Chapter 9

Today is the second update, there will be another one in the afternoon!

----

In the following days, whenever he was hungry, he would eat the birds that had died upon being sucked into this place. Most of the time, he carefully observed the stone bead, each time using the dew that appeared on it to wipe his arm. Gradually, his arm fully recovered. He was extremely cautious with this dew, accumulating a considerable amount in a bird's skull.

One day, he evenly sprinkled the accumulated dew onto a strip of cloth, carefully wrapped the stone bead inside, and hung it around his neck, pulling it a few times to ensure it wouldn't fall off. Taking advantage of the intermittent suction, he approached the cave entrance, gritted his teeth, and tore off most of his clothes, tying them together. One end was secured to a nearby rock, and the other was tied around his waist. He carefully began to climb down.

After descending about six zhang, his hand suddenly slipped, and his body rapidly fell. Fortunately, the cloth held up, and he swung, quickly grabbing a branch that extended horizontally. The cloth strip then split in the middle, and the part tied around his waist dangled in the air, swaying back and forth.

Cold sweat broke out on Wang Lin's forehead. Looking down, he saw that there was still about twenty zhang to go. With one hand gripping the branch, he quickly grabbed the cloth strip with the other and struggled to tie it to the branch, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

He cautiously moved his body, and after a long time, he finally approached the cliff face again, continuing to climb down. When he was a few zhang from the bottom, the cloth strip had reached its limit. Without hesitation, Wang Lin quickly jumped down.

The cloth strip couldn't bear the weight and snapped again, but it slightly slowed his descent. The wind rushed at him, and a series of branches broke. At the moment of landing, he struggled to control his body, landing on his toes first and rolling on the ground to absorb the impact.

The stones on the ground were like sharp knives, piercing his body and leaving bloody wounds. His right leg was especially pierced by a sharp rock, revealing white bone through the wound.

Wang Lin's breathing was rapid, and his eyes were unfocused. He struggled to take the cloth strip containing the stone bead from his neck and put it in his mouth, using his tongue to suck the moist dew on it. After a while, he struggled to sit up, his hands trembling as he untied the cloth strip and squeezed it over his right leg wound, a few drops of liquid falling.

A cool sensation spread from the wound. After doing this, he weakly fell to the ground, silently praying that no wild animals would come before he recovered.

At that moment, a voice suddenly called out from a distance.

"Iron Pillar, where are you?"

Wang Lin was startled. Listening carefully, he recognized his father's voice. Without time to think, he immediately used all his strength to shout, "Father, I'm here!"

A long rainbow quickly approached, circling above Wang Lin before swiftly descending. The sword light dissipated, and a Zhang surname disciple from the Hengyue Sect, carrying Iron Pillar's father under his arm, frowned and looked at Wang Lin.

Seeing his son, Iron Pillar's father immediately shed tears, running to Wang Lin's side and hugging him, crying, "Iron Pillar, why do you do this to yourself? Why can't you think things through? Have you considered how your parents would live if you died?"

Wang Lin was stunned. After a moment, he realized his father had misunderstood his actions. Looking at his wounds and his disheveled state, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

The Zhang surname disciple glanced at Wang Lin, looked up, and noticed the cloth strip. He leaped up, quickly climbing to the cave entrance. The suction suddenly appeared, and he was startled, but he quickly recovered, not minding the suction. He scanned the area and gently landed, saying in a low voice, "Your child was trying to commit suicide but was sucked into this natural wind eye, which is why he didn't fall to his death. Wang Lin has been found. Once we return to the sect, the elders will decide what to do."

With that, he rolled up his sleeve, grabbed Wang Lin and his father, and quickly left the area, soon arriving at the base of the Hengyue Sect's mountain. He easily ascended to the top along the stone steps.

Returning to familiar ground, Wang Lin felt a mix of emotions. Several people stood on the mountaintop, all with looks of disgust. The Zhang surname disciple hurriedly approached one of them and whispered a few words. The man frowned and coldly said, "Since the person has been found, take him to the guest room to meet his mother."

In the guest room, Wang Lin's mother saw her son and immediately burst into tears, hugging him and sobbing. After hearing the story from his parents, Wang Lin finally understood what had happened.

After he left home, his parents immediately returned to the Wang family and found his fourth uncle. Concerned for his safety, they approached Wang Zhuo's father. Due to his fourth uncle's insistence, Wang Zhuo's father reluctantly contacted all the relatives in the family, and they jointly petitioned the Hengyue Sect for help in the search.

The Hengyue Sect had never encountered such a situation before and initially didn't want to get involved. However, since Wang Lin had left because he wasn't accepted, if anything happened to him, they wouldn't care about a mortal's life, but if the news spread, all the villagers would talk, and fewer parents would be willing to let their children be tested. After careful consideration, they sent a few people to search the area, and Wang Lin's father, worried, followed them.

This led to the earlier scene.

Not long after, someone brought medicinal soup, and Iron Pillar's mother quickly thanked them and carefully fed it to Wang Lin. The medicine, made by the immortal sect, was highly effective. After drinking it, Wang Lin felt his body recover significantly, and the pain in his wounds eased.

His parents' concerned words continuously reached his ears. He wanted to explain, but he thought they might not believe him.

At that moment, in the Hengyue Sect's main hall, several elders were seated, listening to the Zhang surname man recount the process of finding Wang Lin. After a long time, a red-faced old man slammed the table, dissatisfied, and said, "What does a mortal's life have to do with us cultivators? Look at the cultivation sects in the Zhao Kingdom. Which one of them acts as irresponsibly as we do, sending people to search for a child who wasn't selected and is trying to commit suicide? It's embarrassing!"

A middle-aged man with a cold expression sighed and said, "Elder Ma is right. Among all the sects in the Zhao Kingdom, we are the most ridiculous. But if that child really dies near our sect, it will affect future disciple recruitment. Parents will think that if their child isn't selected, they might as well commit suicide, and they won't dare to send their children here."

An old man in a brocade robe took a sip of tea and said slowly, "To put it bluntly, it's because our Hengyue Sect has declined and needs to select a large number of suitable disciples from mortals. If it were 500 years ago, we wouldn't care about mortals' lives, no matter what happened to them."

The last old man, with a face full of wrinkles, sighed and said slowly, "This young man has attempted suicide once and might do it again. To avoid future trouble, let's make an exception and accept him as a named disciple." He glanced at the middle-aged man, closed his eyes, and said no more.