Advancement Ceremony

"Pity. Give me another ten days, and I would surely reach perfection."

Dong Lin shook his head, still unsatisfied.

The three days were up. It was time to set out for the Mystic Heaven Hall and attend the advancement ceremony.

Mystic Heaven Hall stood halfway up Black Mountain, roughly at the same elevation as the Thunder Division.

The only difference was that Mystic Heaven Hall lay on Black Mountain's due north side, while the Thunder Division was on its flank.

The direct disciple advancement ceremony was one of the few ceremonies held atop Black Mountain, with inner disciples and outstanding outer disciples invited to observe.

Ordinary sect ceremonies were generally held in an open area at the foot of the mountain.

The overseers of the various outer sect branches would select outstanding outer disciples to attend.

For this ceremony, inner and outer disciples were permitted to enter Black Mountain. To ordinary disciples, this counted as a heaven-sent opportunity.

Unlike inner disciples, all of whom could attend, the outer disciples' slots were decided by each branch overseer.

Many outer disciples had pulled out every stop over such a slot in just a few short days, fighting until their heads were bloodied.

After all, Black Mountain's concentration of spiritual energy was exceptionally beneficial to ordinary cultivators.

Spending even half a day on Black Mountain might spare one from who knew how many years of bitter cultivation.

Perhaps one might even use the dense, pure spiritual power to break through a bottleneck that had troubled them for years.

Perhaps they wished to use this ceremony to restore the disciples' confidence in a sect that had been sealed off and plagued by rumors.

This ceremony was unprecedentedly grand in scale.

Outside Mystic Heaven Hall, the broad plaza was already crowded with sect disciples who had come to observe.

Dozens of ceremonial disciples clad in black brocade robes stood upon auspicious clouds, floating three feet above the ground.

They stood solemnly on either side of the hall entrance.

An enormous scroll painting of an immortal sect unfurled behind Mystic Heaven Hall, depicting immortal mountains and seas of clouds, crane cries and pine waves.

Mists swirled everywhere, and a thick layer of spiritual fog blanketed the entire plaza.

At that moment, Dong Lin felt as though he stood in a true immortal realm.

Dong Lin entered the main hall, where his master, Zheng Huayuan, was speaking with several Elder Hall elders who were likewise dressed in purple robes.

Today's ceremony was presided over by Sect Master Xuan Sheng.

All the elders of the Elder Hall had attended.

It was a grand occasion the Heaven Sect had not seen in a hundred years.

"I never expected that this mountain sealing would also give us old fellows a chance to gather."

"Indeed. It has been nearly several decades since we last gathered so completely."

"What a pity about Origin Mountain. Such a large batch of spirit mines was simply handed over.

How great a price did we pay back then to get our hands on it?"

Qi Xiuyuan, the Law Enforcement Hall's deputy hall master who had long been stationed outside, grumbled for a while.

Origin Mountain was far from the sect, where heaven was high and the emperor far away, and its profits were enormous.

Even as the Law Enforcement Hall's deputy hall master, he inevitably had certain unspeakable chains of interest maintained at resource sites far from the sect.

Yet this mountain sealing had given all of it away for nothing.

For such a strategic resource, who knew whether they could reclaim it smoothly in five years.

Li Huo Celestial Venerable wore a gilded robe today, every inch of him displaying immortal grace.

From the high platform in the center of the plaza, he presided over the ceremony in an orderly fashion.

Including Dong Lin, three inner disciples were being promoted at this advancement ceremony.

The other two were also standing in the hall, awaiting their investiture.

One was Gu Chen, a sword arts prodigy favored by the Fourth Elder.

It was said that he had been born with an enlightened sword heart and possessed extraordinary talent in the immortal path's sword arts.

At just seventeen, he had already reached the Qi Refining Peak, and his swordsmanship had attained a level of unfathomable mastery.

Gu Chen stood beside the Fourth Elder, Zheng Lichuan, dressed in a neat blue robe with an iron sword hanging at his waist.

He stood tall and straight, with handsome, refined features and a steadiness between his brows that did not match his age.

The other was Tao Yan, a female cultivator accepted by the Sixth Elder, Bai Suxin. She wore an elegant moon-white robe.

Her brows and eyes were delicate and beautiful, her bearing ethereal and detached from the mortal world.

What Elder Bai valued in her was her inborn talent, the Primordial Yin Physique.

Cultivating yin-attributed spells with this physique yielded twice the result for half the effort.

