Chapter 1: The Grand Disciple Induction Ceremony

"Elder Lu, tomorrow marks our Mount Shu's once-in-a-decade Disciple Selection Ceremony. The Sect Leader has decreed that all elders not in seclusion must attend. Elder Lu?"

"I am aware."

"What a strange man."

From within his cave abode came the voice of Elder Lu, the Mount Shu disciple who had come to relay the message muttered dejectedly.

Lu Changsheng was one of the elders of Mount Shu. A hundred years ago, he stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm and had been in closed-door cultivation ever since. Most disciples who joined Mount Shu in the last hundred years had never seen this elder. If it wasn't for the Disciple Selection Ceremony, even the inner sect disciples would have forgotten that Mount Shu had such an elder.

"Then, junior takes his leave."

The Mount Shu disciple summoned his Flying Sword and sped off into the sky, standing atop the sword.

Sword Flight is an essential skill for inner sect disciples of Mount Shu, signifying at least the cultivation level of the Qi Transformation Realm.

"Disciple Selection Ceremony..."

Within his cave abode, Lu Changsheng murmured to himself.

Lu Changsheng's soul had transmigrated to this world of cultivation and it took him three days to assimilate all the memories of this body.

This elder of Mount Shu, also named Lu Changsheng, perished three days ago from his soul entering deviance while attempting to break through to the Dao Palace Realm.

Mount Shu, one of the six great Orthodox Sects of Xia State, was established hundreds of thousands of years ago. Despite countless dynastic changes in the mundane world, it stood unyielding, taking it upon itself to slay demons, eliminate evil, and uphold the heavenly order.

Mount Shu was an unprecedentedly massive floating mountain with hundreds of peaks both large and small. Each peak had an elder, at least a Nascent Soul Realm inner sect disciple who had made significant contributions to Mount Shu, and only then could one qualify to become an elder.

Lu Changsheng was one such elder who did not have much of a presence.

"Confirmation successful... Loading Disciple Apprenticeship Simulator... Loading complete..."

"Detecting the number of host's disciples..."

"Current number of disciples: 0."

A cold voice echoed through Lu Changsheng's Sea of Consciousness.

Disciple Apprenticeship Simulator?

Lu Changsheng was thrilled; it seemed this was the golden finger he had obtained after crossing over.

Lu Changsheng carefully studied the system.

The Disciple Apprenticeship Simulator could reveal a disciple's talent, simulate the disciple's life, and even trigger rewards for the mentor as the disciple's cultivation improved.

The higher the disciple's cultivation, the richer the mentoring rewards.

Because Lu Changsheng was a cultivation fanatic, solely focused on his own advancement, he presently did not have a single disciple.

It wasn't that the more disciples you have, the better. In fact, having too many disciples could hinder one's own cultivation. Therefore, most Mount Shu elders abide by the principle of quality over quantity, taking on disciples only if they encounter someone with exceptional talent and character.

"To become stronger by taking disciples?"

Lu Changsheng, now clear on the function of the Disciple Apprenticeship Simulator, patiently awaited the next day's Mount Shu Disciple Selection Ceremony.

From the memories of this body, Lu Changsheng knew that the Mount Shu Disciple Selection Ceremony was an event of Xia State held once every ten years, a grand occasion. Families and commoners within a hundred thousand li of Xia State did everything they could to get their progeny into Mount Shu for cultivation.

After all, Mount Shu was one of the six great Orthodox Sects of Xia State, with a high reputation for slaying demons and eliminating evil. In Great Xia, many households worshipped clay figures of Ancestor Daoist Taiqing of Mount Shu, the devotion enduring for hundreds of thousands of years.

Due to his closed-door cultivation and hermit-like existence, Lu Changsheng had missed the previous nine Disciple Selection Ceremonies.

Now that he had acquired the Disciple Apprenticeship System, he could perhaps find a disciple with impressive talent during this ceremony.

The next day, Lu Changsheng, with a longsword on his back, left his cave dwelling which he hadn't left for a hundred years.

With a thought, the longsword flew out from behind him, and Lu Changsheng used his Qi to control the sword, transforming into a streak of light that broke through the sea of clouds. The clouds flowed like the wind as he flew towards the Great Hall of Mount Shu.

Among the clouds, Lu Changsheng's streak of light was not the only one; other Elders of Mount Shu were also on their way. Multicolored streaks of light shuttled through the cloud sea, a sight of grandeur.

This was the foundation of Mount Shu.

The main peak of Mount Shu stood ten thousand feet tall, piercing the heavens, with an aura as grand as fighting bulls.

