Departure

On a mountain where the elders of the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven lived, the atmosphere bristled with tension.

Lu Chen had intended to take Zhang Wenchang away from this small sect in the Yan Kingdom, only to clash with its Elder Ma Yun over a couple of remarks.

"Greetings, Elder."

Some disciples passing by came over and immediately paid their respects to Elder Ma Yun.

Then one disciple said coldly, "Worthless... Zhang Wenchang, you've got some nerve! Bringing some friend of yours into the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven and daring to disrespect Elder Ma!"

"Birds of a feather flock together. I'd say this friend of yours is another piece of trash!" A male disciple glanced contemptuously at Lu Chen and joined in the mockery.

Elder Ma Yun, with his air of an immortal sage, gave no response to the disciples' taunts at Zhang Wenchang. He merely stared with some alarm and uncertainty at Lu Chen, whose depths he could not fathom.

This honest but untalented old classmate of Ye Fan's was deeply unpopular in the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven. After the elders who had brought him back discovered that he was unsuited to cultivation, they had stopped paying him any attention.

He was just like those who ran taverns in the Hundred-Flower Forest. They, too, had once been disciples cultivating in the grotto-heavens, but their talent was insufficient. They spent their entire lives going in circles within the Bitter Sea Realm, squandering their years in vain. Yet they were unwilling to return to the Mortal World, and so that stretch of taverns had come into being.

Elder Ma's disregard and the mockery of his fellow disciples hurt Zhang Wenchang deeply as he prepared to leave the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven. But his wooden disposition left him at a loss for words, and he could only stand there apologizing meekly!

"Some people remain trash at heart, even if they stumble into a steaming pile of luck and open their Bitter Sea first!"

"Just crawl back and live as a mortal. Dreaming of cultivating into an immortal..."

Rather than appeasing his fellow disciples, Zhang Wenchang's apologies only emboldened them to humiliate him. It was as though trampling a piece of trash gave them pleasure and a sense of accomplishment.

"Enough noise!" Lu Chen shook his head inwardly at the sight and gave a sharp, quiet shout. In an instant, the disciples of the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven were hurled several dozen feet away, and silence fell over the area.

"This..."

Blood seeped from the disciples' mouths and noses, and their eyes filled with utter terror. They had never imagined that a youth who looked even younger than they were could unleash such power with a single quiet shout. Perhaps only the sect master possessed cultivation like this.

"To think that someone your age has already reached such heights."

Elder Ma Yun, who was in the Divine Bridge Realm, was profoundly shocked. He sensed that the youth before him was no old monster in disguise, but truly a young man of eighteen or nineteen.

Such talent surpassed the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven's "Immortal Seedlings" beyond all measure. Perhaps only the legendary Divine Body could possess such peerless gifts.

"This place really isn't right for you. Let's go!" Lu Chen patted Zhang Wenchang on the shoulder and strolled away.

"Young friend..." Ma Yun's expression shifted rapidly beneath his immortal-sage bearing, and he opened his mouth to say more.

Whoosh!

Unfortunately, Lu Chen could not be bothered to listen to his nonsense. With a wave of his hand, brilliant divine light surged out and sent the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven's Divine Bridge Realm Elder Ma flying a thousand feet away in a single blow.

At the same time, divine rainbows rose from several other peaks. Clearly, the aura of divine power just now had alerted them, and they wanted to investigate.

"We're leaving."

Lu Chen swept out a veil of rosy light that enveloped Zhang Wenchang. Together, they turned into a streak of light and shot into the sky, becoming a rainbow that vanished into the distance in an instant.

With his current strength in the Dao Palace Realm, he had nothing to fear even from the entire Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven. But he could not be bothered to fight those people. Beating a small, bottom-tier sect like this held neither meaning nor satisfaction.

After Lu Chen took Zhang Wenchang away from the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven, they stayed in the Yan Kingdom Capital for several days, once again experiencing the bustle and prosperity of the mundane world.

