500 Mile Mountain Range

Cain walked up to the young man with a smile, hiding his ill intent.

The teenager saw Cain's approach, but he didn't have the reaction Cain expected.

"Are you a Disciple? What's with the strange outfit and hunks of metal at your waist?"

Cain looked down and saw himself.

'I forgot; these clothes are from the Complex. They were dirtied and damaged by that Demonic Sect attack... luckily, the city guards didn't confiscate my Yurombi and Warhammer; they're scrap metal...'

Cain had no care that he had been wearing such nasty clothes for the past 6 weeks. He was truly unbothered by many things.....

He quickly responded, "Ah, well, I haven't gotten my uniform yet; I was attacked and joined the Sect. Though it appears the sect doesn't have any clothes to give out."

'Guang, why didn't you get me a new change of clothes!? I was too absorbed in this place's path of power to notice!'

I take it back, he was bothered. 

The young man in front of Cain tilted his head. "I didn't know we didn't have any extra clothes... anyway, are you here to join my expedition?"

"Yes, but I have to warn you; I'm only at the Starting Harnessing Stage. Though it won't take me long to reach the Peak of the Harnessing Stage." Cain's confidence radiated outward.

The Disciple's mouth seemed to twitch. "You're only in the Starting Tier of the 1st Stage? Wasn't the last major recruitment a year and a half ago?"

"I joined recently. So, are we leaving now, or do you still need time to prepare?" Cain started to lose patience.

"Well, I'm still waiting on something. Can you wait a week?"

"A week is perfect. I'm Cain, by the way."

Reaching out his hand, the Disciple copied, and the two shook hands.

"I'm Zhao Long. Pleasure's mine! I'm so glad someone finally joined me!"

...

After sharing ways to communicate with each other, the two Outer Disciples went their separate ways.

As an outer disciple, Cain was given a place to stay; it wasn't anything extravagant, but it had a bed and shelter, which was good enough for him.

He spent the week training in isolation, using the 9 Breaths Technique. He quickly reached the Peak of the Harnessing Stage, it wasn't a hard thing to do. He was ready to enter the 500-mile Mountain Range.

"The Harnessing Stage is about gathering enough energy to begin the process of molding the body. It requires the Dantian to be sturdy and filled to the brim with Spiritual Qi. Since I've reached the peak, I'm able to use Spiritual Weapons; I will only be limited by how much Spiritual Qi the object requires."

Cain stood up and went to the door.

"I can also cultivate Immortal Techniques, but that sly old man forgot to mention all the good techniques were on the 4th floor of the library. All the Immortal Techniques on the 3rd Floor require Cultivation in Internal Harnessing, meaning they aren't pure Immortal Techniques!"

Cain was quite dissatisfied with that sly old man. He seemed to have earned nothing. He could have gone to any sect and gotten the same information he now holds.

"I only hope the 500 Mountain Range has something for me. Otherwise, I truly lost out and got scammed by that geezer!"

Taking out his sect jade, Cain instilled a bit of Spiritual Qi and notified Zhao Long he was ready.

...

500-Mile Mountain Range

"Did you bring a High Tier Weapon?"

"Yeah, I went to the Sect Armory and got a second-hand one."

Zhao Long smiled. "You now look like a proper disciple!"

Cain looked down at himself once again. At his waist were no longer three pieces of scrap but a beautiful steel sword with a purple hue. Even his clothes were superb, wearing the standard white robes of the immortal sect.

'No one should try and steal my weapons... I left them in the chest next to my bed....'

"Not to mention, Cain, you look handsome now! I might even say you are in the top 1,000 of our sect!"

Like children, the disciples of the sect had a beauty ranking. Cain was above average in looks, but in the world of cultivation, there were far superior specimens. The heavens blessed many, and Cain was originally only average. He could only reach the top 500 if he used that aura of his to enhance himself, but that would be stupid.

"Knock it off, Zhao, focus; this is dangerous territory."

Hearing his companion's reminder, Zhao Long slapped his face and became serious, his cheeks red.

"Alright, I was told there is an old cave near our location. It supposedly has a treasure that can help in cultivation. Follow me!" Zhao rushed off, and Cain followed, enhancing his body with Spiritual Qi.

'Even still, I'm slow. I want to unseal myself so badly!'

After 20 minutes, the two cultivators came to a cave on the side of the mountain range. Upon entering, they saw the cave was lit with torches.

"Look, we found the cave; let's keep going!" Oblivious, Zhao Long rushed in.

'Idiot. Can't he see there are torches? It means someone's here!'

