Because every time they came to the Mortal Realm to recruit disciples they managed to get very few, the major sects ultimately always gathered in the imperial capital and shared a single spirit boat back to the Immortal Cultivation World.
Leng Zhuxin had nothing to pack. To avoid suspicion, she simply slung a small bundle containing some clothes over her shoulder, keeping the rest of her belongings inside her Storage Bag and the cold jade Dimension.
After offering three sticks of incense to the original owner's mother, she left the Leng Family.
Today, the various sects were once again gathering at the Ten-Thousand Beasts Plaza before boarding the spirit boat for the imperial capital.
Among all the elders who had come to Ten-Thousand Beasts City, only Elder Chen Xiong of the Qingxuan Sect possessed a spirit boat. It was a size smaller than the ones exclusively used by the Qingxuan Sect for recruitment, but it was more than enough to carry the various sects that had come to Ten-Thousand Beasts City to recruit disciples.
Just as he had on the outbound journey, Chen Xiong collected one middle-grade spirit stone from each sect before letting them board the spirit boat.
The spirit boat could travel a thousand miles in a single hour, and in just half a day, they arrived within the imperial capital.
The major sects disembarked from the spirit boat and transferred to the spirit boats designated exclusively for their respective sects' recruitment.
Chen Xiong also brought Leng Zhuxin over to the Qingxuan Sect's spirit boat. Cao Zhi, the lead elder of the Qingxuan Sect, had already learned via transmission jade slip the previous night that Leng Zhuxin possessed the Heavenly Ice Spiritual Root.
The Heavenly Ice Spiritual Root was a supreme spiritual root that appeared in the Xuanling Continent perhaps once every ten thousand years. Her future achievements would naturally be boundless, and regardless of whether she passed the Stepping Heaven Ladder trial, she would undoubtedly be taken in as a personal disciple.
Naturally, Elder Cao Zhi wanted to get on her good terms. The lofty airs he usually maintained vanished the moment he laid eyes on Leng Zhuxin, and his face broke into a broad, chrysanthemum-like smile. "Junior Sister Leng is still a mortal of flesh and blood for the time being, so you must be hungry after such a long and tiring journey? I took the liberty of preparing some food—would you care to have some?"
Though Cao Zhi casually mentioned that he had "prepared some," he had actually laid out a lavish table laden with everything from chicken, duck, and fish to pork. Of course, it wasn't prepared for Leng Zhuxin alone; the other disciples needed to eat as well. Saying it like that was merely a way to win favor with Leng Zhuxin.
Well-versed in social graces, Leng Zhuxin naturally did not refuse. She smiled, thanked Cao Zhi, and followed his lead by addressing him as Senior Brother Cao.
However, seeing the lead elder acting so familiar with Leng Zhuxin, the other new disciples couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy and jealousy. In particular, a pair of siblings standing at the very front held their heads high with unmistakable hostility.
Having risen to the position of an outer sect elder, Cao Zhi was naturally smooth and tactful. Seeing this, he immediately turned to the new disciples with a smile, "You will all be disciples of our Qingxuan Sect soon enough. Sit down quickly and make yourselves at home. Every year when we recruit disciples, the Qingxuan Sect provides food on the spirit boat for those who haven't yet achieved grain-abstinence. The sect also has a dining hall specifically for new disciples, where meals are prepared by disciples who cultivate specifically through the culinary arts. The spiritual cuisine they make is not only delicious, but also contains very few impurities. This is the only place in the entire Xuanling Continent that offers this—no other sect has it."
Hearing Cao Zhi speak with such pride, the new disciples also grew filled with anticipation for their future life in cultivation, and the atmosphere instantly improved.
After the meal, the new disciples had grown somewhat familiar with one another.
This time, the Qingxuan Sect had recruited a total of thirteen disciples in the Mortal Realm. The pair of siblings at the front were the current Emperor's Third Imperial Princess, Xuanyuan Zi, and Seventh Imperial Prince, Xuanyuan City. Xuanyuan Zi possessed a water-wood dual spiritual root, while Xuanyuan City had a metal-fire dual spiritual root; though not single spiritual roots, they were still quite good.
Aside from them, there was a little boy named Chen Ergou who possessed a single fire spiritual root. Along with Leng Zhuxin, these three would enter the inner sect regardless of whether they passed the Stepping Heaven Ladder trial.
