During their conversation, the two arrived at Tingfeng, her former residence on Qixia Peak.
Yi Chu waved his hand and produced a tray containing a set of robes and two blue belts. The material of the robes was no different from those of the outer sect disciples, but the color of the belt was different.
Gu Ningyun took the robes and put them away, keeping only one blue belt that was as flexible as silk. She used it to replace her original green belt.
She didn't throw away the discarded green belt either; instead, she took out a wooden box, folded it neatly, and stored it inside.
She then gathered all the items from the Cloud Residence—including the wind chimes, bed, desk, and toiletries—and placed them into her storage bag.
As veteran disciples moving away from the outer peaks, they were required to clear out their entire Cloud Residence to make room for the next generation of new disciples.
Before the next batch of new disciples moved in, Xiaoyao would purchase entirely new supplies in advance.
She gently closed the courtyard gate and touched the Spirit-Heart Peach Tree standing before it.
Gu Ningyun walked back to Yi Chu's side. “Master, I’ve finished packing.”
“Give me your identity jade token.”
Yi Chu produced a blue jade token and pressed Gu Ningyun's original green jade token against it. The green token was slowly swallowed by the blue one, eventually transforming into a brand-new blue identity jade token.
“One of the primary materials of an identity jade token is the Rank-Consuming Stone.
“The Rank-Consuming Stone has five internal grades. From highest to lowest, they are purple stone, gold stone, blue stone, green stone, and yellow stone.
“A higher-grade stone can consume a lower-grade one, inheriting its properties and the internal information it carries.
“The identity jade tokens of our Xiaoyao carry a great deal of information, making it troublesome to replace them entirely. To solve this, our Spirit-Attuning Peak uses Rank-Consuming Stones when crafting them.”
“Master, is that why our disciple belts are colored blue, green, and yellow—from the inner sect down to the handyman disciples—because of the Rank-Consuming Stones?”
“Exactly. It maintains uniformity with the identity jade tokens and makes it easier to distinguish between ranks.”
Yi Chu performed a few maneuvers on the identity jade token. The protective barrier of the Cloud Residence deactivated for a moment before rising again.
Gu Ningyun faintly sensed that the connection between her identity jade token and the built-in array of Tingfeng had been severed.
She took the new inner disciple jade token and saw a line of elegant, sharp characters on the front: Xiaoyao Immortal Sect | Inner Sect | Spirit-Attuning Peak | Gu Ningyun.
On the back was the Xiaoyao sect emblem, without any text.
After she hung the identity jade token at her waist, Yi Chu led her away from Qixia Peak. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the Cloud Pavilion on Governing Peak.
The Disciple Jade Register was suspended quietly in the very center of the Cloud Pavilion.
Gu Ningyun placed her hand on the register and felt a gentle tickle from the clouds against her palm.
When she released her hand, the Disciple Jade Register flipped through its pages with a rustling sound until it stopped at the location where her information had previously been recorded—
Xiaoyao Outer Sect Disciple, Class 11,680
......
Qixia Peak | Gu Ningyun
Guides: Yang Churan, Lu Heyun
Yi Chu placed his hand on the Disciple Jade Register.
The register flipped through several more pages before stopping at a particularly distinct interface.
On the far left of this page, the first column displayed the current Sect Leader's information. Following the Sect Leader were the details of the Peak Masters of the main peaks, inner peaks, and outer peaks. Yi Chu's name was in the fifth position.
Yi Chu paused for a moment, then placed his hand on it again. The Disciple Jade Register flipped once more and came to a stop.
Gu Ningyun immediately saw three large golden characters at the top of the page: Spirit-Attuning Peak.
The first column listed the current Peak Master's information: Spirit-Attuning Peak | Peak Master | Yi Chu.
Beneath it was a line of small golden characters: First Disciple of Former Peak Master Zhichang.
Starting from the second column were the details for Yi An and the other elders.
She placed her identity jade token and her hand onto the Disciple Jade Register.
