Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  Tian Yao Wang Ting, Yao Huang Yi Zu.

  These were the two names that had been incredibly illustrious in the distant ancient years, and in the darkest and most miserable era of human history, the Demon King Court and the Demon Emperor who dominated the Hongmeng world were the most brilliant and dazzling existence. Until today, even after 10,000 years have passed, these two names are still the most evil existence in the hearts of all humans, the demon tribe itself is evil, the demon emperor is the worst of the worst, the source of all evil.

  Seven-leaf chrysanthemum, also a poisonous flower of evil, under the dazzling golden light, what irrigates it is bloody flesh and blood.

  All of these words and views are the entire impression that humans have on the Youhuang clan. Although as the years pass, the tragic years gradually fade away, humans and demons no longer see each other, and the deep-seated hatred still exists, but in the hearts of most people, it has slowly faded a lot.

  But the text in front of him might just be the secret method of a certain Demon Emperor's inheritance seal, placed right in front of a twelve-year-old youth named Shen Shi. This made him feel at a loss for a moment. Although after roughly scanning it once, he felt that the entire scroll seemed to only talk about how practicing the Clear Mind Mantra could refresh one's mind and restore their spirit, seemingly without any particularly extraordinary or brilliant points.

  This secret technique should not be simple, no matter what, those are all sealed scrolls with seven-leafed golden chrysanthemum; but this so-called yin-yang incantation, can it really be cultivated? Or, is it really suitable for human cultivation?

  "This must be the secret method of the demon clan?"

  I inadvertently obtained this thing, I wonder if there will be any strange changes after cultivating it?

  Under the candlelight, Shen Shi silently stared at the black scroll spread out before him, speechless for a moment.

  I've got this thing, but I really don't know if it's good luck or bad luck!

  April 10th, sunny.

  In the southern part of the Hongmeng continent, at this time, it is the most beautiful and comfortable day of the year. The spring light is bright and beautiful, all things are growing, and the mountains and fields are full of vibrant scenes everywhere. The grass is long, the swallows fly, and the flowers bloom.

  It was on such a warm and sunny day that Shen Shi followed the butcher out of Liu Yun City, heading towards the legendary Bai Xian Rock.

  The city of Liuyun is vast and majestic, located on the shores of the ocean. Without leaving the city, you can see from afar the vast expanse of blue sea and feel the salty sea breeze blowing towards you.

  White seagulls are flying up and down on the distant coastline, from time to time there is a crisp call, occasionally one of them dives, sweeping across the sea surface like white lightning, drawing out a ripple, when it flies again, its claws have already caught a fat fish, rushing straight into the sky.

  The Cang Hai, also known as the South Sea, is a vast and boundless ocean in the southern part of the Hongmeng continent. The human race has dominated the Hongmeng realms for over 10,000 years, but despite the powerful divine abilities of many cultivators, they have yet to fully explore this sea. It is only known that as one ventures deeper into the southern seas, there are increasingly more powerful sea monsters, with strength that is unmatched. Even cultivators at the Condensed Origin Realm or the Divine Intent Realm would find it extremely perilous, and even those at the Yuan Dan Realm, who have attained mastery over the Dao, would be in grave danger if they were not careful, risking a fatal fall into the depths of the sea.

  For many years, the southern vast ocean, the northern snowy plains, the western giant swamp and the eastern great desert have been the barbarous and ancient lands of the Hongmeng main domain since ancient times. They are treacherous and unpredictable, and until now, they have not been fully explored by human beings. It is precisely because of this that among the so-called 108 domains of Hongmeng, except for the illusory and ethereal Ten Heavenly Domains, the Hongmeng main domain, which has the largest population, is the only place where the boundary has not been explored.

  The turbulent sea is treacherous and unpredictable, and the monsters in the ocean are equally ferocious and cruel. However, that refers to the depths of the blue sea thousands of millions of miles away from the Hongmeng continent. Since the human race began to dominate the Hongmeng mainland 10,000 years ago, generations of cultivators and various sects have worked hard to develop this ocean. So far, at least within tens of millions of miles of the coastline, the sea is generally safe.

