Proofreader & Editor: Lotas
The next morning.
The grandfather and grandson got up early and started cleaning the house.
They worked until noon, tidying up the small house they had lived in for eight years.
The young man, carrying a sword box that looked like a coffin, was sweating profusely.
At noon, there were six rare dishes on the table.
Li Guanqi looked at the dishes on the table and was speechless for a while.
"Grandpa… Can't we even make a hot dish out of these six dishes?"
Yes, all the dishes on the table were cold.
But the old man just smiled faintly, waved his hand, and two exquisite jade wine glasses appeared on the table.
Li Guanqi was shocked and said with a smile, "Grandpa, are you letting me drink?"
Su Xuan smiled faintly and said softly, "You will be leaving the mountain tomorrow. How can you not drink?"
The young man smiled and raised the wine glass to drink, but the strong liquor made him look for water everywhere.
The mellow and strong liquor flowed down his throat like a fire line.
Seeing this, Su Xuan couldn't help but laugh heartily and said, "You kid, take it slow. You can't drink like this."
"Good wine，you made look like a man of the jianghu."
"Cough… I didn't expect this thing to be so spicy!"
It took the young man a while to recover, and then he added two mouthfuls of food and asked, "Grandpa, what should I do after I leave the mountain?"
Su Xuan tapped the young man's head with chopsticks and said softly.
"You are already at the peak of body forging."
"You have not eaten in vain for so many years."
"The next step is to draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into your body, reaching the stage of Qi Refining."
"You will have a lifespan of 120 years, your pubic region will take shape, you will have a rudimentary understanding of some spiritual energy techniques, and you will have a spiritual sense and insight."
"When combined with your insight, your pale eyes will be no different from normal ones."
The young man's pale eyes turned, and a look of longing appeared on his face.
The old man continued, "You are already fourteen years old, the age to join a sect. It's time for you to leave the mountain."
Li Guanqi had longed to practice cultivation since he was very young.
He wanted to become an immortal who could travel between heaven and earth, wielding a sword.
But he had also been very happy living with Su Xuan for the past eight years, and he didn't expect the parting to come so soon.
The young man asked in a low voice while eating, "There are countless sects in the world, not to mention the entire Great Xia Domain, even the Qingyun Continent has countless powerful sects."
"Which sect should I join?"
Li Guanqi thought the old man would think for a long time, but unexpectedly blurted out, "The Great Xia Sword Sect!"
The young man frowned. He had heard many secrets about this world from Su Xuan over the years, but he had never heard of the Great Xia Sword Sect on the Qingyun Continent.
Seeing the young man's confusion, Su Xuan said softly, "Don't think about it. It's not a major force, but it is a sect with extremely upright principles!"
After that, the old man and the young man sat in the courtyard chatting casually and drinking wine.
But the young man's alcohol tolerance was too low, and he passed out after just a few drinks.
He mumbled, "Why people said this thing is good to drink?"
The old man looked at the young man who had passed out with a smile and said, "You will know if the wine is good in the future, young lad~"
The old man took off his robe and covered the young man with it.
He took out an ancient-looking green ring, but hesitated and didn't give it to the young man.
"I can't let this kid become a playboy. He still needs to endure hardships, haha."
"Ah… It's about time to go…"
"When he wakes up, he will inevitably shed some tears."
The old man waved his hand and three spirit lights shot into the dark sword coffin, then he took a step, shrank the ground to an inch, and flew away.
***
The next morning.
The young man, who woke up in a daze, found that the old man was gone, which didn't surprise him too much.
He had wanted to drink more yesterday.
The young man got up and opened his insight, looking around the place he had lived in for eight years, feeling quite reluctant to leave.
Looking at the map left by Su Xuan on the table, tears welled up in his eyes.
The young man picked up the map and said bitterly, "Grandpa… Couldn't you have left me some money?!"
Helplessly, the young man could only take all the food he could find in the house.
He carried a huge stone sword coffin behind him and a large bundle in front of him.
Creak~
The young man carefully closed the door and, after a long silence, finally got up and walked down the mountain.
The young man's departure did not attract anyone's attention.
Li Guanqi had wanted to visit the little girl at Aunt Li's house, but he found that the Meng family's gate was tightly closed, so he didn't knock.
After leaving the mountain, Li Guanqi, who was carrying a sword coffin like a coffin, attracted a lot of attention.
So, after looking at the map, Li Guanqi walked into the mountains.
Occasionally, he could catch some wild rabbits and mountain chickens for a meal.
He walked like this for half a month, but only covered three hundred miles.
The sword coffin behind him was too heavy, but fortunately, he had somewhat adapted to the weight over the long period of time.
He could even walk briskly with the sword coffin on his back, and catching a wild chicken or rabbit was no problem.
***
Three months later.A youth clad in grey emerged from the mountains, travel-worn and dusty.
Upon inquiring, he discovered that he had finally arrived within the territory of the Great Xia Sword Sect!
Scratching his head, the youth muttered, "Goodness, a full three months on the road."
Discarding the wooden staff in his hand, the youth followed the official road towards the direction of the Great Xia Sword Sect.
Along the way, passing through cities and villages, he heard many rumors about the Great Xia Sword Sect.
The gist of them all spoke of how excellent the Great Xia Sword Sect was, managing the surrounding thousand miles well, with hardly any disasters.
Even the spirits and monsters in the nearby mountains lived in abundance, yet there were few demons to be found.
Hearing these stories, the corners of the youth's mouth couldn't help but lift slightly.
"It seems the Great Xia Sword Sect is indeed as grandfather described, with an extremely upright Sect ethos."
"I must hurry on my way…"
The Great Xia Sword Sect's disciple induction ceremony was just three days away.
***
Without stopping, the youth finally arrived at the foot of a mountain range teeming with peaks early the next morning.
The mountains here were mostly pillar-like, with the shortest being over two hundred zhang tall, and the tallest peak reaching thousands of zhang, piercing the clouds.
Gradually, more people appeared beside the youth, all seemingly headed to the Great Xia Sword Sect, hoping to be accepted into its ranks.
The bustling crowd was filled with incessant groans of hardship.
For before them stood the Sky Ladder, known as the Immortal Road of the Great Xia Sword Sect!
This staircase had a total of three thousand three hundred and thirty-three steps.
And at the foot of the staircase stood the Sect's Manager, beside a sign that read clearly: "Those who wish to join the Sect must ascend the Sky Ladder on their own, without the use of any external objects!"
Looking at the noisy crowd, Li Guanqi moved through them like a fish through water, a smile playing on his lips as he stepped directly onto the Sky Ladder.