Qingyun Sect Selects Disciples, a Life-or-Death Crisis!

At dusk, the blazing clouds painted the horizon crimson.

Beneath the great locust tree at the entrance of Huai Tree Village, a streak of escaping light shot away, while a voice boomed through the village.

"Disciples who passed the assessment, heed my command. You have one day to sever your worldly ties. Gather here at noon tomorrow, and you will depart together for Qingyun Sect to register."

The villagers gathered at the entrance could only stare in stunned disbelief as the immortal master flew away on his sword.

Several twelve- or thirteen-year-old children beneath the great locust tree basked in the envious gazes of the dozens of villagers nearby.

Being chosen by an immortal sect meant that one day, they too could fly on swords like the immortal masters of Qingyun Sect and roam freely between heaven and earth.

"Big Brother Huai'an, what's a spiritual root? Why don't I have one? If only I had a spiritual root too." A chubby little boy with a tigerish head and sturdy build looked at Chen Huai'an beside him.

"Yes... if only I had a good spiritual root..." Chen Huai'an's voice was bitter. His gaze remained fixed on the young woman who stood out like a crane among chickens in the crowd, and his fists clenched tightly.

As he spoke, the young woman hurried toward Chen Huai'an.

"Brother Huai'an, I..."

The young woman was Su Wanying, the village chief's granddaughter in Huai Tree Village.

Chen Huai'an was the village's only elementary scholar, someone capable of taking the provincial scholar examination, and the most learned person in the village. He and the girl before him had been betrothed as children. Once Su Wanying turned eighteen, they could marry.

Once, they had been the golden boy and jade girl everyone in the village admired. But fate played tricks on them. No one had expected an immortal master to descend upon Huai Tree Village today, claiming that he was recruiting disciples with spiritual roots.

At first, many had thought highly of Chen Huai'an. In the eyes of the farmers, Chen Huai'an had read countless books, like the Star of Literature descended to earth. He would surely become the village's most successful man.

Yet he had been rejected. He possessed mixed five-element spiritual roots, and he was also too old, placing him outside Qingyun Sect's recruitment criteria.

Su Wanying, meanwhile, possessed an exceptional water spiritual root and could enter Qingyun Sect's inner sect directly.

"Brother Huai'an, don't worry. I won't go to Qingyun Sect. I want to be with you forever." Su Wanying looked at Chen Huai'an as though she had made the most important decision of her life.

"Nonsense! Wanying, come home with Grandpa." The old village chief, Su Jianlin, shot his granddaughter a fierce glare. Without waiting for Chen Huai'an to speak, he dragged the unwilling Su Wanying home.

Qingyun Sect had not given them much time—not even a full day. Their Su Family had to make arrangements in advance.

As for Chen Huai'an, he was nothing but useless baggage who would only hold Su Wanying back. Wanying had to draw a clear line between herself and him!

Su Jianlin could still hear the lofty immortal master's voice transmission ringing in his mind.

"Su Wanying possesses an exceptional water spiritual root. Her future is boundless. Chen Huai'an must never be allowed to affect her!"

Chen Huai'an had only been given a chance to test his spiritual roots because Su Wanying had begged desperately for it. Otherwise, he would not even have had the opportunity for a spiritual root test.

Su Wanying struggled, but was forcibly taken away, leaving Chen Huai'an alone in the chaotic wind.

They truly were not people of the same world.

"Break off the engagement. You must break off your engagement with Chen Huai'an! He's taken the examinations for years and still hasn't even become a provincial scholar. That useless wretch isn't worthy of you. My dear granddaughter, remember this: you are destined to become an immortal! Even if Chen Huai'an became the top scholar, he still wouldn't be worthy of you. Never associate with such trash again. You are not people of the same world."

The old village chief's scolding of his granddaughter drifted over from nearby. Chen Huai'an subconsciously clenched his fists, then weakly loosened them again.

A scholar was useless in every way—those words had not been wrong after all.

Earning official honors and securing a post in the imperial court would have been enough to make someone a figure of glory and distinction in Huai Tree Village.

But compared to immortals who stood high above, it was the difference between clouds and mud.

By evening, Huai Tree Village was exceptionally lively.

Yet the atmosphere at the Chen Family home on the eastern end of the village was somewhat oppressive.

The village chief wanted to break off the engagement. He did not even know how to tell his mother.

Unexpectedly, before Chen Huai'an could speak, Mother Chen spoke the moment she saw him return home. "Huai'an, I've heard all about it. When this childhood engagement was arranged, I said our two families were not well matched in status. Now that the village chief's family wants to break it off, let them."

Though Mother Chen's face was somewhat weathered, her eyes were clear and open-minded. It rubbed off on Chen Huai'an, easing the heaviness in his heart.

"Alright. With those words from you, Mother, I can rest easy. If they want to break off the engagement, let them." Chen Huai'an nodded.

Scholars had a scholar's backbone. If the Su Family had not shamelessly come begging at their door back then, the Chen Family would never have agreed to this marriage.

Besides, it was not as though he had no spiritual roots. They were merely inferior, and his cultivation would be slower. It was not as if he could not endure hardship.

