Chapter 5

Six days passed in a flash, and the Ascension Ceremony was just around the corner.

In those six days, much had happened in Spirit Creek Town. The story of a mountain boy’s extraordinary encounter at the inn had spread throughout the town, and the innkeeper’s golden radish had become famous for a time. Young talents from all over the country had gathered in the town, seeking their own connections to immortality. After six days, no one knew how many opportunities had been discovered, as each person’s experience was like drinking water—only they knew its warmth or coldness.

As for the instigator, he had spent the six days comfortably at the Rujia Inn, not leaving his room.

Solving the quest chain at the town gate was purely out of interest. From the beginning, Wang Lu had never placed his hopes on any kind of connection.

Of course, after exchanging all his possessions for a box of wine and meat, leaving him with only a single copper coin, Wang Lu had no choice but to wash dishes for the innkeeper unless he wanted to do so.

In the morning, Wang Lu was awakened by the noise outside his room.

"The Ascension Ceremony has begun!"

"The Golden Bridge at the mountain gate is about to descend!"

Countless people were shouting, their voices gradually moving toward the outskirts of the town.

Wang Lu opened his eyes, and the sunlight outside the window was already slightly blinding. Sighing, he woke up his book boy and prepared to change and wash up, ready to set out on his journey.

When he was checking out at the counter, the innkeeper couldn’t stop laughing. When Wang Lu returned the food box, the innkeeper waved her hand generously, "It’s nothing, take it as a gift."

Wang Lu really wanted to ask, if she was so generous, could she refund him the 3,500 taels of silver?

Of course, that was impossible. Clutching the worn-out copper coin in his hand, Wang Lu left the inn with a bright smile and the heavy food box, following the crowd toward the mountain gate outside the town.

Outside Spirit Creek Town, the towering mountain was bathed in a pale golden light by the sun. A golden bridge descended slowly from the sky through the mist that enveloped the mountain year-round, one end pointing to the ground and the other connecting to the ethereal Spirit Sword Mountain. The mist acted like a canopy, cutting off the bridge and blocking the gaze of mortals looking up at the immortal realm.

The small open space was now crowded with thousands of people, and latecomers had no place to stand. Wang Lu had woken up too late and was stuck on the road out of the town, unable to move. He could only stand on tiptoe to look far away.

Fortunately, the young man’s vision was excellent, and he could see the golden bridge slowly approaching the ground from a distance. Two young cultivators in black and white robes were standing on either side of the bridge, their hands forming sword seals and their feet on flying swords, steadily protecting the bridge.

From a distance, the immortal cultivators did not have three heads or six arms. The two young men looked like ordinary people, with no colorful clouds or divine music surrounding them, but their immortal aura far surpassed that of any mortal emperor. The space filled with thousands of people became silent with a slight thud as the golden bridge touched the ground. Countless eyes focused on one point, and even the sons of emperors and descendants of cultivation families were speechless.

In the silence, the Spirit Sword cultivator smiled and spoke, his voice like the wind, reaching the ears of everyone present.

"First, my junior and I welcome all of you to the Spirit Sword Sect’s Ascension Ceremony on behalf of our sect."

Then the two of them clapped their hands calmly, but unfortunately, the strong aura of the immortal cultivators intimidated everyone, and no one joined in, causing an awkward silence.

The senior brother was slightly embarrassed, cleared his throat, and said, "I won’t say much. I believe you have already heard enough about our sect before coming and in the town, so I won’t repeat it. More will be revealed when you reach the appropriate height. Here, I wish you all to find your own opportunities on this path to immortality."

At this point, someone finally spoke up, "The Ascension Ceremony, does it just involve climbing this bridge to the top?"

The senior brother replied, "I can only say that I hope you all do your best on the way. As for the top, don’t set your hopes too high."

"Then what position must we reach to be considered qualified? There should be some criteria, right?"

The senior brother replied, "You will know when the time comes."

"When the time comes? That’s too irresponsible, isn’t it?"

The senior brother smiled but didn’t speak, while the junior brother said coldly, "If you don’t want to come, you can leave. Who’s begging you?"

The questioner’s face turned red with anger but didn’t dare to argue further.

So the senior brother spoke again, "Next, please follow the golden bridge into the mountain. Generally, there won’t be any danger on this path to immortality, but if there are any accidents or if you get stuck somewhere and can’t continue, you can always ask for help, and our fellow disciples will come to your aid."

The junior brother added, "But if anyone deliberately seeks death, we will certainly oblige."

The senior brother said, "Sorry, my junior has been in a bad mood these past few days..."

"I’m in a good mood."

"Shut up."

"You shut up. Drawing a bad lot in the lottery and dragging me into this kind of trivial work, you still have the nerve..."

Seeing that the senior and junior brothers were being watched by thousands of people, the senior brother quickly changed the subject, "I declare the Ascension Ceremony officially begins!"

After saying that, the two brothers hurriedly ascended, clearing the entrance to the golden bridge.

