7 We Donst Want This Kind of Disciple (1/2)
”Congratulations to the two of you...”
”What the f*ck!? Are you some kind of demon!?”
The voice that suddenly appeared from behind them scared Wang Lu out of his wits. He jumped and turned around, only to find two young people dressed in blue and white robes respectively. They were about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Although they were wearing robes with different colors, the style was similar to the robes of the Senior and Junior Martial Brothers at the start of their journey. Evidently, they were also Spirit Sword Sect disciples.
The two disciples had the looks of indifference on their faces. The slightly older one slightly bowed and cupped his hands towards Wang Lu and his errand boy. ”I'm Zhang Ying, and this is Lu Ming. We're disciples of the Carefree Peak of the Spirit Sword Mountain.”
Wang Lu gave an ”oh”.
”Congratulations to the two of you on walking all the way across the Golden Bridge to this point. According to the rules, you can come with us to the Spirit Sword Mountain and join the disciples of Carefree Peak.”
”...” Wang Lu knitted his brows, but did not say anything.
Zhang Ying quietly waited for Wang Lu's response and did not press on.
A moment later, Wang Lu was still thinking, but the little errand boy gently spoke up, ”Honored Immortal, you mean... do you mean, we have already been accepted by the sect?”
Zhang Ying nodded his head. ”Yes, that is correct.”
Lu Ming added, ”The Golden Bridge was personally made by the Sect Leader to judge the quality of a cultivator. The better one's quality is, the further one can walk across the bridge. So, by being able to walk this far, you two are qualified to enter the sect.”
The errand boy was stunned for a moment, then estatically asked, ”Is, is this true?”
”It is absolutely true.”
”Young Master! Did you hear that? We did it! We've already been accepted by the Spirit Sword Sect!”
Wang Lu shook his head. ”Excuse me, who were the other two present when the Golden Bridge descended?”
Zhang Ying's complexion slightly became unnatural. ”Them? They are our martial brothers from the Misty Peak.”
”Misty Peak? Carefree Peak? What's the difference?”
Zhang Ying's face fell. ”Why do you have so many questions?”
Lu Ming said with a wry smile, ”Martial Brother, it's not like this is something we're embarrassed to admit... From the outside, the Spirit Sword Mountain looks like one big mountain. However, it actually has many peaks, one of them is the so-called Carefree Peak, which is a part of the Outer Court of the Spirit Sword Sect, and the Misty Peak is part of the Inner Court. The two of us cannot be compared to those two Senior Martial Brothers.”
Wang Lu smiled, ”I knew it. Those two wearing black and white from earlier looked much more impressive than you guys.” He then became suspicious, ”But is the test for newcomers really just walking across the Golden Bridge? Is there any way to enter the Inner Court? Can we directly walk from here?”
Lu Ming said, ”Of course not. The Spirit Sword Sect's criteria for choosing Inner Court Disciples is extremely strict. Your aptitude, temperament and affinity with the Immortal Path have to be above a certain level. Even if one has a Heavenly Spirit Root, he would probably still be rejected by the Misty Peak if all the other criterias had not been fulfilled.”
Wang Lu unconsciously said, ”Heh.”
”Pardon?”
Wang Lu smiled, ”It's nothing. Then, for us newcomers, how are we supposed to enter the Inner Court?”
Zhang Ying coldly snorted, ”Enter the Misty Peak? That's simple. From here, you can go straight ahead along this path to reach the Misty Peak. If you can make it there, the Head of the Peak will naturally accept you.”
Wang Lu looked at the direction where Zhang Ying's finger was pointing. It was a long narrow path covered by clouds.
”How far is it?”
Lu Ming said with a smile, ”That depends on your affinity with the Immortal Path. It may be far away, or it may just be around the corner. The path to becoming an Immortal is different to each person.”
Zhang Ying asked, ”What are you going to do? Will you come with us to Carefree Peak? Or are you going to continue this path? Let me warn you that if you continue this path, there will be no other offers like this unless you reach your destination.”
Wang Lu said, ”You mean, if we choose to continue on this path, our only choice is to go all the way to the Misty Peak or fail?”
