Unable to distinguish directions in the mist, he gritted his teeth and pressed forward in one direction.
He walked for several hours in the mist, but still saw no end.
He was tired and hungry, his legs heavy as lead.
He wanted to go back, but for some reason, a persistent thought supported him, preventing him from giving up.
Just as his mind grew hazy and his steps faltered, he suddenly felt a slight warmth in his chest, and a warm current coursed through his body, instantly filling him with strength.
At the same time, a golden light shot out from his chest, pointing in one direction.
"This is..." He looked down and found it was the copper coin.
At this moment, the copper coin revealed its extraordinary nature.
"It truly is a treasure! Are you guiding me?" Lin Ping'an was overjoyed and strode in the direction indicated.
Not long after, he indeed emerged from the mist.
"This..."
The scene before him made him freeze in place.
This was no longer Thunder Marsh!
A huge archway appeared before him, inscribed with three ancient, vigorous characters: Xuan Yuan Sect.
Beyond the archway was a towering mountain peak, a winding path leading directly to the summit, and countless magnificent buildings nestled amidst the lush mountain forests.
"Who dares trespass on my Xuan Yuan Sect!"
As he stood in a daze, a golden rainbow crossed the sky from the mountainside and landed before him.
Standing on the golden rainbow was a young man in a blue Daoist robe.
The young man, about eighteen or nineteen years old, was tall and slender, with clear features, a high nose bridge, and eyes that sparkled like stars.
Lin Ping'an then clearly saw that the golden rainbow was actually a golden longsword.
The young man, stepping on the longsword, had an ethereal aura, truly like an Immortal descending to the Mortal world.
"Eh! A Mortal?" The young man's brows furrowed deeply when he clearly saw Lin Ping'an. "How could a Mortal possibly pass through the Immortal-Confusing Array? Strange!"
"This junior, Lin Ping'an, greets the Immortal!" Lin Ping'an felt he couldn't be disrespectful at this moment, so he hurried forward, bowed, and cupped his hands.
"Never mind! I'll send him away first!" The young man ignored Lin Ping'an and made a grabbing motion in the Void Realm towards him.
Lin Ping'an only felt an invisible force envelop him, and then he found himself flying.
"No... I don't want to leave! I want to become an Immortal by becoming a Disciple and learning skills!" Lin Ping'an shrieked, flailing his arms and legs wildly.
"It's not time for the Sect to accept Disciples yet. You should leave first!" The young man pointed a finger.
A force carried Lin Ping'an flying into the mist.
"No... Don't..." Lin Ping'an cried out in despair.
He really didn't want to enter the mist again.
"Junior Brother Sun, wait!" Just then, a voice came.
A sword light descended from the sky, and an Unparalleled Woman appeared.
This woman had a slender, graceful figure, and although her blue Daoist robe concealed her excellent Physique, it still made people's imaginations run wild.
However, the woman's aura was very cold, like an eternal glacier, giving off a feeling of aloofness, keeping people a thousand miles away.
"Senior Sister Luo?" The young man immediately stopped, bowed slightly to the woman, and said respectfully, "This Mortal accidentally stumbled into the Sect. I was just about to send him out!"
"Fairy Sister! We met last time, in Thunder Marsh!" Lin Ping'an was overjoyed to see this woman and quickly said, "I've already decided, I want to become an Immortal!"
"It's you?" Luo Su Su was also slightly surprised to see Lin Ping'an.
She still remembered this young man, remembered those clear and pure eyes.
Now that he had come to her on his own, she felt it was a kind of fate.
"Leave him to me!" Luo Su Su nodded slightly to Junior Brother Sun, then grabbed Lin Ping'an and soared into the sky.
Lin Ping'an only felt his ears buzzing, the scenery below rapidly receding, and a sense of dizziness surged into his heart.
"Is this what flying feels like? It doesn't seem so pleasant!"
His eyes, however, were wide open.
He saw continuous mountain ranges below, and people often flew with swords between the peaks and valleys.
A thousand-zhang-tall giant, holding a huge mountain, flew from the horizon.
A Lord was painting in the firmament, and golden light continuously penetrated the firmament.
