Reflected in the water was a face she had looked at for over twenty years—the curve of her brows and eyes, the shape of her lips, and the bridge of her nose were all exactly the same.
It was indeed herself, the face she had stared at in the mirror for so many years in her past life. But it wasn't completely identical—her skin was so fair it seemed translucent, her eyelashes were longer, her pupils held a faint swirl of green, and her long hair was as black as ink. Set against her entirely blue-green attire, as the water rippled, she looked like someone who had stepped right out of a painting.
In her past life, she was already on the attractive side, the type who would be called “senior sister” on campus. But in this cultivation world, if someone said this face belonged to a direct descendant of some immortal sect, anyone would believe it.
Lin Zhiyue stared at the water's surface for a long while before whispering, “With the original owner looking like this, those people from the Clear Creek Sect must have been blind.”
The system chimed in at the perfect moment: “The original owner was previously thin on spiritual energy and malnourished, so her features were suppressed by a dull, sallow complexion. Now that the host is wearing a full set of Purple-quality spiritual gear, nourished by spiritual energy all over, your features have naturally blossomed!”
She didn't reply, but spun around twice in front of the water jar to confirm she really wasn't ugly before heading out the door in satisfaction.
She had rented the courtyard for three days, and still had plenty of spirit stones left. Following the blurry impressions in the original owner's memory, she found the only bookshop in town. Calling it a bookshop was generous; it was more like a junk stall. Bamboo slips, beast skins, and thread-bound booklets were piled all over the floor, and the owner was a dozing old man.
“Do you have any books about the current landscape of the cultivation world?” Lin Zhiyue asked.
The owner lifted his eyelids. Although he found Lin Zhiyue's question odd, he still casually pulled out three booklets of varying thicknesses from a corner and slapped them onto the counter. “Five low-grade spirit stones.”
Lin Zhiyue currently had ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones in her possession, making her frighteningly wealthy by comparison. She paid, stored the three books in her earring, returned to the courtyard, lit an oil lamp, and read from afternoon until nightfall.
Together, the three books pieced together a rough outline of the world.
The place she was currently in was called the Sanglan Realm. It was vast and boundless. Mortal kingdoms occupied seventy percent of the land, while the remaining thirty percent was divided among cultivation sects. There were four top-tier forces, collectively known as One Palace, Two Sects, and Three Gates—Tiance Palace stood above all others; the Qingling Sect and the Biluo Immortal Sect were known as the Two Sects; and the Three Gates were the Piaoyin Sect, the Sacred Sword Pavilion, and Luohong Valley. The Clear Creek Sect, which the original owner had been kicked out of, didn't even qualify for a footnote, belonging to the lowest tier of minor sects whose names couldn't be found even if the map was magnified threefold.
In the current cultivation world, spiritual energy was dwindling by the day, and the major sects constantly fought covertly and overtly over spiritual veins and entry slots for secret realms. However, they maintained a fragile peace on the surface, holding a Dao Discussion Assembly once every ten years. The genius disciples of various sects would compete on the same stage, and the sect of the victor would win the mining rights to the best spiritual veins for the next decade.
The champion of the last Dao Discussion Assembly was the eldest senior brother of the Qingling Sect, a prominent figure of the Nascent Soul Stage who was currently presiding over the preliminary exam in Qingxia Town. Meanwhile, Senior Sister Lin of the Biluo Immortal Sect had placed second in the last assembly. The two sects had held a grudge ever since, coldly trading barbs whenever they met.
Lin Zhiyue closed the book and rubbed her tired eyes.
Tiance Palace, the Qingling Sect, the Biluo Immortal Sect, the Piaoyin Sect... any one of those people on the stage could have crushed her a thousand times over. Yet, standing among over two hundred cultivators this afternoon, she had drawn the genius of the Biluo Immortal Sect over with just the reflection of an earring, and had even escaped unscathed.
She looked down at the Mist-shrouded Verdure set she wore, its flowing light now fully concealed, and stroked the newly acquired jade bracelet on her right wrist.
“System,” she said, “when does the next gacha pool open?”
The system replied instantly: “The time-limited gacha pool 'Flowing Fire and Scarlet Stars: Ascension' is expected to open in seven days. Collecting the full set will unlock the skill 'Flowing Fire Formula,' doubling your spiritual energy recovery speed! Host, you currently have ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones. Would you like to consider topping up...”
“No,” Lin Zhiyue interrupted. “I was just asking.”
