Translator: La0o9 Editor: La0o9
“Yes, I want to join the Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace”
Gu Qing Shan once again confirmed.
He was currently a young child so his voice was clear and pure, easily heard by everyone in the area.
The cultivator in charged smiled: “You sure know how to choose, Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace is the number one sect in the Heaven realm, one highly favored by the Divinities”
He turned a certain direction and asked: “What does the Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace think?”
The others also turned to look.
In front of everyone, an old man in white stood up and joyfully spoke: “He was able to call upon thousands of swords, enough to show a pure heart and excellent talent with the sword. Of course, our Heavenly Palace wouldn’t object”
Shill!
A sword flew over and went into Gu Qing Shan’s hands.
The rest of the swords vibrated unwillingly, but quickly flew back to the sky into their clouds.
The old man gestured to Gu Qing Shan: “Come child, from today onwards, you will be a disciple of our Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace”
Gu Qing Shan took the sword and walked behind the old man.
Several other children were already sitting on the ground here, curiously looking at him.
They were all new disciples during this generation of the sect.
Gu Qing Shan opened his mouth a bit, then closed it again.
He knew how to act like an uncle to calm the children down.
But he already forgot a long time ago how to talk to other children as equals.
Should I try and act cute or something?
He thought briefly before silently shaking his head.
So he randomly found an empty spot on the ground, sat there like the rest of them, and said nothing.
The other children’s voices came by.
“Big brother Zhao, he seems quite impressive” a nervous voice spoke.
“What’s to be afraid of, he doesn’t eat people, though he is a bit irritating” another envious voice spoke.
“Ah, hm”
“Don’t worry, this Zhao Kuan will look after you, timid Huang Er Lang1”
“My father already changed my name, I’m now called Huang Zhan”
“Alright, Huang Zhan, from now on, I’ll protect you in the sect, it’s because I’m your big brother”
“Thank you, big brother, Zhao, but I won’t randomly cause you trouble”
“Stupid, even if you cause trouble, it’ll be others who will be afraid of you”
“Ah, hm”
Gu Qing Shan silently opened his eyes and closed it again.
The sky slowly went dark.
The sect selection ceremony slowly came to an end.
The elders of the sect greeted each other before putting out their airships to bring the new disciples back to the sect.
When the airship got close to Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s area, the children were all excited.
They could see the various palace structures from afar.
And today, they would become a part of this renowned great sect.
Gu Qing Shan looked in the sky.
The light of various airships could be seen flying in as well.
Those airships also carried many young children.
Gu Qing Shan crudely estimated and found that there were at least 200-300 children in total.
But that was only a current number, as Gu Qing Shan was counting, more ships could be seen approaching from other directions as well.
Despite Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s strict requirements, the fact that there are so many new disciples joining them at once really showed just how prosperous humanity was in this era.
Airship after airship approached the outer gate of the Heavenly Palace and floated in the air.
The elder stood at the front of the ship, explaining to the children: “Once everyone arrives, you will all enter the sect together”
“Excuse me elder, will we be cultivating in the Heavenly Palace from now on?” Zhao Kuan stepped forward and briskly asked.
The children all looked at the elder expectantly.
The elder thought of something and chuckled, telling them: “The Heavenly Palace is the center of the sect, it normally isn’t open for normal disciples”
Zhao Kuan doubtfully asked: “Then we—-”
The elder told him: “There are still a few ships that haven’t returned, once everyone arrives, I’ll explain”
Zhao Kuan tactfully went quiet and went back among the children.
They obediently stayed on the ship, hovering in the sky.
Time passed.
Occasionally, an airship would fly in from afar, also floating in the sky, silently waiting for the ones that haven’t returned.
It was already nighttime.
The sky was filled with glittering stars.
The night wind was hushed and silent.
Until a final streak of light flew in from afar.
Every airship has now returned.
An elder flew to the air and reported: “Palace Master, all the airships have returned, we have accepted a total of 759 new disciples this time”
Two breaths of time later.
A dignified male voice resounded in the air: “Open the Heaven’s Grotto1”
“As the Palace Master wills” the old man responded.
Their conversation echoed across the heavy darkness, resounding far.
The children all listened, but were all puzzled, unable to understand what they were talking about.
But soon, they saw something that they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
In the sky, the faint light of the stars glittered.
But the heavy shroud of darkness was slowly peeling away as if a curtain was being pulled.
Right above the Heavenly Palace, a rapid and restless water stream appeared.
