Thirty-Six Green Leaf Spirit Talismans

Chen Ganliu gradually learned a few things about his master from his junior senior sister, Yu Qinghong, after becoming her disciple, and finally found out his own "seniority."

One hundred and seventy years ago, the founding patriarch of the Green Leaf Sect passed the position of sect leader to his eldest disciple, then left to travel the world and disappeared without a trace.

The two people with the highest seniority in the Green Leaf Sect now were the patriarch's two senior sisters: one was Heaven Moon Fairy Qi Qingyao, and the other was called Golden Flower Maiden Xu Qiongyin. She was also Yang Xuesheng's mother and Chen Ganliu's direct grandmaster.

Golden Flower Maiden Xu Qiongyin had six major disciples under her, with her eldest disciple, Yun Susu, possessing the highest cultivation. Yun Susu was also the most promising genius of the Green Leaf Sect's younger generation, with the greatest hope of advancing to the Spirit Embryo Realm.

Yun Susu was devoted to cultivation, however, and had accepted only one disciple, Yu Qinghong, often arousing Golden Flower Maiden Xu Qiongyin's displeasure. It was only because of her junior sister Yang Xuesheng's strong recommendation that she had now accepted Chen Ganliu.

In other words, Chen Ganliu was a third-generation disciple of the Green Leaf Sect, and his seniority already counted as exceptionally high.

These days, Yu Qinghong went out every day to gather herbs and refine healing pills for her master, leaving her no time to look after this newly accepted junior brother.

Chen Ganliu was quite well-behaved. He never caused trouble for his senior sister, staying in the cave abode to cultivate and attempting to refine the Wood Demon Core.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and the Green Leaf Sect's formal examinations and recruitment of new disciples arrived.

Chen Ganliu was slightly tempted and wanted to go watch, but he immediately dismissed the thought and mused, I've already become someone's disciple, while they still have to pass the examinations. It would inevitably leave people feeling disgruntled.

If I went, it might seem like I was showing off, making people unhappy for no reason and inviting jealousy. I'd better honestly stay here and cultivate.

A voice suddenly came from outside the cave. Someone shouted, "The sect leader has issued an edict! There are too many students coming to Green Leaf this time to become disciples, while the various disciples have gone away on business, leaving too few people to conduct the examinations. Dragon Cloud Cave is hereby ordered to send one disciple to serve as chief examiner for this year's disciple recruitment examination!"

Chen Ganliu hesitated for a moment before remembering that he was one of the only two disciples of Dragon Cloud Cave. He hurried out of the cave abode.

A young Daoist was standing outside the cave. When he saw Chen Ganliu, he smiled slightly, handed him a scroll of documents, and said, "So it is Martial Uncle Nan Sixing. Sun Buliu, a Disciple of Qingyao, pays his respects to Martial Uncle Nan."

Golden Flower Maiden Xu Qiongyin was one of the Green Leaf Sect's two grand elders. Yun Susu was the foremost of her six disciples, with the highest cultivation and the greatest hope of advancing to the Spirit Embryo Realm among the Green Leaf Sect's younger generation. She was extremely famous throughout the Green Leaf Sect, so when she accepted a new disciple, everyone across the mountain knew about it.

Chen Ganliu hurriedly returned the salute. He had only just joined the sect, and his cultivation was still low, so he did not dare put on the airs of an elder.

He accepted the documents, saw Sun Buliu off, then returned to the cave abode and went to find his junior senior sister, Yu Qinghong. He recounted the entire matter to her.

Yu Qinghong's delicate brows drew together slightly. "I still have to look after Master. You go in my place."

Chen Ganliu had thought that the entrance examination would have nothing to do with him. After all, he had already become a disciple. He had not expected the sect leader martial uncle's side to issue a conscription order, and with his junior senior sister refusing to go, the task had somehow landed on him.

He declined, "Senior Sister, I don't know the sect's entry talisman arts!"

The Green Leaf Sect's disciple recruitment ceremony lasted one month, while the disciple recruitment examination lasted three.

When an immortal sect recruited disciples, it was impossible to send Golden Core Realm cultivators to inspect everyone's aptitude one by one. Even if someone's aptitude was extraordinary and they possessed one or two spirit veins, what if there was another problem with their body that made them unsuitable for cultivation? Or what if they refused to work hard? What then?

