Chapter 1: Getting Started

  Huoyun City has always had the reputation of having Yunyuan Huo, which is why it got its name. It's not because of the fiery red color, but because the location of the Yunyuan Xingqi Lingzong Sect is on the Huoyun Mountains behind Huoyun City.

  Yunyuan Star, as the third-level spiritual star ball instrument spirit sect, is a place of great merit. Because here has the largest number of alchemy masters among the cultivators, every day through the interstellar transmission array to the instrument spirit sect to refine instruments, people come and go without end. Our story takes place on Yunyuan Star, the hometown of these alchemy masters.

  Today, Huoyun City is particularly lively and bustling. Although it's usually prosperous every day, today seems to be a bit too much. A building in the center of the city with a Linghuo diagram hanging on it seems to be the source of this liveliness.

  "Master brother, this time we can make some extra money from taking on an apprentice, hehe." Ling Ming said to Ling Yun with a mischievous grin.

  。

  "Yes, every time we recruit new disciples is a big deal. It's been a whole cycle, hasn't it? The last time Ling Meng and Ling Feng came back from receiving guests, they made all of us younger generation disciples so envious!" Ling Yun smiled at the thought of the Ling Ming gathering.

  The Qiling Sect is recruiting new disciples, which is a major event in the Xiu Zhen world. During this period, the interstellar transmission array leading to Yunyuan Star has not stopped, and there are constantly high-ranking cultivators in the Nascent Soul or even the Tribulation periods bringing some ordinary people here. Because everyone wants to cultivate an equipment refiner for their sect, even if these people don't return to the sect after becoming equipment refiners, they won't be able to refuse when asked to refine equipment.

  There is a good example. Why the Qingxuan Sect, as a second-rate sect, was not bothered by anyone on Yunyuan Star, just because among the people sent by the Qingxuan Sect, there appeared a refining genius who is now an elder of the Qilingshu Sect, Tian Huoshangren

  。

  Sun Ming, as a native of Huoyun City, was naturally looking forward to this ceremony of recruiting disciples. Because since he became an orphan two years ago, he had been struggling to make ends meet, so he thought that even becoming an outer disciple of Qilingshan would be worth it if he could just have enough food to eat.

  Two years ago, Sun Ming was still enjoying the treatment of a young master when the family servant suddenly told him that his parents had encountered an accident while going out and both died. At that time, Sun Ming, who was only 14 years old, was completely stunned. Then, the family property was occupied by others, and he began to make a living in Huoyun City. Most of the people living in Huoyun City were ordinary people. Sun Ming worked as a tea server and dishwasher in a wine shop, suffering from the cold eyes of others and experiencing all kinds of hardships. When he was kicked out of the last wine shop, he coincidentally met Qi Ling Zong who was recruiting new disciples again. With the idea that if he didn't succeed, he would rather die, he decided to participate in this selection.

  Qī Líng Zōng selects disciples, regardless of birth, and only recruits young people under the age of twenty. The only standard is the strength or weakness of Huǒ Yuán's power. Because the strength or weakness of Huǒ Yuán's power determines future achievements in alchemy.

  "Li Qingyue, Huoyuanli three stars, entering the outer gate, next is Sun Ming!" Lingming shouted. The Qiling Sect uses two treasures to detect the strength of Huoyuanli. The Linghuo Mirror, a high-quality spiritual instrument that detects the aura of Huoyuanli. After being detected by the Linghuo Mirror, more than half of the people were eliminated. After all, Huoyuanli is one of the five elements with the least yuanli.

  Huoyun Mirror, a low-grade sacred artifact, is only capable of measuring the strength and weakness of Huoyuan's power. Almost every time a senior fellow from Qilingshan flew up before flying up, they would refine one. As a result, there are dozens of such things in Qilingshan, so even Lingming and Lingyun, two younger brothers, were given one each to make it easier for them to recruit disciples.

  Huoyuan power is generally displayed as ten stars under the measurement of Huoyun Mirror, and five stars are the dividing line between inner and outer door disciples. Eight stars or more will be collected by some elders as indoor disciples.

  "Sun Ming, a one-star Huo Yuan Li, entered the outer gate. Ling Yun looked at Sun Ming with a hint of mockery, thinking to herself: 'We've got another errand boy.' But Sun Ming didn't seem to mind. Entering Qi Ling Zong meant having food and lodging guaranteed. Although it was said that outer gate disciples of Qi Ling Zong found it difficult to enter the inner gate, at least there was a glimmer of hope."

  Three days have passed, and Huoyun City has returned to its usual bustling state. The Zhenling Sect's branch in the city center is a different scene altogether, with some people rejoicing to the point of tears, while others are unable to enter the inner gate and are filled with anxiety. The noise and commotion are deafening.

  "Settle down, you are all disciples of the Qilinglei Sect now. What kind of appearance is this?" Lingyun's voice burst forth like a thunderclap in everyone's ears under the stimulation of the true yuan force.

  "This time, the new disciples' qualifications made the seniors of the sect very happy. Eight people above eight stars, especially Ouyang Xingyue, Lin Tianyu, and Huo Yuanli all reached ten stars. You are all the future pride of our sect. Today is your first day in our sect, I hope you will work hard to cultivate and bring glory to our sect." Lingming's words were very moving. Sun Ming didn't feel much, after all, his original intention for coming to Lingming Sect was just to eat well and sleep well.

  A soft glow flashed, and a boat-like object appeared in the center of the square. It continued to grow larger, until it seemed capable of holding all three hundred people, at which point the treasure stopped expanding.