Among the remaining nine, one had a water-earth dual spiritual root and could enter the inner sect if they placed in the top hundred of the Stepping Heaven Ladder trial.
The other eight all possessed triple spiritual roots. To enter the inner sect, they either had to rank in the top fifty of the Stepping Heaven Ladder trial or take first place in the outer sect grand competition held once every decade.
Even this was already the Qingxuan Sect showing leniency. The Qingxuan Sect rarely recruited disciples with triple spiritual roots in the Mortal Realm. One only had to look at Chen Ergou and the water-earth dual spiritual root disciple, both of whom wore patched, worn-out clothes, to know that these triple-spiritual-root individuals were basically scions of powerful families from the imperial capital, admitted to the Qingxuan Sect solely on the basis of their family background.
Having lived in the lap of luxury since childhood and having received a proper aristocratic education, they had no idea that in the Immortal Cultivation World—unless one belonged to a major cultivation family—only sects, natural talent, and strength mattered.
Therefore, they looked down upon the impoverished Chen Ergou and his companion, having no intention whatsoever of befriending them. With their chins held high, they all looked like proud roosters.
Leng Zhuxin hailed from a remote border town, yet the Leng Family's lifestyle had also been one of fine food and clothing. Her attire was far from shabby, and coupled with Cao Zhi's earlier attempt to curry favor with her, these imperial relatives took the initiative to strike up a conversation with her.
Yet it went no further than a few polite words.
Leng Zhuxin was quite happy for the peace and quiet, especially when it came to the siblings Xuanyuan Zi and Xuanyuan City; she had no desire to interact with them any more than necessary.
The moment she heard their names, she matched them to characters from the original plot. Early on in the Qingxuan Sect, Xuanyuan Zi had frequently bullied the weak, relying on her status as the Emperor's child and an inner sect disciple.
Because she wanted to take Immortal Lord Changheng as her master and harbored romantic feelings for him, she had also constantly locked horns with the original owner. In the original plot, quite a few of the rumors circulating within the sect about the original owner had later been spread by Xuanyuan Zi.
Yet in the later stages, Xuanyuan Zi developed a rather good relationship with Leng Yueyao, and together with that couple of scoundrels, Leng Yueyao and Kangkong Hao, she stole the spiritual vein of the Xuanling Continent, causing countless living beings in the realm to suffer a tragic death and reducing it to a wasteland.
As for Xuanyuan City, he was nothing more cannon fodder. In a secret realm, he drugged Leng Yueyao with the intent to violate her, only to be killed by Kangkong Hao.
Their moral character was atrocious—that was Leng Zhuxin's verdict on the two of them. At fifteen and seventeen years of age, their personalities were basically set in stone and could no longer be twisted back, nor did she believe she could nurture the two of them into friends.
Different paths do not allow for mutual understanding; Leng Zhuxin carried her indifference through to the very end, not even sparing the two of them a single smile.
In the original plot, Chen Ergou and another boy named Zhang Tiedan were only mentioned briefly while on the spirit boat and were never brought up again afterward. Leng Zhuxin guessed that they must have changed their names after entering the Qingxuan Sect, so she simply exchanged brief greetings with the two of them before returning to her assigned room.
The spirit boat silently passed through the barrier separating the Mortal Realm from the realm of cultivation, and when they opened their eyes once more, they had already entered the territory of the Qingxuan Sect.
Leng Zhuxin stood on the deck and looked ahead. Amidst a hazy layer of mist stood a mountain peak piercing straight into the clouds, lush and verdant with countless spiritual herbs and flowers growing in abundance. At the summit stood a nine-story treasure tower, shimmering with brilliant colors and magnificent to behold.
Cao Zhi stood at the very front of the deck, pointing toward the mountain range ahead and introducing it to the new disciples with immense pride: "This is Qingxuan Mountain, where our Qingxuan Sect is located. It is the place with the most spiritual energy in the cultivation world of the Xuanling Continent. Beneath it lies the largest spiritual vein in the entire continent, and the Tongtian Tower secret realm within it is the number one secret realm among all permanent secret realms in the Xuanling Continent, containing countless hidden treasures."
Even as he spoke, the spirit boat came to a steady halt right at the gates of the Qingxuan Sect. Before everyone could even finish marveling, they floated gently down to the ground, and the spirit boat shrank back to the size of an inch before being put away by Cao Zhi.