Chapter 1 Brother and Sister

  A night without words.

  At dawn, the eastern sky had just revealed a faint glimmer of light, and milky white clouds were already floating among the famous mountains and rivers. The misty mountains were surrounded by an aura of immortals, and amidst the vagueness, there was a fragrance wafting from all directions, filling the air with a subtle scent. In the distance, the majestic peak of Mount Taibai rang out with a loud bell sound, giving people a sense of being in a fairyland.

  In front of the Qianyu Gate, more than a dozen small teams had already been formed. Most of these teams were composed of newly admitted disciples, and among them, the female disciples' teams were divided into two branches, one of which was led by a middle-aged Daoist nun named Lan Qing.

  These teams are the entry-level disciples who will go down the mountain to find the spiritual realm for trials, and Lu Chen and Zuo Qinghe are in Lan Qing's team.

  There were seven female disciples in this small team, and Zuo Qing was one of them. Not counting Lu Chen, she had the strongest power, with her cultivation at the peak of the fourth layer of Qi Refining, and she would soon reach the fifth layer of Qi Refining. Apart from that, the leader of the team, Lan Qing, was a high-ranking official of Qingyue Peak, with relatively strong powers, having already reached the initial stage of Foundation Building. The other teams were also like this, each led by a Foundation Building cultivator. Among them, Lu Chen saw Wang He's malicious gaze directed at him, clearly because he had been lucky enough to join this team and felt extremely resentful about it.

  Most people's eyes were strange, and when they looked at Lu Chen, who was a bit like an outcast, their eyes were filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred, similar to Wang He's.

  The ancients said: You were originally innocent, but you have to bear the guilt. It's really true that some people can't pretend to be what they're not. Just like now, Lu Xun is a very good example among the many flowers. Many people are thinking in their hearts: What kind of good fortune did this pile of cow dung accumulate in its past life, and how did it get such a good fate in this life, being placed in a team that is so gloomy and lacks vitality? People can be envious to death!

  However, apart from Wang He, many of the male disciples did not dare to release that malicious gaze for too long. It was probably due to the large footprints left by Lu Chen on Chen Hu's body a few days ago. They could be resentful and even secretly plot against him, but in his presence, very few people had that kind of courage.

  Lu Chen saw it with his own eyes, but pretended not to see, and instead chatted freely with the little girl beside him. The crowd of new disciples who had just entered the sect grew even more annoyed. As a result, Lan Qing really couldn't bear these strange gazes, so after her team had gathered all their people, she directly waved her hand and led them down the mountain.

  When they reached the foot of the mountain, the group stopped and didn't move forward. Lu Chen looked puzzled and quickly asked Zuo Qing to his side: "Girl, why aren't we moving?"

  "Wait for elder sister..."

  "Oh?" He didn't know if he really understood or just pretended to, Lu Chen responded with a sound and then smiled and asked: "By the way, girl, which big mountain are we going to this time for training?"

  "What's with 'Big Mountain'?" Zuo Qing Hua asked in confusion. "It's not some big mountain, this time we have a mission, to go to the capital of Big Zhou."

  "Ah~, it's not some famous mountain or great river." Lu Chen was stunned, guessing that more than half of the preparations he made yesterday would be useless.

  "Not really." Zuo Qingwan said: "I'm not clear about the specific task either, I just know we're going to Dazhou City."

  "Oh!" He nodded slightly, and Lu Chen was slightly disappointed.

  Not far away, Lan Qingdao seemed to have heard the whispers of the two and turned his gaze over.

  Lan Qing was in her thirties, and if she were an ordinary person, she would be a charming young woman with a beautiful appearance. If it weren't for her many years of cultivating the Tao, which had given her a calm and gentle demeanor, she could have been considered a stunning beauty. The key point is that Lan Qing's temperament was renowned in Qian Yu Men for being exceptionally good; she never held extreme views towards anyone, even when Lu Chen first came to the mountain and was labeled as useless, she only let out a disappointed sigh, never harboring any contempt for him.

  Lu Chen looked puzzled, and Han Qing waved her hand to dispel the dust, explaining: "This time we are going to the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Recently, there have been rumors in the imperial palace that a demon is causing trouble, and our mission is to slay the demon and eliminate evil. When you arrive, be extra careful not to be careless or impulsive, lest you tarnish the reputation of the Qianyu Gate."

  "Disciples obey!" The seven female disciples simultaneously kowtowed, their clear voices linking together like wind chimes hanging from the eaves being blown by the wind.

  "Monster?" Lu Chen muttered, seemingly not quite understanding: "Is it a monster?"

  "Not so..." Hearing Lu Chen's low voice, Lan Qingyue said: "The Xianling Continent is vast and boundless, with countless strange things. The so-called evil spirits are nothing but ghosts and demons who have gone astray from the orthodox path."

  "What about the two sects of ghosts and demons?" The disciples looked at Lian Qing in confusion.

