79: Chapter 79 Selection of Cangxuan Immortal Sect Disciples

The process of switching to cultivating the 'Dao Jing' was smoother than Yun Ming had imagined.

That night, he sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion, his mind sinking into his Sea of Consciousness, allowing those golden runes to flow and circulate within his mind. The runes were like living things, arranging and combining on their own, transforming into an incredibly profound Cultivation Technique. He tried circulating it, and the spiritual liquid in his Dantian followed along, as if it were already familiar with this path.

A night passed. When Yun Ming opened his eyes, the sky outside the window was already bright.

He lowered his head to look at his own hands, then performed an internal inspection of his Dantian, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes.

Although his Realm had not undergone a Breakthrough, it was clearly several degrees more profound than the day before. Even more wondrous was that he, as a whole person, had undergone an indescribable change—it was like a mirror long covered in dust being wiped clean, like water long muddied being filtered clear.

Even the way he viewed the world was different. Those once vague Laws of heaven and earth could now be faintly perceived as faint, thread-like traces.

"The Dao Jing..." Yun Ming murmured to himself, "It truly is extraordinary."

Unfortunately, there was still a stretch of road before reaching Foundation Establishment Great Perfection. He was not in a hurry. He took out the Pill Furnace and continued refining yunling pills.

Half a year's time quietly slipped away amidst Alchemy and cultivation.

On this day, as Yun Ming was meditating in the courtyard, he suddenly heard a series of melodious bell chimes coming from afar. The bell chimes were continuous, ringing a total of nine times, their sound shaking the land for a hundred miles.

He opened his eyes and looked towards the direction from which the bell chimes came.

The Cangxuan Immortal Sect had begun recruiting Disciples.

Yun Ming stood up, tidied up a bit, and checked on the Crimson-Feathered Luan's egg, something he did every day.

The vitality within the egg grew increasingly profound, yet there was still no sign of hatching.

Once again, he used the Fuli Heaven-Concealing Record to conceal the egg's Aura.

Then, he deactivated the courtyard's Formation and went out.

The market district was already bustling.

Yun Ming walked along the street. Everywhere he looked were unfamiliar faces. There were extravagantly dressed scions of noble families, travel-worn Loose Cultivators, Elders from minor Sects bringing their Disciples, and solitary, aloof Sword Cultivators traveling alone. The shops lining the street were packed with people, inns were long since full, and even along the roadside, people had set up stalls selling Medicinal Pills and Talismans.

Everyone was heading in the same direction.

Outside the mountain gates of the Cangxuan Immortal Sect.

Yun Ming followed the flow of the crowd. After roughly half an hour, the view before him suddenly opened up.

It was an incredibly vast square, large enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people. At the far end of the square stood the towering mountain gates of the Cangxuan Immortal Sect—two stone pillars reaching into the clouds stood between heaven and earth, their surfaces carved with Divine Beasts like Dragons, Phoenixes, and Qilins, so lifelike they seemed as if they might come alive at any moment. Between the pillars was a shimmering, water-like curtain of light, through which one could faintly glimpse the Immortal mountains and jade palaces beyond.

But the sight above the square was what truly took one's breath away.

Yun Ming looked up and saw that the sky above was densely packed with all manner of flying vessels and mounts.

There were giant flying ships hundreds of zhang long, their hulls carved with Dragons and painted with Phoenixes, banners fluttering, with dozens of uniformly dressed Disciples standing at the bow, their Aura imposing.

There were bamboo rafts, entirely emerald green, seemingly simple yet emanating astonishing Spiritual Pressure. On them sat several Cultivators with their eyes closed in meditation, the Aura around them unfathomable.

There were magnificent carriages pulled by nine unicorns, their curtains half-drawn, faintly revealing peerlessly beautiful women seated within, their sleeves fluttering, ethereal as Immortals.

There were Sword Cultivators hovering mid-air on Flying Swords, their robes flapping, their Sword Intent soaring to the heavens, making it difficult for others to look directly at them.

There were those riding various Spirit Beasts—White Tigers, Vermilion Birds, Azure Flood Dragons, Mysterious Turtles—each exuding a powerful Aura, the weakest being at least at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

There were even some who simply sat cross-legged on clouds, relaxed and content, looking down upon the multitude of common people below.

The owners of those flying ships, carriages, and Spirit Beasts were mostly Geniuses from great families or Disciples from major Sects who had come to participate in the selection. They either stood with their hands behind their backs, or meditated with eyes closed, or conversed in low voices. Their occasional glances towards the crowd below carried a touch of aloof indifference.

