Volume 1, Chapter 55 – The Divide Between Immortals and Mortals

Qingyang City, the inner courtyard of the Liu Residence.

Yun Yun, Liu Ruyan, Xiao Minghai, and the others were conversing in a quiet room.

Suddenly, the space ahead twisted without warning, then split open into a narrow fissure.

Under everyone’s horrified gazes, Gu Luoli stepped out while holding the spirit vessel.

The spatial fissure silently closed behind her.

“Third Junior Sister?!”

Liu Ruyan was the first to cry out in surprise.

Xiao Minghai was even more deeply shaken. He abruptly rose to his feet and stared at Gu Luoli in disbelief.

Then he looked at the patch of empty space she had just emerged from.

Tearing space apart?

Fixed-point teleportation?

Even a mighty Mahayana expert would need an extremely profound understanding of the laws of space to barely accomplish such a feat!

And this had involved directly transporting another person!

Just what realm would an expert need to have reached to do that?

Judging from how Liu Ruyan addressed her, this young woman was actually her Third Junior Sister?

A mere disciple could traverse space like this with the aid of her Master?

Then her Master herself…

Xiao Minghai did not dare continue thinking.

He only felt that his understanding of Yaochi Immortal Palace had once again been thoroughly overturned, and his reverence reached its peak.

“Luoli greets the Deputy Palace Master and Second Senior Sister.”

Gu Luoli inclined her head slightly to everyone, then looked at Yun Yun and presented the silver-white flying vessel with both hands.

“Deputy Palace Master, Master ordered me to deliver this Cloudsea Spirit Vessel. Master said it can be used to bring the new disciples back to the Immortal Palace.”

Yun Yun accepted the flying vessel and swept it with her divine sense. A trace of understanding crossed her eyes, and she strongly approved of Gu Han’s arrangement.

“Thank you for making the trip,” she said gently.

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“Deputy Palace Master, you are too courteous.”

Gu Luoli replied, then looked at Liu Ruyan and Xiao Ya, who was curiously studying her from the side, and smiled.

Liu Ruyan hurriedly introduced them to each other.

When Xiao Ya learned that the woman before her, whose eyes appeared somewhat unusual, was actually the Palace Master’s third disciple, she was also shaken.

“Xiao Ya greets Senior Sister Gu.”

“Junior Sister, there is no need for such formality.”

Gu Luoli hurriedly stepped forward and helped her straighten.

At such close range, Xiao Ya’s gaze was involuntarily drawn to Gu Luoli’s double pupils.

Faint golden light flowed within those eyes, as though they contained endless mysteries. They were unlike the eyes of anyone she had ever encountered before.

Her curiosity as a researcher was instantly ignited.

“Senior Sister Gu,”

Xiao Ya could not help speaking, her eyes sparkling brightly.

“Just now… did you come here by passing directly through space? Through that black fissure?”

“What did it feel like when you crossed through it?”

“Did you experience weightlessness? Did the distortion of space-time affect your senses? Did you feel any physical discomfort? And also…”

She spoke extremely quickly, firing off one question after another.

Filled with intense curiosity and an almost instinctive desire to investigate, she was clearly completely immersed in “analyzing the phenomenon.”

The barrage of questions left Gu Luoli somewhat bewildered.

She had grown up in Qingyun Sacred Land and had only ever interacted with traditional cultivators. Even after the upheaval she later experienced, she had never encountered questions like these.

She stared blankly for a moment at the pure and fervent thirst for knowledge in the eyes of this junior sister before her, genuinely unsure where to begin.

“Uh… Master sent me here.”

Gu Luoli carefully chose her words as she tried to recall the experience.

“It felt… like walking through a doorway. The light around me was somewhat distorted, but I did not feel any discomfort.”

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“As for anything else… I do not really understand it either.”

She admitted it readily. She was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator. How could she possibly understand the mysteries of the laws of space?

Xiao Ya was clearly not satisfied with that answer and was about to continue asking for details.

“Ahem!”

A somewhat awkward cough interrupted her.

Xiao Minghai’s aged face reddened slightly. His granddaughter’s “old habit” had struck again.

Asking someone such strange questions on an occasion like this was truly improper.

He looked apologetically at Yun Yun and Gu Luoli.

Only then did Xiao Ya come back to her senses and realize that she had become too excited and forgotten the occasion.

Her small face flushed. She hurriedly took half a step back, stood properly, and whispered in embarrassment,

“I am sorry, Senior Sister Gu, Senior Yun. I… I was simply too curious.”

Seeing her like this, even Yun Yun’s cool and aloof face revealed an almost imperceptible smile.

After interacting with the Ninth Princess over the past several days, she had already gained some understanding of her “special” nature.

Her determination to pursue every question to the very end could sometimes leave others torn between laughter and exasperation, but it also revealed her pure heart and thoughtful nature.

“It is fine,” Yun Yun said gently.

“Curiosity is not a bad thing. However, the path of cultivation is long, and many mysteries can only be gradually understood once your cultivation reaches the necessary level.”

“After you enter the Immortal Palace, you will naturally have opportunities to investigate them.”

Xiao Ya nodded vigorously, the light returning to her eyes.

Yun Yun said no more. She turned to Liu Ruyan and spoke solemnly.

