Chapter 112: She Looked Like Senior Brother Long
As soon as the ship docked, Long Xi held her parents’ hands and, under Steward Liu’s care, followed the crowd onto the territory of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect.
The mont she steadied herself, she could not help but take a deep breath.
The air here felt as though it had been steeped in clear spring water; every breath refreshed the mind and spirit, and even the fatigue from days at sea had lessened by more than half.
In truth, during the voyage, the three disciples responsible for escorting them had already explained that the sect was situated upon a treasured land where spiritual veins converged.
The concentration of spiritual energy far surpassed other places.
The strange sensation one felt while breathing was no illusion—it was genuine nourishnt from spiritual energy.
“Everyone may proceed directly toward the Mountain Gate. There is no need to worry about getting lost or taking a wrong turn. There is still plenty of ti, so there is no need to rush. After the ceremony, I hope we may address each other as Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters. Take care.”
After traveling together for days, the three escorting disciples had grown sowhat attached to the group.
According to them, the Disciple Recruitnt Ceremony was held once every three years, and the number of disciples accepted was never fixed.
It depended solely on whether applicants t the aptitude requirents.
Usually, several hundred disciples would be admitted.
In years when exceptional talents gathered in great numbers, nearly a thousand had been accepted as an exception.
Of course, if the candidates’ aptitudes were diocre, the sect would rather lack than lower its standards; there had also been years when fewer than a hundred were admitted.
As for the requirents and standards of aptitude, they were quite diverse:
Seedlings with both excellent spiritual roots and temperant were naturally fought over by the sect.
If their talent shone brilliantly, so Golden Core True Person might even take a liking to them and accept them directly as Personally Transmitted Disciples.
If one’s spiritual roots were poor but one possessed firm temperant and a stable Dao Heart, one could still gain the opportunity to enter the sect.
If one’s temperant was lacking but one had Three Spiritual Roots or above, the sect would also be willing to show leniency.
If both spiritual roots and temperant were rely ordinary, then having wealth and influence at ho was not without its advantages.
Although the sect was called an Immortal Sect, it was not so “immortal” that it could sustain and manage hundreds of thousands without resources.
It inevitably had to maintain certain relationships with various large and small forces.
That was why disciples from prominent families often arrived carrying recomndation letters.
And recomndation letters were divided into ranks as well.
The most ordinary kind guaranteed only the status of a nial Disciple, so long as one possessed spiritual roots.
Better letters were periodically granted to families on good terms with the sect.
A disciple from such a family, even with diocre talent, could directly enter as an Outer Sect Disciple, sparing several years of nial hardship.
These precious letters often sparked open and secret struggles within many families.
For the sake of this single sheet of opportunity, brothers turned against brothers, sisters against sisters.
Whether it was fortune or misfortune was hard to say.
The recomndation letter in Long Xi’s arms was precisely of this valuable grade.
It was sothing major families could only hope to obtain once every three years, yet because of Xiao Ying, True Person Zhiying had casually gifted one to her.
It was this generous favor that had finally given Long Xi the confidence to decide to join the sect.
“Father, Steward Liu, when you sent Elder Brother here six years ago, was it this lively as well?”
As Long Xi disembarked with the crowd and looked at the bustling scene of people brushing shoulders, she could not help but sigh softly.
The sea of people before her was far greater than she had imagined.
Among the variously dressed seekers of the Dao, she even spotted mbers of the Rakshasa Race with golden hair and blue eyes.
“Six years ago was lively as well, but not as much as today.” Long Xi’s father, wearing an elegant short beard and possessing dignified features, looked around and spoke with certainty.
Then, like an experienced guide, he patiently explained to his family.
“Never mind that for now. Up ahead is Mountain Gate Town. Outsiders are generally not permitted into the inner lands of the Heavenly Sect, so trade, lodging, and entertainnt are all concentrated here. The ceremony is still a few days away. Let us first find a place to rest and get sothing to eat.”
As he spoke, another ship approached from behind and slowly docked.
Watching another batch of peers disembark, Long Xi secretly felt fortunate.
Thankfully she had entered through a back door; otherwise, competing with this vast sea of people, she would not have had the slightest confidence.
……
After walking for about the ti of one incense stick with several fellow townspeople, the outline of Mountain Gate Town ca into view.
Though located outside the sect proper, the place still bore the air of an immortal domain.
Upon a massive Cloud Vessel platform, various Cloud Vessels rose and descended; from ti to ti, cultivators rode Spirit Beasts back and forth.
The sight left this group from Qinglin Town and the even more rural surrounding areas in awe.
Back ho, large families might raise Spirit Beasts, but Cloud Vessels were rare and precious sights indeed.
“Father, Mother, I’ll go buy so sweet pastries over there.”
“Go on, but don’t wander far.”
After entering the town, Long Xi and several companions her age were imdiately dazzled by the array of shops and began making purchases.
Being close to the sect, their parents felt at ease letting them roam.
Just as Long Xi reached for a piece of osmanthus cake on a stall, another hand reached for the very sa pastry at the sa ti.
Both withdrew simultaneously and looked at each other in unison.
Long Xi examined the young man before her.
He appeared about her age, wearing neat and well-fitted Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect disciple robes.
His features were delicate and handso, though unfortunately he had a baby face—not her preferred type.
“My apologies, Miss. Please, you first.”
For so reason, when the young man looked up and saw her, his eyes widened as if he had encountered sothing rare.
Yet he seed hesitant to speak.
His odd expression made Long Xi uncomfortable, as though sothing were stuck on her face.
“Hey! If there’s sothing on my face, just say it. Why are you staring?”
“N-no… I’m sorry, Miss. It’s just… you look like soone I know.”
Long Xi nearly laughed out loud.
This was clearly one of the most cliché pickup lines her elder brother had once told her about.
She had not expected to encounter such a tacky scene even within a sacred immortal land like the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect.
“Using that kind of line to talk to a girl—how tasteless.”
“Truly, it’s not what you think…” The young man’s face flushed bright red, as though he had suffered a grave injustice.
He waved his hands repeatedly.
“I was presumptuous. Farewell!”
With that, he turned and ran, looking utterly flustered.
His panicked appearance left Long Xi feeling slightly guilty, as though she had bullied an innocent youth.
Watching his figure disappear into the crowd, she shook her head helplessly and took a gentle bite of the sweet pastry.
……
Not far away on the street, the fleeing youth soon arrived before a female cultivator.
Seeing his flushed face, she asked curiously,
“What happened, Yuchen? How did buying a pastry make you blush like that?”
The youth was none other than Nan Yuchen, and the female cultivator who spoke was his Senior Fifth Sister, Zhu Huaisu.
“Senior Fifth Sister… I just… ran into a girl.”
Seeing her junior brother blush like this—and over a girl—Zhu Huaisu’s face imdiately lit up with excitent at the prospect of gossip.
“Oh! You’ve finally woken up, have you? Blushing like that—was she very pretty?”
“It’s not… well… she was very pretty, but… she looked… sowhat like Senior Brother Long. I stared a bit longer, and… she thought I was being rude… sigh…”
Zhu Huaisu’s previously excited expression froze and twisted strangely the mont she heard “looked like Senior Brother Long.”
Originally, she had not wanted her junior brother to get too close to Long Tao.
She had only worried that Long Tao might lead the youngster astray, and had not thought in any other direction.
After all, although Long Tao could be quite infuriating, in certain aspects he was absolutely normal and reassuring.
But… but what was this? Her junior brother, who only ever cared about cultivation, had finally shown interest in a girl.
And the first reason he noticed her was that she looked like Senior Brother Long?!
What in the world was this!
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