The sun rose a bit higher. The noise on the square was suppressed by the chiming of the bell, gradually quieting down, leaving only the rigid and orderly announcements of the deacons echoing through the air.
Shen Qingci did not squeeze into the crowd. Leading Shen Hanzhou, she bypassed them from the side of the square with unhurried steps.
Under the sunlight, the Starry Abyss robe shimmered with extremely faint, rippling patterns. It was not ostentatious at all, but anyone who knew their stuff could tell there was something extraordinary about the fabric with just a brief glance.
When they reached the long registration table, an empty spot had just opened up in front of them. Deacon Sun, who was on registration duty, had successfully achieved Foundation Establishment. He had a coarse, short beard on his chin, and thick registers were piled high on his desk. His brush, fully soaked in spiritual ink, rested on the pages.
Without even raising his head, he spoke mechanically, “Name, bone age, cultivation, and place of origin.”
“Shen Qingci.” She only gave her name, which caused the tip of Deacon Sun's brush to pause slightly.
He looked up.
Standing before him was a young girl of only fifteen or sixteen, dressed in a robe whose patterns faintly shimmered with starlight in the illumination. She possessed a stunning countenance, with a hint of natural coldness between her brows that was perfectly tempered by her composed demeanor, showing no trace of arrogance.
Half a step behind her stood a woman in a dark green robe. Her face was cold and severe, and a three-foot-long sword hung at her waist.
Deacon Sun subconsciously released his divine sense, first probing toward the woman in the dark green robe. The moment his divine sense touched her, it vanished without a trace, as if swallowed by something.
His back suddenly stiffened, and a chill rushed up his spine from his tailbone. With his peak Foundation Establishment cultivation, he could not even fathom the other party's depth. She was at least a Golden Core cultivator, if not higher.
He composed himself and tried to probe the young girl as well. His divine sense swept over her, only to find absolutely nothing.
It was not the vague sensation of someone deliberately concealing their aura. Rather, her entire being was wrapped in a gentle, soft barrier. His divine sense was bounced away the moment it slid to the edge, finding no purchase whatsoever.
Deacon Sun's heart skipped a beat.
This robe could isolate divine sense from prying. Since even the divine sense of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator could not penetrate it, its grade was at least Mystic-grade Low-rank, and possibly even Mid-rank.
In the entire Southern Region, the number of young generation cultivators who could afford such treasures could be counted on one hand. He immediately retracted his divine sense, not daring to probe any further.
“Bone age,” he said again. This time, his tone was noticeably more polite. His brush hovered above the register, and he did not rush her.
“Fifteen,” Shen Qingci replied.
Deacon Sun lowered his brush and wrote the name “Shen Qingci” in the register. When he reached the column for place of origin, he looked up again.
“Miss Shen, may I ask where your place of origin is?” He asked very carefully, unconsciously using a respectful address.
Hearing this, Shen Qingci let her gaze linger on his face for a brief moment. This short pause alone made Deacon Sun's heart skip a beat.
He was well-accustomed to seeing rogue cultivators and disciples of noble families. Rogue cultivators reported their origins quickly and clearly, wishing they could lay bare three generations of their ancestry just to add a bit of weight to their chances. On the contrary, true direct descendants of noble families were extremely secretive about their origins; asking too much would be tantamount to an offense.
“From the north.”
The north?
Deacon Sun's mind raced through several possibilities. North of the Southern Region was Cangwu County, and north of Cangwu was the Northern Region, separated by over a hundred dynasties of various sizes.
To travel such a vast distance to seek entry into the Azure Cloud Sect, accompanied by someone of unfathomable cultivation, this was absolutely not a display a small clan could muster.
He dared not press further. He neatly wrote “Northern Region” in the origin column, then added a small annotation on the side: Disciple of a major noble family undergoing training.
After writing, he handed over a bone age talisman engraved with a number, his attitude becoming even gentler. “Miss Shen, please keep this safe. You will head to the spirit-testing platform with this talisman shortly.”
Shen Qingci took the bone age talisman and nodded slightly, turning to walk toward the spirit-testing platform. From beginning to end, she had not said a single superfluous word, nor had she deliberately put on airs. Yet, her aloof and composed demeanor carried far more weight than any ostentatious display.
