The Sword of the Mortal World

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Including the Northern Demon Continent, there are seven continents in the world. The Eastern Continent is the most remote and smallest, but its territory still spans tens of thousands of miles.
Under the rule of the Great Tang Dynasty, the Eastern Continent has nine state capitals.

Of these nine state capitals, aside from Jingzhou, which is extremely chaotic, the other eight are maintained by cultivation sects, ensuring that the common people can live their lives in peace.
Next to Jingzhou is Qingzhou, located in the southwest of the Eastern Continent. It is very humid there, and as a result, the people of Qingzhou love spicy food the most.
Xu You once again stood among a group of young boys and girls, all slightly younger than him, watching a young boy in green robes who was currently undergoing an assessment.

“Tell me, why do you want to join my Chongyun Mountain?” Xu You asked.
Xu You bit into a chili pepper, savoring the intense heat that spread across his tongue, the pain from the spice satisfying him. He nodded in approval.
Chongyun Mountain was the largest cultivation sect in Qingzhou. Today was the Winter Solstice, and Xu You, standing in the cold winter wind, was selecting new disciples for the mountain.

He was an inner disciple of Cangye Peak and was responsible for the initial selection of new disciples this time.
Chongyun Mountain had four peaks: Qingxi, Chaoyun, Cangye, and Xuanji. According to the rules, new disciples were recruited on the four special dates of Jingzhe, Xiaoshu, Qiufen, and Winter Solstice.
Today, the Winter Solstice, was supposed to be Xuanji Peak’s responsibility, but for some unknown reason, an inner disciple from Cangye Peak was here instead.

“Chongyun Mountain is the greatest cultivation sect in Qingzhou, with a deep foundation and many strong cultivators. Countless great cultivators in the Eastern Continent come from Chongyun Mountain…”
The young boy in green cleared his throat and began in earnest.
Xu You took another bite of the chili pepper, shaking off some of the cold, and then cut him off, “Speak plainly.”

The young boy changed to a pitiful expression, “My father was once an outer disciple of Chongyun Mountain, but he never entered the inner sect. Before he passed away, he grabbed my hand and told me that I must become an inner disciple of Chongyun Mountain to fulfill his unfulfilled wish.”
As he spoke, the boy had already grabbed Xu You’s hand, trying to recreate the scene from that day.
“Alright, enough…” Xu You frowned, about to reprimand him when he suddenly felt something hard in his hand. He glanced at it with his peripheral vision and naturally withdrew his hand. “It seems you do have a filial heart, which is rare nowadays.”

“Now, place your hand on the lantern.”
Xu You pointed to a lantern hanging nearby. The lantern emitted a soft yellow light. Xu You took a step back and opened a blank book on a nearby table.
When he looked up again, the young boy had already placed his hand on the lantern, and the lantern emitted a bright green light.
Xu You glanced at the young boy with a look of appreciation in his eyes.

“Not bad, you passed.”
“What’s your name, age, and place of origin?”
The young boy, seeing that he had passed the initial selection, stood up straight and turned toward the other boys and girls behind him, proudly declaring, “Meng Yin, fourteen years old, from Qishui County, Qingzhou!”

The other boys and girls, standing behind him, looked at Meng Yin with a mix of envy and jealousy.
Zhou Chi simply observed the surroundings.
Xu You didn’t care much for the reactions. He wrote down Meng Yin’s name on the book with his hand.

Then he wrote down his place of origin.
After he finished writing, he glanced down at the book, feeling a bit of disbelief. How could someone be named like this?
“Next!”

Xu You rubbed his hands. The weather was so cold, and his cultivation level wasn’t high enough to resist the cold or heat yet.
As time passed, more than thirty people had passed the initial selection, with the exception of one girl; the rest were all boys.
Although the boys and girls who failed the selection were disappointed, they didn’t leave immediately. They made sure to remember the faces of the boys who had passed the selection so they could brag later when they went back down the mountain.

After checking the names on the list, Xu You raised his head and looked ahead.
“Greetings, Immortal Teacher.”
Zhou Chi stood in front of him, smiling at him.

Xu You exhaled a breath of warm air into his palm, thinking of the warm stove in his cave. He then pointed to a lantern hanging at the side, “Go ahead.”
Hearing these words, all the boys’ eyes turned toward Zhou Chi, even Meng Yin looked at him with curiosity.
Zhou Chi extended his hand and placed it on the lantern.

The dim yellow light from the lantern flickered slightly. Everyone watched with anticipation, the seconds passing, and as the light did not change, most of the onlookers showed pity in their eyes.
Many had already looked away.
Just then, the yellow light began to change.

The lantern emitted a faint green light, so weak that it seemed like a gentle breath could extinguish it.
Xu You glanced at the boy in front of him, shaking his head, “Your talent is too poor. Even if you manage to cultivate, your final result will likely be wasting a lifetime in the initial stage. There will be many hardships on your cultivation path. It’s better to enjoy a simple life…”
As he spoke, Zhou Chi had already handed him a jade pendant. Before Xu You could react, he was already holding the jade pendant in his hand.

