aged man surnamed Feng put it away before turning to Qin Fengming.
"This peak is Cloudwatch Peak, where the master of our Luoxia Sect resides. Powerful restrictions have been set up throughout the mountain, so flying at high altitude is forbidden." After saying this, he headed up the steps, moving with remarkable speed.
Qin Fengming unleashed his lightness technique and followed closely behind, not daring to fall back in the slightest.
When they reached the summit, a great hall twenty zhang tall stood before them. Built against the mountain, it appeared extremely majestic. Two men dressed in black stood outside the hall.
The middle-aged man surnamed Feng seemed familiar with the men in black. He merely nodded to them without saying much and led Qin Fengming and Young Man surnamed Wang straight into the hall.
As soon as he entered the great hall, Qin Fengming discovered that it was extraordinarily spacious. Dozens of chairs stood in rows on either side. At the very front was a chair occupied by a man—a sixtyish old man in a blue robe with a gentle expression on his face. Seven or eight people dressed in yellow sat on either side of him.
When the three entered, everyone turned their heads one after another to look at Qin Fengming.
The middle-aged man surnamed Feng stepped forward and bowed to the old man in blue. "Greetings, Senior Brother Sect Master. This junior brother has brought Qin Fengming from Luoxia Valley. He has also agreed to join our sect." After saying this, he stepped aside.
The old man in blue smiled as he looked at Qin Fengming. After nodding, he said to the middle-aged man surnamed Feng, "You and Nephew-disciple Wang have worked hard this time. Go down and rest."
The middle-aged man surnamed Feng and Young Man surnamed Wang bowed and left the great hall. Before departing, Young Man surnamed Wang nodded to Qin Fengming in encouragement.
Before you continue