Zhang Ying sneered, ”That's right. You either go all the way and become a disciple of the Inner Court, or your Immortal Path ends here and you return to your little mortal lives. Since you look down on our Carefree Peak, don't expect us to take you if you fail. Even though we're from the Outer Court, we won't be taking any leftovers.”
”Don't take it too seriously. I never thought that you're some sort of third rate disciple, can't-reach-the-high-or-accept-the-low loser.”
”What did you say!?”
Wang Lu shrugged. ”Anyway, since I know that this Immortal Path isn't the end, of course, I am going to go all the way to the end.”
”Humph, just don't regret it... don't think that our Carefree Peak is inferior to others just because we're Outer Court Disciples. Our Carefree Peak's Eldest Martial Brother is comparable to those Successor Disciples. From the thousands of people who set out on this journey, only one in ten people managed to arrive here. You should cherish this opportunity.”
At this point, the errand boy was also nodding as he said, ”Young Master, how about... we just go to Carefree Peak?”
”If you want to go, then go. You don't need to ask for my permission.”
”Ah...” The errand boy's face suddenly became bitter. ”Young Master, the Master specifically sent me here to look after you, how can I leave you by yourself here?”
Wang Lu smiled as he glanced at the errand boy's face that seemed to be in perpetual wrinkle. He opened his mouth, but finally shook his head and said, ”In short, I'm determined to keep going. So if you want to come with me, then come.”
Zhang Ying glanced at the two.
”Just make sure that the two of you won't regret your decision. I should warn you that the second half of this Immortal Path is a few notches harder than what you might think. No one has succeeded in the past three hundred years. In the previous Immortal Gatherings, everyone chose to enter the Carefree Peak. It was actually the Inner Court Elders who went out in search of disciples for the Inner Court. Perhaps it took them ten years, or perhaps one hundred years to find one good seedling; that is to say that this next part of the Immortal Path is almost impassable.”
”Doesn't matter. I have been a professional adventurer for tens of years. My nickname is Immortal Path's Opener. I can handle all of these untold dangers.”
Zhang Ying shook his head. ”... I have given you enough warning, so it's all up to you now.”
Wang Lu laughed and waved goodbye towards Lu Ming and said, ”In that case, Senior Martial Brother Lu Ming, I look forward to meet you in the future.”
Lu Ming also laughed, ”We have met several newcomers before you, but unlike you, no one acted as if they were familiar with us. Very well, I'll just give you a piece of advice: the Immortal Path you are going to take is in an ever-changing form, every blade of grass, and every tree that appears has a reason.”
”... Is this meant to satirize someone who has romantic affairs wherever he goes?”
”Hah! Whatever it means, you can think about it yourself. If I reveal anymore to you, Master will punish me. Good luck!”
Zhang Ying pulled his Junior Martial Brother. ”That's enough. I won't be able to explain this already... The next group of people are coming soon, we need to go.”
As the two people spoke, they pulled apart the clouds in front of them, then they flew out of the valley. Their figures gradually disappeared.
In the valley, Wang Lu and Wang Zhong, the young master and errand boy duo, looked at each other.
”Young Master, are we going to just give up like this?”
”Of course not. Who said I was going to give up!? In the past three hundred years, the challenges beyond this Carefree Peak have caused many of the world's talented people to give up. Are you willing to give up the opportunity to witness and experience those challenges.”
The errand boy shamelessly nodded his head. ”Yes, I am willing! Young Master, being able to reach here, I would not even dare to dream of it! When you said you wanted to participate in the Immortal Gathering of the Spirit Sword Sect, everyone in the village thought you were out of your mind. When I left, the Master told me that if you were rejected, you can go with him to the large cities nearby to relax so that you will be able to get rid of your frustration. Who would have thought that Young Master actually... actually reached this point?”
”... Which point? The Immortal Path has just begun.”
Upon seeing the errand boy's confused look, Wang Lu made an exception and began to explain to him his strategy.
”There are three main points that those two in blue and white talked about just now: aptitude, temperament and affinity. Right now, we've only passed the test of aptitude. No, that's probably not even the real aptitude test. We just merely stepped over a necessary threshold, and yet you have the nerve to blab on about this like it's the end of the Immortal Path?”