“Immortal Teacher, I have aspired to cultivate since I was young. I hope you will give me a chance,” Zhou Chi quickly retracted his hand.
Xu You, with a look of disbelief, changed his expression and said, “I see you are very determined on your path. Perhaps there is some extraordinary opportunity for you. Very well, I will give you this chance.”
“Passed.”

“What’s your name, age, and place of origin?”
After stepping back to his desk, Xu You asked.
“Zhou Chi, seventeen, from Qishui County, Qingzhou,” Zhou Chi replied.

Xu You sighed. At his age, his talent was still so poor, and in terms of cultivation, he would likely not amount to much.
Perhaps, he might not even become a disciple of Chongyun Mountain.
“The initial selection is over. Those who didn’t pass, leave the mountain on your own.”

Xu You cleared his throat, glanced at the disappointed boys and girls with no cultivation talent, and the latter all bowed respectfully, not daring to speak much. They simply turned and left, with their elders waiting at the foot of the mountain.
After they had gone, Xu You smiled at the remaining boys and girls, “The initial selection is over. Afterward, you only need to walk up the mountain road behind me, and reach the top of the mountain before nightfall. Then, you will officially become disciples of Chongyun Mountain.”
“What if we can’t make it to the top?”

A voice came from the crowd.
“Then you will have to leave the mountain and find another sect to join.”
“But don’t worry. If your heart toward the Dao is firm, the whole of Qingzhou is not lacking in smaller sects to take you in. But they cannot compare to Chongyun Mountain.”

“At the top of the mountain, the elders of each peak will be waiting. You can choose which peak to join. But remember, even if you join a peak, you will only be an outer disciple. If you do not reach the Fangcun realm within a year, you will not be able to stay in the sect.”
As Xu You spoke, he looked at Meng Yin, recalling what he had said earlier.
Meng Yin noticed Xu You’s gaze and responded with a look that said, “I understand.”

Xu You was stunned but didn’t say much. He simply waved his hand, and the wooden table in front of the mountain gate was moved aside.
“Climb the mountain.”
With Xu You’s voice, his figure disappeared, and several impatient boys began walking up the mountain road toward the peak.

Soon, others followed them.
At the foot of the mountain, only two people remained.
“Hm… Zhou Chi, right? I’m Meng Yin, we’re from the same hometown.”

Meng Yin moved closer to Zhou Chi, smiling at the plainly dressed boy, clearly not from a rich family.
Zhou Chi nodded. He remembered that the other boy had indeed mentioned coming from Qishui County, and as for himself, he too was from there.
Although, when he was still a child, he had been chosen by the Qishan Sword Cultivators and taken away from Qingzhou to the Qishan of Sishui.

“Aren’t you going to climb the mountain?” Zhou Chi asked, glancing in the direction where the others had gone.
Meng Yin didn’t rush to answer. Instead, he looked around, ensuring that the other boys had already gone far up the mountain before lowering his voice, “Hasn’t everything already been arranged? Why hurry? Climbing the mountain is just a formality.”
When Zhou Chi had handed him the jade pendant earlier, the others had already turned their gaze away, but Meng Yin had stared for a bit longer, just enough to notice it.

Zhou Chi glanced at Meng Yin and asked, “Are you talking about the jade pendant?”
“Sigh... How can you say that? It’s just a way of showing we have a firm heart toward the Dao!”
Perhaps because the boy was not only from the same hometown but also seemed to have shown a heart toward the Dao, Meng Yin naturally felt closer to him.

Zhou Chi was silent for a moment. He had handed over the jade pendant purely because his injury had affected his assessment. Sure enough, he almost failed to make the lantern change color.
Without that jade pendant, he definitely wouldn’t have passed the initial selection.
But hearing Meng Yin’s words now, he felt that Meng Yin believed handing something over would guarantee joining Chongyun Mountain.

It’s important to note that Chongyun Mountain was not only the largest sect in Qingzhou but was also considered one of the top-tier sects in the entire Eastern Continent, far surpassing even the Qishan Zhou Chi originally belonged to.
There were very few sects in the Eastern Continent stronger than Chongyun Mountain.
“He’s just an inner disciple and only responsible for the initial selection. In fact, as long as you have decent cultivation talent, you can pass the initial selection.”

Zhou Chi thought for a moment before deciding to tell his hometown acquaintance the harsh truth.
Meng Yin frowned, “What?”
“In other words, with your talent, you would have passed without handing anything over.”

Zhou Chi remembered the scene where Meng Yin placed his hand on the lantern earlier. His talent was actually the highest among all the candidates.
Such talent was rare even in the Eastern Continent.
“Damn it, what ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a bastard! Refund me!” Meng Yin was furious, grinding his back teeth. He had thought the initial selection would be much more complicated, so he had prepared in advance. But now, it seemed so simple?!

Had he known it was this easy, he would have spent his money elsewhere.
For example, on the elders at the peaks…
Zhou Chi patted his acquaintance’s shoulder and comforted him, “Hurry up and climb the mountain. If you don’t make it to the top, your gifts will truly be wasted.”

As he spoke, Zhou Chi shook his head and sighed, “If you had known you were going to give something, you could’ve given it to me directly. What a waste of that jade pendant.”
As for the jade pendant, it was one of many rare items he had received from Shengling Mountain.
 

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