She stored the books in her earring, blew out the oil lamp, spread out her bedding in the courtyard, and lay down. Above her was the starry sky of the cultivation world, countless times brighter than the night sky of the cities in her past life. The Milky Way stretched across the sky like a silk ribbon studded with diamond fragments.
Where should she go tomorrow?
She closed her eyes and thought about it. Qingxia Town was too small; staying here would at most yield a few more days of mundane quests like helping people find chickens. To earn gacha tickets, she had to head to a larger place.
She rolled over, her green bracelet gleaming with a gentle luster under the moonlight.
In any case, no one in this cultivation world knew her.
A rogue cultivator of unknown origin, unaffiliated with any sect, and wearing a full set of spiritual gear.
What a perfect identity.
The next morning, Lin Zhiyue was awakened by a commotion outside the courtyard gate.
Rubbing her eyes, she pushed open the gate and saw groups of three to five cultivators gathered on the street, clutching gold-embossed invitations, each looking extremely excited. She grabbed a passing peddler and asked what was happening, only for him to throw back, “Tiance Palace is opening its gates to accept disciples! The entire Sanglan Realm is in an uproar!” before rushing off.
Tiance Palace.
The descriptions from the books she read last night immediately surfaced in Lin Zhiyue's mind. One of the three giants of the Sanglan Realm, it held the absolute top spot with unfathomable strength. However, it had not made a public appearance in fifty years, refusing to participate in any sectarian strife, compete for spiritual veins, or fight over disciples—almost as if it had removed itself from the chessboard of the cultivation world.
Although the Qingling Sect claimed to stand above all other sects, everyone knew that if Tiance Palace truly decided to act, even the Qingling Sect would have to think twice.
For fifty years, the colossal mountain of Tiance Palace had sat silently at the edge of everyone's vision. No one dared to provoke them, and no one dared to ask what they were doing.
Now, this mountain had suddenly moved.
The news spread across Qingxia Town as if it had grown legs. As Lin Zhiyue squatted by the street nibbling on a bun, the conversation between two middle-aged cultivators nearby drifted right into her ears.
“Tiance Palace is serious this time. The Disciple Selection Decree states, 'Regardless of talent or origin, anyone with the heart may take the trial.'”
“Doesn't that mean the doors are wide open for the whole world to go? People will be breaking their heads to squeeze in, right?”
“That's why a joint preliminary selection of the hundred immortal sects has been established. They'll filter applicants at various testing locations first, and only those who pass the three trials will be qualified to stand at the gates of Tiance Palace. I heard Tiance Palace agreed to let other sects participate in the selection too. Every sect has sent elders to preside over the tests, and selected disciples can choose their own sect—though of course, if Tiance Palace takes a liking to someone, they have priority.”
“Heh, Tiance Palace hasn't accepted disciples in fifty years, and now they suddenly speak up. Who knows what's hidden behind this.”
“Why do you care what's behind it? Entering Tiance Palace is equivalent to ascending to heaven in a single bound. Countless people are green with envy...”
Lin Zhiyue stuffed the last bite of the bun into her mouth, her chewing slowing down.
Her mind raced.
Tiance Palace suddenly opening its gates after fifty years of isolation was just like a top-tier tech giant in her past life suddenly announcing autumn recruitment after five years of no hiring. All the small and medium companies would rush to hold their own seminars to snatch talent, terrified of missing out on the talent dividend.
A hundred immortal sects gathering to hold a joint selection—the first trial to test spiritual affinity, the second to enter the realm, and the third to question the heart. It sounded very grand, just like the postgraduate entrance exams.
As a rogue cultivator who hadn't even reached the Qi Refining Stage, with a spiritual root so poor that even a bottom-tier sect like the Clear Creek Sect could kick her out, she would probably be filtered out in the very first round of testing.
But just then, a system notification popped up: 【Large-scale multiplayer event "Joint Disciple Selection of the Hundred Immortal Sects" detected. Time-limited quest issued: Pass at least two trials and obtain inner disciple status in any sect. Quest Reward: High-grade Gacha Ticket ×5, Random Purple-quality Fashion Piece ×1.】
Lin Zhiyue stared at the reward for three seconds, her lips twitching. She stood up and brushed the dust off her skirt.
She immediately returned to her rented courtyard. The first thing she did after closing the gate was squat beside the stone table and curse the system.
“Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about the original owner, or are you just too confident in me? With a trash spiritual root that even a bottom-tier sect like the Clear Creek Sect rejected, you want me to stand at Tiance Palace's disciple selection? What is that if not just being a filler contestant?”
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