When she pulled them away, two lines of identical small golden characters slowly appeared directly beneath Yi Chu's information—in the second row of the first column.
Spirit-Attuning Peak | Gu Ningyun
First Disciple of Peak Master Yi Chu
Behind her—directly beneath Daoist Lord Yi Chu—was the information for her First Senior Brother, Shen Banxi.
Spirit-Attuning Peak | Shen Banxi
First Disciple of Great Elder Yi An
Only after updating her identity jade token and registering in the Disciple Jade Register did Gu Ningyun gain full inner disciple clearance, allowing her to move unhindered through Spirit-Attuning Peak.
Leaving the Cloud Hall, Yi Chu led her away from Governing Peak. In an instant, they were standing on the Spirit-Attuning Peak plaza.
On the high platform in the center of the plaza stood an incense burner and a desk. On the desk were two sets of green incense sticks, with one set being an inch shorter than the other.
Even from hundreds of meters away, one could sense the aura of high-grade spirit herbs emanating from the incense, carrying a subtle, elusive charm.
On both sides of the plaza stood numerous elders and disciples, all with jade tokens engraved with the name of Spirit-Attuning Peak hanging at their waists.
“It's the first-place winner of this year's Inner Disciple Promotion Competition! The Peak Master actually managed to snatch the winner for our peak!”
“This is so prestigious! Our Peak Master's first disciple is the top inner disciple of this generation.”
“To be precise, she took first place in both the New Disciple Competition and the Inner Disciple Promotion Competition.”
“We finally have a disciple for our Little Martial Aunt!”
“As far as I know, Little Martial Aunt practices music, sword, spells, body refining, talismans, and food cultivation simultaneously. Many Peak Masters had their eyes on her early on.
“With such fierce competition, the Peak Master still managed to bring her here. He didn't happen to roast and eat that auspicious beast on Governing Peak for this kind of luck, did he?”
“Don't talk nonsense. Eating an auspicious beast won't bring you good luck; it'll bring a bloodline curse.”
“Fat Duck is so cute, how could anyone eat Fat Duck!”
“This is great. The elders can finally stop nagging every day about Spirit-Attuning Peak having no successor after the Peak Master ascends.”
“Whenever they get anxious, they assign us missions. I don't even want to talk about it...”
Yi Chu led Gu Ningyun through the crowd, ascending the stairs to the very top of the platform in front of the incense burner.
On the way there, Yi Chu had already explained the process of the Master-Disciple Heaven-Sacrifice Ceremony to her.
Gu Ningyun was not flustered; she stood quietly by Yi Chu's side and waited.
Daoist Lord Yi An stood at the side of the platform, a wisp of clear wind lifting him up. Once he was level with the platform, he announced in a loud voice, “The auspicious hour has arrived. The Master of Spirit-Attuning Peak takes a disciple; the disciple Gu Ningyun acknowledges her master. The Heaven-Sacrifice Ceremony begins!”
“Burn the incense and report to the Heavenly Dao!”
Yi Chu picked up the three longer incense sticks, bowed toward the incense burner, and inserted them.
After he stepped aside, Gu Ningyun followed his movements and inserted the shorter incense sticks in front of his. The moment she finished and straightened her back, the incense ignited spontaneously without a flame.
“Offer the master-disciple tea!”
Gu Ningyun took a step back, faced Yi Chu, straightened her spine, and knelt, lifting her robes.
Shen Banxi brought a cup of tea on a tray.
Gu Ningyun took it with both hands and offered it respectfully.
Yi Chu took the tea and drank it in one gulp before placing the cup back onto the tray.
“Kowtow and acknowledge the master!”
Crossing her hands, Gu Ningyun bowed deeply, her palms pressing against the floor and her forehead touching the back of her hands.
Yi Chu took a step forward and grasped her arms to help her up from the floor.
The moment she stood straight, two wisps of aura descended from the sky and entered their respective dantians. Between master and disciple, a karmic bond was established.
“The ceremony is complete!”
The disciples in the plaza bowed in unison.