  "The Cloud Chariot is a top-grade artifact, and the main tool for transporting large-scale people or objects. The Spirit Cloud Path, in fact, mainly because this treasure just happens to be suitable for use during the Spirit Cloud Golden Elixir period, like the 'Wind-Defying Boat' and 'Green Cloud Dart', which are fundamentally impossible to use with the Spirit Cloud's cultivation."

  "Senior brother, when can we also ride on a flying sword like that? How cool would that be!!" Ling Ming arrived.

  "Cultivate properly, you're still in the Golden Elixir initial stage and already clamoring to use something that can only be used during the Congregation period. Are you trying to get me laughed at by Ling Tian and Ling Kong when I return to the sect?!" Ming arrived.

  "Never mind, I don't want to think about it anymore. Let's just send this batch of disciples back to the sect and I'll go into seclusion for meditation," Lingyun said with a gloomy expression.

  "You're still in secluded cultivation? You're killing me! The time it takes to refine equipment is already unbearable, and you're still in secluded cultivation!!!", said Ling Ming.

  "Alright, alright, let's go! If we don't leave now, we'll be punished," said Lingyun.

  Sun Ming didn't have much of a feeling, anyway, coming to the Qilingshan Sect was just changing where he ate. When those new disciples were cheering and jumping around, Sun Ming was sizing up his surroundings instead.

  I'm not sure how high it is, probably tens of thousands of meters. Looking at the snow-capped peak, Sun Ming thought to himself. However, this mountain peak is quite warm and cozy, with a sense of being in a utopia. The surrounding mountains are lush and verdant, layer upon layer, like waves rising and falling on the sea, majestic and magnificent.

  However, he didn't have time to feel sentimental for long, as he followed a senior disciple of the Lingzi generation to the back mountain. The Qiling Sect was divided into outer and inner sects, with the inner sect having one-on-one apprenticeships, while the outer sect was different, usually with one person teaching all the outer sect disciples, with the disciples rotating every ten years. This also led to very few outer sect disciples being able to enter the inner sect. The only way for an outer sect disciple to enter the inner sect was to obtain one of the top three places in the once-every-twenty-years Great Furnace Competition, which had only three spots available every twenty years, showing just how difficult it was.

  In addition, outer door disciples are also responsible for miscellaneous tasks of the Qilong Sect, preparing meals for inner door disciples and sorting out materials for their alchemy practice, resulting in very little time for outer door disciples to cultivate.

  Sun Ming was assigned a relatively easy job, responsible for a valley, keeping the valley clean, in other words, just placing trash. The Cang Xugou Valley is a very large valley where the Lingzong Sect has discarded failed products and abandoned materials over the years, but it only makes a small part of the valley look slightly messy. One day, a big shot from the Lingzong Sect flew by and found that the valley was in disarray and looked ugly. That's how Sun Ming got his current job.

  The way Qi Ling Zong treats outer disciples and inner disciples in terms of their cultivation methods is actually the same at first, it's just that inner disciples can start learning Qi Ling Zong's signature skill of alchemy from the beginning of their cultivation, while outer disciples cannot. Before passing the big comparison to enter the inner gate, they are not allowed to touch alchemy. Because of different talents, even if they come into contact with alchemy, they have no way to learn it.

  Sun Ming's cultivation method is called Linghuo Jue, which is the foundation of Qiling Zong and most suitable for people with fire attributes to build their foundation.

  Ling Kong, also known as the Lingzi generation's Shu Shu who has been teaching for ten years. Today is his first day of class.

  "Linghuo Jue is the most basic cultivation method of our Qiling Zong. I also started from Linghuo Jue back then. The cultivation of Linghuo Jue is to introduce the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body, constantly impacting and tempering the meridians. Cultivating the truth is to introduce the original energy of heaven and earth into the body, forging one's own body, making it capable of containing more energy, and then achieving the purpose of continuous strengthening."

  Only after successfully cultivating the Spiritual Fire Decision can one further cultivate more profound techniques, the Spiritual Fire Decision is the foundation, whether it's the Condensing Fire Decision or the Concealing Fire Decision, they are all developments of the Spiritual Fire Decision. Ling Kong said solemnly.

  "The cultivation conditions of outer disciples and inner disciples are not comparable, the innate talents of inner disciples are all higher than yours, they don't have to be busy with trivial matters, they can ask teachers questions at any time if they have any doubts, but you can't, you can only cherish time, no matter when, you must seize every moment to cultivate." said Ling Kong Dao.

  "Don't think that just because I'm an outer disciple, I'm destined to be weaker than inner disciples. Don't have such thoughts. Because your Shifu, back then I was also an outer disciple, and through hard work, I became an inner disciple. You must know that this is an unfair world, fairness is based on the foundation of equal strength." Ling Kong said; "Every time there are hundreds of outer disciples, but how many of them have the drive to advance after entering the outer sect? That's all I'll say, the rest depends on their fate."

  Sun Ming was deeply shocked, after his parents died that year, he had been muddled and waiting for death. He always felt that it would be good to spend a lifetime like this, but Ling Kong's words just now woke him up. This is an unfair world, fairness is based on the foundation of equal strength. Why did the family property get invaded after his parents died that year because he was young and had no strength? Why has he been suffering from white eyes for two years because he had no strength? Let heaven give him a chance to enhance his strength, although this opportunity is very slim, it's better than nothing.

  "I must seize this opportunity and become stronger." Sun Ming vowed in his heart.