A Golden Crown Phoenix Tail Bird soared across the sky, endless flames falling from its body onto a mountain peak. The mountain peak instantly shrank in the flames, spinning in mid-air...
Countless fantastical and magnificent scenes unfolded before his eyes, one by one. Even with his vast knowledge, he felt unable to describe such a scene at this moment.
"I want to be that strong too!"
After the initial shock, his young heart once again firmed its resolve to become an Immortal.
"You can stay here for now! The Sect Disciple assessment is in three days. If you pass, you can stay. If you don't, don't blame me for not giving you a chance!" Luo Su Su dropped him in front of a palace overgrown with weeds and said coldly, "But the prerequisite is that you must clean up the weeds here in these three days!"
"Okay!" Lin Ping'an nodded repeatedly, excitedly looking around.
But the scenes he had just witnessed were no longer visible.
Luo Su Su left, without another glance at him.
Lin Ping'an began to work diligently. Without tools, he pulled the weeds by hand.
In half a day, he finally cleared the weeds outside the main gate.
"This Junior Brother has worked hard, come quickly and eat!" Just as he was panting from exhaustion, a young man in gray robes appeared in front of the main hall at some unknown time.
He held a food box, from which wafted the aroma of food.
"Thank you!"
Lin Ping'an wolfed down the food, quickly emptying the dishes, and then patted his stomach as he looked at the young man in gray robes.
The other party seemed very interested in him, constantly observing him.
"Are you an Immortal?" Lin Ping'an asked curiously.
"Immortal... My name is Liu Ming, I'm just an Outer Sect Disciple of Xuan Yuan Sect! I'm only at the second level of Qi Condensation, not even considered a Cultivator, so how dare I claim to be an Immortal?" The young man in gray robes, Liu Ming, said with a bitter smile.
"Xuan Yuan Sect? Second level of Qi Condensation? Outer Sect Disciple? Cultivator? What are all these? Can you tell me about them?" A series of new terms excited Lin Ping'an.
"Our Xuan Yuan Sect is a major Sect in Central Plains, established for ten thousand years. However, a man-made disaster caused the earth pulse that the Sect relied on to dry up. During the Sect's crisis, thanks to Senior Sister Luo discovering the earth pulse beneath this Thunder Marsh, Xuan Yuan Sect relocated here, expending immense effort..."
"Senior Brother Liu, earlier I saw a giant moving a mountain and a divine bird spitting fire. Were those real?"
"Naturally, they were real. The giant moving the mountain is a Grand Elder of our Sect. That old man Cultivates the Great Strength Divine Magic Form, moving mountains and filling seas is nothing to him. As for the divine bird spitting fire, it is the Sect's guardian Sacred Beast, a divine bird with the Vermilion Bird Bloodline."
"And, and, Outer Sect Disciple, Qi Condensation..."
The two asked and answered, and only then did Lin Ping'an understand what the Cultivation World was, what a Cultivator was, and that Immortal was merely a term Mortals used for Cultivators.
Liu Ming's attitude was gentle, and he showed no impatience, as if he had specifically come to answer questions.
Lin Ping'an roughly understood that this Liu Ming must have been sent by that Fairy Sister.
It seemed that she was cold on the outside but kind on the inside.
After eating, Liu Ming left, leaving him a shovel.
Lin Ping'an dared not slack off and began his frantic weed-clearing plan.
Da Yu Dynasty Imperial Palace.
His Majesty the Emperor's face was full of worry.
"My beloved ministers, what do you say we should do! The arrival of one Immortal Sect is a blessing to our Da Yu, but the simultaneous arrival of two Immortal Sects is a great disaster!"
"Your Majesty, since both of these great Immortal Sects are accepting Disciples, it's not necessarily a bad thing! You have over thirty Princes, why not send one Prince to each Immortal Sect to become a Disciple and learn skills!"
"Prime Minister is absolutely right, let's split into two groups..."
Three days passed quickly, and hundreds of young men and women were led into Xuan Yuan Sect and brought to a huge plaza.
Lin Ping'an was also brought to the plaza by Liu Ming.
He hadn't washed for three days, so he looked a bit disheveled, with dirt still on his face.