The river flowed past them.
Several dozen mountains were standing atop the river.
Clouds and fog drifted about.
Heavenly beings flew back and forth among the mountain tops.
While it was night time outside, it was day time here.
This looked like something straight out of a dream or imagination.
“A Heaven’s Grotto” Gu Qing Shan muttered.
It turns out another world was hiding above the Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace.
In that world, a beautiful girl flew in from a faraway mountain, landing on top of a mountain nearest to the outside world.
She looked at the children coming from the outside, smiled amiably before she took out an emerald green flute from her waist and pressed it against her lips.
A moment of silence.
Then came the sound of the flute.
At that moment, it was as if no other sound existed in the world, as the only thing left to hear was this lingering graceful tune.
Everyone was mesmerized by the sound of the flute.
Rumble rumble~
Suddenly, countless black shadows took to the air from the airships docked right there, screaming in agony among the sound of the flute.
But the girl didn’t seem to notice it as her song continued.
The wind brought the tune far.
The black shadows struggled and writhe, wanting to escape, but ended up crumbling in the wind, turned to ash, and disappeared without a trace.
A few dozen seconds later.
The tune stopped.
The girl lowered her flute and reported: “Palace Master, the hidden Desolate Evil Worshippers have been eliminated”
The Palace Master’s voice resounded in the void of space: “Well done, you are dismissed”
The girl lightly curtsied as she turned into a streak of light heading to a mountain top obscured within the clouds.
This scene remained unforgettable within the children’s hearts.
At this time, the airships that have been waiting so far, rose up at the same time, flying into the Heaven’s Grotto.
The ships landed on the river and followed it towards a small island at the center of everything.
The island was completely empty except for several steep staircases of stone at the edge, leading towards the various mountains around.
But since the fog was so thick, quite a few staircases were obscured by the clouds in the middle with no way to see where they led.
The children were all brought to the small island.
Accepting new disciples into the sect was a grand event held once every three years, so the masters of each mountain were already waiting there.
Even the Palace Master himself was there.
Gu Qing Shan glanced at him.
The current Palace Master was quite a bit younger than he was when Gu Qing Shan saw him before, his hair still hasn’t turned white and he was still a very dashing man at his prime, one look at him could tell you just how exceptional he is.
No wonder his daughter is also so excellent.
Gu Qing Shan changed his focus and turned to the place next to the Palace Master.
A sword was silently hovering there, but it wasn’t the Earth sword.
It seems the Earth sword hasn’t been completed yet at this point in time.
Now that the children were now all settled in line, the Palace Master glanced over them and waved his hand.
A cultivator stepped out and stopped at one of the stone staircases.
“Those who obtained an Elementalist treasure tool will go this way, you will stay at Clear Water peak” he loudly called out.
A second cultivator stopped at another staircase and spoke: “Those who obtained armour and gauntlet-type treasure tools, go on this staircase to Ancient Dawn peak”
Various other cultivators quickly made their ways to each staircases and explained to the children.
“Those who obtained spirit summoner tools, walk up this staircase, you still stay at Spirit Echo peak”
“Those who obtained Blades, bows, swords, staves and other weapons, walk this way up Perching Cloud peak”
“Those who obtained musical instruments, come up this way and head to Fine Sound peak”
“Those who obtained formation plates, pill furnaces, coins, talisman pens, hammers and cooking tools, come here to Grey Crane peak”
“The above are the six Peaks of Barren Cloud, each of you will have to make your way up on your own. You can now form teams to climb up the peaks together”
Hearing that, children quickly gathered at the stairs according to the items they received during the test.
While lining up, Gu Qing Shan looked outside the small island.
Besides this island being used as a relay area, there were a total of 7 mountains.
But the cultivators only mentioned 6 peaks just now, no one mentioned anything about the remaining largest mountain.
So he asked the elder who led him here.
The elder smiled: “That largest peak is the Barren Cloud Palace Master’s peak, only the Palace Master and his disciples can climb up”
Gu Qing Shan silently thought about it.
Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace.
This sect that I’ve joined is actually Shifu’s original sect.
Shifu had already come to the Heavenly Palace to learn techniques and spells of the sect.
Not to mention, the Barren Cloud Palace Master was actually Shifu’s father, in order words, my Grand Shifu.
But if taking the heritage into account, Shifu is the sect master of who knows how many generations later, so the Barren Cloud Palace Master could actually count as my founding ancestor instead.
