Chapter 32: The Qingyeh Sect’s Disciple Recruitment Season

This inflated thought had barely surfaced before Chen Qianliu remembered his senior sister. She had perfected Qi Refining before twenty, advanced to Golden Core before thirty, and completed Golden Core cultivation in sixty years. Had she not failed to break through to Spirit Embryo, she would be a Spirit Embryo great cultivator within a hundred years. He was immediately brought back to reality.

The path of cultivation had always been one difficult step after another. Even within the Qi Refining realm, the first and second levels were easier, the third and fourth levels more difficult, the fifth and sixth levels even more so. Most Yu Xian Sect disciples stalled at the sixth or seventh level. Those who broke through the seventh level or higher, achieving the unity of Gang and Sha and the ability to ride swords through the air, were one in a hundred.

The Yu Xian Sect disciples he had fought against when with Jiang Ningxue and Xie Zhanrou were all seventh level or higher in Qi Refining. Yet it would take them thirty to fifty more years to advance to Golden Core.

Chen Qianliu had lived three lives and cultivated in two. His wisdom ran deeper than any peer, his comprehension stronger, and he had decades of cultivation experience. Yet his cultivation speed was merely middle-to-lower tier.

He came to his senses, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He sighed quietly to himself, “Poor aptitude is truly an insurmountable barrier.”

“I remember senior sister perfected Qi Refining first level in merely a month, second level in just several months. I cannot compare.”

Though he had sobered up and knew he was still that cultivator with poor aptitude, possessing only half a broken spring willow meridian, breaking through to the second level of Qi Refining still brought Chen Qianliu some joy.

Martial family true qi was born from the physical body, transformed from one’s own vital essence. But human vital essence was limited, so the true qi produced was quite dilute. If one constantly engaged in martial practice and consumed too much, it could even damage one’s lifespan.

The cultivation methods of cultivators aimed to transform the human body into a precious object for cultivation, capable of drawing endless energy from heaven and earth, converting it into personal vital essence, then refining this essence—concentrated from heaven and earth energy—into true qi.

At the first level of Qi Refining, the Golden Essence Jade Liquid realm, the more one cultivated, the more refined one’s vital essence became, and the longer one’s lifespan extended. Compared to the pinnacle of martial arts, the true qi was even more formidable.

At the second level of Qi Refining, Boiling Liquid into Qi, one could easily convert refined vital essence into true qi, even expelling it several feet from the body. The techniques were so mysterious they surpassed what martial arts could achieve.

As for the third level of Qi Refining, there was no barrier. Once one perfected the second level—Boiling Liquid into Qi—and accumulated sufficient robust true qi over time, one could direct true qi to break open the acupoints throughout one’s body. Once all several hundred acupoints were opened, one would achieve the third level of Qi Refining: Condensing Qi into Acupoints.

In his previous life, Chen Qianliu had never accumulated sufficiently vigorous true qi. He had only opened five or six acupoints before running out of momentum, remaining stuck at the second level of Qi Refining until his death.

In this life, having perfected the Green Emperor Jia-Yi Art to the second level, he had naturally broken through two nasal acupoints, far surpassing his previous life.

Having broken through his realm, Chen Qianliu didn’t dare be careless. He spent several days nurturing and consolidating his cultivation, then pondered: should he focus his efforts on breaking open acupoints next, or on refining the wood demon core?

The former was certainly the orthodox path, the latter also sharpening the knife before chopping wood—if he could refine several spirit meridians, his cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds, almost within reach.

Chen Qianliu pondered for a long time, then suddenly gritted his teeth and decided to fully commit to refining the wood demon core. He had suffered enough from poor aptitude. Now that he had an opportunity to reverse fate itself, how could he easily pass it up?

Having secluded himself in cultivation for too long, Chen Qianliu couldn’t help but want to relax for several days and ease his emotions. For several consecutive days, he simply wandered the immortal market.

After all, the path of cultivation required periods of activity and rest. Constant bitter cultivation might instead create cultivation obstacles!

