The deep and shallow shades of green on the mountains broke through the clouds one after another, their outlines fading into the hazy distance. Between the mist-shrouded peaks, halls and pavilions could be seen in the distance, while the occasional flash of a flying sword streaked across the sky—a scene straight out of an immortal realm.
Nearby, a platform of gold and jade hung suspended high in the air, as though looking down upon the many seekers gathered on the open ground below.
They had all come for the same reason: to join the renowned Xuanshan Immortal Sect and become disciples of the sect, thereby setting foot on the long road to immortality.
The heavens were divided into twelve regions, and the earth into twelve continents. The people of the continents observed the laws of heaven and earth, seeking longevity and asking after the path to immortality.
The Xuanshan Immortal Sect had been founded ten thousand years ago and was famous throughout all twelve continents.
Though there were many seekers at every admission, not all of them could enter the sect. They still had to undergo a trial. Successfully making their way through the dangers of the mountains and valleys to find the Xuanshan Immortal Sect counted as the first stage.
Everyone gathered here had passed the first stage. This preliminary test assessed their physical constitution and endurance.
The examiner, however, had yet to appear. Some of the less patient seekers could no longer hold back and had begun whispering among themselves in groups of three or five.
Bai Lu had no companions, though. He stood all by himself in one spot.
He looked around innocently. Had he been ostracized?
Perhaps it was because Bai Lu stood out even among the crowd of seekers. He wore a rather unusual outfit made of soft, furry material. Aside from a gemstone ring on his finger, he had no other accessories. His long black hair hung loose instead of being tied up like most people’s, yet he still looked perfectly neat. His features were handsome and striking without appearing feminine. What made him most unusual, however, were his eyes. Beneath his thick, long lashes, his irises were the color of melted emeralds, gleaming brilliantly whenever they moved and lending him an even greater air of mystery.
His unusual eyes and strange beastlike clothing led the others to privately assume that he must have an extraordinary background. Perhaps he had the blood of a demon clan, or perhaps he had encountered some remarkable stroke of fortune.
His appearance was so extraordinary that it was almost intimidating, making most people prefer to keep their distance rather than approach him.
However, Bai Lu’s eye color had not come from any fortuitous encounter. He had been born with it.
He was an unfortunate wizard from a magical world. His half-Eastern, half-Western heritage had given him his striking looks, while his name had come from the Eastern solar term under which he was born.
Several days ago, Bai Lu had been participating in a wizarding forum when he had inexplicably crossed over into this strange world—one that resembled Huaxia in some ways, yet was vastly different in others. He had even arrived in his pajamas, and his broomstick was broken, leaving him with nowhere to go.
With almost no resources at hand, Bai Lu had originally planned to find a human settlement and figure out some way to support himself after failing to repair his broomstick.
As it turned out, his landing site had been right near the Xuanshan Immortal Sect’s admissions grounds—specifically, the endpoint of the first stage. He had wanted to ask whether they were hiring, but the people there had assumed he was another applicant.
And so, in a daze, he had become one of the seekers. Since the Xuanshan Immortal Sect had also provided them with some snacks, Bai Lu figured that, in the end, the destination was the same.
That was why he was not as nervous as the others. He had his own worries instead.
Because he had been “ostracized,” Bai Lu perked up his ears and secretly listened to the conversation nearby.
“I’ve heard that the Xuanshan Immortal Sect’s entrance trials are extremely strict. This first stage was already arduous enough. I’m not from an influential clan, so I don’t know whether I’ll be able to pass the stages that follow…”
“Brother, don’t sell yourself short. You clearly aren’t an ordinary person. I’m sure you’ll pass!”
The two of them were not simply flattering each other without reason. If they were not from influential clans, they must at least possess some aptitude. The previous stage had already eliminated countless ordinary people.
Ah, so this was a cultivation world. And the Xuanshan Immortal Sect sounded like an elite school, too.
Bai Lu had never been immersed in an environment like this, so he only had a general understanding that it followed an Eastern system different from magic. If he had known he was going to cross over, he would have seriously studied all those television dramas his mother had downloaded!
