The next morning, Hanyuan emerged from his room feeling refreshed, his Qi stable and vibrant. As he descended the stairs toward the inner hall, he felt an unfamiliar, needle-like pressure in the air.
He stepped into the hall and stopped. His father sat at the head of the table, looking unusually formal. Beside him was an elderly man who radiated an aura of ancient, cold stillness. He was tall, with long, silver-gray hair flowing over a set of dark robes and a neatly trimmed goatee that twitched as he observed Hanyuan.
"Hanyuan," Bai Feng said, gesturing forward. "Quickly, come and greet Senior Qi."
"This junior greets Senior Qi," Hanyuan said, performing a respectful, low bow.
The elderly man opened his eyes. They were a piercing, luminescent shade of silver-blue, like clear mountain lakes. He didn't speak immediately. Instead, his gaze traveled slowly from Hanyuan's mud-stained boots up to the faint silvery scar visible at the collar of his robe, and finally lingered on the blackened steel spear clutched in his hand.
"Six stars, they tell me?" Senior Qi's voice was melodic, sounding like wind whistling through frozen chimes, yet it carried a razor-sharp edge. "And yet, you have tempered your bones to reach the 4th Layer at the age of twelve. Interesting. Your foundation is as stable as a bedrock, and your scent... you've tasted blood, haven't you?"
Bai Feng leaned forward, his voice low. "Senior Qi is the Uncle of our Elder Ling. He left the Bai Clan fifty years ago to wander the Southern Continent and beyond. He is currently an Outer Sect Elder of the Mystic Sky Sect."
"The Mystic Sky Sect?" Hanyuan exclaimed, his eyes widening.
Even in the remote Spirit Springs City, the name carried immense weight. While the Heavenly Frost Sect held the most influence in the North of the Southern Continent, the Mystic Sky Sect was a titan of the Central Regions of the Southern Continent. It was rumored that while they had fewer disciples, their standards were more brutal, and their Sect Leader was a legendary figure whispered to be a match for the leaders of the Three Great Sects.
Senior Qi stroked his goatee, a small, inscrutable smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "My nephew, Ling, spoke of a boy in the clan who was 'foolish' enough to ignore his limits. I came to see if he was a dreamer or a fool. It seems you might be a bit of both, Bai Hanyuan."
The Elder stood up, the pressure in the room doubling as he stepped toward Hanyuan. "The Frost Sect looks only for Potential. The Mystic Sky Sect... we look for sharp edges, Will and perseverance. Tell me, boy—do you wish to stay in this birdcage and be a big fish in a small pond, or do you have the courage to bleed among the clouds?"
Hanyuan's breath hitched. He looked at his hands, then back at the silver-blue eyes of the Elder. "I wish to enter the Mystic Sky Sect, Senior... but won't my talent be too poor? The recruiter from the Frost Sect said I would hit a wall before I ever saw the true peaks."
Elder Qi stroked his goatee and let out a hearty, vibrating laugh that seemed to hum in the very air. "Potential! Recruiters love to count Potential stars as if they are gold coins in a pouch. But listen well, boy: Will and perseverance are the true marrow of a cultivator. You will realize this soon enough."
He leaned in, a knowing smirk on his weathered face. "Our very own Sect Leader—a man who can part the clouds with a single finger—had a 'bad' talent in his youth. It was slightly better than yours, perhaps, but far worse than most of his peers at the time. Yet today, he is one of the undisputed sovereigns of the Southern Continent. He didn't climb with his stars; he climbed with his blood."
Hanyuan's eyes ignited like diamonds. A surge of electricity seemed to dance along his spine. To hear that a legend, a man who stood at the apex of the world, had started from a similar "mediocre" beginning... it was the final spark Hanyuan needed.
"Haha! I like that look in your eyes," Elder Qi barked, slapping his knee. "Youths should be ambitious! If you don't aim for the heavens, you'll never leave the mud."
He stood up, his robes fluttering despite the lack of wind. "We depart tomorrow at dawn. Prepare yourself well, Hanyuan. Once we leave these walls, the protection of your clan ends."
With a slight shimmer of silver light, the Elder vanished into thin air.
