The Saintess Takes a Disciple

Lu Ren panted heavily as he climbed the steps paved with slabs of bluestone, ascending one by one.

With his forehead drenched in sweat, Lu Ren looked up toward the distant Mountain Gate. Estimating that there were still hundreds of steps to go, a bitter smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"As expected of one of the four great sects of the Jiangyun Kingdom, they actually built their Mountain Gate this high!"

Lu Ren couldn't help but grumble.

In his previous life, he was a hot-blooded youth from Earth. He had arrived in this Xuanhuang Continent only after accidentally choking to death on Mapo Tofu prepared by the husband of the woman who made it.

It wasn't a soul transmigration; he had arrived with both his body and soul intact.

It took Lu Ren three days to gradually accept this fact, and to his surprise, he felt a strange, inexplicable excitement regarding this new world.

As a hot-blooded youth, he had always been fascinated by the bizarre and the supernatural. Arriving in a world of Martial Cultivation, he looked forward to the day he could become a peerless powerhouse.

Besides, being an orphan and single meant he had no attachments, so he simply treated this as a new life.

Furthermore, when he transmigrated, he brought along a Nameless Treasure Pagoda that he had picked up from a street stall.

The pagoda was bronze-colored and only the size of a finger.

While he was fiddling with it, the pagoda had eerily burrowed into his body, followed by a gray-white glow and a powerful suction force that enveloped his entire being.

With the world spinning around him, Lu Ren felt as if he had entered a space where the Heaven and Earth Law reigned supreme.

This space was nothing but chaos.

After pondering for several months, Lu Ren finally deduced one of the Nameless Treasure Pagoda's abilities.

He felt that this pagoda was a treasure capable of storing time. As long as he entered it, he could use time as he pleased; no matter how much time he spent inside, only a second seemed to pass in the outside world.

As for whether the pagoda had any side effects or limitations, Lu Ren didn't care. This meant he had infinite time to cultivate, for as long as he desired.

However, in this world, to cultivate, one must open their apertures. Those with great talent could open them directly, while those with weak talent required an Aperture Opening Pill.

As someone from Earth, Lu Ren's comprehension and talent for cultivation were truly abysmal, leaving him no choice but to rely on an Aperture Opening Pill to open his apertures.

The simplest and most direct way to obtain an Aperture Opening Pill was to join a sect.

Lu Ren had tried to join several small sects, but he was turned away every time due to his lack of talent.

Later, upon learning that the Qingyun Sect, one of the four great sects, was recruiting disciples, he traveled over mountains and through rivers, hoping to try his luck.

But before he even reached the Mountain Gate, he was so exhausted he nearly died of overexertion!

After resting for a moment, Lu Ren continued to climb the steps. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he finally arrived before the Mountain Gate.

Lu Ren lay on the ground, gasping for breath, before dragging his heavy feet into the Mountain Gate and arriving at a massive plaza.

At this moment, the plaza, which could accommodate thousands of people, was already packed with a crowd.

Looking at the tall and sturdy figures, Lu Ren gave up on the idea of squeezing in. Instead, he stood alone at the very back, gazing toward the high platform in the distance.

On the plaza's high platform stood a middle-aged man in black robes, his expression so stern that people dared not look him in the eye.

"I am Elder Zhu Tie, the elder in charge of this entrance examination. I won't waste words; the Qingyun Sect's entrance examination follows the old rules: we shall test your bloodlines."

"Bloodlines are divided into nine grades, with the first being the lowest and the ninth the highest. Above the ninth grade is the Divine Bloodline. The higher the bloodline grade, the greater your talent and potential. As long as you test at a Fourth-grade Bloodline or higher, you may enter my Qingyun Sect!"

As his stern voice faded, four disciples carried a massive cyan stone tablet and set it down on the high platform.

The cyan stone tablet was a zhang tall and featured eleven markings: the first was a gray marking, and above it were ten blood-red markings.

"This is an advanced Bloodline Testing Stone Tablet. Each of those ten blood-red markings that lights up represents one grade of bloodline; nine lit markings equal a Ninth-grade Bloodline. If all ten markings light up, it is the legendary Divine Bloodline!"

"Perhaps I have the potential for a Divine Bloodline!"

Many young men and women were exceptionally excited.

Those who dared to come to the Qingyun Sect for the examination had almost all tested their bloodline grades within their own families. However, their family's testing tablets were only low-level ones, capable of detecting at most a Fourth-grade Bloodline.

