Gateway of Immortality

After Qin Sang and the others finished paying their respects to the founder, Senior Uncle Yue continued, "Our sect's founder was a Spiritual Infant Realm cultivator. After realizing he couldn't break through to the Divine Transformation Realm, he founded the Kuiyin Sect here and passed down his legacy. He ascended at the age of 1,083. Currently, our sect is led by three Golden Core Realm masters, all disciples of Saint Kuiyin. You must know that, like other immortal cultivation sects, our Kuiyin Sect ranks its members by cultivation level. If you manage to break through to the Foundation Building Realm, you may then become a disciple of one of the Golden Core Realm masters, which would make you my junior brother..."

Liang Yan, grinning, interjected, "Then I'll have to call all of you senior uncles."

Senior Uncle Yue continued, "On this Yin Malevolent Cliff, there are many cave dwellings, and nearly a thousand Qi Refining Realm disciples. You don't see them now because they're all cultivating in their caves. From now on, you are fellow disciples. While the sect does not forbid duels, killing one another is strictly prohibited. Anyone who does so will face severe punishment! Do you understand?"

With a stern warning in his voice, Senior Uncle Yue made it clear, and naturally, Qin Sang and the others quickly nodded in agreement.

Seeing that they were being obedient, Senior Uncle Yue softened his expression slightly. He patted his Mustard Seed Pouch, and seven streaks of black light flew out, each containing two items: a gray pouch and a yellow-white bead the size of a longan.

"These are Malevolence-Avoiding Pouches. When you venture into the Yin Malevolent Abyss, activate them to prevent the malevolent yin qi from invading your body. The bead is a Yang Warming Pearl. Keep it on you while cultivating, and it will warm your body, shielding you from the surrounding cold. If you encounter evil spirits in the malevolent yin qi, activate the yang qi within the bead to repel them. However, the Yang Warming Pearl only works on weaker spirits. Never venture too deep into the qi." [1]

As the pouches and beads fell into everyone's hands, Qin Sang gripped the Malevolence-Avoiding Pouch tightly. It felt like coarse cloth, while the Yang Warming Pearl emitted a faint warmth. Both were artifacts, but of a low grade—merely low-grade artifacts with unique functions.

While inspecting the Malevolence-Avoiding Pouch, Qin Sang was startled by Senior Uncle Yue's words and couldn't help but ask, "Senior Uncle Yue, does the base of the cliff contain nothing but malevolent yin qi?"

Senior Uncle Yue nodded. "The intense cold in the Yin Malevolent Abyss is caused by the malevolent yin qi at the bottom of the cliff."

Seeing the group react with slight alarm, Senior Uncle Yue chuckled. "There's no need to fear. The malevolent yin qi isn’t entirely a bad thing. In fact, the sect's ability to produce so many artifacts for sale is thanks to this qi. Moreover, within the Kuiyin Sect, there's a special secret art that allows one to use the malevolent yin qi to cultivate. However, before you can practice it, you must change your cultivation arts."

Upon hearing this, Qin Sang suddenly had a strong premonition.

Senior Uncle Yue tapped at each of them with his finger, then said, "Qin Sang, your current cultivation art is the Netherworld Scripture, so you don’t need to switch. Tan Hao, you can continue cultivating the Yin Magnetic Sword Scripture. As for the rest of you, three of you practice water-based arts, so you’ll need to switch to the Netherworld Scripture. Tan Jie, since your cultivation is earth-based, you will switch to the Earth Elemental Secret Chapter. And Shi Hong, you must switch to the Yin Magnetic Sword Scripture as well."

This announcement stirred an uproar among the group.

Changing cultivation arts wasn't a simple matter. Although their cultivation levels wouldn't decrease, they would have to start from scratch with the new art, halting their progress for a time.

Though they could regain their strength quickly, it would still take time.

Moreover, they had all spent years cultivating their original arts, and becoming proficient in a new one would require additional time and effort.

The three who practiced water-based arts were especially worried, as it was well known that the Netherworld Scripture was one of the most difficult foundational arts to master.

Only Qin Sang remained silent, head bowed.