Cain begrudgingly followed after his companion. They eventually came before a large open area with a pedestal on top of a natural rock pillar. It was surrounded by arrays; they were most likely traps.

As they entered the chamber, the entrance behind them became blocked by three masked figures.

"I knew it! This is a trap, Zhao, watch out!"

All around them, masked figures exited the darkness and trapped them. Finally, one of the masked figures came forward.

"Haha! Idiots, didn't you see the torches at the entrance? This is perfect; we've been looking for fools to use all month!"

The villain pointed to the pillar. "Now, one of you go and scale the pillar; otherwise, we'll kill one of you!"

With their choices laid before them, time was ticking. Everything became silent while the two disciples mulled over their options. 

Not an incense stick of time later, Zhao stepped forward and turned to Cain.

"This is my fault; I should have verified the information before bringing you here. I'll scale the pillar."

'As you should, but if you die, they'll just make me go next anyway...'

Cain secretly rolled his eyes while he put on an act.

"Zhao... I don't know what to say... good luck!"

The villain clapped. "This is all very heartwarming, but hurry it up; we don't have all day!"

Zhao Long hardened his resolve and stepped forward. As he reached the edge of the array, he felt himself become disconnected from the chamber, as if he entered a bubble.

From Cain's perspective, Zhao very slowly began to climb. It looked as if every move was calculated, climbing meticulously to avoid the array field.

In truth, there was no test. The array field was only to stop intruders. Funnily enough, Zhao Long was a descendant of the Cultivator who left his inheritance. An array activated when he entered a set distance and was given a message by his Ancestor! Taking each step at a time, waiting for his Ancestor to tell him where to climb!

This was too lucky! Beyond lucky! Heaven defying luck!

The masked villains became even more elated as Zhao Long reached the top, reaching for the item on the altar and deactivating the whole array field!

"Haha! Good, now give it to me!"

Click.

Argh!

Cain unsheathed his 3rd-tier sword and plunged it through one of the masked villain's necks. As he did, the cave shook.

"Zhao! Let's get out of here!"

"The cave's collapsing!"

The villains panicked as the few near Cain began to attack him.

None of them had weapons, letting Cain have an easy time. High-Grade Objects of External Harnessing could use one power of the sealed soul. In the case of the sword Cain was using, he could use the sword energy of a sword spirit.

Infusing Spiritual Qi into his blade, purple energy projected outward and sliced apart the masked men, killing them instantly.

"You bastards! That treasure is mine!"

Reacting in an instant, Cain whipped around to block an attack. The force was so strong his sword gained a slight crack near the shaft.

"Founding Stage!"

Cain backed away as Zhao Long circled to him. Behind Cain was the exit, but if he ran, the Founding Stage Mastermind would give chase.

'The inheritance here is only useful for those in the Founding Stage and below. This guy is most likely the mastermind and the one who gave Zhao the information. That means we kill him then this whole thing will be over. Good thing Zhao got the item or else I would rather not risk my life.'

Cain had no idea how Zhao got the item, but he was glad he did.

"Hey, we have one Peak Harnessing stage and a Founding stage beginner. What are you going to do?"

Veins bulged through the villain's thin mask, and Cain's provocation angered him greatly. "I'm going to do this!"

Aiming his hand forward, a spark lighted, and a bolt fried the air in an instant!

'Lightning spirit! Wait no, it's an Immortal technique that requires a lightning spirit!'

"Dodge!"

The bolt of lightning sizzled as it broke into many branches, jumping from one place to another.

"Chain Lightning! How do you like that, you thieves!"

Acting just in time, Zhao Long stepped forward as a Green Shell projected from his chest and defended him and Cain.

'What type of spirit is this?! Or is it a mythical beast?'

At that moment, Cain repressed his curiosity as he took Zhao Long by the arm, and they ran as fast as they could as rocks fell all around them.

"Come back here!"

Before the mastermind could catch up, a rock fell and destroyed the only exit.

"NOOO!"

The mastermind's voice echoed before getting cut off by falling rocks.

Exiting the cave, Zhao Long and Cain caught their breath and took a break.

"Hah. I didn't think we would get out of there alive! What was the item on that altar, Zhao?"

Zhao Long looked at his companion before opening his hand to reveal a small scroll. When he unraveled it, it showed a vast map with a key in a secret code.

"Do you know what it says?"

Zhao shook his head. "No, but I have some clues. I'll get back to you on it, but we need to leave first. We'll be safe once we get back to the sect."

"Agreed."