The Quest for Immortality

Yu Er’s eyes immediately lit up, and she nodded eagerly like a pecking chick:

"Mhm mhm mhm!"

Afterward, a senior brother from Taixu Gate came down to receive Mo Hua.

"This is your Senior Brother Xu, who is also a disciple of the Shangguan Family, but he joined two terms before you. After you join the Sect, you can ask him if there’s anything you don’t understand," Wenren Wan introduced Mo Hua.

Mo Hua looked at this senior brother, saw that he was dressed in a deep black and white interwoven Taoist robe, adorned with Taixu patterns, genteel and amiable in manner, looking quite approachable, so she clasped her hands and said:

"Senior Brother Xu."

Shangguan Xu also returned the gesture cordially.

After Wenren Wan left with Yu Er’s small hand in hers.

Yu Er walked away while turning back, waving her hand in heartfelt farewell to Mo Hua.

After Wenren Wan and Yu Er had left, Mo Hua followed the senior brother named Shangguan Xu up the mountain, one in front of the other.

Taixu Mountain was very high.

And the gate of Taixu Gate was midway up the mountain.

Therefore, there was quite a distance to cover from the foot of the mountain to the gate of the Sect.

Shangguan Xu had profound cultivation and a steady gait, while Mo Hua possessed exquisite movement techniques, treading lightly. After walking together for a while, Mo Hua found it a bit boring and started chatting with Shangguan Xu.

At first, Shangguan Xu was somewhat reserved; however, seeing Mo Hua’s innocence and sincerity, he also grew fond of her.

After all, she would soon be his junior sister within the Sect.

Even though she would be a junior sister from the Outer Gate, they still shared camaraderie as fellow sect members.

Therefore, Shangguan Xu was willing to answer all her questions without reserve.

Once they became more acquainted, Mo Hua chattered non-stop along the way: Explore stories on

"Senior Brother Xu, is the Sect’s discipline strict?"

"If I violate the Sect rules, will I be expelled from the Sect?"

"If I’m not expelled from the Sect, will I be put in solitary confinement, or will I be punished to watch the gate or sweep the grounds?"

"Senior Brother Xu, by chance, inadvertently, just coincidentally, through a stroke of luck...if I learned something on the sly, would that violate the Sect rules?"

"...Of course, I don’t mean to learn secretly, I’m just asking..."

"Also, what does the Sect Leader look like, and are the Elders temperamental?"

...

Hearing these questions, Shangguan Xu found it both amusing and exasperating, but he still answered them one by one:

"Don’t worry, the rules of Taixu Gate are, relatively speaking, not so strict..."

"Unlike the Four Great Sects..."

"Within the Four Great Sects, the disciples’ every movement and gesture has strict standards; they must observe propriety. They can’t delay waking up or going to bed;"

"When Instructors teach something, you must learn it. If you don’t learn it well, you’ll be reprimanded, and they might even have you apply to leave the Sect;"

"The Four Great Sects have many assessments..."

"Do well in the assessments and be treated well; do poorly and face disdain."

"Cultivation, Formation, Artifact Refining, Alchemy, Refining Rune...and so on, all these are rigorously tested, not tolerating any sloppiness, the rules are extremely strict..."

"There’s a minor test every ten days, a major test every month, and they rank disciples into different levels based on these assessments..."

"So, the disciples of the Four Great Sects must be ’ambitious’..."

...

Mo Hua listened until her scalp tingled, "Is it really that extreme?"

Shangguan Xu nodded, "Yes, that’s why they are the ’Four Great Sects.’ They aim to be better than others in everything. The disciples they cultivate are truly exceptional talents..."

Shangguan Xu sighed, feeling a mixture of admiration and envy, and then his tone relaxed a bit.

"Of course, our Taixu Gate is much more lenient..."

"There are many inheritances within the Sect. You can learn whatever you wish. Even if you don’t learn it well, you won’t be too harshly criticized, even if you end up with the lowest rank..."

"Certainly, if you can get through the Instructors’ lessons or the Elders’ tests. Otherwise, if you truly anger them, it won’t be good..."

"Learning spell points..."

