A Fortuitous Encounter! Entering Servant Peak?

Chen Huai'an examined the Purple-Skinned Gourd in his hand, racking his brains to recall everything that had happened after he fell off the cliff, but he could not remember a thing.

After soaking in the water for so long, his clothes were completely drenched, and his skin had turned pale and swollen.

Chen Huai'an could only set the matter of the gourd aside for now and quickly get to his feet. He had to find a way out of here and return to the village as soon as possible.

"But where is this place?" Chen Huai'an looked around. He was beside a small stream, with a massive lake not far away. He had no idea where he was.

As the saying went, surviving a great calamity surely brought blessings afterward.

He had originally wanted to see Su Wanying again and ask her whether she knew that Su Daqiang wanted him dead.

But now, Chen Huai'an only wanted to stay alive first.

By now, the people of Huai Tree Village probably all believed he was dead.

And Su Wanying should have successfully entered the Qingyun Sect.

But what would happen to his mother once she learned he had gone missing?

Her health had never been good. Without him to support her, how would she manage in the days ahead?

Besides, he possessed a spiritual root too. If he had the chance to join an immortal sect, he wanted to cultivate there as well.

Chen Huai'an gathered his thoughts. What he needed to do now was return to the village, settle his mother properly, and then consider joining a sect.

Reaching the stream, Chen Huai'an opened the Purple-Skinned Gourd and placed it in the crystal-clear water. Since he did not know how far the road back to the village was, he planned to fill a gourd with water to carry with him.

"Gulp! Gulp! Gulp..."

The Purple-Skinned Gourd bubbled without pause as water flowed through its mouth and into the gourd.

"Huh? How can this gourd hold so much?" Chen Huai'an discovered in astonishment that after the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the gourd still was not full.

Chen Huai'an had just turned eighteen and still had a youth's stubborn streak. He refused to believe this strange purple gourd could not be filled.

He picked it up and shook it. It was not full, so he continued filling it with water.

While Chen Huai'an kept using the gourd to collect water, he did not know that the water level of the enormous lake nearby was dropping at a visible rate.

"Could this thing be a treasure?"

More than half an hour later, Chen Huai'an finally gave up. This gourd was definitely a treasure. He had been filling it with water for ages, yet it still would not fill up.

Chen Huai'an could only tie the Purple-Skinned Gourd to his waist for now before preparing to search for a way out.

"Who is it?"

Chen Huai'an had not gone far when a sharp feminine cry suddenly rang out, followed by the rustling sounds of someone hurriedly getting dressed.

Very soon, Chen Huai'an saw an incomparably beautiful woman with wet hair, dressed in Qingyun Sect robes.

"An immortal master from the Qingyun Sect?" Chen Huai'an was stunned. Where had he drifted to, to actually encounter an immortal master of the Qingyun Sect?

Before Chen Huai'an could make a sound, a flying sword hovered above his head. He was so frightened that he did not even dare breathe loudly. Any unusual movement from him, and the flying sword could pierce a gaping hole through his body.

"Immortal Master, this is a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! I got lost. I do not know how I ended up here either. Where exactly is this place?" Chen Huai'an covered his eyes with one hand, but through the gaps between his fingers, he could see a flush of embarrassed red rise on her angry face.

He had accidentally seen what he should not have seen. Would she chop him into eight pieces? Still, the woman before him was truly beautiful, like a fairy from the heavens.

"Are you a newly recruited servant disciple? Do you not know that this forbidden area in the back mountains is not a place servant disciples like you should be?" The stunning woman swept her gaze over Chen Huai'an. There was not the slightest fluctuation of spiritual power on him; he was merely an ordinary mortal from the secular world. Then she spoke flatly.

"Immortal Master, I do not know how I got here either, and now I cannot find the way back!" Seeing that she seemed relatively easy to talk to, Chen Huai'an cautiously asked, "Immortal Master, can you take me out of here?"

"Very well. I happen to be returning to the sect. Since you are lost, I shall take you out." Seeing Chen Huai'an looking so panicked and uneasy, the stunning woman could not be bothered to hold it against him.

Before Chen Huai'an could even react, the stunning woman grabbed him and lifted him up. Then came a sensation of soaring through clouds and riding the mist as they vanished from the dense forest.

Chen Huai'an did not know how much time had passed. When he came back to his senses again, he was standing amid an endless stretch of palaces.

"All right, go report ahead."

The stunning woman's voice drifted over lightly. Chen Huai'an vaguely heard someone call her Senior Sister Qin.

It had to be said, this woman who looked like a fairy, aside from being a little cold in temperament, was surprisingly kind.

"Report?"

Watching the stunning woman disappear, a huge question mark rose in Chen Huai'an's mind. Was he not supposed to return to Huai Tree Village?