Seeing the hundreds of young men and women in the plaza, Lin Ping'an couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
These young men and women were all dressed in brocade robes and luxurious clothes, clearly of extraordinary birth.
His disheveled appearance at this moment was a stark contrast to theirs.
"How can someone like him be qualified to stand with us? Make him stand far away!" A voice came from the crowd, and a young man in a yellow robe with a purple-gold crown on his head walked out, looking at Lin Ping'an with disdain.
He had the demeanor of a high and mighty Prince, his tone imperious and brooking no disobedience.
"Ninth Prince, if you don't like him, your servant will immediately make him leave!" A young man beside him, with fair skin and a high-pitched voice, bowed deeply and respectfully.
"Did you hear that? The Ninth Prince told you to scram! Why aren't you getting lost!" As soon as the young man came in front of Lin Ping'an, his expression immediately changed, becoming arrogant.
"Are you an eunuch?" Lin Ping'an glanced at the young man, saying faintly.
Scholars lacked nothing more than integrity. What authority was an eunuch flaunting?
"You... You're so audacious!" The young man's tender white face instantly turned crimson.
"Lin Ping'an!"
Just then, a young man rushed out from the crowd. He came to Lin Ping'an with surprise and looked him up and down repeatedly.
This young man was dressed in white, extraordinarily handsome, and exuded a scholarly aura.
The eunuch was immediately silenced when he saw the White-robed young man.
This was the legitimate son of Duke Zhou, exceptionally intelligent, favored by His Majesty since childhood, and studied with the various Princes.
He was not someone to be provoked, and even the Ninth Prince sought to win him over.
"Brother Mingxuan? How are you here?" Lin Ping'an's eyes also showed surprise when he saw the young man.
"Sigh! It's a long story. My father chose me to be sent here to Cultivate! Why do I have to Cultivate? It's truly baffling!" The young man still held a scroll in his hand, his face full of helplessness.
"Brother Mingxuan, you are truly blessed but don't realize it!"
...
The two chatted as if no one else was present, completely ignoring the little eunuch.
"Lin Ping'an? This name sounds so familiar, I think I've heard it somewhere?"
"Lin Ping'an! The Lin Ping'an who passed the provincial examination?"
"I said why Zhou Mingxuan would take the initiative to greet someone, so it turns out to be him."
"I didn't expect him to come here too..."
...
How could those young men not know the name Lin Ping'an? The number one Genius since the establishment of the Da Yu Dynasty, their ears were practically calloused from hearing about him.
"You are Lin Ping'an!" A Young Miss rushed out from the crowd, her face full of admiration as she came before Lin Ping'an, her expressive big eyes staring at him unblinkingly.
The Young Miss was as beautiful as a flower and the moon, radiant and charming. Standing before Lin Ping'an, she made him feel amazed.
"Yurou! He is Lin Ping'an, no doubt about it." Zhou Mingxuan's lips curved into a slight smile when he saw this Young Miss, his eyes filled with tenderness.
"I've heard many things about you..." Once the Young Miss confirmed, she immediately began to ask questions excitedly.
The Young Miss was lively and adorable. Under Zhou Mingxuan's introduction, Lin Ping'an learned her identity.
This was the eldest Young Miss of Prime Minister Tang's family. Prime Minister Tang held immense power in the court, and any Prince who gained his support could expect a promising imperial career.
She was truly showered with affection, but unfortunately, this Young Miss did not covet power and wealth, but rather loved poetry and literature.
She had long admired Lin Ping'an, this Genius.
The Ninth Prince was particularly fond of this Young Miss. Seeing this scene, a terrifying killing intent immediately flashed in his eyes.
"Ninth Prince, do you want your servant to!" The little eunuch beside the Ninth Prince made a throat-slitting gesture.
"Forget it! This is Xuan Yuan Sect!" The Ninth Prince shook his head slightly, but the killing intent in his eyes grew stronger.
"Alright, alright! This is Xuan Yuan Sect, not a place for you to chat. Everyone, come over and line up for Physique testing!"
A Middle-aged Man with a dignified appearance appeared in the plaza. His voice seemed to carry some mysterious power, causing everyone to involuntarily shut their mouths.