At the thought of his family, he wondered whether they had noticed that he was missing.
Before crossing over, Bai Lu had still been on a video call with his father. His father had claimed to have met an incredibly talented fortune-teller, who had calculated that Bai Lu would marry young—and that his future partner would be more than two hundred years older than him.
His mother, who had been listening nearby, had leaned over and said, “Who dragged him off to arrange a ghost marriage?”
Bai Lu had found it ridiculous at the time. There were certainly old people in the magical world, but what sort of astonishing age-gap romance involved a difference of more than two hundred years? Other people grew old together; he would be getting married after his partner had already grown old. Would he come with the gray hair included?
Bai Lu was still lost in his memories when a voice brought him back to the present.
“Brother, you seem so calm and composed. I assume you have everything well in hand?”
The speaker walked over to Bai Lu and struck up a conversation while everyone else secretly glanced in their direction.
He wore a moon-white robe, his hair combed so neatly that not a strand was out of place. A jade pendant and a sachet hung from his waist, and his features were handsome enough. He should have looked like a spirited young gentleman, but the dark circles beneath his eyes were so pronounced, and his complexion so pale, that his overall bearing had been diminished by several degrees.
This was the first person to speak to Bai Lu, but Bai Lu hesitated slightly.
Though he had Chinese heritage, he had grown up in a completely different linguistic environment, and his Chinese was not always entirely natural.
People in this cultivation world also seemed fond of speaking in classical Chinese. When Bai Lu had first heard them, he had nearly thought they were speaking a different language. The more he listened, the more his head hurt.
It was one thing not to understand some of the internet slang from his homeland…
Who could have imagined that he would encounter classical Chinese in this lifetime? Was the universe trying to make up for all the studying he had avoided at school?
In short, Bai Lu was a little worried that he might express himself incorrectly.
After a pause of two seconds, he offered a sincere compliment. “Thank you. You also have everything well in hand!”
The other man sensed that something was off…
But for a moment, he could not quite put his finger on what it was. He scratched his head.
Forget it. There was no use overthinking things. The newcomer introduced himself. “My surname is Liang—Liang Mangu. May I ask your honorable name?”
Bai Lu could not help laughing, and his green eyes immediately appeared even more dazzling.
Liang Mangu: “?”
He could not resist touching his face. There was nothing dirty on it.
“It’s nothing… My name is Bai Lu.” Bai Lu had simply failed to hold back his laughter.
Why did this really feel like acting in a historical drama?
“Brother Bai is no ordinary person. Everyone who passed the first stage is in a sorry state, yet you haven’t even gotten a leaf on your clothes.” Liang Mangu made no attempt to hide his curiosity.
More importantly, Liang Mangu had not seen Bai Lu at any point from the moment he entered the mountains until he completed the trial. Yet at the very end, Bai Lu had appeared as though he had fallen straight from the sky. What kind of ability did that require?
You didn’t see what I looked like when I first crashed down, Bai Lu thought. Fortunately, cleaning charms were among the most basic spells a wizard learned.
“It’s because I have some foundation,” Bai Lu said. A foundation in magic was still a foundation, after all.
“Hahaha, I knew it!”
The excitement lent Liang Mangu’s pale face a faint flush. When he noticed Bai Lu looking at him in surprise, he explained, “I just won a bet. A moment ago, I wagered that although you appear delicate and don’t seem to know even the slightest bit of breath cultivation, you might simply be keeping a low profile.”
Bai Lu looked at Liang Mangu’s dark circles, then pointed beneath his own eyes. “You’re keeping a low profile too. No one could tell that you’re a good student.”
“…” Liang Mangu smiled sheepishly. “That isn’t an act. I was born with a disrupted circadian rhythm. I can’t wake up during the day, and I can’t fall asleep at night.”
I should have put on some powder, Liang Mangu thought, unwilling to lose too much face. He straightened his neck and added, “The fact that we were able to come to the Xuanshan Immortal Sect means our aptitudes are not bad. I may not be as composed as Brother Bai, but an elder in my family who cultivates said that my constitution is particularly suited to observing the stars and practicing divination.”