In the plaza of the Great Hall of Mount Shu, thousands of young men and women from the hundred counties of Xia State had gathered, the number no less than ten thousand!

These young men and women had already gone through preliminary rounds of selection, or else their numbers would have been countless.

One by one, the Elders of Mount Shu flew in on their swords, entering the main hall of Mount Shu.

Their imposing presences were awe-inspiring, and the people in the plaza of the main hall looked up at these Elders passing overhead as if they were ants gazing up at the towering trees of the sky.

The Elders of Mount Shu, with the lowest among them being cultivators of the Nascent Soul Realm, made the millennial families seem insignificant in their presence.

"Mount Shu truly lives up to its reputation as an ancient sect with a heritage of several hundred thousand years, with a deep foundation. There are hundreds of Elders at the Nascent Soul Realm."

"It is said that before the current Sect Leader of Mount Shu took charge, he had already broken through to the Dao Palace Realm three thousand years ago. After three thousand years, his cultivation must have reached an unimaginable level."

"Among the six great Orthodox Sects, Mount Shu ranks first. If you, young Sect Leader, could be taken as a disciple by an Elder of Mount Shu, or even by the Sect Leader himself, our family's prospects would be promising."

"Your Highness, joining Mount Shu is a matter that concerns the millennial heritage of our Great Xia Dynasty; success or failure hinges on this moment."

People in the plaza of the main hall of Mount Shu were filled with longing as they watched the Elders pass by.

Inside the main hall of Mount Shu, hundreds of Mount Shu Elders had congregated, each one looking distinguished and exuding righteousness.

Mount Shu is an orthodox sect, and the current disciple recruitment ceremony is primarily to admit a new batch of Mount Shu disciples, but also to showcase their foundation to the nefarious factions and deter the demons.

"Brother Lu, you've finally come out of seclusion. It has been a hundred years since our last meeting. Back then, you were one of the few disciples the Sect Leader valued the most, reaching the Nascent Soul Realm after just fifty years of cultivation. Time flies, and your cultivation must have significantly improved."

A familiar voice rang out; a middle-aged man with a square-shaped face wearing a green robe smiled warmly as he greeted Lu Changsheng.

Lu Changsheng quickly searched his memory and soon identified the man - his senior apprentice brother, Li Changye, a mighty cultivator with great accomplishment in the Dao Palace Realm, the foremost disciple of the current Sect Leader of Mount Shu.

Three hundred years ago, Li Changye fought one against three, slaying three cultivators of the Demonic Dao, all in the Dao Palace Realm, and struck awe among the six Orthodox Sects and four Demon Sects.

Li Changye was regarded by the other five Orthodox Sects as the Elder most likely to succeed as Sect Leader of Mount Shu.

Other reclusive Elders of Mount Shu, who practiced from the previous generation, might not necessarily be inferior to Li Changye in terms of cultivation, but these old peculiar beings were of the same generation as the Sect Leader and would no longer vie for the position of Sect Leader.

"Nascent Soul Realm with great accomplishment... It seems, Brother Lu, you'll soon break through to the Dao Palace Realm. Congratulations, Brother Lu."

Li Changye saw through Lu Changsheng's cultivation; Lu Changsheng was at the ninth level of the Nascent Soul Realm, just a step away from the Dao Palace Realm.

One could become an Elder of Mount Shu at the Nascent Soul Realm, but the Dao Palace Realm is where Mount Shu's true pillars of strength lay.

Lu Changsheng's cultivation over a hundred and fifty years, advancing successively through the Foundation Establishment Realm, the Qi Transformation Realm, and the Golden Core Realm to reach the Nascent Soul Realm, then closing himself off for a hundred years, was on the verge of stepping into the Dao Palace Realm. Such speed of cultivation was notable even among the ranks of Mount Shu.

Lu Changsheng had decent aptitude to begin with, or else he would not have stood out during the discipleship ceremony and been chosen as a disciple by the Sect Leader of Mount Shu.

However, what Li Changye didn't know was that the original Lu Changsheng, due to his excessive dedication to cultivation, had become extreme and ultimately perished from cultivation deviation.

And the Lu Changsheng before him had come from a distant place called Earth.

"Thank you, Senior Brother. This time, I've ended my seclusion for two reasons: to clear my mind, and to see if there are any promising youths. I intend to take on one or two disciples."

"Hahaha, who would have thought the solitary Brother Lu would have a day when he wanted to take on disciples, truly remarkable..." Li Changye was chatting with Lu Changsheng when his expression suddenly turned solemn, "The Sect Leader has arrived."