“We greet the Peak Master! We greet Little Martial Aunt! We greet Junior Sister!”
Leaving the plaza, Yi Chu held her forearm, and with a flash, they were near the mountain summit.
A palace several times larger than the Cloud Pavilion appeared before them. Above the main entrance was a plaque that read: Patriarch Hall.
The interior of the main hall was vast and empty. On the far wall hung a portrait.
In the portrait, auspicious clouds were scattered everywhere, and a woman in purple robes lay sideways amidst the clouds. Though it appeared to be an ordinary portrait, Gu Ningyun felt as if she were falling into the clouds when she looked at it.
In front of the portrait was a small incense burner with green incense sticks beside it, even smaller than the previous two sets.
The Patriarch of Spirit-Attuning Peak, dharma name Shangwei, had ascended to the immortal realm one hundred thousand years ago. Her current status was unknown, but everyone believed she still existed because...
Gu Ningyun offered incense and kowtowed before the portrait, performing three prostrations and nine kowtows. As she stood up after the final kowtow, a wisp of green cloud drifted out from the portrait and touched her brow.
She touched the spot; it felt cool. The cloud swirled on her brow for a moment before sinking into her forehead and vanishing.
When a new disciple joined Spirit-Attuning Peak, they had to pay respects to the Patriarch. If the Patriarch approved, she would bestow a blessing. This was also proof that the Patriarch still existed.
Forgive me, Patriarch of Spirit-Attuning Peak, this disciple meant no disrespect.
After paying respects to the Patriarch, she went to the left side hall. Dozens of portraits hung there, from the inner to the outer walls, depicting the past Peak Masters and elders of Spirit-Attuning Peak. Gu Ningyun bowed three times to all of them before moving to the right side hall.
In this hall, only a single portrait hung on the far wall. Before it stood a desk, incense burner, and incense sticks identical to those in the main hall.
The woman in the portrait wore white robes decorated with large patterns of red flames. These flames seemed to be fluttering in the wind, curling across the fabric. Wisps of fire, sparks, and embers fell from the collar, accenting the empty space of the portrait.
This was her Master's master, dharma name Zhichang, who had ascended to the immortal realm three hundred years ago.
Gu Ningyun offered incense and again performed three prostrations and nine kowtows. After she finished, the flames in the portrait boiled for a moment, and a small wooden box flew out, landing in her hands.
The wooden box was only the size of a palm but was extremely heavy, crafted from lightning-struck wood. She opened the lid to find a bead the size of a fist surrounded by restrictions. It looked quiet and docile, yet it gave her an inexplicable sense of unfathomable power.
The bead's exterior was colorless, seemingly formed by countless winds swirling into a sphere. In the very center of this wind sphere was a cluster of purple electric arcs that constantly crackled and regenerated.
The electric arcs would strike the colorless shell and dissipate into wind, while the wind would strike the purple interior and transform into lightning. Wind and lightning—two clearly distinct forms of energy—coexisted and even transformed into one another.
“A congenital spirit object, Wind-in-Lightning!”
It was a congenital spirit object on par with the Yimu spirit marrow in terms of rarity.
“This is a gift your Grandmaster prepared for her grand-disciple before her ascension.”
After registering in the Disciple Jade Register, reporting to the Heavenly Dao, and paying respects to the Patriarch and predecessors of Spirit-Attuning Peak, the master-disciple initiation was complete from the perspectives of the sect, the world, and the peak itself.
From this moment on, Gu Ningyun was officially an initiated disciple.
Yi Chu handed her a storage ring. “A master-selection gift.”
Yi An and Shen Banxi were already waiting at the entrance of the Patriarch Hall. As soon as Gu Ningyun emerged, she formally greeted them.
“Martial Uncle, First Senior Brother.”
Her harvest of storage rings increased by two.
Gu Ningyun bound all of them to herself and wore them on the fingers of her left hand. When she spread her fingers, she saw a neat row of rings from her index to her pinky.