How had she directly dumped him in the Azure Cloud Sect?

But Chen Huai'an's thoughts quickly raced. Perhaps this was an opportunity.

If he could blend in here, would he be able to become an immortal master?

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and line up to register! Do not think that because Senior Sister Qin of Misty Peak brought you here, you can cut in line." Just as Chen Huai'an let his imagination run wild, a loud shout rang out. A middle-aged man in steward's robes was glaring fiercely at him.

"Sir, my apologies. I will go right away." Chen Huai'an bowed in apology, then hurried forward.

"Name, age, aptitude?" asked a young man in gray robes who did not appear much older than him.

"Replying to Immortal Master, my name is Chen Huai'an. I am eighteen this year, and I have a five-element mixed spiritual root," Chen Huai'an answered respectfully.

"What? Eighteen years old, with a five-element mixed spiritual root?" Startled cries rang out. The surrounding crowd looked at Chen Huai'an sideways, and many stared at him curiously.

A five-element mixed spiritual root could still cultivate, but its aptitude was trash among trash. Even the worst spiritual root accepted by the Qingyun Sect had to be a low-grade spiritual root.

A five-element spiritual root, and already eighteen years old—everyone was curious how someone like this had entered the Qingyun Sect.

However, the disciple handling registration remembered that Chen Huai'an had been brought here by Senior Sister Qin of the inner sect. Perhaps he had some connection to the Qin Family, so it was only natural that he had passed the selection and entered the Qingyun Sect.

Still, Senior Sister Qin had not instructed them to give him any special treatment, which put them in a difficult position. With a five-element mixed spiritual root, entering the outer sect was simply impossible.

Then they could only arrange for him to be an outer sect servant disciple for now.

Given Senior Sister Qin's standing in the inner sect, she would probably be able to arrange for him to enter the outer sect as an official outer sect disciple before long.

"Five-element mixed spiritual root. You will enter the outer sect's Servant Peak as a servant disciple. This is your identity jade slip." The gray-robed man tossed him an identity token and a bundle as he spoke.

"Next."

Chen Huai'an accepted the identity token and the bundle, then walked toward the small square in the courtyard with a bewildered expression.

At that moment, quite a few people had gathered in the small square, clearly divided into distinct groups.

Chen Huai'an stopped among a group of servant disciples.

After observing for a while, Chen Huai'an gained a basic understanding of the Qingyun Sect.

Those with low-grade spiritual roots entered Servant Peak as servant disciples. Those with mid-grade spiritual roots likewise entered Servant Peak, but once their cultivation reached a certain realm and they passed the sect's assessment, they could enter the outer sect—and might even have a chance of entering the inner sect.

Those with high-grade spiritual roots could enter the outer sect directly.

Different spiritual root aptitudes led to different cultivation speeds. The better one's spiritual root aptitude, the faster one cultivated.

Although outer sect servants and outer sect disciples both belonged to the outer sect, their statuses were as far apart as heaven and earth.

Outer sect servant disciples had to handle the miscellaneous affairs of every peak. Outer sect disciples only needed to complete the tasks assigned by the sect each month, then they could focus entirely on cultivation.

Servant disciples already had poor aptitude to begin with, and they had to spend vast amounts of time every day doing all kinds of chores and labor assigned by the sect. The time left for cultivation was pitifully scarce.

Many people remained servants their entire lives, handling mundane matters and odd jobs for the sect. Even at death, they could not break through to the middle stage of the Body Tempering Realm.

Yet even the status of a sect servant disciple was a spot that countless people outside would fight until their heads bled for and still fail to obtain.

"Newly initiated servant disciples will have seven days to cultivate. After seven days, the sect will assign suitable duties based on your cultivation results. The top three may be exempted from servant duties for one month and receive the same treatment as outer sect disciples. Everyone else must go to the Sect Affairs Hall to accept tasks and serve on duty. The sect does not raise trash." Suddenly, a stern shout boomed across Servant Peak like muffled thunder.

Chen Huai'an lowered his head very low. No one had discovered that he had slipped into the Qingyun Sect, and now he could be considered to have a legitimate identity.

That Senior Sister Qin really was his benefactor.

Chen Huai'an made up his mind that if he ever had the chance, he would certainly repay her properly.

What he needed to do now was cultivate diligently. The top three could be exempted from servant duties for a month, allowing him to focus solely on cultivation.

One step ahead, every step ahead.

Chen Huai'an already had poor aptitude, was somewhat old, and had missed the best time for cultivation. He could not possibly spend all his time on servant tasks. He had to cultivate diligently, increase his strength, and make it into the top three.

"Junior Brother Chen, what is your relationship with Senior Sister Qin?" Suddenly, a disciple from Servant Peak asked Chen Huai'an.