Chapter 115: The Ceremony Begins
Because she still needed to return to the sect to cultivate, Xiao Ying left the town very quickly, while Long Xi returned to the inn with an uneasy heart.
She went straight to the room where her father and Uncle Liu were playing chess, and invited Uncle Liu to speak in a corner of the corridor.
“Uncle Liu, I ran into that man in black again just now.” Long Xi lowered her voice, a trace of unease in her tone.
“He seed… to be deliberately waiting for .”
Uncle Liu’s brows knit tightly at those words, and the wrinkles on his face appeared deeper.
He truly could not understand it.
His young lady was rely an ordinary girl with Five Spiritual Roots.
Though she was pretty, beautiful female cultivators were everywhere in the Cultivation World.
Why would that man go to such lengths to manufacture these “chance encounters”?
“I also cannot figure out the reason.” Uncle Liu pondered.
“But Xiao Ying was right. What that man used was by no ans an ordinary Charm Technique.”
“That is precisely what confuses most.” Long Xi frowned.
“Why was I affected by him, yet Xiao Ying remained completely unmoved?”
Uncle Liu could not help but chuckle.
“Perhaps in Xiao Ying’s heart, the only one in this world who could truly be called a man was the Young Master.” He paused, then said seriously, “In truth, when I stepped in to remind you that day, it was not because I detected any spell. It was because I noticed that your reaction was very abnormal.”
“Even Uncle Liu could not see through that man’s background?”
“This person is certainly not simple.” Uncle Liu’s expression grew solemn.
“He was definitely not using the common thods of the Hehuan Sect. If it were an ordinary Charm Technique cast within the territory of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sectt, it would be tantamount to seeking death. Had that been the case, the sect would not even have needed to intervene—I would have dealt with him on the spot.”
“Then… what should I do?” Long Xi asked anxiously.
“I am truly afraid that if I see him a few more tis, I will really fall into it against my will.”
Uncle Liu thought for a mont, then suddenly asked, “Young Lady, do you rember whether anything special happened before each ti you encountered that man?”
At the reminder, Long Xi abruptly recalled the young male disciple she had t in front of the sweet cake stall, and she carefully recounted what had happened that day.
“So that was it…” A trace of understanding flashed in Uncle Liu’s eyes.
“I fear the man in black’s true target was that male sect disciple. He saw that you had so contact with him and even exchanged a few words, and mistakenly believed you were acquainted. So he intended to open a path through you—perhaps to extract information, or to use you in so other way.”
As Long Xi thought it over carefully, she suddenly rembered that Xiao Ying had just ntioned that the sect’s prodigy, Nan Yuchen, had a very good relationship with her elder brother.
And when the boy who bought sweet cakes saw her, his first reaction had been to say that she resembled soone he knew…
So that was it! Long Xi’s eyes lit up as all the scattered clues in her mind fell into place.
The male disciple who had bought sweet cakes alongside her was very likely Nan Yuchen.
What he had said at the ti was not a clumsy attempt at flirting—he had truly thought she looked like her brother.
And since Nan Yuchen was a genius heavily nurtured by the sect, it was hardly strange that he would be targeted by ill-intentioned people.
Or rather, for soone like him, it would be strange if no one had their eyes on him.
After sorting out the cause and effect, the fear in Long Xi’s heart gradually dissipated.
Since she was not the true target, it was not so frightening after all.
And after hearing this line of reasoning, Uncle Liu also temporarily let out a breath of relief.
If it involved a sect prodigy, then it would be a matter for the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sectt itself to handle.
“However, Young Lady, you must still be careful,” Uncle Liu reminded her.
“Such people act insidiously. They may very well use you to accomplish sothing.”
“I understand. Before the ceremony, I will try not to go out.”
…
Thus, three more days passed, and finally the day of the Disciple Recruitnt Ceremony arrived.
Before dawn had even broken, Mountain Gate Town was already bustling with noise.
Long Xi’s family followed the flow of people toward the towering azure jade mountain gates of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sectt.
Along the way, they saw many white jade coiling-dragon stone pillars rising along the road.
Atop each pillar stood a cultivator with flowing sleeves.
Their expressions were solemn and their gazes sharp as lightning, constantly surveying the surging crowd below.
“Are the people on those pillars here to maintain order?” Long Xi could not help but ask curiously.
