After leaving Little River Town, Chen Xun headed south, sometimes sleeping beneath the open sky and eating in the wind, sometimes staying at inns. A month passed in the blink of an eye.
At Chen Xun's leisurely pace, if his journey had been marked on a map of Northern Mystic, he would have moved only an insignificant distance.
Chen Xun was currently in Northern Mystic.
Northern Mystic was merely one region of the vast Mortal Realm, yet an ordinary mortal could not traverse it in an entire lifetime.
Beyond Northern Mystic lay the expansive Southern Heaven, Eastern Qian, and Western Sea.
North of Northern Mystic stretched the boundless Ethereal Snowfield. Rumor had it that Snow Monsters frequently appeared there, and danger lurked on every side.
South of Southern Heaven lay a forbidden ground renowned throughout the Mortal Realm: the Hidden Dragon Forbidden Ground. It was said to hold a True Dragon and countless treasures. Whenever it opened, countless cultivators flocked there, drawn by its fame, but many ultimately met their deaths within. Even so, wave after wave continued to follow.
East of Eastern Qian lay the vast Demon Beast Forest, a paradise for demon beasts and a hell for cultivators.
Beyond the Western Sea, there were even rumors of an ancient Barbarian Tribe, where the ancient cultivation method had been passed down for generations. But reaching the Barbarian Tribe required crossing the dangerous Western Sea Region. Over the years, who knew how many cultivators had perished in the Western Sea?
Famous regions such as these were all marked on maps.
Yet many other magnificent lands, with danger woven into their grandeur, remained undiscovered.
"Clear Sky City."
As the sun sank in the west, Chen Xun looked up at the city before him, its walls alone standing fifty feet high, and murmured its name.
This was the first city Chen Xun had encountered in a month. Before this, he had passed through two small towns and numerous villages.
A city was a city, after all, nothing like a small town. Crowds streamed through its gates at every moment.
Chen Xun brushed the dust of the road from his clothes, then joined the stream of people entering the city, his bundle on his back.
The streets of Clear Sky City were clean and tidy, and every so often, he spotted someone sweeping them.
As Chen Xun strolled along the streets, he also saw quite a few guards with sabers at their waists marching past in orderly patrols. Clearly, public security was excellent as well.
Chen Xun bought two stuffed pastries from a shop and continued walking as he ate.
A short while later, Chen Xun saw a crowd gathered around a wall. Curious, he walked over.
"Heavens, tomorrow's the day the Heavenly Dao Sect recruits disciples! I hope my child does me proud! If he has a spiritual root, our Sun family will soar to glory!"
"Hahaha, old Sun, don't get your hopes too high, or the disappointment will be just as great. The Heavenly Dao Sect comes to the city every three years to recruit disciples. When have they ever taken more than a handful of children? If yours has a spiritual root, your ancestral graves must truly be sending up auspicious smoke."
"Exactly. Clear Sky City is so big, with hundreds of thousands of people. Do we even need to say how many children qualify for the test? Yet only a handful turn out to have spiritual roots. Tsk, tsk, tsk."
"Ah, yes, it's far too difficult. Better to have your child study and sit the examinations. That's still easier than becoming an immortal."
"Isn't there a scholarly examination in the city in a couple of days, too?"
"..."
Chen Xun read the notice posted on the wall and listened to the chatter around him, soon understanding what was going on.
So a sect was recruiting disciples.
In a remote place like Little River Town, ordinary people hardly ever even saw cultivators, yet here in Clear Sky City, a cultivation sect was already recruiting disciples.
Clearly, many factors determined a person's life from the moment they were born. Even choosing where to be reincarnated was an art in itself.
Someone born in a remote place would most likely spend their entire life amounting to nothing.
Someone born somewhere better, however, had a chance to follow a different path in life.
"Eh, young man, are you here to sit the examination?"
Just then, a middle-aged woman nearby noticed Chen Xun and could not help asking.
He could hardly blame her for asking. Chen Xun was dressed like a scholar.
Chen Xun said, "I'm only passing through."
"I see." The woman nodded. "Young man, the Heavenly Dao Sect is a renowned major sect in Northern Mystic. They're recruiting disciples tomorrow. Why not give it a try?"
Chen Xun smiled and spread his hands. "Do I look like someone with a spiritual root? Besides, ma'am, do I look that young?"
The woman immediately looked embarrassed. "No, no, you're quite grown."
She had been too hasty.
The scholar before her looked like a young man in his twenties, well past the age limit for spiritual root testing.
The woman hurriedly added, "But you could still give it a try! Only one in ten thousand has a spiritual root. If you have one, perhaps the Heavenly Dao Sect will accept you anyway?"
Chen Xun pressed his lips together, turned, and left.
To Chen Xun, the woman seemed a little too enthusiastic. It would be trouble if she had some ulterior motive.
He was all alone, with nothing but a breeze in his sleeves. There was nothing for anyone to covet. If there was, it could only be this handsome face of his.
At that thought, Chen Xun quickened his pace.
Afterward, Chen Xun saw crowds of residents gathered in quite a few places throughout the city. He guessed they were all reading notices about the sect's disciple recruitment.
A few gatherings were different, consisting of scholars instead. Those were presumably notices about the scholarly examination.
Seeing that the sun had already set, Chen Xun entered a restaurant, took a seat by the window, and called for the waiter to bring wine and food.
Once he finished eating, he planned to stay at this restaurant for the night.
"Here's your wine and food, honored guest. Enjoy."
Before long, the waiter brought over the wine and food, set everything before Chen Xun, then bowed and withdrew.
Chen Xun poured himself some wine and began leisurely eating the steaming dishes.
By then, the sky had darkened into evening. It was dinnertime, and the restaurant had plenty of customers. Every seat on the first floor was occupied, and the waiter kept ushering newly arriving guests upstairs.
As the guests drank, their conversations mostly revolved around the same subject: the Heavenly Dao Sect's disciple recruitment tomorrow.
Just then, Chen Xun noticed a refined-looking young man enter. After speaking with the waiter, the young man looked helplessly around. When he spotted Chen Xun's table, his eyes visibly brightened, and he approached with a smile.
"Brother, the waiter just told me the restaurant is full. Ahem, since you're sitting here alone, could you spare half your table? I'd be most grateful."
With that, the young man placed a silver coin in front of Chen Xun and cupped his hands in thanks.
Chen Xun nodded and pocketed the silver coin. Then he moved his wine and dishes closer to himself, cleared half the table for the other man, and said, "Help yourself."
Zhao Ting froze.
He had assumed the scholar before him would refuse his silver coin. Yet he had taken it? Actually taken it?
Good grief, where was his scholarly integrity?
Zhao Ting had chosen Chen Xun's table precisely because he had seen that he was a scholar.
Who would have thought? Who would have thought!
Zhao Ting could only inwardly lament his painful loss and sheepishly take his seat.
At that moment, he wanted to slap himself twice. Damn it, I took that act too far.
Then Zhao Ting glanced at the lavish spread on the table and swallowed. Embarrassed, he asked, "Brother, how about I skip ordering and share your food instead?"
Zhao Ting wanted to recoup his losses. Whatever he could recover would count.
Chen Xun glanced at him. "How about I return that silver coin?"
Zhao Ting sprang to his feet and exclaimed in delighted surprise, "Really?"
Chen Xun said, "No."
Zhao Ting said, "..."
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