A bit complicated.
But obviously, to learn and cultivate techniques of the sect, I had to join the sect from the very beginning again, so this shouldn’t count as overstepping.
With that in mind, Gu Qing Shan went straight towards the Barren Cloud Palace Master.
The cultivators had already noticed his actions while he was halfway there.
But since the Palace Master didn’t say anything, no one tried to stop him.
Soon enough, the children also noticed what was happening.
They all stopped their feet, looking at Gu Qing Shan in disbelief.
Gu Qing Shan came in front of the Barren Cloud Palace Master and solemnly bowed to him.
“What’s the matter” the Barren Cloud Palace Master asked him.
“Please take me as your disciple” Gu Qing Shan spoke sincerely.
The Barren Cloud Palace Master silently looked at him, then his expression changed slightly.
Obviously, someone was reporting Gu Qing Shan’s situation to him.
Every other peak master was also told the same, so they prepared themselves to watch what would unfold.
It wasn’t common for a child to be this brave.
And this one was actually a very talented one.
So they all wanted to see how the Palace Master will deal with this.
The Barren Cloud Palace Master asked: “Why should I take you as my disciple?”
Gu Qing Shan answered: “Because I want to become the strongest sword cultivator of my generation”
The Barren Cloud Palace Master asked: “What does that have to do with asking me to be your master?”
Gu Qing Shan responded: “You have a sword with you, so you are obviously a sword cultivator. Furthermore, as you are the Palace Master, it is clear that your swordsmanship must be above all else to be able to stand above others and reach where you are”
“So it can’t be wrong to learn the sword from you”
The Barren Cloud Palace Master slightly nodded: “You said you wanted to become the strongest sword cultivator, why not the strongest cultivator?”
Gu Qing Shan replied: “The world is vast and talented individuals are many, I cannot claim myself to be the best in the world”
The Barren Cloud Palace Master once again nodded and asked: “To want and to do are two very different things. The path of a sword cultivator isn’t a simple one, if I take you in and you aren’t able to achieve anything, wouldn’t that be a waste of my teachings?”
Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist: “In the future, if there ever comes a day where I am no longer the number one sword cultivator among my peers in the sect, I will cripple my own cultivation and leave the sect, may the heaven and earth be my witness”
Oom!
A sudden rumble of thunder.
A vow to heaven and earth was made.
Everyone’s expressions changed.
Even the Barren Cloud Palace Master felt moved.
The one who made the vow was only a child, but this child already had a spirit root that can connect to the natural spirit energy of the world, he just hasn’t started his cultivation.
So his vow was accepted by the Laws of heaven and earth.
The six peak masters looked at Gu Qing Shan with shocked expressions.
From now onwards, if he couldn’t maintain his strength as the number one swordsman in the sect, he must cripple his own cultivation and leave the sect, becoming a useless person.
This was a vow to heaven and earth, one that cannot be violated, otherwise, Heaven’s Punishment would strike from above, killing you on the spot, not even leaving your soul intact.
This child had just willingly put himself onto a path of no return, a rare decisiveness even among established cultivators, and a clear display of his spirit, fitting that of a sword cultivator.
For the first time, the Barren Cloud Palace Master seriously observed Gu Qing Shan.
He muses: “Then I ask you, why do you want to learn swordsmanship? Do you wish to become famous and renowned across the world, to fight back against the Desolate world’s monsters, to help Divinity solve their problems, or do you wish to become liberated, no longer bound to anything?”
Gu Qing Shan went silent for a moment.
I’m still only a child, so being able to say this much is already displaying unprecedented talents and an unwavering Dao heart.
But if I say anything deeper, it would instead raise suspicions.
But I can’t lie either since all the cultivators here are extremely powerful, even the slightest peculiarity will cause their spirit senses to react.
So to answer this question, I need to say my purest and truest desire.
Thinking that, Gu Qing Shan said simply: “To put down any injustice I see with my sword”
Silence, all around.
The peak masters exchanged glances.
The Barren Cloud Palace Master looked up in thought for a few moments and finally uttered a single word: “Kneel”
Gu Qing Shan then knelt down in front of him and bowed: “Master, please accept your disciple’s bow”
The Barren Cloud Palace Master looked at him and spoke: “A pure mind, an unwavering heart, a child like you is indeed rare. Today I will take you as my disciple, in hope that one day you will reach your Dao, to put all injustice down for Humanity”
“As Master wishes” Gu Qing Shan replied.
