Bringing Junior Sister Along for Mountain Patrol

The Kunlun mountain opening day, held once every thirty years, had finally arrived.

Thirty years is half a Jiazi cycle.

Kunlun's Taiqing Sect, whose lineage number is "Gold in the Sea," typically officially opens its gates in a Jiazi or Yichou year, with a supplementary opening in a Jiawu or Yiwei year, meaning twice per Jiazi cycle.

Explaining this in detail would take too long, so we'll set it aside for now.

However, for ancient people whose average lifespan was no more than fifty years, this meant most individuals had only one or two opportunities in their lifetime to join Kunlun.

Of course, if one possessed talent as extraordinary as Qiu Changtian, being able to ascend the Kunlun Heavenly Stairway on a non-opening day meant joining the Taiqing Sect was possible at any time.

Qiu Changtian and Xu Yinglian descended on their swords, circling the Kunlun Sky Pillar.

They saw the mountain steps of the Kunlun Heavenly Stairway winding upwards around the Kunlun Sky Pillar, loop after loop, with countless mortals clinging to them like ants, struggling to climb.

"I heard Senior Brother ascended the mountain on a non-opening day?" Xu Yinglian asked, glancing at him, her expression cool and clear.

"That's right," Qiu Changtian nodded.

"Could you tell me, Junior Sister, what is so wondrous about this Heavenly Stairway?" Xu Yinglian asked, pointing downwards.

Due to her innate cultivation talent, the "Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart," Xu Yinglian had been meticulously nurtured by the Xu Family of Tiannan. She was then personally brought to Kunlun to become a disciple by the Foundation Establishment Realm senior disciple, Xu Changqing, and had never actually walked the Heavenly Stairway.

In later generations, it would be like a university student admitted without exams asking, "What's the college entrance exam like?" It was essentially a form of showing off.

Qiu Changtian seemed oblivious, merely smiling as he replied:

"This Kunlun Heavenly Stairway has a Heavenly Steps count of one hundred thousand, which is not an exaggeration but a literal one hundred thousand steps."

"If a mortal can complete this Heavenly Stairway within a single day and night, they will be permitted to join Kunlun's Taiqing Sect."

"Based on their finishing order, disciples are divided into inner and outer disciples. Inner disciples can participate in the disciple recruitment assembly for formal apprenticeship, while outer disciples can only self-study Qi Refining Techniques."

"Furthermore, if one wishes to cultivate our sect's supreme technique, the Nine Heavens Pure Micro Entrance True Words, they must become a disciple of the Ziwei Sect Master."

"Our Master only accepts seven disciples per generation, and only the Chief Disciple is a direct disciple, permitted to enter the Yuxu Palace Scripture Hall to listen to lectures. The remaining disciples can only learn from the Chief Disciple."

"Huh?" Xu Yinglian interrupted him. "Since Senior Brother is already predetermined to be the Chief Disciple of this generation, why can I also go to the Scripture Hall to listen to lectures?"

"Because Junior Sister's Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart is one of the foremost cultivation talents in the world," Qiu Changtian said with a smile. "Geniuses always make people break the rules."

Geniuses always make people break the rules... Xu Yinglian carefully pondered his words. Suddenly, she saw her Senior Brother lower his sword light and descend, so she quickly followed.

Below, on the mountain path, a young mortal boy sat on a step, covering his face with his hands, silent.

His companion was tugging at his sleeve, earnestly persuading him:

"Don't rest, come with me."

The boy merely shook his head, refusing to get up:

"The mountain path is endless, it's truly exhausting. Let me rest a moment longer."

Their sword lights circled down. Qiu Changtian said coldly:

"He has been deluded by an Outer Heavenly Demon and has developed a lazy and decadent heart. You should go on and do not mind him."

The boy's expression changed several times upon hearing this, but ultimately, his will was weak, and he truly didn't want to continue. He lowered his head without further comment.

His companion gritted his teeth and could only abandon him and press onward.