Watching their retreating figures, Deacon Sun raised a hand to wipe the cold sweat from his brow. He murmured, “What kind of extraordinary figures are attending this year's disciple recruitment ceremony...”
Before his voice could fade, he suddenly felt a wisp of coldness brush past him.
The woman in the dark green robe had paused at some point. She turned her head, letting her gaze linger on his face for a brief moment.
It was only the blink of an eye, so brief that Deacon Sun almost thought it was an illusion. Yet, that single glance made his hair stand on end, as if an unsheathed sword were pressed against his throat with bone-chilling sharpness.
Fortunately, the woman did not linger. She retracted her gaze and continued to follow half a step behind Shen Qingci, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far—precisely the most appropriate distance between a guard and their master.
Deacon Sun silently chanted the Heart-Calming Mantra to steady his mind, then lowered his head to continue registering the next person.
“Miss Shen, please wait.” A voice came from behind and to the side.
Shen Qingci stopped and turned around.
The newcomer was the outer sect elder hosting this disciple recruitment ceremony. He had white hair and a white beard, with a cultivation at the early-stage Nascent Soul realm. Just moments ago, he had been sitting high on the platform, but he had walked down at some point and was now slowly making his way through the crowd. The rogue cultivators and noble disciples on both sides hastily made way for him.
The old man walked up. He first scanned Shen Qingci, his gaze pausing briefly on her Starry Abyss robe, before falling upon Shen Hanzhou behind her.
“Fellow Daoist,” the old man said with a calm attitude, “the Azure Cloud Sect's disciple recruitment ceremony has its rules. The guards and attendants of participating disciples must wait outside the square and are not permitted to enter.”
Shen Hanzhou's expression remained unchanged, and she did not even intend to speak. She merely stood quietly behind Shen Qingci, her right hand resting on the hilt of her sword. Her posture was casual, yet it exuded a sharpness that suggested she could draw her sword at any moment.
Shen Qingci was in no rush to explain, nor did she look back at Shen Hanzhou. She turned slightly and bowed to the old man as a junior, her etiquette so perfect that no fault could be found.
“Elder, please hear me out. Hanzhou is no ordinary attendant; she is an Enshrined Guardian of a branch of my Shen family. My mother ordered her to accompany me this time, firstly to ensure my safety, and secondly in hopes of having her registered with the Azure Cloud Sect as an external Enshrined Guardian.” As she spoke, her expression was completely open, without the slightest hint of guilt or evasion.
Her eyes were clear and bright as she met the old man's scrutinizing gaze, neither flinching nor avoiding it.
The old man's brows twitched slightly.
The title “Enshrined Guardian” carried significant weight, and he knew it well. In the cultivation world, an Enshrined Guardian was entirely different from an ordinary guard. A guard was a servant, whereas an Enshrined Guardian was a guest elder—a high-level cultivator recruited by a great noble family with massive wealth, receiving family spirit stones and shouldering the heavy responsibility of protecting the family's Dao.
To have a cultivator whose depth even he could not fathom willingly serve as an Enshrined Guardian, the heritage of this Shen family was probably even deeper than he had anticipated.
After all, he had been immersed in the early-stage Nascent Soul realm for many years. For someone to turn back his divine sense without success, they had to be at least at the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm or above.
“The Shen family?”
The old man went through the surnames of the major noble families in the Southern Region in his mind, but there was not a single Shen family capable of supporting an Enshrined Guardian of such cultivation.
There were some vague rumors regarding the Northern Region, but they were all sketchy and unclear. He did not delve deeper; some matters were best left at that.
“So you are an Enshrined Guardian.”
The old man stroked his beard, the scrutiny on his face mostly fading, replaced by a warm smile. “Since that is the case, there is no need to be rigidly bound by the rules. The Azure Cloud Sect has always had a precedent of accepting external Enshrined Guardians, and each peak supports quite a few registered guest elders. I can make the decision on this matter.”
“I wonder which territory of the Northern Region the Shen family resides in? I have also traveled through the Northern Region during my six hundred years of life. Perhaps I share some acquaintance with your esteemed household.”
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