The Quest for Immortality

Elder Master Xun, with his hands clasped behind his back, cast only one glance at the four Array Formations on the Array Plate, and each was dissolved without a trace.

He then walked out of the Tao Teaching Pavilion and along the jade-stoned main pathway of the Taixu Gate, striding alone towards the back mountain.

Along the way, all the disciples bowed and greeted him:

”Good day, Elder Master Xun.”

Elder Master Xun nodded slightly in response, ”Good day.”

Upon reaching the back mountain, all the Inner Sect Elders, even the True Transmission Elders, also bowed and said:

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”Good day, Elder Master Xun.”

Elder Master Xun simply nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

After returning to the Elder’s Residence, Elder Master Xun brewed a cup of tea and instructed someone outside the door, ”Go fetch me a portfolio.”

A Taoist Child bowed and said,

”Yes, Ancestor.”

Afterward, Elder Master Xun sat in his room with a cup of tea and a scroll, reading and frowning in thought.

The Elder’s Residence was spacious and serene, devoid of anything superfluous.

There was only a table and a meditation cushion.

The taste of the tea was bland and unadorned.

Yet, Elder Master Xun did not mind.

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the Taoist Child, holding a portfolio, respectfully handed it to Elder Master Xun.

Elder Master Xun nodded as he took it, his cloudy gaze scanning it briefly.

”Li State, Second Grade, Loose Cultivator from Tongxian City...”

”Mid-Lower Grade Spiritual Root...”

”To think he’s a Loose Cultivator with a Mid-Lower Grade Spiritual Root...”

Elder Master Xun felt a slight surprise, then nodded again, ”Being open to talents of all sorts shows some progress...”

Elder Master Xun looked further and noticed the specialty section, which mentioned ”Skilled in Formation.”

He pondered for a moment and nodded, ”Indeed, not bad...”

Disciples from Li State, traveling thousands of miles to seek knowledge here…

”Admirable indeed...”

Elder Master Xun’s expression was a bit emotional, his gaze concentrating as he pondered something…

…

Mo Hua was eating at the Disciple’s Residence, surrounded by quite a number of disciples.

Having joined the school for just over a month, Mo Hua was deemed adorable, spoke pleasantly, and exhibited an innocent charm, thus she was well-liked. She was also quite familiar with her fellow sect disciples from the Taiyi Residence.

Disciples from Noble Clans, focused purely on cultivation, tended to be rather naïve.

Although most were seventeen or eighteen years old, they lacked worldly experience and had not yet reached the stage of ”pursuing fame and profit,” making them less scheming and more appreciative of the bonds between sect mates.

A disciple then said to Mo Hua,

”Mo Hua, be careful.”

”You’re involved in a big deal...”

”Elder Master Xun is very stingy…”

A disciple nearby made a ”shush” gesture, ”Do you want to die? How dare you speak ill of Elder Master Xun…”

”I’m saying it here; he can’t hear it anyway.”

”Hard to say…”

”If he hears it… what can he do…”

”Then you’ll truly experience firsthand the ’profound and vast’ nature of Formation...”

”Right, Elder Master Xun will keep a special eye on you, teaching you those very difficult formations, till your Sea of Consciousness dries up, and you lose all your hair without mastering them…”

”Is that a good thing?!”

”Of course…”

The disciple stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing that a discordant note had crept into the conversation…

He turned quietly to look at Mo Hua, unsure what to say.

Mo Hua asked softly, ”Will Elder Master Xun teach very difficult formations?”

The disciple looked bemused, ”Mo Hua, why do you seem… so eager?”

”Nothing, nothing.” Mo Hua quickly shook her head.

”Nonsense, your eyes are shining!”

”Exactly!”

”My eyes are naturally like this!” Mo Hua asserted confidently.

”…”

”However…” a disciple voiced doubtfully, ”Mo Hua, why are you so good at formations?”

Mo Hua replied shyly, ”Good? It’s just average…”

Some envied, some were jealous, gritting their teeth,

”Modesty helps one progress, but excessive modesty invites a beating!”

Mo Hua responded, ”I just happen to be a bit better at formations, that’s why I was admitted with a Mid-Lower Grade Spiritual Root…”

”Mid-Lower Grade?!”

All the present disciples were shocked.

”You have a Mid-Lower Grade Spiritual Root?!”

”No wonder, I thought your Spiritual Power was weak…”

”And your Blood Qi is rather inadequate too…”

”Your Taoist Foundation isn’t solid either…”

”And you aren’t very tall…”

Mo Hua became upset, ”Enough already…”

Blood Qi, Spiritual Power is one thing, but height too? Is that even something to mention?

The other disciples hurriedly offered sheepish smiles.

Someone else puzzledly inquired, ”That’s not right, even if you’re great at learning formations, with a Mid-Lower Grade Spiritual Root, you shouldn’t be able to enter the gates, right?”

”Yeah, my family’s ancestor tried to get a member with a Mid-Lower Grade Spiritual Root into the Taixu Gate by pulling many strings, and still failed…”

”If even Mid-Lower Grade is not acceptable, let alone Mid-Lower Grade…”

”Mid-Lower Grade, entering the Eight Great Gates…”

The group began to look at Mo Hua with strange expressions…

After a while, several distant disciples walked directly over, standing in front of Mo Hua with stern expressions, and bowed,

”Qian State’s Cheng family, I’m Cheng Mo, let’s be friends!”

”Li State’s Situ family, my name is Situ Jian, destined to be the foremost great Sword Cultivator in the Nine State, greetings!”

”Qian State’s Wen family...”

”Gen State…”

…

Mo Hua was confused.

He had thought, with their hostile momentum, they were coming to fight.

But they were here… to make friends?

What did that mean?

If Mo Hua remembered correctly, he mentioned having a ”Mid-Lower Grade” Spiritual Root, not a ”Top Top-Grade”…

Could it be that within the Taixu Gate, the importance of Spiritual Roots was reversed?

Was a Mid-Lower Grade better than a Top Top-Grade?

Mo Hua was perplexed.

In the distance, disciples whispered among themselves; although their voices were low, they still reached Mo Hua’s ears.