"Get lost! Don't you see what kind of place this is?"
"Is the mountain gate of the Azure God Sect somewhere lowly trash like you can approach?"
A gatekeeping disciple clad in azure robes kicked Lu Ming squarely in the chest.
Lu Ming let out a muffled groan and rolled down dozens of white jade steps like a torn sack, landing in the mud.
Rainwater mixed with the blood at the corner of his mouth, leaving him in a miserable state.
He struggled to rise, but a piercing pain shot through his left leg. That kick had likely cracked the bone.
He looked up at the mountain gate archway, where immortal light flickered. The three golden characters, Azure God Sect, flowed with radiance, stabbing his eyes with pain.
Beyond the gate, he could vaguely see cascading waterfalls, winding springs, pavilions, and towers, along with the carefree figures of young disciples soaring through the air atop magical artifacts.
Lu Ming clenched his fists, his nails digging deeply into his palms.
He refused to accept this!
He had tested as having a High-Grade Spirit Root at the age of ten—something seen only once in a century within ten thousand li.
But he had no Spirit Stones to grease palms, no influential patron to recommend him. He did not even qualify to take part in the Azure God Sect's outer disciple selection!
Today, he had brought the last three pieces of silver from his Household. They had been saved through his parents' frugality and his younger sister secretly spinning thread at night.
He had come to try his luck. Even becoming a menial servant would have been enough, so long as he could enter the sect and learn the most basic method of drawing in qi.
But in the end, his silver was