Staying up late at night wasn’t just for stargazing.
What Liang Mangu hadn’t said was that he’d first become interested in immortal cultivation after hearing that entering meditation and sitting in stillness could help with sleep…
“Yet I still don’t know which path you wish to cultivate.” Liang Mangu’s eyes were filled with barely restrained eagerness. Even his dark circles seemed to carry a sense of anticipation. He had clearly done an enormous amount of preparation before coming to Xuanshan. “Alchemy? Artifact cultivation? Body cultivation… No, that doesn’t seem like you.”
Bai Lu blinked at him. He didn’t really understand what “artifact cultivation” meant. To his ears, it sounded almost like auto repair, though he had a feeling it wasn’t quite what Liang Mangu meant.
Maybe it referred to the field of study one wanted to choose.
Bai Lu wasn’t very familiar with this place yet, so he cautiously probed, “Is there a demonic cultivation department?”
Liang Mangu’s face filled with astonishment. “Huh?”
Bai Lu stood there with an innocent look on his face. What? They didn’t have magic cultivation?
“Er… Xuanshan is an orthodox sect of great renown. Surely you’re joking, Brother Bai.” Liang Mangu suspected that Bai Lu simply didn’t want to chat with him, and he left dejectedly.
“What happened?” The other examinees who had made the bet with Liang Mangu grabbed him and asked, “Did you find out?”
None of them had been embarrassed enough to approach Bai Lu themselves. Only this fellow had dared to do so.
“Forget it. He didn’t feel like talking to me.” Liang Mangu sighed, but he quickly perked up again. “Hey, why don’t we bet on when the examiner will finally show up?”
The moment he finished speaking, booming bells rang out from the Jinyu Terrace, their sound echoing across the sky. Immediately afterward, jade steps appeared from thin air and stretched downward for more than thirty feet. A young female cultivator rode over on a white cloud and stopped at the final step.
The girl looked no older than sixteen or seventeen. Her hair was tied into twin buns, and though she still had a childish air about her, her gaze was cold as she looked down and said, “Thank you all for waiting. The second round of Xuanshan’s entrance examination is about to begin. Enter this way.”
“Please.”
The girl raised a hand toward the jade staircase.
The examinees proceeded up the steps in rows of two or three. Bai Lu saw that the people at the front had barely climbed a few steps before their figures began to ripple like water and then vanished, as though they had entered another world.
It was like some kind of spatial magic. Bai Lu grew curious. He wondered how these cultivation spells actually worked…
If he had the time, he really would like to study them.
The first dozen or so examinees climbed up in silence and tension. But when it was Liang Mangu’s turn, he stopped and asked, “Senior, are you the examiner?”
The girl glanced at him. She accepted the title of “Senior” without protest, but she answered, “I’m not. The examiner is up there.” She pointed toward the Jinyu Terrace.
“Thank you, Senior. Hehe.” Liang Mangu climbed the steps.
The person behind him was inspired by the question and asked as well, “Senior, if we pass the trial, can we choose whose disciple we become after joining the sect?”
The girl answered patiently, though her expression remained cold. “You cannot. The top three can.”
“…Thank you, Senior.”
“May I ask, Senior, how many people have passed the trial in the past?”
“The number accepted is not fixed. If no one passes, the sect will have no new disciples that year. If everyone is exceptionally talented, all of them may join.”
“Senior, how old are you?”
“Three hundred and eighty.”
The girl answered the examinees’ endless assortment of questions with a numb expression.
Being a senior sister was so annoying. So, so annoying.
Then the person standing before her was a young man dressed in a strange woolen garment. His brilliant green eyes gazed at her, carrying a hint of shyness.
The two stared at each other for two seconds.
Bai Lu asked, “Senior, when will lunch be served? Do we have to wait until after the trial?”
The girl’s wooden expression cracked ever so slightly.
“?”
Bai Lu wore an utterly sincere and innocent expression.
After all, in all the time since he had crossed over, he had only eaten one light snack.
