In the most desolate area at the northernmost part of Wuyue Court, there stood a snow-capped mountain known as Zhuoyu Peak.
Compared to the powerful immortals who had peach and plum trees blooming everywhere, the Zhuoyu Peak of Master Chongyi was perpetually cold and desolate, shrouded in ice and snow. It was neither as warm as Yaoguang Peak of Master Guangwei, which enjoyed spring-like weather year-round, nor as picturesque as Qiwufeng of Master Dongyang.
In other words, cultivating at Zhuoyu Peak was akin to being cast into a cold palace; it was a neglected corner with no scenery to admire, isolated to the extreme. Even the disciples rarely wandered this way during their leisure time.
After three months at Zhuoyu Peak, a rare sunny day finally arrived. Li Fei woke up in the morning, pushed open the window, and was greeted by the long-missed sun, nearly moved to tears.
She hurriedly washed up and changed into her disciple robes. The disciple robes of Wuyue Court were all similar, a uniform white with black embroidery at the collar and sleeve edges. The difference lay in the sleeves: ordinary disciples had a single black edge, elite disciples had two, and direct disciples had three.
After understanding these rules, Li Fei had secretly observed her senior sister, Zhao Min, whose sleeves also bore two black edges, surprisingly not a direct disciple. It was said that Master had taken her in over thirty years ago, and after more than thirty years of cultivation, she still hadn’t become a direct disciple. No wonder they all said Hu Jiaping was a prodigy, becoming a direct disciple of Master Guangwei in just a few short years.
Li Fei adjusted her collar in front of the mirror and tied her waist belt neatly before starting to style her hair.
Since arriving at Wuyue Court, she hadn’t worn her simple and neat braid, as Senior Sister Zhao Min forbade her from tying that “ugly braid.” Every time she tried, Zhao Min would make her undo it. Reluctantly, she learned to style some simple hair buns, and after three months, she managed to make most of them look decent.
On her dressing table was a small wooden box filled with exquisite hairpins, all chosen by Senior Sister Zhao Min. This senior sister was very kind to her, caring and considerate, truly the ideal older sister, though perhaps a bit too picky about her appearance.
After putting on the hairpins and checking her appearance to ensure everything was in order, Li Fei pushed the door open and hurried outside. Before she reached the main hall, Zhao Min’s voice rang out: “Even if you’re going to be late, you mustn’t walk so fast.”
Here we go again… Li Fei rounded the corner into the main hall, and indeed, Senior Sister Zhao Min had arrived first, sitting at a small table eating. Upon seeing her, Li Fei immediately donned a noble lady’s smile, gracefully gliding towards her and bowing generously, “Greetings, Senior Sister Zhao Min.”
Zhao Min nodded in satisfaction and pushed the small table in front of her, saying, “Have your meal.”
Breakfast consisted of plain porridge and side dishes. Dining at Wuyue Court required spending money. Unlike ordinary disciples, she had been directly accepted by the elders from the academy, thus considered an elite disciple. These elite disciples received a monthly food allowance of three to two taels of silver; otherwise, they truly couldn’t afford to eat. Li Fei took small bites, no longer daring to eat heartily as she used to, for Zhao Min would directly take her food away if she did.
Silence reigned during meals. After finishing breakfast, Zhao Min carefully examined Li Fei’s appearance for the day. After a moment, she smiled slightly and said gently, “Li Fei, you look splendid today. You’ve become much fairer, and your features have elongated a bit. This pink lotus flower complements your complexion perfectly.”
Senior Sister Zhao Min was wonderful in every way, though her speech was a bit too flowery. She preferred the earlier version of her sister, who had straightforwardly advised her that “even if a girl thinks of killing you, she must smile on her face.”
“Thank you for your praise, Senior Sister. I am unworthy of it.” Even she was forced to speak in such a manner.
“Today is a rare sunny day. You’ve been here for three months and haven’t properly admired the scenery of Wuyue Court’s cloud sea. You can take a good look during morning practice.”
Zhao Min stood up and walked out of the main hall, and Li Fei hurriedly followed behind, continuing her graceful steps.
Now, she practiced cloud flying with Senior Sister Zhao Min in the morning and learned immortal techniques from her master in the afternoon. However, she had never seen her master teach her senior sister. When she asked about it, her senior sister said that her master had taught her everything he could, and the rest depended on her breakthroughs. Only after reaching the next level would her master continue to instruct her.
This was what they called a bottleneck. Cultivators encountered bottlenecks at every stage; some could break through quickly, while others took a long time, and some might remain stuck at a bottleneck for their entire lives, unable to progress. Zhao Min had been stuck at her bottleneck for nine years. Only after breaking through could she transition from an elite disciple to a direct disciple.
Clouds gathered beneath their feet, and soon, a small white cloud appeared under Li Fei’s feet. This was much more agile and interesting than the sword flying she had learned at the academy. Cloud flying wasn’t difficult; the challenge lay in moving like the wind in the dense spiritual energy of Wuyue Court, which was far more arduous than learning sword flying. After three months, she could only make three round trips from Zhuoyu Peak to the nearest Ruzhi Peak in one morning.
Following Zhao Min, they flew to the top of Zhuoyu Peak, where a vast sea of clouds stretched for miles, and endless snow-capped mountains rolled on. The rising sun cast brilliant rays, illuminating the cloud sea with countless vibrant colors. Above the cloud sea, numerous snow-capped peaks and emerald ridges undulated, while below lay countless levels of palaces and halls.
This magnificent and boundless scenery left Li Fei speechless. This was no mere immortal sect; it was practically a city! After three months, she was finally catching a glimpse of the full splendor of Wuyue Court on this sunny day.
