Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  "Sink the stone!"

  Just a few steps out of the Chenxing Hall, Shen Shi heard someone calling his name from beside him. Following the direction of the sound, he saw Sun You standing under a big tree about ten or so steps away, smiling and waving at him. Beside him stood two young men and women.

  Shen Shi smiled and greeted him, walking quickly over. It wasn't until he got closer that he realized the two people standing next to Sun You looked somewhat familiar. The girl with the beautiful face and sweet smile, whose eyes would often narrow into a lovely small slit when she laughed, was none other than He Xiao Mei, who had been carrying many spirit crystals on her body yesterday. There was also another young man, Shen Shi didn't know his name, but he looked somewhat familiar too, and seemed to be one of the people in their group of ten.

  Sun Youyong came up with a bright expression and smiled: "How's that? What did Master Wang say to you unfortunate people?"

  Next to her, He Xiaomei and that boy also turned their eyes to look at Shen Shi, with a hint of curiosity on their faces.

  Shen Shi shrugged and said, "It's just a few words of comfort. The pain of counter-attack will only last for a few days, and afterwards everything will be the same."

  Sun Youhaha laughed loudly and patted Shen Shi's shoulder, saying: "Originally it was like that. Oh, let me introduce you, this is He Xiaomei, this is Jiang Hongguang, they are all fellow disciples who were picked by Suhe Shixiong together with us yesterday."

  Shen Shi thought to himself that he hadn't misremembered after all, and at the moment, he was also smiling as he greeted the two. Jiang Hongguang seemed a bit stiff when speaking with strangers, but his manners were impeccable without any trace of rudeness. On the other hand, He Xiaomei appeared to be much more lively and vivacious, laughing cheerfully without any hint of shyness, looking like an outgoing and cheerful girl who loved to laugh.

  Sun You said to Shen Shi Dao, "After I left the Chen Xing Hall earlier, I planned to wait for you here. Coincidentally, I met those two people and we chatted for a few sentences. Since we were all assigned to the same senior brother's door yesterday to supervise, it can be considered that there is some fate. Everyone also plans to go to 'Bai He Hall' next to take a look at the tasks arranged by the sect, so let's wait for you together."

  Shen Shi burst out laughing and said: "That's perfect, let's go together then."

  As they spoke, the four of them turned around together and walked towards the other end of Qingyu Village.

  It's already one o'clock in the afternoon, and Qingyu Ji looks quite lively. With over 400 young people rushing out of Chenxing Hall, the streets are packed to the brim. From a distance, the halls and pavilions rise and fall in sequence, with people coming and going, giving it a somewhat ordinary and bustling cityscape, only on a smaller scale.

  Four people walked a distance on the road, during which Shen Shi chatted with the other three while paying attention to the shops and houses, finding that there were indeed many commercial buildings, but they didn't seem to be very large in scale. Moreover, the people guarding them were all wearing Ling Xiao Sect disciple uniforms, but it was unknown what purpose these shops served.

  After walking for a while, in the distance, I saw a tall building ahead, three stories high, with a white crane sculpture on the roof, looking lifelike as if it were about to fly. It must be the White Crane Hall mentioned in Ling Xiang's letter yesterday.

  The White Crane is a celestial bird, with a noble and pure nature, extraordinary bearing, and is often raised in the sacred mountains, famous scenic spots, and renowned Taoist families of the world. It is also a representative of the divine creatures that ordinary people yearn for. In the Qingyu Concentration Camp, the White Crane Hall on the north side is also one of the most important places on Qingyu Island. Along the way, Shen Shi and others saw many young men similar to them walking in that direction, and even some who appeared to be seniors from the Su River generation were strolling around the White Crane Hall.

  According to the introduction on "Ling Xiao Jian Lue", the most important function of this Bai He Tang is that there will be many tasks issued by the Ling Xiao Sect, with varying degrees of difficulty. Among them, some are specifically designed for new disciples who have just entered the sect. If these tasks are completed smoothly, they can obtain some spiritual crystal rewards. This is also a compensation measure given by the Ling Xiao Sect after strictly prohibiting new disciples from bringing spiritual crystals into the sect for cultivation. At the same time, it allows many new disciples to start their cultivation path under similar difficult circumstances, relying on themselves.

  As for whether this unusual method is useful, and whether the effect is good or bad, Shen Shi naturally doesn't know. However, since he has joined the Ling Xiao Sect, he also doesn't have any other ideas, and just follows the rules of the Ling Xiao Sect to cultivate and do things.

  Four people walked together and arrived at the White Crane Hall. In front of this tall building, on the empty ground, a small pond was dug out in some era, with green ripples inside, planted with many lotus leaves and flowers, and many green duckweeds floating on top, gently swaying with the wind, looking very elegant.

  Along the way, the four of them have become somewhat familiar with each other. Even Jiang Hongguang, who was initially a bit awkward, seems to have loosened up in conversation. After all, young people tend to enjoy lively gatherings and friends. As for He Xiaomei, the only girl among them, she is open-minded, lively, and has a beautiful appearance, with a sweet smile that has unknowingly made her the center of attention. She chats and laughs as they walk along, and everyone's mood is quite good.

  As they walked to the White Crane Hall, the four of them didn't linger and just took a look around before entering the house. Only He Xiaomei looked around left and right when she entered the door and asked Sun You if there really were white cranes nearby. Sun You was also stunned for a moment, thought about it, and said uncertainly: "There shouldn't be any."

  He Xiaomei glared at him and said, "You just said that your family is a vassal family on this side, how can you not even know such a small thing?"

  Sun You called Qu Dao: "Big sister, who would care about this kind of thing usually..."

