Qing Chen gripped the black token and followed the people from the seven kingdoms down the mountain.
The moment he took his first step, he felt light on his feet.
His legs, which had ached on the climb up, suddenly felt at ease, and even his breathing became much smoother.
He looked down at the token. It was hot against his palm, as though a current of energy were burrowing up his arm through his fingertips.
An invisible force guided them forward, making them as light as swallows.
It was as though they possessed the lightness skills of first-rate martial artists, floating along like swallows.
Is this what an immortal sect can do? Qing Chen was inwardly astonished.
After about an hour, the path ahead suddenly turned into a bamboo grove.
Before them stood a towering peak over a thousand zhang high, soaring into the clouds, with mist swirling around its foot.
Just then, a stern shout suddenly came from behind the bamboo grove: "Halt! Who are you, daring to trespass on the grounds of Outer Disciple Peak?"
Qing Chen's heart tightened, and he looked up.
A tall, thin man stood at the entrance to the bamboo grove, dressed in a gray Daoist robe.
His brows were knotted together, and his gaze swept over them like a blade as he scrutinized them.
Seeing this, Xie Yu hurriedly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said:
"Please calm your anger, Senior Brother. We are newly admitted disciples, led into the sect by Senior Brother Gu of the inner sect. The tokens we hold are the ones we just received at the General Affairs Hall."
The tall, thin man took the token, examined it carefully, and muttered:
"Those people in the General Affairs Hall are growing more and more lax. Instead of personally guiding the new disciples, they actually leave them to follow nothing but their tokens. This really is improper."
Senior Brother Gao tossed the token back to Xie Yu, his expression easing somewhat.
"Never mind. Since Senior Brother Gu brought you in, you aren't outsiders. My surname is Gao. Just call me Senior Brother Gao. It's my turn to guard the outer sect today."
He pointed at the enormous peak wreathed in mist ahead. "You've just joined the sect, and the sect-protecting formation has already recorded your auras. That's why it's guiding you to Outer Disciple Peak with the Weightlessness Art.
"Your cave abodes have all been assigned. That peak ahead is Outer Disciple Peak, where several thousand outer disciples live. Follow your tokens' guidance, and you'll find your own cave abodes. Press your token against the door, and the restriction will open."
At this point, Senior Brother Gao suddenly raised his voice. "Remember this! The guiding force won't fade for the first three days. During those three days, you must go to the Technique Transmission Hall to collect your cultivation arts and Fasting Pills.
"Those are rewards for newcomers. You also need to listen to the technique transmission deacon explain how to practice the arts, then hurry back to your cave abodes to enter seclusion and break through.
"If you miss these three days and the guidance disappears, you'll be traveling with mere mortal bodies. Even if you spend an entire day circling the mountain, you won't reach the Technique Transmission Hall!"
Qing Chen's heart jolted, and he hurriedly committed all this to memory. He had no desire to run into trouble just after joining the sect.
He followed the others toward Outer Disciple Peak. Just past the bamboo grove, his token suddenly grew slightly warm, and his wrist felt as though someone had gently tugged it, guiding him to the left.
The others scattered as well, some heading right and others toward the mountainside.
Qing Chen watched the people around him leave one by one.
After walking for about the time it took an incense stick to burn, he came upon a dark cave entrance, with several characters carved above it:
"Number five thousand five hundred and thirty-three."
The characters had been carved with a blade. The edges of the strokes were somewhat worn, suggesting they had been there for years.
Qing Chen reached out and touched the stone wall at the entrance. It felt cool.
"So I'm the owner of cave abode number five thousand five hundred and thirty-three..."
The corners of Qing Chen's mouth curled despite himself, and a wave of reflection stirred within him.
From a brothel enforcer on Immortal-Severing Island to an outer disciple of a great immortal cultivation sect-only he knew the hardships he had endured along the way.
He pressed the token against the cave abode's door.
With a soft click, the restriction on the door rippled away like water, revealing the space within.
