Chapter 13

Amu followed Tieyun out of the Beihan Grand Hall and headed straight for the back mountain of Tongtian Peak, where the Beihan Sect’s Ancestral Hall was located.

To help Amu understand more and enjoy the scenery of Tongtian Peak, Tieyun led him on foot. After walking for about seven or eight li, they arrived at a place with excellent feng shui.

Ancient pines stood tall, and cypresses provided a green canopy, revealing a small, unremarkable, and old ancestral hall.

This ancient hall seemed to have stood for countless years, ancient and weathered, yet solemn and weighty like a mountain. In comparison, the Beihan Grand Hall seemed less dignified and grand. However, the ancient hall always gave a dreamlike and illusory feeling, as if it were seen through a layer of water, making it hard to see clearly.

Amu felt a bit puzzled. The Beihan Grand Hall was magnificent, but this ancestral hall, though solemn and weighty like a mountain, still seemed somewhat old and shabby.

Seemingly understanding Amu’s thoughts, Tieyun smiled and said, "Junior Brother Amu, this is the ancestral hall of our Beihan Sect! Legend has it that this was the place where our first-generation ancestor, Beihanzi, cultivated. It has been over nine thousand years since then. Don’t look at how old and unremarkable this ancestral hall seems, but it is full of mysteries and wonders, and it is the source of our Beihan Immortal Vein, making it the most precious place in our Beihan Sect."

Amu nodded, feeling a newfound respect for this small ancestral hall.

"Junior Brother Amu, the Beihan Ancestral Hall is usually only accessible to disciples who have reached the Dingshou stage. Many Beihan disciples spend their entire lives without the qualification to come here. This alone shows how much the Sect Master favors you!" Tieyun, usually calm, was also full of envy when he said this.

Amu smiled and politely said, "I am just lucky to have the Sect Master’s favor. In the long journey of cultivation, I hope Senior Brother Tieyun will take good care of me!"

Tieyun nodded and smiled, "Junior Brother Amu, there’s no need to be so formal. Once you join Beihan, we are one family. We will have many opportunities to get closer. Let me take you into the Ancestral Hall first!"

The Beihan Ancestral Hall was protected by magical barriers. Only cultivators at or above the Dingshou stage who knew the method to open it could enter.

Tieyun, a named disciple of Han Qianli, had already reached the high-level Dingshou stage, making him the top Dingshou disciple of the main peak lineage.

He formed a hand seal with both hands, mobilized his cultivation energy, and a strange golden rune appeared in his hand. It slowly rose, expanded in the wind, and finally transformed into a golden light gate standing before Tieyun and Amu.

To Amu, this was an incredibly mysterious process.

"Follow me!" Tieyun led the way, and Amu followed, passing through the light gate.

Instantly, Amu felt the ancient hall brighten, though they had only taken three steps forward.

The dreamlike and illusory feeling he had when looking at the ancestral hall disappeared. It turned out that he had been seeing it through an invisible light curtain.

"This is a barrier! If you try to break through it without knowing the spell, even the most spiritual beings will be reduced to ashes!" Tieyun said, flicking a pigeon-egg-sized stone from his hand. The stone silently passed through the invisible light curtain and turned into a puff of green smoke, disappearing without a sound.

Amu couldn’t help but think, "The magic of immortals is truly incredible."

Tieyun smiled and said, "Even birds get lost here!"

Then, Tieyun led Amu to the steps of the Ancestral Hall and bowed, saying, "Disciple Tieyun, following the Sect Master’s orders, brings the new disciple Amu to pay respects to the Ancestral Hall!"

After saying this, Amu suddenly felt two beams of light emanate from the Ancestral Hall and scan over his body.

"Hmm? Where did you find this disciple?" An old voice came, but Amu couldn’t determine its source. It seemed to come from all directions, penetrating his ears.

"Grandmaster, this is the disciple personally brought up the mountain by the Sect Master!" Tieyun answered respectfully.

"Grandmaster?" Amu’s heart stirred. That would mean someone of a higher generation than Han Qianli. It seemed that the Ancestral Hall was indeed a crucial place in Beihan, otherwise, they wouldn’t have assigned someone of a higher generation than the Sect Master to guard it.

"Hmm! Qianli has good eyes. This disciple, though not yet cultivated to have a spiritual root, is the most talented disciple I have seen here! Come in!" The old voice said, and the Ancestral Hall’s door opened automatically. The old voice did not speak again.

Amu followed Tieyun into the Ancestral Hall, but there was no one in sight. It was just a small, empty hall.

Tieyun smiled at Amu, "Junior Brother Amu, once you reach the Dingshou stage, you will understand the wonders of the Ancestral Hall! Come, let’s pay respects to the founder of Beihan Sect!"

Amu looked up and saw an altar in the center of the Ancestral Hall, with incense smoke swirling. A portrait hung on the wall.

