Chapter 9: The Sect Trial

After seeing off four old acquaintances over the years, Li Ji'an was already calm when he looked at Zhao Shuyao, whose face had gradually grown old.

Zhao Shuyao, however, had been stirred by memories of her youth, and sorrow welled up in her heart.

Especially when she thought back to the days when she had been about Li Fan's age, competing fiercely with Li Chang'an. Though she had been defeated by him more often than not, those losses only made that time of life all the more enjoyable.

The sound of the flute and song had faded, the old friends had drifted apart; the long, joyful miles of youth could never be found again.

She held Li Fan tightly in her arms, and the tears could no longer be contained.

Yan Qingwan and the other two did not disturb her.

After a long while, Zhao Shuyao finally gathered her emotions, smiling through tears as she gently stroked Li Ji'an's face.

"Good, good. With you here, Brother Li's dream of cultivation lives on. Walk this path well for him."

Li Ji'an reached out and wiped the tears from her face. "Aunt Yao, I will. When Father saw me, he asked me to bring you a message. He said, 'Live well. Perhaps one day we may return home together.'"

The sorrow on Zhao Shuyao's face turned solemn in an instant. "Brother Li... he... he... Good, good. Aunt Yao will live well. I will wait."

Without doubt, those words gave her even more hope.

It was not until two hours later, after Zhao Shuyao had asked everything she wished to ask, that she grew especially fond of Li Fan's intelligence and good sense.

If not for her own position, she would truly have liked to keep Li Fan by her side and watch him grow. In him, she could always see a shadow of Brother Li from those years ago.

By the time night began to fall, she still could not bear to part.

At farewell, Zhao Shuyao handed Li Ji'an a storage pouch. "Xiaofan, Aunt Yao is not as capable as your aunt. My means are limited, but this is a little token of my heart. Please do not disdain it."

"Aunt Yao, you are too modest. Father once said that you and my aunt are among the people closest to us." Li Ji'an accepted the storage pouch with both hands and said with utmost seriousness.

"The closest..." At his words, joy once again bloomed on Zhao Shuyao's face, and the more she looked at Li Fan, the more she liked him.

"Good, good, Xiaofan, do your best. If you make it into Azure Cloud Sect, you can come often to see Aunt Yao in the future, and I will make all sorts of delicious food for you."

"Thank you, Aunt Yao." Li Ji'an bowed deeply.

Watching Zhao Shuyao's happiness overflow so plainly, Tong Yaoyao's brows relaxed.

Then, when she looked at Li Ji'an, there was a trace of a smile in her eyes as well.

"Kid, call me Aunt Yaoyao. From now on, if you're in the Immortal City, you can use my name. I am your backer!"

Seeing Tong Yaoyao say this, delight flashed in Zhao Shuyao's eyes, and she hurriedly signaled Li Ji'an with her gaze.

Because of some misunderstanding from their youth, Tong Yaoyao had long been dissatisfied with Li Ji'an's former life. After her Foundation Establishment had become stable, she had even once wanted to go to the wasteland to find Li Ji'an, only to be stopped by Zhao Shuyao in the end.

Over the years, she had kept hearing Zhao Shuyao speak of Li Ji'an's son, and as the saying went, hatred for the house extended to the crow on the roof; she had never liked him from the bottom of her heart. Especially two days ago, when Aunt Yao had even been willing to give up her own chance to advance to the second rank as a body cultivator in order to support this boy.

And yet today, Tong Yaoyao had kept her divine sense on Li Ji'an the entire time. Aside from a certain maturity that did not seem feigned, she truly could not pick out any faults.

"Aunt Yaoyao!" Li Ji'an bowed with complete ease.

Build connections, accumulate support. That had always been the guiding principle, and it served the ultimate goal of eternal immortality.

"Hmm, not bad. When I am in a good mood in the future, I will give you something."

Seeing the two of them depart, Li Ji'an suddenly felt a gaze fall upon him from the side.

"Aunt?"

Yan Qingwan had already put her bamboo hat back on. "Did your father not ask you to bring me a message?"

Li Ji'an smiled faintly. "Aunt, you've misunderstood. When Father sent me to the settlement area, I was only eight years old. How could I remember so much?"

