21: The three became friends

A cold metallic sensation came from the soles of his feet, carrying a sense of strangeness that didn't belong to the mortal world.

Li Qingfeng was swept into the shuttle cabin by that green light, stumbling a few steps before steadying himself.

The cabin door closed silently behind him, cutting off the deafening noise below and his mother's heart-wrenching cries.

The world instantly became quiet, leaving only the low hum of the shuttle and... over a dozen gazes focused on him.

The interior of the cabin was quite large, like a long, narrow hall. Cold metal benches lined both sides, and many people were already seated.

Most were boys and girls around his age, dressed in various styles—some in luxurious clothes, some in ordinary ones, and even some in patched clothing.

But at this moment, regardless of their background, everyone's faces were a mix of the daze of surviving a disaster, the ecstasy of stepping onto the path of immortality, and a trace of hard-to-conceal fear.

When they saw Li Qingfeng, the last to enter, and especially when they saw the two immortal masters at the cabin door treating him with an attitude so different from the others, their gazes immediately became complicated—curiosity, scrutiny, envy, and even a few hints of jealousy.

Li Qingfeng felt like needles were pricking his back, making him feel entirely uneasy.

He instinctively wanted to find a corner to shrink into, just like when Goudan and the others mocked him back in Li Family Village.

But a thought suddenly surged up:

Profound Rank Upper Grade! Candidate for the Inner Sect! The expectations of his father, mother, and elder brothers! The hope of the Qing Family!

He straightened his still-weak back, took a deep breath to suppress the panic in his heart, and scanned the room as calmly as possible, finding a seat in a less crowded spot near the side.

The cold metal surface of the chair made him shiver.

The shuttle started and accelerated silently, and a slight push against his back was felt.

Through the "window" on the cabin wall, made of some unknown material that rippled like water, he could see the continuous mountain ranges and the murky Heishui River below rapidly receding and shrinking, eventually swallowed by the churning sea of clouds.

“Hey! Brother!”

A slightly excited voice with a thick local accent sounded in his ear.

Li Qingfeng turned his head and saw a dark-skinned youth wearing a coarse cloth jacket, grinning with a row of white teeth, squeezing into the empty seat next to him.

The youth's eyes were very bright, carrying the characteristic simplicity and curiosity of mountain folk, along with a bit of familiarity.

“My name is Zhang Shitou! From Heishiao! Are you from Black Mountain Town? I saw everything down there just now! Profound Rank Upper Grade! Candidate for the Inner Sect! Truly amazing!”

Zhang Shitou gave a thumbs-up, his tone full of sincere admiration. “I'm only Yellow Rank Low Grade, destined to be a servant! In the immortal sect later, you've got to look out for me, brother!”

Li Qingfeng was a bit embarrassed by his blunt enthusiasm and quickly waved his hands:

“I... my name is Li Qingfeng. As for looking out for you... I wouldn't dare claim that; we're both just starting out.”

His voice was still a bit tense.

“That's still much better than me!”

Zhang Shitou didn't mind at all. He lowered his voice and gestured mysteriously toward the front with his chin.

“See those people in the front? The ones in silk are the young masters and young misses from Squire Zhao's family in the neighboring Qingshui Town. Their noses are practically pointed at the sky! That kid in blue silk, Zhao Tianbao, is Yellow Rank High Grade, a Candidate for the Outer Sect. He was looking at you sideways when he came up! Probably because you're more talented than him, so he's feeling disgruntled!”

Li Qingfeng looked in the direction he was pointing.

Sure enough, several well-dressed boys and girls were sitting in the front rows. Among them, the boy called Zhao Tianbao, about fourteen or fifteen years old, was leaning against the back of his chair, playing with a jade pendant. His gaze occasionally swept over Li Qingfeng's way, carrying blatant scrutiny and a trace of subtle gloom.

Li Qingfeng's heart skipped a beat, and the tension he had just suppressed surged up again. He instinctively wanted to avoid that gaze, but thinking of the “Qing Family” he represented and his parents' expectations, he stiffened his neck and looked back without flinching.

Although his palms were starting to sweat again.

“Tch.”

Zhao Tianbao seemed to let out a light snort and turned his head away, whispering and laughing with a girl in a pink dress next to him. However, his posture still carried a condescending aloofness.

Just then, footsteps came from the front of the cabin.

The two immortal masters who had come to receive them walked in.

The cabin instantly fell silent, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. All the youths instinctively straightened their backs and looked at them nervously.

The cold-faced Senior Brother Liu (Li Qingfeng learned his surname from Zhang Shitou's whispers) scanned the crowd. His gaze lingered for a moment on Li Qingfeng and another direction in the front, still expressionless.

The Senior Sister surnamed Wei leaned against the cabin wall with her arms crossed, her expression indifferent, as if the group of people before her were merely goods to be processed.

“Everyone, sit properly.”

Senior Brother Liu's voice wasn't loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly, carrying an unquestionable power.

“The journey to the sect is still long. Behave yourselves.”

After speaking, he actually sat down cross-legged on a separate stone chair at the front of the cabin, which seemed to be the control position, and closed his eyes to rest, ignoring everyone else.

Senior Sister Wei also closed her eyes, as if entering a meditative state.

The attitude of the two immortal masters slightly eased the tense atmosphere in the cabin, but it also left the group of youths who had just left the mortal world feeling even more at a loss.

No one dared to speak loudly; only tiny, extremely low-pitched whispers buzzed.

Li Qingfeng breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to say something to Zhang Shitou, another voice sounded beside him, carrying a bit of hesitation and restraint.

“Li... Brother Li Qingfeng?”

Li Qingfeng turned his head and saw another tall, thin youth with somewhat delicate features, wearing a washed-out old padded jacket, standing by his seat with a look of nervousness and expectation.

“My name is Wang Tiezhu. I'm also from the Black Mountain Town area, from Wang Family Village.”

The youth's voice wasn't loud, but it was clear. “Just now... I saw it too. Profound Rank Upper Grade, truly amazing.”

His eyes sparkled with a longing for the future similar to Li Qingfeng's, but there was even more of a kinship from shared circumstances.

“The two of us... can be considered as coming from the same place. In the future... can we look out for each other?”

Li Qingfeng looked at Wang Tiezhu's old padded jacket, which was similar to his own, and saw the cautious yet longing sense of closeness in his eyes. An indescribable feeling of familiarity and warmth welled up in his heart.

This feeling was like meeting a fellow villager in a strange place.

He immediately nodded and moved aside slightly, making some room:

“Of course! Brother Wang Tiezhu, sit down!”

A smile immediately bloomed on Wang Tiezhu's face as he sat down somewhat stiffly next to Li Qingfeng.

Zhang Shitou also leaned in, and the three of them were soon conversing in low voices.

Wang Tiezhu was also at the Profound Rank, but only Medium Grade.

His family was very poor; his parents had sold everything they owned just to scrape together some dry rations for him to try his luck, and they hadn't expected him to actually succeed.

In this cold shuttle cabin, these three youths from ordinary or even poor backgrounds quickly drew close to each other due to their similar circumstances and Ranks, forming a small circle.