The person in the portrait was a middle-aged man, with a sage-like demeanor, wearing a white Daoist robe, standing on auspicious clouds, and the background was the Beihan mountains.

"This is our ancestor, Beihanzi. He cultivated and attained enlightenment in the Northern Wasteland, founding our sect’s nearly ten-thousand-year-old legacy," Tieyun said.

Amu nodded and took a step forward to pay respects. However, just as he was about to kneel, the portrait of the ancestor began to tremble, as if it were about to fly away.

"Hmm?" Tieyun was shocked. The portrait of the ancestor trembling was something he had never heard of before.

Amu was also surprised and did not kneel. Strangely, as soon as Amu stood up straight, the portrait stopped trembling.

Tieyun looked at Amu curiously, and Amu was also puzzled. He tried to kneel again, but every time he bowed, the portrait of the ancestor would tremble, as if it could not bear the weight of Amu’s respect.

After three attempts, Amu could only laugh bitterly, and Tieyun was speechless.

"Alas!" Just as they were at a loss, the old voice sounded again, but this time it was a heavy sigh. "No need to bow! I believe you are a passing guest of Beihan. This small Beihan cannot retain you, and the ancestor does not wish to receive your bow. This item is a gift to you, to establish a good connection between our Beihan Sect and you."

As the old voice faded, a purple light flashed in the air, and a simple, dragon-and-phoenix-embossed purple jade bracelet floated in the air.

"An initial-stage soul treasure, the Qiankun Ruyi Bracelet!" Tieyun exclaimed. In the Haihuang cultivation world, the levels of magical treasures were similar to those of cultivators, divided into cultivation, spirit, and soul stages, each with three sub-stages. The flying swords and other items used by initial-stage cultivators were generally considered magical tools, not magical treasures.

The Qiankun Ruyi Bracelet was an initial-stage soul treasure, one of the mountain-guarding treasures of Beihan. It was said to have been used by Beihanzi in the past.

The Qiankun Ruyi Bracelet was a treasure with both offensive and defensive capabilities. In the hands of a cultivator of sufficient realm, it was said to be able to break through all five-element techniques, swallow water and fire magical tools, and change size at will, with countless transformations and infinite mysteries.

Even if it were used as a storage bracelet by ordinary disciples, it would be far superior to ordinary storage bags and Qiankun bags, making it a top-tier storage treasure.

Soul-level treasures were rare, even for Han Qianli, who had only a few.

"Tieyun, take good care of Amu! Remember this!" The old voice said again, then fell silent.

"Respect the Grandmaster’s command!" Tieyun said, already shocked. While he could understand the Sect Master’s attitude towards Amu, the events in the Ancestral Hall left him stunned.

The ancestor of Beihan could not bear Amu’s bow, and the current Grandmaster had given Amu one of the mountain-guarding treasures of Beihan, and even instructed him to take good care of Amu. These events far exceeded Tieyun’s imagination. Tieyun had been cultivating for over a hundred years, and Amu was the first disciple he had seen like this.

After regaining his composure, Tieyun said enviously, "Junior Brother Amu, you truly have great fortune. The Qiankun Ruyi Bracelet is one of our sect’s mountain-guarding treasures, an initial-stage soul treasure, given to you by the Grandmaster! When I paid respects to the Ancestral Hall, I received an initial-stage spirit treasure, which was already envied by my peers, but it was several levels below yours."

Amu was stunned. He hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. He raised his hand, and the Qiankun Ruyi Bracelet automatically slipped onto his left wrist.

An initial-stage soul treasure could only be refined by a soul-level cultivator. Even Han Qianli could not refine it now. The few soul treasures in Beihan were all relics left by previous generations of ancestors.

Soul-level treasures generally had a bit of spiritual awareness and could automatically recognize their master.

The moment the Qiankun Ruyi Bracelet slipped onto Amu’s wrist, it became attuned to his will.

"Thank you, Grandmaster!" Amu bowed to the air, but the old voice did not respond again.

Since he couldn’t bow to the ancestor, Amu bowed deeply to the portrait, considering it a form of respect.

Tieyun then introduced Amu to the eighteen generations of Beihan ancestors, each with remarkable achievements, at least at the spirit sage level, and three at the soul cultivator level, all of whom were once formidable figures.

At the same time, Tieyun briefly explained the history of the eight lineages of Beihan, particularly mentioning the disappearance of the ninth lineage, Wangbei Peak, seven thousand years ago, and the first rule of the Beihan Ancestral Teachings, "Never step into the Cold Plain."

These two points left a deep impression on Amu, reminding him of the barrier-like mist he had seen to the north of the Beihan Immortal Gate when he first entered the mountain.

In the Ancestral Hall, Amu gained much, not only receiving the initial-stage soul treasure, the Qiankun Ruyi Bracelet, but also gaining a general understanding of the history of the Beihan Sect.

After everything was done, which took over an hour, Tieyun led Amu out of the Ancestral Hall and headed to his residence.