The next moment, the crowd surged, and the young masters and their servants from all over crowded onto the bridge. Although the golden bridge was several dozen meters wide, it couldn’t accommodate so many people at once, and cries and shouts of anger erupted. Worse still, many people who had just taken a few steps on the bridge screamed and fell off, creating a chaotic scene.

The Spirit Sword Sect’s senior and junior brothers were also surprised and quickly flew down to separate the crowd with their combined efforts, but by then, hundreds of people were already rolling on the ground, moaning in pain.

The senior and junior brothers looked at each other, their faces grim, especially the senior brother, who was embarrassed, "Sorry, I forgot to mention that after the ceremony begins, only those who meet the criteria can go up the bridge. So, please have your accompanying personnel return."

That explained why the servants had fallen into a mess like dumplings in a pot. Interestingly, many of the young masters had also fallen off the bridge.

At this point, the junior brother said coldly, "Let me reiterate, anyone twelve years old or younger who hasn’t started cultivation can go up the bridge. Those who are just filling in or trying to pass off as qualified, get lost."

The young masters who had fallen off the bridge were extremely embarrassed. Many of them were indeed thirteen or fourteen years old and had falsified their ages to try to pass. Now that they were exposed, they wanted to explain, but seeing the sour face of the Spirit Sword cultivator, who would dare to speak up? Even the chaos caused by the two not explaining beforehand, no one dared to criticize.

Of course, with over ten thousand people present, there were always some extraordinary individuals. One person by the bridge shouted angrily, "I’m clearly only eleven years old, why can’t I go up the bridge?"

The junior brother immediately frowned, "How do you know you’re eleven years old? Did you start counting days from the moment you were born?"

The person’s momentum was immediately dampened, "Well, of course, my family told me."

"That’s because your mother got the date wrong."

The young man was so angry he almost spat blood.

The senior brother’s eyes shifted, "Who are you?"

"I’m Liu Hanlong from the Liu family of Youzhou. I just had my eleventh birthday last month. The head of the Feiyun Sect invited seventeen major and minor families from Lianyun Mountain to celebrate my birthday, and everyone on Lianyun Mountain knows about it!"

The senior and junior brothers looked at each other, "Feiyun Sect?"

"Lianyun Mountain?"

After a moment of confusion, the senior brother pulled out a map from his sleeve, unfolded it, and searched with his junior brother.

After searching for a long time, the junior brother’s face turned even colder, "A small sect that can’t even be found on the map, boasting about what? Seventeen major and minor families celebrating the eleventh birthday of someone with an unknown birth date? What kind of fallen family dares to call itself a major family!?"

Seeing that the junior brother was getting more and more out of hand, the senior brother quickly interrupted, "This is how it is. The Ascension Golden Bridge was personally crafted by our sect leader. If you have any questions about the bridge’s effectiveness, you can contact the sect leader directly."

The junior brother sneered, "I’m sure he will have a pleasant conversation with you."

A pleasant conversation? More like sending you to your eternal rest! Being hit with the sect leader’s name, the Liu family’s young master was left in a sorry state, and he and his servants disappeared into the crowd.

From then on, there were no more questions in the space of ten thousand people. Seeing that order was beginning to be restored, the senior and junior brothers nodded and ascended, leaving the trivial matters at the entrance to the golden bridge. The remaining people moved forward quietly and slowly.

Of course, as they moved, there was no shortage of discussion. A book boy carrying a heavy load sighed, "Immortals are indeed different. Even the gatekeepers have such a grand demeanor."

The young master beside him chuckled, "Gatekeepers? You’re blind. If those two heard you, I could burn incense for you next year... Didn’t you hear them say they were assigned to be gatekeepers because they drew a bad lot? They casually flew and separated a thousand people with their flying swords. Do your gatekeepers have such power?"

The book boy was stunned and muttered, "They are indeed quite impressive, but I always feel that the Spirit Sword Sect isn’t very friendly to us mortals."

"When you poured boiling water into an ant nest as a child, you weren’t very friendly to them either. Immortals and mortals are different paths. Mortals are like ants. It’s already generous of them not to kill us all in a bad mood. Do you know that we were just at the gates of death a moment ago?"

The little book boy’s face turned pale, "Really?"

"Of course not, do you believe everything? They’re not evil sects or demons, they wouldn’t kill innocents."

"..."

"But the Spirit Sword Sect is indeed very interesting, very different from the usual rigid and old-fashioned sects. Though it’s an ancient sect, it has a unique and indescribable aura. It has character, I like it!"

The book boy sighed and silently followed the young master. The Spirit Sword Sect’s golden bridge only had an age limit, and he was the same age as the young master, having just turned twelve. This trip would inevitably involve carrying the young master’s luggage all the way.

At that moment, he didn’t realize that stepping onto the golden bridge meant stepping onto the path to immortality. This path recognized only one’s connection to immortality, not one’s status as a young master or a book boy.

The path to immortality begins at your feet.