Great Void Mirror Heaven

"Gone?"

Hearing that Tang Shun had stayed out all night and still had not returned, the leading black-robed cultivator frowned slightly.

This fellow's mental state had never been normal.

Had something set him off and made him run away?

Glancing up at the sky, the black-robed cultivator immediately told his subordinates, "Go look for him. A full-grown man can't just vanish.

"Report back as soon as you have any news."

"Yes!" The black-robed menial disciples accompanying him answered and immediately scattered, swiftly disappearing into the morning mist and the depths of the streets and alleys.

The leading black-robed cultivator turned and cupped his hands toward Qi Yun and the others.

"My apologies, everyone. Tang Shun's whereabouts are unknown, and I've already sent men to find him. Could I trouble you to... wait a little longer?"

"Wait? How long? Will you take responsibility if we miss the initiation ceremony?" Lifting his phoenix eyes slightly as he toyed with his fingernails, Shen Fan spoke indifferently.

Tang Shun had previously had a very unpleasant quarrel with him over his spells failing.

If the black-robed cultivator had not been beside them, and they had not feared the Holy Sect's rules, the two would have come to blows long ago.

Tang Shun was missing?

Heh. Good riddance to the noise.

Put on the spot by Shen Fan, the black-robed cultivator looked embarrassed. Although his cultivation was at the Qi Refining Third Layer, he was ultimately only a menial disciple, no match in status for these soon-to-be formal disciples of the Holy Sect. He could only say quietly,

"At most... one two-hour period. If there's still no news after that, we'll set off immediately. We absolutely won't delay your entry into the sect."

"Hah."

Giving a soft snort of unclear meaning, Shen Fan turned and headed into the inn's main hall, more or less reluctantly agreeing.

"That Tang Shun really is a strange one. He spent the past few days turning everything upside down looking for his Storage Bag, leaving even the chickens and dogs in an uproar.

"And now he's gone and vanished himself..."

Sitting together in the hall, Wu Tao picked up the teapot and poured a cup for Qi Yun and himself. He lifted his cup and took a small sip. The bitter tea assailed his taste buds, making him frown and smack his lips.

"Who knows?" Accepting the cup, Qi Yun looked as composed as ever.

And probably none of the people sitting in this room would have imagined it.

The person responsible for Tang Shun's disappearance was sitting right before their eyes, drinking tea with a calm expression.

The two hours soon passed.

Unable to find any trace of Tang Shun, the black-robed cultivator could only arrange for everyone to set off first. As for Tang Shun... he would have to pray for his own good fortune.

Wheels rolled through dust, accompanied by the clatter of hooves.

Travel-worn, they crossed mountains and ridges for thirteen full days.

On the morning of the fourteenth day, as the faint dawn light pierced the thin mist, the carriage finally came to a slow halt.

"Everyone, we've arrived." The black-robed cultivator's voice carried a trace of exhaustion, but more than that, relief and a barely perceptible hint of awe.

He jumped down first, raised his hand, and pointed toward the heavens.

"This is where the Holy Sect's mountain gate stands-the Great Void Mirror Heaven!"

Following his finger, Qi Yun and the others climbed down from the carriage and looked up. Disbelief appeared on all their faces, and their hearts and minds shook violently!

The cosmos formed a backdrop, and enormous mirrors hung in the sky!

High above in the vast void of the heavens, immense jeweled mirrors of colored glass hung majestically, their size beyond measure. They were not motionless, but slowly revolved, their surfaces blazing with dazzling wheels of five-colored light. Their radiance stretched for countless leagues, illuminating the surrounding sky for ten thousand li.

These jeweled mirrors were stacked facing one another, more below and fewer above, forming a shape like an altar.

And amid these jeweled mirrors stood clusters of enormous, ancient, magnificent palaces.

Countless streaks of divine radiance, like shooting stars, continually swept down over the colored-glass mirrors. Each possessed a presence as deep as an abyss, as though it held the mighty power to crush mountains, shatter peaks, and reshape rivers and lands.

Gazing at the [Great Void Mirror Heaven], which surpassed mortal imagination, only now did Qi Yun and the others truly feel the terrifying foundations of the colossal Wuji Sacred Sect.

Its mountain gate alone was enough to overwhelm countless people.

"All right, everyone, my task is finished. Just pass through the woods ahead, and someone inside the mountain gate will receive you."