Qing Chen walked inside and surveyed it by the light coming through the entrance.
The cave abode was not large, only seven or eight zhang square, divided into three small chambers:
On the left was the cultivation room, with a bluestone slab laid on the floor;
In the middle was the resting room, with a stone bed and a stone table;
On the right was a place for receiving guests, furnished with two stone stools.
Qing Chen was in no mood to rest. He pulled an old meditation cushion from inside his robes, one he had taken from the hidden chamber on Northern Mang Mountain.
He placed the cushion on the bluestone slab in the cultivation room, sat cross-legged on it, closed his eyes, and tried circulating the magical power within his body.
The moment he focused, he felt spiritual energy countless times denser than that on Immortal-Severing Island flowing into his body through his nostrils.
His sea of qi felt as though it were soaking in warm water, comfortably warm, and all the sluggishness he had felt during his previous cultivation was gone.
Qing Chen's eyes flew open, filled with excitement, and he could not help laughing aloud!
Fortunately, the cave abode had a soundproofing restriction, or the other disciples would surely have taken him for a madman.
"A top-quality tier-three island really does live up to its reputation! With spiritual energy this dense, if I cultivate here, I'll definitely reach the qi refining second layer within a year!"
Qing Chen clenched his fists, his heart surging.
This truly was an open sea and boundless sky.
He took a deep breath, calmed his excitement, and reached into his robes for the storage pouch the sect had given him.
He probed inside with his spiritual sense.
There were three kinds of things in the storage pouch:
Three pale green spirit stones;
Two pills wrapped in pale yellow wax coatings;
And a gray Daoist robe and a palm-sized short sword.
Qing Chen picked up the pills first, and a thought stirred in his mind. Weren't these the same kind he had obtained after breaking the jade bottle on Northern Mang Mountain?
So these were the Qi Accumulation Pills Senior Brother Gu had mentioned!
He remembered Senior Brother Gu saying that outer disciples received only two a year. Each supplied as much magical power as ten days of arduous cultivation and was worth two or three spirit stones.
Next, he picked up the gray robe and understood that this was the standard attire for outer disciples.
Though it was not a magical artifact, merely an ordinary little item, wearing it meant he had officially become part of the sect.
Inner disciples, meanwhile, wore black robes that were low-grade magical artifacts.
Next, he picked up the short sword. Its scabbard was wooden. When he drew it, the blade gleamed coldly, its edges keen-this was a low-grade magical artifact!
Qing Chen did a quick calculation. A low-grade magical artifact was worth at least twenty or thirty spirit stones. Adding the three spirit stones, two Qi Accumulation Pills, the Daoist robe, and the storage pouch itself, this set of rewards was worth at least fifty spirit stones!
A big tree really did offer fine shade!
"According to the Records of Profound Mysteries, an ordinary rogue cultivator at the middle qi refining stage earns only fifty or sixty spirit stones a year..." Qing Chen smacked his lips, feeling he had made the right move.
He touched the other storage pouch hidden close against his body.
He had picked it up on Northern Mang Mountain. It was completely empty, a low-grade storage pouch that could hold three chi square of goods and was worth over twenty spirit stones. He had never been able to bring himself to use it.
After putting his things in order, Qing Chen dared not delay. He tucked away his token and headed for the Technique Transmission Hall.
The token was still warm, guiding him toward the mountaintop.
His steps were swift, but he was calculating inwardly: The Everlasting Spring Inner Vista Art I practiced before was only a yellow-grade cultivation art. Now that I've joined the Condensed Jade Sect, I'll definitely be able to choose something better!
As he walked, he remembered the "eight-year deadline" Senior Brother Gao had mentioned, and his heart tightened.
Eight years. If he failed to reach the middle qi refining stage, it meant he would have to toil like an ox or horse for the sect for the rest of his life, never to turn his fortunes around.
Qing Chen reflected inwardly that he was quite willing to yield such an opportunity to serve the sect to someone else.