Therefore, the Green Leaf Sect issued the Thirty-Six Green Leaf Spirit Talismans for admission and had the aspiring disciples study and practice them. If they showed some results within three months, they did not even need to be able to use them—as long as they could draw them completely and grasp their spiritual intent, they could join the sect and become disciples.

The young people who came to the Green Leaf Sect to become disciples were nominally all descendants of Green Leaf. Since no other sects were involved, there was no concern that the sect's entry techniques would be leaked.

After Chen Ganliu became a disciple, his master went into seclusion to heal her injuries, while his junior senior sister, Yu Qinghong, was busy gathering herbs and had no time to manage him. Thus, he truly did not know the Green Leaf Sect's Thirty-Six Spirit Talismans.

Yu Qinghong took a scroll of Daoist records from her sleeve and said, "You're only serving as an examiner. You may not need to know them yourself. As long as you compare them against the talismans and ensure that every stroke is correct, that will be enough."

"This contains my insights from cultivating the Green Leaf Spirit Talismans when I entered the sect. Take it and make do with it for now. I still have many things to handle and have to refine good medicine for Master. I have no time to deal with such trivial matters, so hurry over to Senior Brother Qingyao's place and report in."

With that, Yu Qinghong drove Chen Ganliu out.

Helpless, Chen Ganliu could only carry the documents Sun Buliu had given him, along with his junior senior sister's cultivation insights, out of Dragon Cloud Cave and straight toward the front mountain.

Chen Ganliu knew where the disciple recruitment examination was held. After all, he had originally been supposed to take it himself.

The Green Leaf Sect had built a Myriad Talisman Tower on the front mountain. It was shaped like a square seal, with a looping structure and countless small rooms inside. Normally, they were all sealed with magic arts. Only during the disciple recruitment ceremony held once every five years would they be unsealed for use as examination rooms.

When Chen Ganliu reached the Myriad Talisman Tower, the place was bustling and packed with activity. Hundreds of young men and women streamed into the tower, were assigned their quarters, and began a three-month seclusion to painstakingly study the Green Leaf Spirit Talismans.

Three months later, some would surely be jubilant while others would be dejected and miserable. Each person's fate would be different.

The Immortal Encounter Sect was not famous for its talisman arts. The Twelve Talismans of the Profound Gate were merely the Immortal Encounter Sect's external sect technique and were not part of the sect's true inheritance. The Green Leaf Sect, however, was a talisman sect, and the Thirty-Six Green Leaf Spirit Talismans were the foundation of entering the Green Leaf Sect. Thus, although the Green Leaf Sect was inferior to the Immortal Encounter Sect, the subtle mysteries of the Green Leaf Spirit Talismans still surpassed those of the Immortal Encounter Sect's Twelve Talismans of the Profound Gate. In a mere three months, unless one was an unrivaled genius, it was fundamentally impossible to comprehend the mysteries of the Green Leaf Spirit Talismans.

Even Chen Ganliu knew that most of these Green Leaf descendants had already been taught the Green Leaf Spirit Talismans by blood-related elders at home. Many had practiced for years and were deeply versed in the art. With this foundation and their early cultivation, many could pass the examination. This was also intentional on the part of the Green Leaf Sect.

After all, the descendants of Green Leaf were bound to have been taught at home and become proficient in the Green Leaf Spirit Talismans. Outsiders who slipped in would not possess such an inheritance. Unless they were truly gifted enough to catch up with genuine Green Leaf descendants within three months, they would have no chance. Naturally, there was no harm in accepting such a genius either.

When Chen Ganliu appeared, the young people who had once lived on the same mountain terrace as him all greeted him. He could only respond to each of them. After being busy for a while, he finally entered the Myriad Talisman Tower.

As an examiner, he also had a residence on the highest floor of the Myriad Talisman Tower. This floor belonged to the chief examiners sent by the various branches and lineages. Most of them were young people, and they were fairly familiar with one another. Chen Ganliu was the only unfamiliar face.

Many young examiners from the Green Leaf Sect secretly sized him up, extremely envious of his good fortune.

One had to know that the Green Leaf Sect was also an old-established sect with several hundred years of inheritance. It had already passed down through eight generations. Many of these young disciples selected as chief examiners were still sixth- or seventh-generation disciples. When they saw Chen Ganliu, they had to respectfully address him as grand martial uncle or even great-grand martial uncle...