“Above the cloud sea is where our elite disciples and direct disciples, along with the elders, cultivate,” Zhao Min pointed to the cloud sea. “Below the cloud sea is where ordinary disciples practice. Every ten years, the sect holds a martial arts competition, and all ordinary, elite, and direct disciples must participate without exception. So don’t think that being above the cloud sea means you can relax; if you don’t strive for progress, your cultivation will stagnate, and you’ll eventually be pushed down below. If any ordinary disciple excels, they will also be selected to come up.”
At this point, she suddenly smiled, “But almost no ordinary disciples can make it up here.”
The so-called ordinary disciples had been recruited by Wuyue Court, mostly those with a bit of spiritual root, average talent, and wealthy families. Disciples above the cloud sea received a monthly food allowance, a privilege that ordinary disciples could not enjoy. Not only did they not receive money, but they also had to pay a certain amount of money each year to ensure they wouldn’t be expelled from the sect.
Every immortal sect operated this way; after all, geniuses were rare. Most people with spiritual roots had average talent. Even though the conditions for becoming an ordinary disciple of an immortal sect were so harsh, the number of people wanting to join each year was still overwhelming, as the temptation of becoming immortal was too great. The thousands of disciples Hu Jiaping mentioned earlier referred to the ordinary disciples below; in reality, there were not many disciples above the cloud sea.
“Alright, let’s begin.” Zhao Min wiped the snow off the green stone with a handkerchief and elegantly sat down. “Before noon today, we need to fly four round trips between Zhuoyu Peak and Ruzhi Peak.”
Li Fei gazed at the swirling cloud sea below and sighed, “Senior Sister, when will I be able to move like the wind? For instance, fly to Yaoguang Peak and back in an instant?”
Zhao Min replied calmly, “This place is different from the academy. Over there, you could learn sword flying in three days. The spiritual energy in Wuyue Court is dense; to move like the wind, even Hu Jiaping, who is called a prodigy, took a year. It’s quite normal for ordinary disciples to take three to four years.”
“Three to four years?!” Li Fei exclaimed, nearly losing her voice. In the immortal sect, they truly didn’t regard time as time. No wonder some people would be stuck at a bottleneck for over ten years, and even a closed-door retreat could last nine years.
This meant that although she entered Wuyue Court at the same time as Lei Xiuyuan, they wouldn’t meet for at least another year.
“Go on, stop making noise.” Zhao Min began to close her eyes and concentrate, continuing her practice in hopes of breaking through her bottleneck soon.
Li Fei circulated all the spiritual energy within her body, and the small white cloud beneath her feet slowly moved forward. Although it was much better than the days when she could barely move, it was still slow. She hadn’t experienced the exhilarating feeling of sword flying in a long time.
Ruzhi Peak was the closest mountain to Zhuoyu Peak, and no elder had yet established a residence there for cultivation. The entire mountain was also covered in ice and snow, appearing quite desolate and cold.
Li Fei landed at the peak, rested for a moment, and was about to muster her energy to fly back when she suddenly noticed a small black dot stubbornly and slowly approaching from the front. Was it a disciple of Wuyue Court? That was quite rare; in the three months she had been here, she hadn’t seen anyone nearby. Even birds were reluctant to fly over this place, let alone people.
She squinted to see more clearly, and as the small black dot drew nearer, she could make out that it was indeed a disciple, slender and not very tall, likely quite young. Li Fei felt her heart begin to race, staring in astonishment as the lean figure stubbornly approached, the outline of a young man becoming clearer.
Finally, he gently landed in front of her.
“Why is it all ice and snow here?” He looked around after landing, sweating profusely yet smiling as if it were nothing significant. “Do you live in the snow-capped mountains?”
Li Fei didn’t know whether to laugh or cheer; she rushed forward and grabbed his sleeve, completely forgetting her elegant demeanor.
“Xiuyuan! Xiuyuan!” she shouted excitedly, “You flew over? You can fly that fast now?”
Lei Xiuyuan patted her head, looking her over. Noticing her elegant hairstyle adorned with a pink lotus flower, he saw that she had become much fairer and her appearance had changed significantly from three months ago. Now, with her deliberate adornment, she looked even more beautiful.
He smiled slightly, “How did you change so much? I almost didn’t recognize you when I first saw you.”
“It’s all thanks to my senior sister… Wait, you haven’t said, can you fly that fast now? Did you come to see me?” Li Fei brushed the snow off the stone and pulled him to sit beside her, smiling brightly. After three months, he seemed to have grown a bit taller and looked even thinner. The disciple robes of Wuyue Court hung on him, still looking so slender and ethereal.
Lei Xiuyuan didn’t speak, allowing her to gaze at him for a while. Suddenly, he stood up and said, “Alright, I should head back; otherwise, I won’t make it by noon.”
Noon? Li Fei looked at the sky; it was barely past the hour of the Dragon, wasn’t it? And hadn’t he just arrived?
Suddenly, she felt a jolt of disbelief as she looked at him, “…How long did it take you to fly here?”
He just smiled without answering, then patted her head again, “You’re so short; try to grow taller next time you come.”
Li Fei grabbed him, “Wait, Xiuyuan… you, you…”
She stammered, unsure of what to say. He had flown for several hours to reach Zhuoyu Peak just to see her. Although she didn’t know how far it was from Zhuoyu Peak to Yaoguang Peak, she was aware of how vast Wuyue Court was, with one in the south and the other in the north. He would have to spend the same amount of time flying back; it must be exhausting, right?
She suddenly fell silent, feeling both shocked and touched, her eyes turning red.
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