"Apart from the true Sect Protecting spell points, most spell points can be learned at the Outer Gate as well, since after all, it is a Sect that passes on teachings and duties. Prejudice between different levels within the Sect isn’t that deep..."

"If you manage to learn them, that’s a credit to your own skill."

"Of course, that’s excluding the Sect Protecting Ultimate Techniques..."

"There aren’t too many rules during everyday life, just make sure to attend classes on time, complete your assignments punctually, and the rest of the time is quite ample. The Sect won’t restrain you too much..."

...

You’re free to learn what you want, and it’s fine even if you don’t excel...

It means you can "get by"!

Mo Hua nodded in agreement.

He realized that he had made the right choice in coming to Taixu Gate!

Shangguan Xu went on to say, "You will see the Sect Leader during the induction ceremony a few days later. Anyway... he looks quite approachable."

"The Sect Leader is pretty easy-going and places importance on health cultivation..."

"As for the Elders, it’s hard to say. They come in all varieties..."

"Some are easy to communicate with, while others have quite the temper..."

"This batch of you all, let me think..."

Shangguan Xu frowned in thought and then said:

"There’s an old Elder who teaches Formation techniques, with a really old and venerable tenure. He hasn’t retired and stays to teach Formation at the Sect. He’s quite eccentric and extremely strict, intolerant of even a speck of dust in his eye and he doesn’t allow disciples to be careless in the slightest..."

Shangguan Xu looked at Mo Hua and sighed, "You are a bit unlucky, be careful..."

"Oh..."

Mo Hua nodded but was also somewhat curious about who this "old Elder" really was...

Shangguan Xu wanted to say more, but when he looked up, he realized that in the midst of their conversation, they had unknowingly reached the halfway up the mountain, at the mountain gate of Taixu Gate.

Mo Hua also looked up and saw an ancient and mysterious mountain gate.

The threshold of the gate wasn’t high.

A stele was suspended above the gate, bearing three words etched in bold, ancient strokes brimming with Taoist Meaning:

Taixu Gate.

These three words, sharp like a knife or a sword, were integrated with the stele, unassuming yet staunch. However, upon beholding them, one could sense the underlying sharp Sword Qi within them.

It seemed to be the handiwork of some great Sword Cultivator who had returned to the state of uncarved simplicity.

Mo Hua glanced at it only once and became somewhat entranced.

He didn’t understand Swordsmanship and didn’t cultivate Sword Qi, but his Divine Sense could vaguely perceive the vast and ethereal Sword Intent, as if soaring through Taixu.

"Taixu Divine Thought Sword True Jue..."

Mo Hua murmured to himself.

"Junior Brother?"

Seeing Mo Hua in a daze, Shangguan Xu showed a puzzled look.

Mo Hua came back to his senses and asked, "Senior Brother Xu, these three words..."

Shangguan Xu looked up at them, "Oh, those three words have been there since the establishment of Taixu Gate. Probably the handwriting of some old ancestor of our Sect, they’ve been around for quite a long time..."

He glanced at the sky and said to Mo Hua, "It’s getting late. Let’s enter the Sect for now. You’ve just joined, and there are many trivial matters to take care of."

"Right."

Mo Hua nodded and stepped over the threshold, following Shangguan Xu into Taixu Gate.

As Mo Hua crossed the threshold, walking past the mountain gate, he failed to notice that the words "Taixu Gate" above the gate trembled slightly and emitted a flicker of Sword Intent.

Afterward, the nearby mist condensed on the mountain gate, refined by the Sword Intent, turned into a pure stream of vapor, and rose, curling towards the sky.

This strand of Sword Intent was extremely condensed and yet very subtle.

The refined mist carried a pristine hue of fire, yet it merged indistinguishably with the surrounding clouds.

Most disciples and Elders of Taixu Gate felt nothing, but the Taixu Sect Master, who was sitting in meditation, cultivating his health within a room, suddenly opened his eyes.

His figure flashed as he stepped outside, peering through the majestic mountains and Taixu’s Daoist Courtyard towards the mountain gate, where he saw the curling vapor rising above.

The Taixu Sect Master stared in disbelief for a long moment, finding it somewhat inconceivable as he said:

"My Taixu Gate’s mountain gate is actually... emitting blue smoke?!"