“Ruyan, distribute a sum of gold and silver to the families of those disciples who come from mortal households. Let them bid their families a proper farewell.”

“In two days, all disciples will gather in the square and board the vessel for the journey to the Immortal Palace.”

“Yes, Deputy Palace Master.”

Liu Ruyan nodded in acknowledgment.

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Over the next two days, Qingyang City was permeated by a complicated emotional atmosphere.

For the more than one hundred selected boys and girls and their families, this was an extraordinary stroke of fortune, like a carp leaping through the dragon gate.

Yet it also meant an approaching separation that might last several years, or perhaps even longer.

The Liu family stepped forward and distributed enough gold and silver to the families of every disciple from an ordinary or impoverished background to allow them to live comfortably for a long time.

This sudden windfall eased some of the sorrow of parting, but it also made everyone understand more clearly that once their children left, they would truly be stepping into another world.

Scenes of farewell unfolded throughout the city.

In the eastern part of the city, Wang Teng’s grandfather, the stubborn old man who always claimed his grandson had “the bearing of a Great Emperor,” now had reddened eyes as he patted Wang Teng on the shoulder.

“You little brat, study hard after you enter the Immortal Palace! Do not embarrass your grandfather!”

“As for that bearing of a Great Emperor… Ahem, even if you cannot become a Great Emperor, becoming a powerful immortal master will be good enough!”

“Do not worry about the family. This silver is enough for your grandfather to live comfortably for the rest of his life! Remember to send a letter back whenever you have the chance!”

Wang Teng bit his lip and nodded heavily, engraving his grandfather’s appearance deep within his heart.

At the Zhao family residence, a different scene was unfolding.

As the treasured pearl of the Zhao family, Zhao Ling’er’s departure filled the entire family with both pride and reluctance.

Her father repeatedly reminded her of everything she needed to be careful about. Her mother held her hand and silently shed tears, while her siblings surrounded her with envy and blessings.

“Ling’er, the family may need you to look after it in the future… But remember, your own cultivation must always come first.”

Patriarch Zhao spoke earnestly.

Feeling the invisible burden upon her shoulders and her family’s expectations, Zhao Ling’er’s gaze became even more resolute.

More farewells took place among over a hundred households.

Some mothers stayed up through the night sewing new clothes, stitching their longing and concern into every thread.

Some fathers silently smoked their dry pipes, concealing their complicated emotions behind curling wisps of smoke, until all they could finally say was, “Listen well and cultivate hard.”

Some young brothers and sisters clung to their older siblings’ legs and wailed their hearts out, unable to understand why the person who loved them most had to leave…

The girl named Xiaocao, who had been assessed at peak Seven-Star potential and was suspected of possessing an Innate Sword Bone, was an orphan with no home to return to.

She silently accepted the money. She had no family to bid farewell.

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She entered a clothing shop alone and, with a degree of “extravagance” she had never experienced before, selected two new sets of clothes and several pairs of soft cloth shoes for herself.

After returning to her temporary lodgings with the new clothes in her arms, she gently ran her fingers over the smooth fabric. There were no tears in her eyes.

There was only anticipation for the unknown road ahead and a faint trace of loneliness that was difficult to detect.

To her, Yaochi Immortal Palace might become the “home” she had always longed for.

Another focus of attention was Wang Zhaojun, the girl who was only eight years old yet had been assessed as possessing Nine-Star potential.

Her parents were ordinary people. When they learned that their daughter possessed an “immortal destiny,” they were both ecstatic and terrified.

At that moment, inside a guesthouse arranged by the Liu family, her mother repeatedly straightened her daughter’s clothes while murmuring without pause,

“Zhaojun, you must behave after you enter the Immortal Palace. Eat properly, and do not let yourself get cold…”

“Your father and mother are only ordinary people. There is nothing we can do to help you…”

Her father stood at the doorway, looking at his daughter’s delicate, youthful, yet exceptionally composed face. A thousand words clogged his chest, but in the end, they became nothing more than a sigh.

Wang Zhaojun’s five-year-old brother tightly hugged his sister’s waist, his small face red from crying.

“Big Sister, do not go! Do not leave!”

Wang Zhaojun crouched down and gently wiped away her brother’s tears. Although her voice was childish, it carried a determination far beyond her years.

“Be good. Big Sister is going away to learn skills.”

“Once Big Sister has mastered them, I will come back to visit you, all right? You must stay home and listen to Father and Mother.”

Her brother nodded through his sobs, but his little hands only tightened their grip.

Wang Zhaojun looked at her parents and said earnestly,

“Father, Mother, please take care of yourselves. Your daughter will cultivate diligently, and one day, I will make sure both of you live to be a hundred years old.”

It was a simple promise, yet it instantly sent tears streaming down the faces of the ordinary couple.

Similar scenes, filled with sorrow, hope, or endless reminders, unfolded in every corner of Qingyang City.

For some of these boys and girls from ordinary backgrounds, entering an immortal sect was like young birds leaving the nest and flying toward a vast yet unfamiliar sky.

For their families, this brief farewell might be the last time in their lives that they would ever gather so closely.

The paths of immortals and mortals stretched far apart. A cultivator’s single period of secluded meditation might encompass an ordinary mortal’s entire lifetime.