Lu Ren stood alone to the side and couldn't help but ask the youth in front of him, "This genius, what does the gray marking on the testing tablet mean?"

Hearing Lu Ren call him a genius, the youth's favor for the plain-looking Lu Ren increased significantly, and he explained patiently, "That gray marking, I've heard, represents a scrap who cannot cultivate. Moreover, the more they try to cultivate, the more useless they become, even to the point of crippling themselves. It's commonly known as a Scrap Bloodline!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ren didn't hesitate for a second; he turned around, ready to leave.

He had been eliminated from several entrance examinations because his bloodline test failed to pass. With the Qingyun Sect's testing tablet being so precise, it was even less likely he would pass the examination.

Swish!

Just then, a slender, graceful figure descended from the sky and landed beside Elder Zhu Tie.

The woman wore a long white dress, her beauty was breathtaking, her eyes were cold and indifferent, and her aura was incredibly powerful, possessing the air of an orchid in an empty valley.

For a moment, everyone's gaze fell upon the woman, their faces filled with awe.

"Isn't that the Saintess of our Jiangyun Kingdom, Yun Qingyao? I heard she has a Seventh-grade Bloodline, astonishing talent, and reached the Divine Sea Realm at a young age, becoming an elder of the Qingyun Sect!"

"Elder Yun is an elder, what is she doing here? Could she be looking to take on a disciple?"

Many men and women began to whisper to one another.

"Elder Yun, you have finally come to recruit a disciple. This year's batch of seedlings should be quite good; perhaps we can unearth a genius with a Sixth-grade Bloodline!"

Elder Zhu Tie smiled slightly.

Yun Qingyao ignored Elder Zhu Tie, stepped forward, and said slowly, "Today, I intend to take on a disciple!"

As soon as these words fell, everyone present grew excited.

This was Yun Qingyao, the Saintess of the Jiangyun Kingdom, a woman of heaven-defying talent. If one could become her disciple and receive her personal guidance, they would surely ascend to the heavens in a single bound.

"However, I will only accept disciples with a bloodline below the Second-grade. Whoever among you possesses a bloodline below the Second-grade may become my apprentice!"

Disregarding the crowd's reaction, Yun Qingyao continued.

"What? Only accepting disciples with a bloodline below the Second-grade? Did I hear that right? Shouldn't she be looking for geniuses?"

"Among us, those who dare to come to the Qingyun Sect for the entrance examination, who doesn't have at least a Fourth-grade bloodline?"

"If I had a bloodline below the Second-grade, I wouldn't have the face to step foot into the Qingyun Sect!"

Listening to Yun Qingyao's words, the countless men and women in the plaza felt as if they had heard something inconceivable.

Most ordinary people possess only a First or Second-grade bloodline; even with a lifetime of effort, it is difficult for them to open their apertures. Those with Third, Fourth, or Fifth-grade bloodlines can open their apertures with the help of an Aperture Opening Pill, while those with a Sixth-grade bloodline can open their apertures through their own efforts—they are already considered monsters of talent.

Below a Second-grade bloodline, it is fundamentally impossible to open one's apertures. What use is there in taking on such a person?

Elder Zhu Tie's face darkened. He glanced sideways at Yun Qingyao and said, "Elder Yun, the sect required you to take on a disciple. Is this how you intend to fob off the sect?"

"The sect has no regulations dictating what kind of disciple I must take. I, Yun Qingyao, enjoy doing things that are challenging. What is the point of cultivating geniuses with Fifth or Sixth-grade bloodlines?"

"I will only accept disciples with a bloodline below the Second-grade. If I cannot find one, the sect cannot blame me!"

A smug smile appeared on Yun Qingyao's cold, delicate face.

Elder Zhu Tie's face turned from green to white, and he was so angry he nearly coughed up blood.

This Yun Qingyao had no intention of taking a disciple at all; her heart was set solely on cultivation. If not for the pressure from the sect, she would never have come here to recruit anyone.

"If there is no one with a bloodline below the Second-grade, then I shall take my leave!"

Seeing that no one stepped forward, Yun Qingyao smiled slightly and prepared to depart.

"Elder Yun, I believe I have a First-grade bloodline. Thank you, Elder Yun, for accepting me as your disciple!"

Yun Qingyao, who was just about to leave, heard the voice coming from the crowd. Her graceful body stiffened, and her face turned frosty.

The others also widened their eyes in disbelief. Someone with a bloodline below the Second-grade had actually come to participate in the Qingyun Sect's entrance examination—and it was a peerless piece of trash with a First-grade bloodline at that.