During this time, Chen Qianliu had been absorbed in cultivation and hadn’t noticed changes in the Talisman Compendium Market. Now that his realm had broken through and he had relaxed somewhat, he discovered something peculiar.

The Qingyeh Sect Daoists, once seen everywhere, were now much fewer in number. However, from his previous life, he had never heard of any crisis befalling the Qingyeh Sect. He wondered to himself, “What happened to the Qingyeh Sect recently?”

He pondered for a long time but still couldn’t recall what had occurred with the Qingyeh Sect at this time.

Curious, Chen Qianliu couldn’t resist finding a Qingyeh Sect Daoist with a kind appearance and asking, “Daoist friend, why have there been so few people from your esteemed sect recently?”

The Qingyeh Sect Daoist, seeing his “young age”—though knowing it might not be his true age—still felt some warmth toward him and smiled, “This is the season when our sect recruits new disciples!”

“The Qingyeh Sect doesn’t keep outside disciples. Those senior brothers and sisters without much progress are sent down the mountain to marry and establish families. Every five years, these disciples bring their children of suitable age back to the sect for selection as new disciples.”

“Those with poor aptitude are sent back down the mountain. Those with acceptable aptitude are kept on the mountain to learn the Dao. When they age, if their cultivation remains limited, they are again sent down to marry, in an endless cycle of renewal.”

Chen Qianliu suddenly understood, exclaiming to himself, “Ah, so that’s it! I had forgotten—it’s the Qingyeh Sect’s Disciple Recruitment Season again!”

“This is an old rule of the Qingyeh Sect. I thought something unexpected had occurred and was searching in the wrong direction, so of course I couldn’t remember.”

“Wait! I recall that the Qingyeh Sect accepts disciples based only on credentials, not genealogy.”

“In my previous life, I never had a good opportunity to become a disciple. If I could slip into the Qingyeh Sect, wouldn’t that greatly benefit my cultivation?”

Because the Qingyeh Sect had so many disciples who married and left the mountain, their descendants were scattered throughout the Great Qian Dynasty, with some even having relocated to other nations. It was impossible to trace all lineages. So they simply gave each departing disciple a batch of Qingyeh talismans, allowing their descendants to return to the mountain with these talismans to become disciples.

The Qingyeh Sect’s Disciple Recruitment Season lasted a full month.

During this month, anyone could register. Hundreds of young men and women came from various prefectures throughout the Great Qian, and even some Qingyeh descendants who had long since established families in other nations came to recognize their roots and return to their ancestral sect.

Each time the Qingyeh Sect recruited disciples, some outside disciples would slip in. The Qingyeh Sect pretended not to notice. Even if these outside disciples showed traces of cultivating other sects’ methods, the Qingyeh Sect simply turned a blind eye, accepting them along with the others, treating all equally, never inquiring about their origins.

Over centuries, there had never been any problems. These disciples of questionable origin were deeply devoted to the Qingyeh Sect, with very few ever betraying it.

Chen Qianliu possessed a Qingyeh talisman, one of his twelve magical treasures he carried with him. He had no idea which set of merits had included it.

In any case, if he claimed to be a later-generation descendant of the Qingyeh Sect and presented this talisman to become a disciple, he had a nine in ten chance of success.

Chen Qianliu pondered repeatedly for a long time. Finally, his heart burned with enthusiasm. His obsession with finding a good master overshadowed all other concerns. He didn’t bother with the tent anymore, checked that Wang Chan was securely bound at his waist, and left the Talisman Compendium Market, heading directly for the nearby Qingyeh Mountain. He presented the Qingyeh spirit talisman he had obtained at the Suiyang Immortal Market—whose origin he himself didn’t know—and mixed in among the young men and women without standing out.

The Qingyeh Sect, when receiving prospective disciples, only verified the Qingyeh spirit talismans they carried and conducted a heart-questioning barrier to assess their character. There were no other inspections, not even questions.

I nearly wept—I missed the midnight deadline by just half an hour…

Today I must work hard and update at least three chapters or more. This one doesn’t count.

Seeking monthly tickets, library adds, and investments!

(End of this chapter)