Published: March 2, 2025
Chapter 35: Inner Sect Disciple (2)
"Disciple Liu Yu, greetings to Uncle Geng!"
"I have come this time because my cultivation has reached the seventh layer of qi refinement, which meets the criteria for promotion to the inner sect."
"Therefore, I have specially come to handle the procedures, troubling you, Shishu!"
Geng Yuanzhang casually took the wooden plaque, his somewhat cloudy eyes scanning the information on it.
Then he stood up and began to search through a nearby bookshelf.
After a short while, he pulled out a thick book and leaned back in the Grand Scholar Chair to flip through it.
"Ah, you are a disciple from the courtyard?"
"Possessing the three spiritual roots of wood, fire, and earth, entering the outer sect at the age of sixteen with the third layer of qi refinement."
"Mm, not bad."
"In just five years, you’ve cultivated to the seventh layer of qi refinement. Such a speed of cultivation is quite unusual for someone with three spiritual roots."
Geng Yuanzhang muttered.
He had cultivated to the late stage of foundation establishment and was now over two hundred years old, with his physical body starting to decline and no hope of forming the golden core.
Thus, he took on this leisurely position, which could be seen as a retirement.
He was also a cultivator from the Yuan Yang Courtyard and understood that disciples like this one, without family or elder support, relied entirely on their own efforts for cultivation resources.
The process of cultivation was incredibly arduous.
So, he was curious about how Liu Yu, with his ordinary qualifications of three spiritual roots, managed to advance from the third layer of qi refinement to the seventh layer in just five years.
"I have a talent for alchemy and have gained some insights in this field. I can proficiently refine two or three types of elixirs."
"Thus, I have never lacked elixirs for cultivation."
Upon hearing this, Liu Yu's heart jolted, but he maintained an unchanged expression, not daring to hesitate as he promptly responded.
His tone was consistent, his speech neither fast nor slow, and he explained the "reason" straightforwardly.
Geng Yuanzhang nodded lightly, showing no intention to delve deeper.
Alchemy was indeed one of the most lucrative arts in cultivating immortality; if this young disciple was an alchemist, he wouldn’t have to worry about cultivation resources.
"If only I had mastered an art of cultivating immortality back in my day."
"I wouldn’t have wasted my years, ending up in a state of decline. What a pity."
He sighed faintly in his heart, shaking his head.
As a person aged, he tended to think about all sorts of random things.
At twenty-one, reaching the seventh layer of qi refinement and achieving some accomplishments in alchemy, even with the qualifications of three spiritual roots, he still had a good chance of reaching foundation establishment and was fully qualified to enter the inner sect.
With this in mind, Geng Yuanzhang put away the wooden plaque representing the outer sect disciple and took out a blank jade plaque from his storage bag.
This kind of jade plaque was made using special methods by the Yuan Yang Sect, making forgery extremely difficult.
With a special magical artifact, one could identify its authenticity, preventing impersonation.
Geng Yuanzhang raised his right hand towards the jade plaque, pinching his index and middle fingers together, a three-inch long yellow beam of light shooting from his fingertips.
It resembled the laser blades seen in sci-fi movies; he moved his fingers and began engraving Liu Yu's identity information.
As the yellow beam engraved, small shards continuously fell from the jade plaque, neither fast nor slow.
Before long, the engraving was complete.
Geng Yuanzhang performed several spell techniques to input the information, then handed the jade plaque to Liu Yu.
"Alright, drip a drop of your blood onto the jade plaque to imprint it with your mark, and you will have completed the recognition of the owner."
Liu Yu took the jade plaque with both hands, following the instructions to bite the tip of his tongue and squeeze out a drop of blood, dripping it onto the jade plaque.