“Indeed,” Uncle Liu replied as he kept the three mbers of the main household protected at his side.
“For a ceremony of this scale, there are Nascent Soul True Lords stationed above. No major chaos will truly occur. But if even minor disturbances required the intervention of a True Lord, it would be far too embarrassing. Therefore, the patrols by these Foundation Establishnt Disciples are still very important.”
Long Xi observed carefully and noticed that the jade pillars not only provided footholds for the patrolling disciples, but also cleverly divided the surging crowd into several streams, naturally slowing their pace and creating order.
Such a design maintained discipline while preventing the danger of trampling.
After walking for less than half a shichen, a wide and tranquil river suddenly appeared before them.
The water was clear as a mirror, and the river channel ford an almost perfect semicircle, passing beneath two enormous semicircular mountain gates.
Those with discerning eyes could already perceive the pattern—the two semicircular gates together ford a complete circle in the air, while the river traced another circle upon the ground.
It was unmistakably so profound formation.
Where there was a river, there were naturally bridges.
Three ancient and dignified stone arch bridges spanned the water, and at the head of each bridge stood two imposing deacon disciples.
On the broadest central arch bridge, an elderly man with white hair and a youthful face announced in a clear voice,
“All Seekers of the Dao, please proceed along the central stone seats; those entering with recomndation letters, pass via the left stone bridge; family mbers, take the right stone bridge.”
The arrangent caused little stir.
After all, the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sectt’s Disciple Recruitnt Ceremony had continued for centuries.
Even ordinary folk could hear a general outline of the process from storytellers.
In most people’s eyes, entering with a recomndation letter was ultimately less glorious than passing through the formal testing process.
Even those holding recomndation letters themselves mostly thought so.
Since they had already secured the substance, they could hardly demand the prestige as well.
Many scions of aristocratic families confident in their own talent would even voluntarily give up their recomndation letters and choose to enter through the formal process, lest a “stain” remain on their cultivation résumé.
But for soone like Long Xi, who did not care about such things, others’ opinions were naturally irrelevant.
After briefly parting from her parents and Uncle Liu, she walked directly toward the left stone bridge.
About several dozen people accompanied her, each with different expressions.
So, like Long Xi, were composed and even chatting cheerfully as they approached the bridgehead.
Others felt that entering through the back door was embarrassing yet could not bear to give up the convenience of a recomndation letter.
They lowered their heads, faces flushed, shuffling awkwardly toward the bridge.
At the bridgehead, a deacon female disciple with a gentle temperant seed to have long anticipated such a situation.
Smiling, she said,
“You may already consider yourselves to have entered the sect in advance and to have beco our junior brothers and sisters. Allow to congratulate you. There is no need to feel ashad for entering with recomndation letters. Since the sect issued these, it will naturally treat everyone equally.” Her gaze swept across the group, her tone gentle yet firm.
“In fact, many Golden Core elders and elite prodigies in the sect also entered in this manner in their early years.”
Her words allowed quite a few of the embarrassed youths to relax sowhat.
Long Xi noticed that several who had kept their heads lowered earlier were finally lifting them slowly.
“What truly matters is the choices you make afterward. Especially for those who can directly beco Outer Disciples, spared years of nial labor, you must cultivate diligently and not squander this hard-won Fortuitous Opportunity.”
Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, she added one final remark,
“There is one last thing to say. Regardless of whether you possess a recomndation letter, to enter our immortal sect, you must at the very least possess Spiritual Roots. Do not laugh—every few ceremonies, soone without Spiritual Roots arrives holding a recomndation letter. Frankly speaking…”
Her tone turned solemn.
“I personally admire such a heart devoted to the Dao. But the paths of immortals and mortals are different. I hope you will recognize reality.”
Afterward, the female deacon disciple ntioned several matters to note and began checking the recomndation letters one by one.
As for Long Xi, she was sowhat moved by those words.
If one lacked Spiritual Roots, what was the purpose of seeking entry? Was it truly just for that obsession in the heart? Selling that recomndation letter would provide enough wealth to enjoy a lifeti of glory in the mortal world.
While waiting in line, she glanced toward the other bridge and saw that suspicious man in black among the crowd.
At that mont, he was chatting and laughing with several others, perfectly at ease.
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