  The mountain gate of Ling Xiao Sect is located in a cave heaven blessed land in the deep sea thousands of miles away from the blue ocean, standing tall in the turbulent seawater - Jin Hong Mountain.

  The butcher took Shen Shi all the way to the edge of the blue sea, where wave after wave of seawater surged forward from the surface, one wave crashing against the shore and then slowly receding, with the distant horizon stretching out endlessly, bathing in the sea breeze, making one's heart feel expansive.

  The butcher pointed to the depths of the ocean and said, "I've heard that Mount Jin Hong is located in the depths of the blue sea, it's a huge mountain surrounded by thousands of islands, with countless rare birds and beasts, known as the first cave heaven blessed land in the south. Those who can climb the mountain are all rare fairy fate."

  Shen Shi looked in the direction his fingers were pointing, and although his gaze could only see the endless blue sea water, Jin Hong Mountain was still out of sight, but he couldn't help feeling a surge of emotions, with a hint of longing and expectation on his face.

  The butcher looked at him with a hint of a smile on his lips, and also let out a soft sigh. There was a tinge of envy in his eyes. However, after a moment, he reached out and gently patted Shen Shi's shoulder, saying: "Let's go, to the Immortal Rock."

  Having said that, he led Shen Shi along the coastline towards the north.

  The sky is high and the sea is wide, with white clouds floating gently. If you look down from a high altitude at this moment, you can see the clear seawater, with shallow areas sparkling brightly and deep areas reflecting a profound and beautiful dark blue light, like a huge and beautiful blue gemstone. The waves rise one by one from the surface of the sea, gently and slowly hitting the sandy beach, with white foam splashing up and falling down, like a lover's gentle palm, lightly caressing this land.

  Several beams of light with different colors suddenly flashed across the sky from different directions, some were leisurely and elegant, while others were as fast as lightning, piercing through the clouds and traversing the vast expanse of the sky.

  And on the ground, as Shen Shi moved northward, he gradually saw people in different directions in the distance. Some were walking alone, some in groups of three or five, and even more conspicuous ones had dozens of people following them. Their clothes were all different, and their paths were not the same, but looking at the direction they faced while walking, it seemed to be the same place.

  In the crowd, you can vaguely see teenagers in their early teens.

  After walking for a while, a large black shadow appeared in the distance ahead, and soon Shen Shi saw that it was a huge cliff, dozens of feet high, which suddenly plunged into the vast ocean more than ten feet deep from the originally gentle coastline. It wasn't until he walked closer that he found this cliff to be an enormous boulder, quite out of place with the surrounding flat and fine sandy beach, looking as if some god had dropped a rock from the sky and hit it right on the coast.

  Waves surged forward, pounding against the lower part of this massive boulder. Who knows how many years of seawater erosion had worn away the underside of the giant stone, creating countless sharp ridges and corners, each one uniquely shaped and somewhat eerie-looking. But on top of the boulder was a large expanse of flat land, where at this moment a sea of people stood packed tightly together.

  As soon as Shen Shi's heart had moved slightly, he heard the butcher's voice say: "That should be 'Bai Xian Yan' over there."

  Is it finally here? The long-awaited path to immortality seemed to be just before his eyes, but after taking a deep breath, Shen Shi's expression became even calmer than before. Moreover, he slowed down his pace slightly and turned to ask Butcher:

  "Uncle, I've heard that the Ling Xiao Sect is a renowned and prestigious sect, one of the 'Four Orthodox' sects in the world, with a long history of inheritance. Apart from this, I don't know anything else about them. Do you know something more about them?"

  The butcher's eyes flickered and he said, "Oh, what do you want to know?"

  Shen Shi thought for a moment, then said, "I'm not quite sure either, let's just talk about it casually." After saying that, he glanced at the butcher and smiled, "I think immortals should have divine powers and be all-knowing, so finding out these things should be easy."

