Lu stepped forward. He was tall and his strides were bigger than normal people. Within seconds, he was in front of the two old men. “Two seniors, are you both Upper Celestials from Qing Xuan?” he asked respectfully as he cupped his fist in one hand.
“It’s not that easy to become a celestial. Three of you, come over,” the elderly in red said after glancing at Lu.
He took out three kites from his sleeve. The kites grew in the wind and were half as tall as a human. When they fell on the floor, they spread their wings and stood firmly on the ground. If one did not know better, one would have thought that the kites were real white cranes.
Both Shen Lian and Lu were brave. They were not frightened by the kites as they each mounted a paperwhite crane and smiled at each other. They met by chance and would be in the same sect from now on.
One of them looked strong, and yet he was a scholar. The other looked delicate and neat, and yet he was from Jianghu.
The weak young person was the only one who did not dare to mount the paper crane.
How did he made it through Wenxin Road and survived the dangerous period of time prior to the opening of the mountain gate? Was it simply because of his weak presence?
Shen Lian observed him for a long time. He was sure that the weak young person had never gone through any training in martial arts, and he did not have any Daoist foundation.
His fear of the paper crane was not an act.
“Little kiddo, are you scared?” The elderly in red smiled.
“I’m not a little kiddo. My name is Xiao Hei,” the weak young person retorted feebly.
He lowered his head and did not dare to look up at the elderly in red.
“Haha, little kiddo. How did you come to Qing Xuan when you do not even have the guts to sit on this?”
“I want to learn celestial arts, I must join Qing Xuan,” the young lad spoke with certainty in his eyes, which did not match his weak and feeble appearance.
“You only want to learn celestial arts, but do not want to live forever?” the elderly in gray questioned with an intense gaze in a stern and serious tone.
The young person almost fell from the intensity of the gaze. “I only want to learn celestial arts, the most powerful celestial arts,” he replied solemnly.
“Why?” the elderly in gray spoke nonchalantly.
“I want to get revenge.”
“If you have learned celestial arts and managed to get revenge, what would you do then?” the elderly in gray queried.
“I don’t know,” the young person replied and shook his head.
“Kiddo, kowtow three times to me.” The elderly in gray waved his sleeve. He said so out of nowhere, which took everyone by surprise.
“Senior Apprentice-Brother Ge, what do you mean? You can’t take in disciples until they have met with the headmaster and have gone through the background check by ‘Tiandi Jian’. ” The elderly in red wrinkled his brows.
Tiandi Jian was a treasured instrument of the Qing Xuan Sect. If one had enough mana, one could use it see everything in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Tiandi Jian was extremely powerful.
“What of those who secretly taught outsiders about the Xuanji martial art?” The elderly in gray looked at the elderly in red and spoke.
As he spoke, the elderly in gray glanced at Shen Lian.
Shen Lian held his glance with candor. Only then did he realize that the Qigong practice – Xuanji martial arts – on the chessboard was actually taught to him on purpose. After all, the elderly were part of Celestialism, he would not have done so by mistake.
Shen Lian was amazed by how both of them could include a powerful Daoist technique in their chess game casually. It was definitely awe-inspiring and impressive.
What confused Shen Lian was the elderly in red’s intention.
“I did not teach anyone anything,” the elderly in red spoke as he tried to cover up the matter.
“Since it’s your name, I’ll call you Xiao Hei from now on. You have to kowtow thrice to me, and I’ll impart celestial arts upon you.” Even though the elderly in gray was stern, he spoke kindly to Xiao Hei, and he ignored the elderly in red.
The elderly in red did not stop him this time.
A student would seek out for great teachers, great teachers too had a say in who they would take under their wing. It was the work of fate that the three of them were here.
Even though they still need to go through the screening by Tiandi Jian, it was merely a procedural technicality.
Although Qing Xuan did not have a strong presence, no one would dare to create problems by objecting based on mere technicalities.
In fact, the screening by Tiandi Jian did not exist as part of Qing Xuan rules.
It was the incident from a hundred years ago that gave rise to this requirement.
The thought of the incident even made someone with many years of cultivation experience, such as the elderly in red himself uncomfortable. He refused to think about the incident.
The young person kowtowed thrice sincerely, and he trailed behind the elderly in gray.
A gust of wind sent the paper cranes flying. Due to his size, Lu had to hold on tight to the paper crane.
Despite being flanked by two celestials, he was still pale.
After all, he was a thousand feet up in the air. The view from the top coupled with the fierce heavenly wind put him on high alert.
Shen Lian attained spiritual calmness through concentration and was not troubled by fear. As he stared at the cloud ark in front, he sighed at the differential treatment they were faced with.
Although the elderly in gray was stern, he took great care of Xiao Hei. It was as though he found his long-lost illegitimate son. Not only that he spared him from riding on the paper crane, he even took out an instrument in the shape of a cloud ark for the three of them to ride on. They cruised in the sky steadily and comfortably.
Even so, the young person held tightly on to the elderly in gray’s shirt and did not let go.
No one knew what made the elderly in gray took such a liking to the young person.
The image that Qing Xuan portrayed to the outside world was founded on illusion. At the peak, one could see the vastness of the place, as though it was an entirely different continent altogether. The seas were nowhere to be seen.
After ten minutes, the cloud ark swept toward the side, causing a strong gust that almost overturned the paper cranes that Shen Lian and Lu were on.
The cloud ark descended at great speed and landed on a mountain peak.
The paper cranes that Shen Lian and Lu were on followed suit and headed for the mountain peak.
When they landed, they were greeted by fresh air. Shen Lian could not help but breathe in deeply, just to ease the dizziness from the ride. Lu got down from the paper crane and leaned on a rock for support. He was gasping for air.
They were mortals after all. Their bodies were merely reacting to the life-and-death situation earlier.
The Qi of heaven and earth was thick. If mortals were to live here, they would probably live healthily and gained an extra twenty years in life.
The elderly in gray kept the cloud ark, while the paper cranes flew into the elderly in red’s sleeve.
Following the lead of the two elderly, they reached the main hall after hiking up a mountain path and taking a few turns.
Shen Lian raised his head and saw ‘Qing Xuan’ inscribed on the tablet in the hall. The door swung open and a Daoist child appeared. “Uncle-masters, the headmaster told me to open the door for you both,” he said in a clear voice.
“Again with this trick, when would senior apprentice-brother ever get sick of it,” the elderly in red murmured.
Whenever someone looked for him in the hall, the headmaster would send the Daoist child to open the door in advance. If it was only once, people would still be surprised at his level of attainment. However, they had seen it many times and would no longer be surprised by it anymore. It was only the headmaster who found the act fun.
The elderly in gray coughed once and patted the young person’s head, gesturing for him to not be scared.
The hall was wide with two rows of green pillars. There were seven pillars on each side and each had ancient engravings on it.
There was nothing much besides the stone couch in the middle of the hall. A Daoist sat on it; he had white hair, white beard, and a pinkish face. There were deep wrinkles at the corner of his brows, exposing his old age.
He gave off the vibe of a celestial, similar to the ones found in paintings.
“Headmaster, as you have anticipated, these three arrived,” the two old men said as they bowed respectfully to him.
The Daoist was wearing a Bagua Zijin Daoist robe. He opened his eyes and sized the three of them up.