Qiu Changtian raised his sword light again and said to Xu Yinglian:

"To walk this Heavenly Stairway is truly not easy. The higher one climbs, the closer they are to the heavens. Mortals with flesh bodies, without the protection of immortal pháp, will have their slightest thought of weariness or pause amplified by Outer Heavenly Demons. Those whose Dao seeking hearts are not firm will find it difficult to rise again once they stop to rest."

"Outer Heavenly Demon?" Xu Yinglian asked incredulously. "Even within our Kunlun Taiqing Sect, one can still be influenced by Outer Heavenly Demons?"

"Cultivation naturally has three calamities and nine tribulations; you cannot escape them anywhere," Qiu Changtian shook his head. "To achieve the path to immortality with a mortal body requires great perseverance and grand vows."

Their sword lights continued to soar upwards. They saw that as the mountain path grew higher, the number of climbers decreased, and the number of those who stopped increased.

It was truly as Qiu Changtian had said: on this Heavenly Stairway, if you stop to rest, you have abandoned your Dao seeking obsession.

To rise again and continue walking is incredibly difficult.

Seeing Xu Yinglian looking eager to try, as if she wanted to descend and compete with these aspiring immortals on the Heavenly Stairway, Qiu Changtian said with a smile:

"Junior Sister's Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart has strong resistance to Outer Heavenly Demons. Even if occasionally deluded by demonic influence, she can quickly see through it. That's why Master allowed you to enter without an exam, because this Kunlun Heavenly Stairway poses little difficulty for you."

"I see," Xu Yinglian said after hearing her Senior Brother's words. She put away her competitive spirit and sighed. "Then what about Senior Brother's 'Clear Dao Heart'?"

Qiu Changtian smiled without speaking.

Your Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart merely has resistance to heart demon invasion.

My Clear Dao Heart, however, directly grants immunity to heart demon invasion.

Which is superior, do I need to say more?

However, if I say this, although it would greatly increase our synchronization value, my tsundere Junior Sister would definitely fall out with me.

Therefore, Qiu Changtian merely changed the subject, pointing downwards:

"Speaking of which, among the disciples climbing this year, there are a few with exceptional talent."

"The person currently in the lead is named Guan Zhan, reportedly from the Guan Family of Longyou."

"Guan Family of Longyou?" Xu Yinglian frowned. "Aren't they generations of Sword Immortals, all disciples of Shushan's Shangqing Sect? Why did they send a young disciple to defect to Kunlun this time?"

"I don't know about this either," Qiu Changtian shook his head. "However, Guan Zhan has an extremely strong foundation. After the sect was founded, he surged ahead, leaving everyone else behind. Now that he's slowed down, I suppose he can't keep up, but his first place position is still hard to shake."

"Normally, he would have been the Chief Disciple for this generation," Xu Yinglian said with a cold laugh, her tone slightly mocking. "Too bad he ran into my senior brother this time."

"Did he only run into me?" Qiu Changtian chuckled in surprise. "Junior Sister, don't forget, according to the order of entry, you are also ahead of him. If he had chosen to take the Sect Leader as his master, he would have been third at best."

"Mm," Xu Yinglian nodded, feeling slightly better at the thought of having junior disciples ranked below her.

"The person in second place is Yan Zhitui from the White Deer Cave Academy of Jiangzhou," Qiu Changtian pointed to someone behind them and continued speaking to his junior sister. "The three great ancient sects were the Heavenly Origin Sect, the Intercepting Sect, and the Ren Sect. Of these, the Ren Sect's legacy has been passed down to this day, with Confucianism inheriting its mantle."

"This Yan Zhitui comes from the Yan Family of Langya, Qingzhou. His family has been a scholarly lineage for generations. It's strange that the successor of this generation didn't pursue officialdom through the imperial examinations but instead traveled thousands of miles to Kunlun to seek a master."

Xu Yinglian pondered for a moment and said:

"Senior Brother, what are you trying to say? Is Kunlun's fortune so great that it attracts disciples from noble families?"

"No," Seeing his adorable junior sister, Qiu Changtian couldn't resist teasing her. "This generation of disciples is full of talent. Junior Sister, you must cultivate diligently and don't let the junior disciples surpass you."

"That's absolutely impossible!" Xu Yinglian immediately became furious, gritting her teeth.