Imprint

Chen Qingxuan glanced at the young man and smiled. "He's circulating qi. Once you enter the sect and begin cultivating, you'll understand. This is Wei Kuang, an Immortal Seedling from your same generation. It's a good chance for you all to get acquainted."

As he spoke, he called to the young man, "Wei Kuang, come here."

Hearing that he was an Immortal Seedling of their own generation, everyone was curious. They did not know why he had arrived early and had already begun cultivating.

Wei Kuang walked up to Chen Qingxuan and said respectfully, "Uncle Chen, you're back. Are these the Immortal Seedlings from Great Qian's Yunzhou City?"

Chen Qingxuan smiled. "That's right. Get along well with one another."

He then said to Zhou Qing and the others, "Wei Kuang grew up in the sect and knows everything about its affairs. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask him."

From Chen Qingxuan's words, the Immortal Seedlings understood that Wei Kuang was likely the descendant of some Azure Cloud Sect cultivator, which was why he had been able to live in the sect since childhood.

That meant the sect's disciples were likely not limited to Immortal Seedlings from the mortal world like them. There were also descendants of Azure Cloud Sect members, as well as disciples recruited locally from the Cultivation World.

Wei Kuang patted his chest and promised, "If you have any questions, just come ask me. Uncle Chen, I'll take them to the Hall of Skill Transmission to leave their imprints first."

Chen Qingxuan nodded, then handed the Immortal Seedlings over to Wei Kuang and drifted away. Clearly, his task had already ended here.

Wei Kuang led the Immortal Seedlings to the Hall of Skill Transmission halfway up Azure Cloud Mountain.

The Hall of Skill Transmission was a complex of more than a dozen courtyards. It included the functional courtyards of the Hall of Skill Transmission, the living quarters of the Skill Transmission Hall Elder and the various stewards, and finally, at the very rear of the Hall of Skill Transmission, right beside the Skill Transmission Hall Elder's courtyard, the Library Pavilion.

The Library Pavilion housed all of Azure Cloud Sect's cultivation techniques, spells, secret arts, pill formulas, and formations. It was one of the sect's most important places, which was why it stood beside the Golden Core Realm transmission elder, to prevent anyone from barging in without permission.

As Wei Kuang explained these rules to the Immortal Seedlings, he led them to their destination for the day, the Imprint Hall.

The Imprint Hall was where new Inner Disciples registered. New disciples would leave behind their life imprints here, and the Imprint Hall would issue identity waist tokens in return.

The Immortal Seedlings entered the hall one after another to leave their imprints. Zhou Qing stood in the middle of the line. When he entered, he found that there was only a large bronze mirror inside.

The bronze mirror looked ancient and dim, giving off an unfathomably mysterious feeling.

Zhou Qing could not help secretly releasing his magnetic field. He quickly discovered that the bronze mirror seemed to be recording the electromagnetic characteristics of his body.

He immediately understood. The unique life Aura of each person referred to the overall electromagnetic information emitted by the electrical signals throughout their body.

This information was like a person's spiritual fingerprint. Everyone's was different, and it was absolutely impossible to forge.

This was the usual method used by the Cultivation World to verify identities. After all, with the endless methods available to Cultivators, physical features such as one's face were practically meaningless.

But was this thing truly impossible to forge?

Since it was electromagnetic information, with his ability to control magnetic fields, he might not be unable to simulate it.

The only trouble was that a person's overall electromagnetic information was far too complicated. It would require a long period of analysis to understand, and simulating it would demand exceedingly precise control over magnetic fields.

Neither was something he could accomplish at present.

Still, he could at least treat it as a direction to strive toward.

After all, life information was to Cultivators of this world what fingerprints, identity documents, and facial recognition were to Blue Star.

If someone could forge fingerprints, identity documents, and facial features all at once, the things they could do would be downright terrifying.

If he could succeed in this, he would gain an extremely powerful trump card.

As Zhou Qing pondered the possibilities, he walked out of the Imprint Hall.

As he left, a steward of the Imprint Hall gave him a Black Gold Token. His name was engraved on the front, while the three ancient characters for Azure Cloud Sect were on the back, surrounded by numerous auspicious cloud patterns.

This was his waist token.

Once he left Azure Cloud Sect, it would serve as his mark. Should he run into trouble, raising the token would make ordinary minor sects—or Rogue Cultivators—think twice before provoking him.

Of course, that was only the ideal scenario. Another possibility was that the other party might simply offend him to the bitter end, kill him outright, and ensure that neither living man nor dead body could be found.

Therefore, Zhou Qing decided that until he possessed sufficient strength and had built up a deep reserve of trump cards, he had no intention of leaving Azure Cloud Sect.

Before long, all the Immortal Seedlings had finished leaving their imprints. Wei Kuang led them down Azure Cloud Mountain and toward Violet Cloud Mountain.

Not long after, they arrived at the foot of Violet Cloud Mountain.

Wei Kuang pointed at the courtyards faintly visible amid the mountain forest and said, "Every Outer Disciple may claim their own courtyard on Violet Cloud Mountain. You can choose freely. As long as there is no numbered plaque hanging before the door, you may move in."

Wei Xu asked curiously, "Brother Wei, I see that these courtyards are spread far apart. Though this mountain is large, I'm afraid it cannot accommodate many people. What if those who come later cannot find a place to live?"

Wei Kuang smiled. "Azure Cloud Sect recruits around sixty Outer Disciples every three years. After cultivating for ten years, there will be an assessment. Those who pass will be promoted to Inner Disciples and move to White Cloud Mountain."

"Those who fail the assessment will leave the sect and be responsible for overseeing the sect's various businesses elsewhere."

Wei Xu asked curiously, "Does the sect also engage in commerce and trade?"

Wei Kuang smiled. "Of course. Cultivators must also exchange what they have for what they lack in order to obtain sufficient resources. We regularly take the pills, Talismans, and magical artifacts we refine to shops under Azure Cloud Sect's name for sale. The profits are then used to purchase spirit stones, pills, and other items needed for the cultivation of Azure Cloud Sect members."

"In truth, most of the Outer Disciples Azure Cloud Sect recruits are sent down the mountain after ten years. Of those who remain on the mountain and advance to Inner Disciples, not one in ten succeeds."

Hearing how great the pressure of advancement was, all the Immortal Seedlings felt their hearts tighten.

Wang Xiaohu hurriedly asked, "Senior Brother Wei, what method does the sect use for its assessment?"

Wei Kuang shook his head. "I don't know either. The contents of every assessment are different."

Zhou Qing found this strange. "They could simply assess disciples based on their cultivation progress after ten years. Why change things up every time?"

Wei Kuang smiled. "How far one can go in cultivation depends on many factors: spiritual root talent, comprehension, temperament, luck... Some people are highly gifted, but their comprehension or luck may be lacking. They cultivate quickly at first, yet fall even faster. What can be done about that?"

"That is why the sect's assessments seek to incorporate the factor of luck as well. A high realm does not guarantee that one will pass, nor does a low realm guarantee that one will fail."

"Until the assessment begins, no one knows what form it will take."

Zhou Qing nodded, thinking that this kind of assessment was quite distinctive. Since it took luck into account as well, it surely contained problems that could not be solved by strength alone.