During that time, he employed a Profound Art and supernatural abilities to restore the youth of the graying, middle-aged-looking Zhang Wenchang, returning him to the appearance of a man in his twenties.

Now this wooden old classmate of Ye Fan's was tremendously excited. During his two years in the Jade Cauldron Grotto-Heaven, Liu Yiyi had pleaded on his behalf many times before the sect's experts finally helped restore him to a middle-aged appearance.

Now Lu Chen had directly restored the appearance he had possessed when he left Earth. How could he not be thrilled?

"These are only minor arts. They merely restore your youthful appearance. The decades you lost in the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land can never be recovered."

The experts of the Six Great Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands could restore the outward youth of Liu Yiyi, Zhou Yi, Li Xiaoman, and the others. Naturally, Lu Chen could now do the same.

"Being able to look young again is already more than enough for me. I'll remember your great kindness forever." Zhang Wenchang expressed his gratitude solemnly.

"We're both from Earth. This is nothing." Lu Chen brushed it aside and said, "In a few days, I'll take you to that great sect."

"All right. I'll do as you say." By now, Zhang Wenchang trusted him completely.

The Taixuan Sect was a towering power in the Southern Region, an immortal sect second only to the Desolate Ancient Families and holy lands. At its zenith, its strength had ranked among the top hundred in the entire Eastern Wasteland. In the surrounding region, no sect could hold it down except the Yaoguang Holy Land and the Ji Family.

Lu Chen brought Zhang Wenchang to this mighty immortal sect. In the distance, mountain ranges rose and fell, stretching boundlessly, and the vast immortal domain belonged entirely to the sect. Among them, 108 Unique Peaks towered into the clouds, representing 108 inheritances.

They were the foundation of the Taixuan Sect's enduring prosperity. Even if unforeseen circumstances caused certain inheritances to decline, other main peaks would still be flourishing.

This was also why, through the rise and fall of mortal dynasties and the endless passage of time, the Taixuan Sect had remained standing on this land, its legacy enduring for ten thousand years.

"Would a great immortal sect of this caliber accept a disciple as untalented as me?" Gazing at the endless immortal mountains shrouded in celestial mist, Zhang Wenchang could not help feeling intimidated.

"Don't worry. Unless something unexpected happens, one of its main peaks will accept you." Lu Chen smiled and patted him, reassuring him not to be afraid.

The natural Dao inheritance of the Taixuan Sect's Clumsy Peak was precisely suited to people like Zhang Wenchang and Li Ruoyu.

Other geniuses might possess outstanding talent, but if their minds were fickle and their temperaments flamboyant, they would find it difficult to follow the path where great wisdom wore the guise of foolishness.

Soon, the two arrived before the Taixuan Mountain Gate, where more than a dozen main peaks were already visible. Within their field of view, immortal cranes came and went, halls stood in ranks, and wind drove surging mist, making the scene resemble an immortal realm.

The Taixuan Sect held a major recruitment once every ten years, and roughly a year remained before the next one. Even so, many cultivators came and went before its magnificent mountain gate, along with a few mortals who had traveled a thousand miles to seek a master.

A vast plaza lay at the mountain gate. It was so spacious that even tens of thousands of people gathered there at once would not make it feel crowded.

Lu Chen approached the disciples guarding the gate and explained that they had come to visit Li Ruoyu of Clumsy Peak. This surprised the disciples somewhat, for Clumsy Peak had been in decline for centuries, and no one had shown any interest in it for a long time.

As the Taixuan Sect was a major cultivation sect, visits from disciples of other sects or independent cultivators were perfectly ordinary. But this was the first time they had seen anyone come to visit Clumsy Peak.

Seeing that Lu Chen and his companion were in the Dao Palace Realm and Bitter Sea Realm respectively, the disciples showed some arrogance in their eyes but did not make things difficult for them. Soon, someone went inside to announce their arrival.

A quarter of an hour later, a disciple of the Taixuan Sect came and led the two into the endless immortal mountains.