On the square below, the majority were ordinary people like Yun Ming.

There were ragged Loose Cultivators, herb gatherers carrying medicine baskets on their backs, parents holding their children's hands, elderly leaning on walking sticks. They looked up at the magnificent spectacle in the sky, their eyes filled with envy and yearning.

"Look! That's the Third Prince of Tianfeng Kingdom! They say he was born with extraordinary pupils that can see through illusions. He's only eighteen and already at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!"

"That woman in green over there is the Young Miss of the number one great family in Yunlan Kingdom. They say when she was born, celestial phenomena appeared, with a Phoenix circling the roof beams for three days without dispersing!"

"That flying ship is from Ziyang Kingdom. The white-haired youth on it, I heard he reached Foundation Establishment at seven, comprehended Sword Intent at ten, and now, only twenty, he's already at Foundation Establishment Great Perfection!"

"Tsk tsk, these are the true darlings of heaven. For ordinary folks like us, just getting into the Outer Sect would be cause for burning incense in gratitude."

The crowd buzzed with discussion, exclamations of awe rising and falling.

Yun Ming stood among the crowd, looking up calmly at those dazzling figures in the sky.

Blending into the crowd, wearing a slightly worn blue robe, his Aura completely restrained, he looked no different from the ordinary Loose Cultivators around him. No one spared him a second glance.

He had come here because, as early as half a year ago, he had learned from a casual conversation with the attendant at the Bao Dan Pavilion—deep within the Cangxuan Immortal Sect lay an ancient teleportation Formation.

It was said that this Formation connected several major Sects in the East Xuan Region with a certain major Sect on the Ximing Continent. Once activated, it could traverse the two regions in an instant.

Of course, whether this rumor was true or false, he wasn't certain.

But this was his only lead at the moment.

Great Qian was most likely on the Ximing Continent. His mother and Er Ya's fate was unknown. He could wait decades to slowly cross over, but the two of them could not afford to wait. If such a teleportation Formation truly existed, he had to enter, had to find it, had to find a way to use it.

It was just that the rumored cost also made his heart skip a beat—activating it once required consuming one hundred million Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and the number of people it could teleport was limited. Its daily maintenance was also astronomically expensive. Such a scale was something even an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator couldn't afford a fraction of, even by bankrupting themselves.

But he was different. He wasn't short on Spirit Stones. Although he didn't have many Low-Grade Spirit Stones, he still had quite a few Top-Grade Spirit Stones left.

But first, join the Sect and investigate the truth.

Above in the sky, layers of auspicious clouds churned, and ethereal Immortal music drifted down.

When the rising sun reached the zenith of the sky, the mountain gates of the Cangxuan Immortal Sect rumbled open. A brilliant golden light spread out from within the gates, transforming into a golden pathway a hundred zhang wide, stretching from the mountain gates all the way to the far end of the square.

Wherever the golden light passed, the crowd automatically made way.

Everyone held their breath, gazing up at the mountain gates.

The next moment, a figure stepped forward along the golden light.

It was a middle-aged man dressed in a black Daoist robe, his features refined, with three wisps of long beard gently fluttering in the wind. With each step he took, golden lotuses bloomed beneath his feet—lotus blossoms with every step. In the blink of an eye, he arrived above the square.

The moment he stopped, a vast, boundless pressure descended like the sky collapsing, enveloping everything below.

The hundreds of thousands of people on the square all trembled in their hearts as one.

Nascent Soul True Lord.

"This seat is Yuan Zhenzi, an Elder of the Cangxuan Immortal Sect."

The middle-aged man spoke. His voice wasn't loud, yet it clearly reached every person's ears. His gaze swept over those below as he said indifferently, "This Disciple selection will be presided over by this seat."

As soon as his words fell, he slightly closed his eyes. His Divine Sense swept out like a tidal wave.

In that instant, Yun Ming felt as if an invisible gaze swept over his body, carrying an indescribable sense of pressure. His heart tightened, and he hurriedly circulated the Fuli Heaven-Concealing Record, suppressing his Aura to the absolute minimum.

That gaze lingered for a moment, then moved away.

The next instant—

"Ah—!"

Several piercing, miserable screams rang out simultaneously.

From within the crowd, seven plumes of black smoke shot into the sky, wrapping around seven figures who fled madly. They were demonic Cultivators who had hidden among the crowd, instantly exposed by the sweep of the Nascent Soul True Lord's Divine Sense.