Before even reaching Foundation Establishment, she had already switched to cultivating the Profound Yin True Water Art under Elder Bai's arrangements.

In merely one year, Tao Yan had returned to the Late Qi Refining Stage after changing her cultivation art and starting anew.

Tao Yan was only sixteen. In the jade-green years of youth, she had already walked ahead of many immortal cultivators.

They're all freaks favored by heaven, Dong Lin inwardly sighed.

A resonant bell rang out, and the investiture formally began.

"Gu Chen, Dong Lin, and Tao Yan have cultivated diligently, possessed steadfast Dao hearts, and combined virtue with conduct. From this day forth, you are promoted to direct disciples. You are granted the status of Black-Rank Inner Disciples, bestowed direct disciple jade tokens and Mystic Nether Robes. May you continue striving without cease, bring glory to the sect, and not disgrace the name of Heaven Sect direct disciples!"

"Direct disciples were promoted straight to the Black Tier? Then reaching Foundation Establishment before eighteen wasn't so necessary after all."

Dong Lin nodded slightly.

Today, the three newly promoted direct disciples would demonstrate their signature immortal arts for everyone, in hopes that all would observe and learn carefully.

"They're only at Qi Refining, while most of us below are inner disciples in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Isn't that rather lacking in reference value?"

An inner disciple in the Foundation Establishment Realm voiced his doubts softly.

"Direct disciples are direct disciples for a reason. They naturally have their own unique strengths. Watch carefully."

"We get to witness Senior Brother Gu's peerlessly exquisite swordsmanship again!"

"Junior Brother Gu, who took first place in the previous outer sect competition? He truly has some skill."

"Junior Sister Tao's Heavenly Yin Water Arrows are exceedingly sinister. When I sparred with her last time, my Foundation Establishment-level Azure Wood Shield Technique was broken by three of her arrows."

"She can break a Foundation Establishment-level shield technique? That is indeed worth watching."

"There's also Dong Lin. Do any of you know him?"

"Never heard of him."

"I've never heard of him either."

"I think he's from our Second Division. I saw him during classes at the Immortal Arts Hall."

"How strong is he?"

"I never saw him in the outer sect, and I've never seen him make a move. Hard to say."

Gu Chen was the first to demonstrate.

On the constructed demonstration platform stood a dummy equipped with a High Black Tier protective artifact. Even without spiritual power to activate it, it possessed defensive strength comparable to the Early Foundation Establishment Stage.

This ensured it would not suffer serious damage during the demonstration.

Gu Chen stood still for a moment and closed his eyes.

One breath, two breaths.

His black sword left its sheath. With a flick of his wrist, sword light flashed with chilling brilliance.

The sword shadows transformed into more than a hundred streaks, elusive and unpredictable, moving so fast they blurred.

From time to time, one or two Sword Qi imbued with profound spirit shot from the sword.

In an instant, the dummy became a small boat tossed amid wind and waves, swaying helplessly in every direction.

In only a few breaths, more than a dozen deep gouges had appeared on the armor.

"Good!"

"Brother Chen is amazing!"

Thunderous applause erupted below the platform. Every disciple was stunned by Gu Chen's exquisite swordsmanship.

Gu Chen remained expressionless. He gave Sect Master Xuan a slight bow, then leaped down from the platform.

Tao Yan immediately followed, leaping onto the platform.

The Profound Yin energy in her hand shifted at times into icy rain, at times into sharp arrows, leaving the dummy frozen stiff.

At last, she used a fire technique. Ice and fire struck together, shattering the protective mirror on the armor's breastplate.

Terrifying indeed. In terms of stationary output, this girl's attack power was at least comparable to that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator.

When it was Dong Lin's turn, he had no clear measure of his own strength. He only vaguely felt that his Lightning Arts could rival Foundation Establishment cultivators.

As for its exact power, that would depend on the circumstances.

At this moment, they were within Black Mountain, and just a little higher lay the spiritual mist that shrouded the mountainside.

The interior of Mystic Heaven Hall was not exposed to the outside world, yet no matter how Dong Lin sensed it, the sky here was no different from the sky outside.

After all, to cast the Mystic Spirit Heavenly-Thunder with the Lightning Arts he currently wielded, Dong Lin had to be in an open area.

If he were in an enclosed room or cave, then with Dong Lin's current strength, there was almost no possibility of releasing this Lightning Arts.

Perhaps that was the wonder of this immortal artifact.