  Next to Shen Shi and Jiang Hongguang were both smiling but not speaking, it turns out that except for Sun You who was a local family of Haizhou Liuyun City, the other three people were all from outside. Shen Shi didn't need to be said, he came from Yinzhou thousands of miles away to Haizhou; He Xiao's hometown was even farther away, and it was actually the "Cangzhou" Baishi City in the northeastern part of the Hongmeng main boundary, I heard that she was a famous solo cultivator's only daughter, no wonder she took out 50 spiritual crystals on a whim that day, presumably because she was deeply loved by her father. However, now it's just like everyone else, penniless... except for the only one spiritual crystal used for cultivation...

  As for the remaining Jiang Hongguang, his life experience seems to be the most ordinary among the four. He is a child from a farming family in a place called "Yangzhou" adjacent to Haizhou. By chance, he was discovered by a senior of Ling Xiao Sect who passed by and thought that his natural talent was not bad, so he recommended him to join Ling Xiao Sect. It can be said that he was lucky and got this opportunity to cultivate immortality. When Shen Shi heard about Jiang Hongguang's life experience, his eyes quietly swept over Jiang Hongguang's palm, and indeed saw that there were old calluses and thick skin on his fingers, it seems that he had done manual labor before.

  Because they were waiting for Shen Shi, the four of them arrived at the White Crane Hall to find that many young men had already arrived before them. At this time, people were crowded together, seemingly surrounding and watching something in twos and threes within the White Crane Hall. After Shen Shi and his companions entered through the doorway, they found that the first floor of the White Crane Hall was very spacious, capable of accommodating hundreds of people without feeling the slightest bit cramped. The doors and windows around the house were all open, with sunlight shining in from outside, making it look particularly bright and airy.

  In the middle of the house, there are five very large wooden plaques placed horizontally in the central hall, occupying a large area, divided into white, green, red, yellow, and purple colors. On each plaque, many square white papers with full text are posted. Many young people are looking up at these plaques, with the most people gathered in front of the first white plaque, and fewer people towards the back. Apart from these young people, there are also some slightly older youths, similar to Su He's generation, walking around in this White Crane Hall, but they mostly lingered around the last few plaques.

  On both sides of the wooden board, near the wall of Bai He Tang, there were some Ling Xiao Sect disciples standing on either side, stationed behind several conspicuous wooden railings, quietly waiting. From time to time, someone would run over to ask them a few questions, and they would patiently answer. Some people who had decided which tasks they wanted to take on first would go to inquire about them, and these senior brothers and sisters would efficiently help them with the registration. However, these senior brothers and sisters working in Bai He Tang looked like they were not young, some of them had an extraordinary aura, and it seemed that they were no longer at the Qi Refining stage.

  Sun You pointed to several wooden plaques of different colors and said to the three people beside him, "See that? Those things on the wooden plaques are going to be our most important source of income for cultivating spirit crystals from now on."

  He Xiaomei clenched her fists, looking somewhat excited and full of energy, repeating: "Let's go, let's go, we have to hurry up and take a look, or else all the good roles will be snatched away by others."

  Jiang Hongguang felt that it seemed very reasonable and hastily agreed: "Right, Xiaomei said it well, let's go quickly."

  Shen Shi glanced at Sun You, seeing his confident expression, and smiled without saying a word. As expected, Sun You waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's no big deal, the tasks on the whiteboard are just some basic things issued by the sect, there's no limit to the number of times you can take them, you can accept them at any time." He looked around and beckoned to the other three people, smiling, "You guys come with me first."

  As they spoke, they led the three people around the crowds of people looking up at the wooden signboards and walked past from the side, coming to the left side of the White Crane Hall, where several Ling Xiang Sect disciples were standing, answering and registering tasks. At this moment, everyone looked relaxed and carefree.

  Sun You led them to the last senior brother, stopped in his tracks, first smiled and nodded at that senior brother, who smiled but did not speak. Then Sun You turned around and beckoned them over, pointing at this senior brother, laughing: "Everyone, come meet my little brother-in-law."

  Shen Shi was taken aback, and his eyes immediately fell on this senior brother. He looked to be around thirty years old, with a refined face and sharp eyes that seemed to belong to a capable person. At this moment, being spoken to by Sun You, he also smiled and said: "You are all friends of Xiao You's, right? My name is Xu Xing, I am Xiao You's uncle, and I usually work in the White Crane Hall. If you need any help in the future, feel free to come find me."

  Shen Shi and others all smiled and nodded in agreement. Sun You turned his head and smiled: "Young uncle, what about the thing I told you earlier?"

  Xu Xing smiled slightly, beckoning them to come closer, then said with a smile: "Since you are all friends of Xiao You, you don't count as outsiders. I've spent some time in the White Crane Hall and have gained some insights into the tasks here. As newcomers, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the numerous tasks on the board. But I think there are a few tasks that might be more suitable for you all, let me tell you about them."

  Several young men, after their initial surprise, were overjoyed one by one. Someone secretly pointed out a few things to save time and effort, which was indeed a great thing at the beginning of their cultivation. And Shen Shi, while smiling and nodding in gratitude towards Xu Xing, also inadvertently had an idea flash through his mind, taking a stealthy glance at Sun You and Xu Xing, these two uncle and nephew...

  Although the rules of Ling Xiao Sect are good, it seems that the aristocratic families have been living with Ling Xiao Sect for many years and their tentacles may have already reached every corner of the sect. These young masters of aristocratic families will still have some advantages that ordinary people can't detect.

  At the beginning of the month, I heard that tickets are required... Please support me a bit, thank you! ^_^