  The butcher looked at him and smiled, saying: "Okay, it just so happens that I went to the branch in town yesterday and chatted with someone, asking a few more questions along the way. Let me tell you some trivial things."

  Shen Shi was taken aback for a moment, then composed himself and said in a low voice, "Thank you, Uncle." The butcher's task was only to safely deliver him to Bai Xian Rock, with no further requirements, let alone asking about news. Moreover, the butcher had been living in Yinzhou all these years, so Shen Shi's inquiry about Ling Xiao Sect was just a casual question. However, the butcher's intention was clearly that he had specifically asked around about the local divine sect's well-informed figures beforehand. Although this was not explicitly stated, it was indeed a significant favor, and Shen Shi did feel a few more points of gratitude in his heart.

  The butcher waved his hand and said directly, "Ling Xiao Sect was founded on Jin Hong Mountain a thousand miles away from the Cang Hai Sea. It has been a million years since its establishment and is one of the four most famous sects in the world today. You all know this, so I won't say more. This time you have just joined Ling Xiao Sect, according to their rules, they open the mountain gate once every five years to recruit disciples. The number of new disciples recruited each time is around 400-500 people."

  Like most Xianmen schools, Ling Xiao Sect also has a trial to distinguish new disciples. It is said that all new disciples are collectively referred to as outer door disciples and do not go to Jin Hong Mountain, but instead practice in a place called "Qing Yu Liu Dao" at the foot of Jin Hong Mountain. Only those with exceptional talent who have broken through the Lianqi realm and reached the Ningyuan realm after cultivation will be truly recognized by Ling Xiao Sect as direct disciples, admitted into the sect, given a generation name, and taught various magical Taoist methods within the sect.

  "Besides, I think you should be most concerned about the new disciples who are studying with you. It is said that these new disciples come from a wide range of sources, spread across the Hongmeng states, but they have all been secretly tested and examined within the Lingxiao Sect, and are young people with a clear family background and some innate talent in the path of cultivation."

  Shen Shi's mouth corners twitched slightly, his eyes flickered, and Ling Xuan Sect Mo Fei had also been to Xi Lu City at some point to secretly see him? But on that day, his father clearly told him that he could get this opportunity only because it was one of the prices of that transaction.

  Next to him, the butcher led him closer and closer to Baisen Rock. The young men standing on top of the giant rock and some of the Lingxiao Sect disciples guarding it were all vaguely visible to Shen Shi. At the same time, the butcher narrowed his eyes slightly, looking up at the giant rock, but still continued to speak:

  "Moreover, I think you should also know that the numerous aristocratic families affiliated with Ling Xiao Sect far surpass Xuan Yin Men in terms of numbers and scale. Similarly, whenever Ling Xiao Sect recruits disciples, many young masters from these aristocratic families will occupy a considerable share. After you join, pay attention to this point and don't easily offend people."

  "In these hundreds of aristocratic families, the most famous one is naturally one of the six great aristocratic families of this generation, which is the 'Gan Family' inherited from the Six Saints of the human race in the past. In fact, the four great noble families that have been passed down for thousands of years are all personally created by the Six Saints of the past, so their respective aristocratic families also have a special status in these noble families and cannot be treated as ordinary affiliated aristocratic families."

  "Except for the Gan family, the other vassal families are not small either. Over the centuries, they have produced many talented and outstanding individuals. As for their rise and fall, let's not mention it. Nowadays, the most famous and powerful ones should be the Sun, Xu, Hou, and Zhong families. I suppose you will meet these young masters from these families later on."

  Shen Shi suddenly frowned and said, "The Hou family?"

  The butcher looked at him and said, "What's wrong?"

  Shen Shi thought for a moment, then suddenly lost his smile and said, "Nothing, I was just overthinking."

  How could a small peddler who sets up stalls on the ground possibly have any connection with the four most famous vassal families under the Ling Xiao Sect?

  I just realized that I haven't announced the update time for tomorrow in the past few days, and it seems like everyone has gotten used to it along with me...