It was just that the immortal master at the village entrance did not want him. How was he supposed to enter an immortal sect now?

"Chen Huai'an, come out here for a moment."

Just as Chen Huai'an and his mother were preparing to light the fire for dinner, a middle-aged man appeared beside their dilapidated thatched hut.

The visitor was Su Wanying's paternal uncle, Su Daqiang.

Chen Huai'an did not know why Su Daqiang had come to his door at this hour. But out of respect for an elder, he still walked outside.

The moment he stepped out, Su Daqiang seized his wrist and forcibly dragged him away.

"Uncle Daqiang, where are you taking me?" Chen Huai'an followed behind Su Daqiang and realized they were not heading toward the Su Family home.

"Come on. Get in the carriage. I'm taking you to see Wanying." Without turning his head, Su Daqiang answered in a low voice.

The two soon arrived at the village entrance, where a horse carriage was indeed waiting.

Only through their conversation did Chen Huai'an learn that the Su Family had already been invited into town by the local wealthy landlord, who had prepared a banquet and was treating them lavishly.

The wealthy landlord wanted to take this opportunity to build a good relationship with Su Wanying's family.

Chen Huai'an had been summoned today to make a clean break.

As he sat in the carriage, Chen Huai'an heard Su Daqiang say that someone from the neighboring village also possessed spiritual roots and could enter Qingyun Sect.

They were supposedly waiting at the village entrance tomorrow for Qingyun Sect's immortal masters to collect them, but how could these people possibly remain calm?

Several households with children possessing spiritual roots planned to gather together tonight, hoping that once they entered Qingyun Sect, they could look out for one another.

No one wanted to miss such an opportunity where one person attained the Dao and even the chickens and dogs rose to heaven.

If they seized this opportunity, the families behind them would soon become a force to be reckoned with. Even the officials in town would come to curry favor with them.

A bright moon hung high in the sky, and Chen Huai'an took in the surrounding scenery. Thinking of Su Wanying, he felt somewhat forlorn. But before that feeling could linger for long, Chen Huai'an sensed that something was wrong.

The carriage had stopped on a hillside?!

"Uncle Daqiang, this doesn't seem to be the road to town!"

"Chen Huai'an, don't blame me. If you must blame someone, blame your inferior talent. If word of your childhood engagement to Wanying gets out, it will surely become a stain on her!"

At that moment, Su Daqiang's eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he glared viciously at Chen Huai'an.

Seeing this, Chen Huai'an turned and ran.

Chen Huai'an looked refined and scholarly, but he had been born in the countryside. During the busy farming seasons, he still had to work in the fields to help his family. His body was sturdy and nimble. By a hair's breadth, he dodged the first fatal slash from Su Daqiang.

"What are you standing around for? Chase him! Don't let the brat get away!" Su Daqiang roared. Several burly men dressed in black appeared nearby and immediately pursued Chen Huai'an in the direction he had fled.

The other side outnumbered him, and every escape route had been blocked. Before long, Chen Huai'an was forced to the edge of a cliff.

"Damn it, is this little bastard a rabbit or something? Didn't they say he was just a poor scholar? How the hell can he run so fast?" Several burly men panted heavily, brandishing their long blades as they watched Chen Huai'an with cruel grins.

Pursuers before him, a sheer cliff behind him—judging by their stance, they would not rest until he was dead!

"Huai'an, don't blame your uncle once you reach the underworld. I'm doing this for Wanying's sake." Su Daqiang approached with a cold face. After speaking, he raised his blade and slashed at Chen Huai'an, who had been driven into a dead end.

"Su Daqiang, just you wait! If I survive today, I'll make every last one of you pay the price!!"

After cursing, Chen Huai'an dodged the descending slash and leaped backward off the cliff!

They outnumbered him, and they had blades. If he stayed, death was his only path. If he jumped, there might still be a sliver of hope.

"Damn it! That bastard actually jumped off the cliff!" Su Daqiang could not help but frown at the sight.

Then he gave a cold laugh. "But the cliff is so deep. Even if that brat had nine lives, he couldn't possibly survive!"

With that, Su Daqiang spat viciously down below.

The immortal master's task had finally been handled. The Su Family would soar to great heights from now on. Even if Chen Huai'an somehow survived, why would he fear a useless mortal?

As Chen Huai'an plunged into the abyss, his hands instinctively clawed wildly through the air.

The weightlessness of falling from the cliff was even more intense than he had imagined. Chen Huai'an felt his head grow heavy, his breathing become difficult, and darkness slowly swallow his vision.

Then, in the instant before his consciousness faded, the gourd pendant on his chest suddenly grew larger. A faint halo emerged around it, wrapping around him as it carried him down toward the bottom of the cliff.

He did not know how much time had passed. When Chen Huai'an opened his eyes, he was lying spread-eagled on a riverbed, while his hand clutched a purple gourd tightly.

He had jumped from such a high cliff rather than fall into the Su Family's hands, yet he had not died.

"Eh? Where did this gourd come from?" Chen Huai'an sat up and frowned at the gourd in his hand.