Bai Feng's hands were visibly trembling on the table. He was the Patriarch of a Great Clan, but first and foremost, he was a father. To see his son accepted into the Mystic Sky Sect—a place where even the floor-sweepers were respect-worthy—filled him with a terror and pride he couldn't describe.
"Hanyuan, take this," Bai Feng said, sliding a small jade phial across the table.
Hanyuan uncorked it, and the room was instantly filled with the dense, medicinal aroma of earth and spirit. "This is... a Qi Paving Pill?"
"It is," Bai Feng said, a bittersweet smile on his face. "With this, your transition to the 5th Layer of Qi Refining will be seamless. It will solidify your meridians before you face the Sect's entrance trials."
Hanyuan's hand shook. "But Father... these pills cost a small fortune! The clan's treasury—"
"I am the Patriarch," Bai Feng interrupted firmly, though his eyes were warm. "And you are my son. I want you to walk into that Sect with your head held high. Now, go to your mother. She's been in the kitchens since dawn, and I think she's already used three handkerchiefs on her tears. I have work to attend to."
Hanyuan bowed low, his heart heavy with gratitude. "I will not disappoint you, Father! I swear it on the Bai name!"
The rest of the day was spend on bittersweet farewells. Hanyuan spent hours with his mother, Lin Ruo, who alternated between stuffing his traveling bags with extra clothes and weeping into his shoulder. She didn't care about Sect Leaders or 10-star geniuses; she only cared that her boy was leaving the nest.
The next morning, Hanyuan rose before the sun. He first visited Elder Ling to thank him for the connection, then sprinted toward the outskirts of the estate to Elder Wei's small, secluded hut.
"Elder Wei!" Hanyuan called out, bowing deeply outside the door. "I've come to bid you farewell. I want to thank you for every strike you taught me. I will definitely repay your kindness in the future!"
The door creaked open, and Elder Wei stepped out, looking characteristically gruff with a pipe in his mouth. He blinked in confusion. "Repay me? Why are you talking like you're on your deathbed? Did you commit some crime and get sentenced to the imperial prison?"
"No, Elder," Hanyuan laughed, a lump forming in his throat. "I've been accepted into the Mystic Sky Sect. Senior Qi is taking me today."
"What?! The Mystic Sky Sect?" The pipe nearly fell from Elder Wei's mouth. He stared at Hanyuan for a long, silent moment, before the harsh lines on his face softened into something resembling a smile. He stepped forward and slammed a heavy hand onto Hanyuan's chest. "Brother Ling must have talked his uncle's ear off about you. Listen to me, Hanyuan... never give up. The world will try to break that spear of yours. Don't let it. I believe in you, brat."
Finally, Hanyuan stopped by the main training grounds. He spotted Minghan, who was struggling through his drills. At nearly thirteen, Minghan was still stuck at the Peak of the 1st Layer, his medicore talent hampered by a lack of drive.
"I'm leaving, Minghan," Hanyuan said, pulling his friend aside.
"The Sect?" Minghan whispered, his eyes wide with a mix of envy and sadness. "You're really going?"
"I am. Train hard, you monkey," Hanyuan teased, though his eyes were moist. "Don't let your grandfather beat you too much while I'm gone."
"Take care, Hanyuan," Minghan said, clutching his shoulder. "Bring back some of that high-level Spirit Wine, okay?"
Hanyuan waved as he walked away, heading toward the Great North Gate. There, leaning against the cold stone archway with his arms crossed, was Elder Qi. The morning mist swirled around his silver-blue robes.
The boy took one last look at Spirit Springs City—the city where he had been mocked, where he had bled, and where he had found his path. He adjusted the blackened steel spear on his back and stepped toward the Elder.
"I am ready, Senior," Hanyuan said.
"Then let us go," Elder Qi replied, a playful glint in his eye. "The Southern Continent is a big place, little Hanyuan. It's time you saw what real mountains look like."
With a sweep of the Elder's sleeve, a gust of frigid, silver wind enveloped them both, and the gate of the city vanished into a blur of light. The journey to the Mystic Sky Sect had begun.