One was a reward from the New Disciple Competition, and the other three were meeting gifts she had just received. She giggled for a while before willing the storage rings to hide their forms and auras, vanishing from sight and divine sense. Only Gu Ningyun herself could sense their presence.
Yi Chu smiled helplessly and led her toward the upper-middle section of the mountain. A transparent protective barrier covered an area about twice the size of the Ruiyu Pavilion plaza, shielding it from divine sense and sight.
The grip on her forearm loosened. Gu Ningyun walked to the end of the stone path and placed her identity jade token against the barrier.
It was an earth-rank mid-grade protective barrier, capable of withstanding attacks and probes from cultivators at the Body Integration stage or below.
The barrier opened like flowing water, revealing a two-meter-high bamboo gate. A dense wave of wind spirit energy rushed out, ten times stronger than that at Tingfeng.
“Each of the one hundred and eight floating peaks of Xiaoyao has a heaven-rank spirit vein if it is an inner peak, or an earth-rank spirit vein if it is an outer peak.
“In the outer mountains, there are several mysterious-rank spirit veins to support the growth of spirit plants and beasts, as well as the cultivation of handyman disciples.
“The reason you feel such dense wind spirit energy is because tens of thousands of years ago, a Patriarch of Spirit-Attuning Peak found a Wind Spirit Pearl and buried it beside the spirit vein.
“Arrays were placed around the Wind Spirit Pearl so it could coexist with the spirit vein and the peak's spirit plants, allowing them to grow together. Another set of arrays can connect the Wind Spirit Pearl to various locations as needed, increasing the concentration of wind spirit energy there. Currently, it is only connected to the Cloud Residences of the four of us: you, me, Yi An, and Banxi.”
Gu Ningyun nodded and looked up. The plaque above the gate was blank; the Cloud Residence did not yet have a name.
She pushed the gate open and looked inside.
The most striking feature was a vertical cliff at the far end of the residence. A waterfall cascaded down the cliff, gathering into a clear pond at the bottom. A few water lilies and lotus leaves floated on the water.
On either side of the waterfall were jagged, strange rocks covered in lush purple wisteria that glowed with spirit energy, masking the rocks and the cliff face with a massive wall of purple flowers.
Facing the pond, there was a gazebo on the left with a stone table and stools. On the right side of the pond was a square platform about half the size of the Ruiyu Pavilion plaza. Beside it stood a stone tablet that read: Sword-Training Platform.
The Sword-Training Platform was clean and sturdy, engraved with array patterns similar to those on the Fighting Peak arenas.
Next to the Sword-Training Platform was a three-story pavilion of equal size. The exterior of the pavilion was carved with exquisite array patterns, similar to the protective array of Tingfeng but more ancient and complex. There were many rooms inside, though they could not be seen clearly from the outside.
In front of the pavilion was an open space of the same size as the Sword-Training Platform. A swing set and a set of stone table and stools were placed on the side near the cliff wall. On the side away from the cliff wall was a waist-high bamboo fence, beyond which lay a rolling sea of clouds.
Standing by the bamboo fence and looking out over the sea of clouds, one could see a vast, unobstructed blue sky. Occasionally, a Flowing-Frost Crane would emerge from the clouds, its sleek body and spreading wings stirring up waves of mist.
Looking past the woods behind the pavilion toward the sea of clouds, other floating peaks could be faintly seen thousands of meters away.
A bluestone path extended from the open space, flat and straight, branching off toward the gazebo, the Sword-Training Platform, the pond, and the courtyard gate. Along the path were flower beds arranged by color and species, planted with various spirit flowers and plants.
Beside the pond, the Sword-Training Platform, and the pavilion's open space, several spirit trees were planted.
The outermost layer of the Cloud Residence was enclosed by a two-meter-high bamboo fence, with the courtyard gate they had entered through in the middle.
Standing within the Cloud Residence and facing the bamboo fence, the fence extended to the right to connect with the cliff wall and to the left toward the outer edge of the mountain, joining with the half-meter-high fence beside the sea of clouds.
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