Standing beside the carriage, the black-robed cultivator looked enviously at Qi Yun and the others before leaving.

Although he possessed cultivation, it had been gained entirely by taking secret medicines and squeezing out his potential. In other words, he had no aptitude for cultivation whatsoever.

"The Holy Sect. We're finally here."

The [Great Void Mirror Heaven], resplendent with countless rays of light, reflected in his phoenix eyes as Shen Fan and the other two strode toward the woods ahead, clearly unable to wait any longer.

"Brother Wu." Gazing at the miraculous mirror heaven towering into the clouds, Qi Yun's eyes likewise kindled with a blazing light. He turned toward the still somewhat dazed Wu Tao, smiled openly, and patted his shoulder.

"Let's go! Let's see it for ourselves too, this true... great world of cultivation!"

As they passed through the woods, Qi Yun and the others suddenly felt the surrounding air turn thick and dense, but the sensation vanished as quickly as it came.

It was as though they had just passed through a layer of water.

After only a few steps, everything returned to normal.

"A Mortal-Warding Barrier. With this barrier, even mortals who accidentally wander here can't enter. They'll only circle around in the same spot."

As someone with a background, Shen Fan recognized the reason for that strange sensation at a glance.

No sooner had he spoken than a long, languid yawn drifted from beneath a crude thatched shelter a short distance ahead.

Everyone looked toward the sound and saw a young Daoist in pale gray robes slowly sitting up in a shabby rocking chair beneath the shelter.

His eyes were bleary with sleep, and his hair was somewhat disheveled. Squinting as though he had not fully woken from his dreams, he cast a lazy glance their way.

"You certainly took your time. The initiation ceremony starts in two days. Anyone who hasn't arrived will be counted as having betrayed the sect, without exception."

Hitching up his loose Daoist robes, the young Daoist walked over to them. After looking them over, he took out a jade register bound with golden cord. With a touch of his fingertip, rows of tiny characters immediately appeared on its previously blank pages.

"Oh, you're from Ling Family Mountain. That certainly isn't close.

"Wait, there should be six of you. Why are there only five?" the young Daoist asked in puzzlement after checking the register.

"Reporting to Senior Brother, one person ran off somewhere along the way. He probably fled," Du Yunian, who always wore a smiling expression, explained with a chuckle.

"I see. All right, then. Follow me."

Putting away the jade register, the young Daoist merely formed several profound hand seals with both hands in a seemingly casual manner.

The next instant, a gentle breeze abruptly swirled up from the ground.

As though possessing substance, the wind instantly lifted Qi Yun and his four companions securely into the air. Enveloping them, it carried them off the ground and soared straight toward the Great Void Mirror Heaven hanging high in the Ninth Heaven!

Riding the wind, with the ground beneath them growing ever more distant, Qi Yun and the others felt both excited and somewhat panicked.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I've practiced this wind-riding art for eighteen years, and only thirty-odd people have fallen to their deaths in all that time. It's perfectly safe."

The moment the young Daoist offered these reassuring words, their hearts, which had been hanging in suspense, died completely.

Fortunately, the young Daoist proved fairly reliable this time. They traveled upward through the swirling clouds and finally landed steadily on the lowest and most incomparably vast colored-glass mirror in the entire Great Void Mirror Heaven.

Straightening his slightly disheveled clothes, Qi Yun felt a smooth warmth and solidity beneath his feet. Looking down, he saw a mirror surface as spotless as new, reflecting the sky and drifting clouds.

"This is the mountain gate of our Wuji Sacred Sect. Wait here. Once the initiation ceremony ends in two days, you can formally enter the sect and become its disciples."

After bringing Qi Yun and the others to the mountain gate, the young Daoist gave them a few instructions. Then, under their astonished gazes, he leaped straight off the mirror's edge from that dizzying height and vanished into the surging sea of clouds.

Finally here...

Recovering from the lingering sensations of flying through the sky, Qi Yun looked around and surveyed the Wuji Sacred Sect's mountain gate.

Only then did he suddenly discover that the edges of this enormous mirror surface, as expansive as a plaza, were already thick with people.

Several hundred figures stood or sat there, gathered in groups of three or five.

Their clothing varied, as did the strength of their presence, but every youthful face was filled with undisguised eagerness to try their hand.

These people were clearly all prospective disciples here to attend the initiation ceremony!