"Oh?"

"Over the past few years, I heard a great many things from Uncle Tie Zhu about my father's fellow townsfolk, and that was how I came to know Aunt Yao. Seeing her today, grown increasingly old, I feared she had no desires left, nothing to hope for, and that her spirit might have faded early." Li Ji'an explained.

Yan Qingwan was stunned for a moment, then broke into a carefree smile. "Fan'er is clever, resourceful, and kindhearted. Excellent!"

Over the next two months, Li Ji'an almost toured the entire Immortal City.

For the first two days, it was Yan Qingwan who accompanied him. After that, Zhao Shuyao was the one by his side.

In addition, he learned much more about Azure Cloud Sect.

As the largest sect in Azure Cloud Province, Azure Cloud Sect not only possessed vast holdings but also bore the duty of protecting the province, and so every year it recruited disciples, students, and all manner of servants.

Over the years, the requirement for inner sect disciples had always been set at mid-grade spiritual roots.

That day, at the city gate, Li Ji'an bid farewell to Zhao Shuyao and followed Yan Qingwan toward the mountain gate of Azure Cloud Sect.

The sect trial would begin in three days. Some time ago, many of the boys and girls taking part had already gone ahead to wait outside the mountain gate. It was said that some believed that kneeling outside the gate in advance might earn the sect's goodwill, and perhaps sincerity alone would bring extra credit.

Li Ji'an and Yan Qingwan did not agree with that at all.

When a sect takes in disciples, it does so to ensure the continuity of its inheritance.

Certainly, human feeling and worldly considerations may play a role, but only in a minority of cases. For the great majority, talent and potential are what matter most.

As the saying goes, sincerity by itself is worthless when offered alone.

An hour later, gazing from afar at the imposing mountain gate formed by a range of rolling peaks, at the mist-shrouded forests and the peaks reaching up into the azure clouds, Li Ji'an finally felt the same thrill he had once felt reading immortal cultivation tales before his transmigration.

"Now this looks like the realm of immortals."

Yan Qingwan's beautiful eyes also stirred with a trace of yearning.

But that yearning was quickly hidden again, because as a member of her clan, once she accepted the family's support, the possibility of roaming freely in pursuit of the immortal path had already vanished.

She had understood this before she ever made the decision to accept the clan's aid in her Foundation Establishment, and she had no regrets.

"Silence is forbidden within the mountain gate."

"Once inside the sect's territory, do not privately absorb spiritual energy for cultivation."

"Flight is prohibited."

"No disguises or altered faces are allowed within the sect."

As soon as they entered the range of Azure Cloud Sect, several notices formed of magical power appeared in the air.

Yan Qingwan收收收收
and set the flying boat away, then led Li Ji'an on foot to the gate.

By then, nearly a hundred boys and girls were already waiting respectfully outside, and with the elders accompanying them, the total number exceeded three hundred.

"Are you also here to send a junior off to the trial, fairy?" A male cultivator came forward to strike up a conversation as soon as the two had stopped.

Both of them were already used to this.

During the two months in the Immortal City, such scenes happened from time to time.

Food and desire are human nature.

A love of beauty is common to all; it was perfectly normal.

"I have brought my beloved child here. May I ask what guidance you have for us?" Yan Qingwan usually replied with these words.

Yet even so, her beauty still proved irresistible to some male cultivators skilled in dual cultivation techniques.

In fact, her words had even sparked particular interest in a few of them.

With no choice, Yan Qingwan released the restraints of the breath-concealing talisman and revealed the cultivation of the early Foundation Establishment stage.

"Forgive my presumption, Senior. I have offended you!"

"Please forgive us, Senior!"

Almost instantly, they all hastily apologized and left in a rush.

Three days later, the long-awaited sect trial finally began.

A prodigious disciple of the sect rode a magical artifact down to the front of the gate.

"The trial begins."

"Go up the mountain by this path. I will await you at the summit."

Without another word, the man casually pointed to a mountain path on the side of the gate, then rose into the air and departed.

"Climbing a mountain? Is this the first test, a trial of will?" Li Ji'an looked at the steep, winding path and a faint sneer appeared on his face.

Climb a mountain? He was already at the perfect limit of the early body refinement stage.