The others wore troubled expressions, murmuring among themselves. Senior Uncle Yue, his eyes suddenly sharp, shouted, "What is this commotion? The sect has its reasons for requiring you to change your arts! Take these!"

Seven more streaks of light shot from the Mustard Seed Pouch, each containing a book and a small banner.

Qin Sang received the items and squinted. They were all too familiar—one was the Netherworld Scripture, and the other was the Yan Luo Banner!

However, this Yan Luo Banner had a much paler King Yan image than his own. The lines were sparse, and the King Yan didn’t look as lifelike, appearing quite dull.

Liang Yan bowed with a smile and said, "Senior Uncle Yue, please don’t be upset. After all, switching cultivation arts is a significant matter, so it's normal for junior brothers and sisters to have doubts. I will explain everything to them shortly, and I’m sure they will understand the sect’s good intentions."

Only then did Senior Uncle Yue withdraw his intimidating gaze, grunting in acknowledgment. He continued, "This secret art is a closely guarded secret of the sect, and no one is allowed to disclose it. Anyone who does will be treated as a traitor to the sect. The reason we don’t allow you to leave the mountain before reaching the Foundation Building Realm is precisely because of this. Liang Yan, take them out and assign each of them a cave dwelling so they can begin their cultivation. Also, according to sect rules, if any of you manage to break through to the sixth stage of the Qi Refining Realm within two years, you will be rewarded with a top-grade artifact, but this opportunity comes only once. Make the most of it."

Upon hearing the reward of a top-grade artifact, everyone's eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

Most rogue cultivators live in poverty, and even having a high-grade artifact is a rarity. Seeing a top-grade artifact was a luxury they couldn’t afford, only something they could drool over with envy.

Suddenly, the group’s reluctance to switch cultivation arts seemed to dissipate. They eagerly bid farewell to Senior Uncle Yue and excitedly headed out to select their cave dwellings.

While walking down the mountain path, Liang Yan began explaining the uses and taboos of the Yan Luo Banner.

Qin Sang, already well-versed in the Yan Luo Banner, pretended to listen to Liang Yan while his mind wandered.

The Yan Luo Banner was a secret of the Kuiyin Sect, and the black-clad demonic cultivator who had died at Song Hua’s hands was most likely a disciple of the Kuiyin Sect.

No wonder when he left Youshan Market, he had felt the eerie, ghostly aura in the methods of the three senior uncles when they killed their enemies. It turned out the sect truly was a demonic sect!

Even now, whenever he thought of that mummified corpse, Qin Sang couldn't shake the feeling of dread.

The excitement he had initially felt from joining an immortal cultivation sect was now thoroughly doused. Staring up at the misty sky, his gaze grew deep, and a seed of doubt started to take root in his heart.

As he descended two more flights of stairs, a sudden scream echoed from a nearby cave dwelling, followed by a terrifying roar. The dreadful howls, like those of an evil spirit, mingled with cries of agony, sending chills down their spines.

Except for Qin Sang, the others all turned pale with fear. Liang Yan's figure flickered, and with a swift kick, he forced the cave dwelling's door open. Inside, they saw a boy around their age writhing on the ground, clutching his head, blood and tears streaming down his face, his expression maddened and deranged.

When the boy saw Liang Yan, a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes. He clawed at the ground, veins bulging in his arms, struggling to crawl forward, desperate for help.

In the next moment, the boy's face suddenly froze, his twisted body crashing to the ground with no sign of life left.

1. Translator's note: It's helpful to explain the concept of yin and yang here. Yin and yang is a concept that originated in Chinese philosophy, describing an opposite but interconnected, self-perpetuating cycle. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary and at the same time opposing forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts and the parts are important for cohesion of the whole. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and yang form and matter. Yin is retractive, passive and contractive while yang is repelling, active and expansive; in principle, this dichotomy in some form, is seen in all things in nature—patterns of change and difference, such as biological and seasonal cycles, evolution of the landscape over days, weeks, and eons (with the original meaning of the words being the north-facing shade and the south-facing brightness of a hill), gender (female and male), as well as the formation of the character of individuals and the grand arc of sociopolitical history in disorder and order. ☜