  Lan Qing said: "The Xianling Continent has five sects: Tao, Buddha, Ghost, Demon, and Yao. These five major sects are just categories of cultivation, and the paths they take are also extraordinary. My Taoist school and the Buddhist school have always been called the righteous path by the world, while the ghost and demon sects' cultivation methods are evil and go against the heavenly way, naturally being called the evil demonic heretic path. As for the Yao sect, it's just a different kind of creature that has obtained the blessings of heaven and earth, and is between good and evil. I heard that this time in the Great Zhou City, the demon cultivator was cultivating the Xuan Gong to capture souls and seize spirits, which makes me think that someone from the Ghost Sect has appeared. So everyone must be careful."

  The disciples were all newcomers who didn't understand the affairs of this sect, and they had nothing to do, so they started asking questions in a flurry.

  Lan Qing also calmly and patiently explained, "The realm we are in is the Xianling Eastern State region, which is the orthodox Daoist sect. Don't think that Qianyu Gate is the only Daoist sect in this eastern state. The eastern state is vast, with countless sects and unknown numbers of famous mountains. But to summarize, the strongest can be divided into the Seven Gates of the Daoist Sect."

  Lan Qing paused for a moment before saying: "The Tianji Gate of Mount Tianji, the Medicine King's Mansion of Wuyagou Valley, the Jiulian Holy Sect of Jiulianshan, the Snow Mountain Sword Sect of Daxueshan, the Starry Pavilion of Wangri Peak, and the Langyafudi of Langyashan. And then there is the strongest Dao sect: the Guiyuan Sect. These are all top-notch sects on the Eastern Continent."

  As soon as she finished speaking, the disciples were amazed and couldn't believe that just within the borders of Dongzhou there existed such powerful Seven Great Sects, and that Qianyu Gate was not even among them.

  Return to the Origin

  Gate of Heavenly Machine

  Medicine King's Mansion

  Jiulian Shengzong

  Snowy Mountain Sword Sect

  Star Pavilion

  Lángyá Fúdì

  The seven major sects of Daoism, Lu Chen hastily memorized them in his mind, not daring to forget. Then he asked: "Then which stream does our Qianyu Sect belong to?"

  Lan Qing let out a long sigh and replied, "Our Qian Yu Men can only be considered second-rate. A first-rate sect needs to have a Nascent Soul stage expert sitting in the array. The most powerful leader of Qian Yu Men so far is only at the early Golden Dan stage, still far from it."

  "It can only be considered a second-rate sect." The disciples were stunned, they had not expected that the sacred place of immortals they had admired for so long in the Eastern State's Cultivation Realm was actually only second-rate.

  Lan Qing didn't respond, and continued to say: "The seven major sects of the Daoist school each have a branch, which is the largest force behind the seven major countries of the Eastern State. You must remember that when you achieve immortality and travel the continent in the future, don't lose face for Qianyu Gate."

  "Which place does this Ghost Sect belong to?" Lu Chen asked again.

  Ling Qingqing cleared her throat and replied, "Dongzhou is just a small part of the Xianling Continent. Apart from that, Xizhou is where the Gui Sect originated, each controlling a region. As for the origins of the Buddhist and Demonic sects, they are still a mystery, with no one knowing where they came from. Some say they come from underground, while others claim they don't belong to the Xianling Continent. However, in my opinion, the places where the Demonic Sect and the Yao Sect appear most frequently are not among those listed."

  "Not among those listed?" The crowd of disciples was shocked: "So, apart from the Xianling Continent, there are even broader regions?"

  "That's right~" Ling Qing nodded and said: "The Eastern and Western States are only a part of the Xianling Continent. If you have the opportunity to cross the North Ice Valley in the future, you will know how vast this world is. That place is the true sacred land of cultivation."

  "Glacier Valley of the North?"

  "Is it bigger than Dongzhou and Xizhou?"

  In an unbelievable instant, all the disciples inhaled a mouthful of cold air.

  Lu Chen was also shocked, originally thinking that he had traveled all over the Great Zhou Kingdom for a living since childhood and had walked through most of the Xianling Continent. Now it seems that his vision at that time was so narrow.

  "It's really big." Lu Chen sighed and asked again: "Master Shu, didn't the Gui Sect appear in the Great Zhou Kingdom overstep its bounds?"

  Before revealing his identity, it's not excessive for Lu Chen to address Lan Qing as Shu Shu. If he reveals his identity, heh heh, I reckon Lan Qing will have to call Lu Chen Shu Shu instead.

  Lan Qing replied, "Exactly, so this time we will go and take a look, to see who dares to appear in the eastern state's borders and do evil to our great Zhou." As he spoke, Lan Qing's eyes suddenly flashed with a fierce glint, looking as if he had already made up his mind to kill.

  Lan Qing's words not only broadened the horizons of the numerous disciples, but also stirred up their inner drive for cultivation. Everyone chatted with each other, discussing nothing but the Seven Sects of Daoism and the Five Sects of Spirituality. Just as they were chatting, a majestic figure suddenly flew over from the mountain, riding on a flying sword that glided slowly through the air. Lu Chen looked up and couldn't help but furrow his brow.

  "Good grief, what a small world!"