As the illusion shattered and she opened her eyes, Leng Zhuxin's consciousness returned to the Stepping Heaven Ladder. She took them one by one, crossing the final ninety-nine steps.
"Leng Zhuxin, five hundred and sixty-sixth place."
With a hint of regret, the inner sect deacon announced Leng Zhuxin's ranking and directed her to stand alongside the top ten disciples.
After inspecting the remaining disciples to ensure none possessed mutated spiritual roots, the deacon led Leng Zhuxin and the others into the inner hall.
The Qingxuan Sect possessed six major peaks: Sword Peak, Talisman Peak, Medicine Peak, Pill Peak, Artifact Peak, and Formation Peak. In addition to these, there were two peaks independent of the six: the Sect Master Peak, inhabited by Sect Master Gu Langhuai, and Changheng Mountain, belonging to Immortal Lord Changheng, who held the title of Protecting Elder.
Aside from Sword Peak, Sect Master Peak, and Changheng Mountain, the elders of the remaining five peaks would each select a few personal disciples from the top ten every year.
Elders within the peaks would select personal disciples from within the top one hundred.
The inner hall, paved with gold and jade, seated eight individuals high above. Seven wore identical elder robes, which, at a glance from afar, appeared completely uniform to Leng Zhuxin and the others. Only the figure directly in the center wore different sect master vestments, crowned with a spiritual jade diadem symbolizing the status of the sect leader.
The inner sect deacon led the eleven new disciples in a simultaneous kneel and bow. "Greetings, Sect Master; greetings, Peak Masters."
"Rise, all of you. You are the cream of the crop among this year's new disciples. Starting from the first place, introduce yourselves and state your spiritual root attributes."
"Replying to the Sect Master, this disciple is Chu He, with a Metal Spiritual Root. I am thirteen years old this year, hailing from the Chu Family of Hedong."
"This disciple is Chen Jundu, with a Wind Spiritual Root. I am twelve years old, hailing from the Chen Family of Hexi."
"This disciple is Liu Qingqing, with a Wood Spiritual Root. I am thirteen years old, hailing from the Liu Family of the Medicine King Valley."
"This disciple is Shen Tingyu, with a Fire Spiritual Root. I am ten years old, hailing from the Shen Family of Mount Dapan."
"This disciple is Chen Junya, with a Water Spiritual Root. I am ten years old, hailing from the Chen Family of Hexi."
"This disciple is Linghu Ying, with an Earth Spiritual Root. I am fourteen years old, hailing from the Linghu Clan of Jiangbei."
"This disciple is Zhao Huaquan, with Wood and Water Dual Spiritual Roots, hailing from the Zhao Clan of the Southern Islands."
"This disciple is Zhang Wulei, with a Lightning Spiritual Root. I am fourteen years old, hailing from the Zhang Family of Thunder Fortress."
"This disciple is Qin Wuliang, with Metal and Wood Dual Spiritual Roots. I am thirteen years old, hailing from the Qin Family of Qingxuan Mountain."
"This disciple is Ruan Zhen, with a Fire Spiritual Root. I am twelve years old, hailing from the Ruan Clan of the Southern Islands."
"This disciple is Leng Zhuxin, with an Ice Spiritual Root. I am fourteen years old, hailing from the City of Ten Thousand Beasts."
As the others finished their introductions one by one, Leng Zhuxin stood at the very end, listening intently. A whole bunch of cannon fodder. Most of the males favored Leng Yueyao and would die for her; the females were either Leng Yueyao's good friends who served as stepping stones for her, or contrasting female supporting characters meant to highlight Leng Yueyao's genuine kindness and beauty.
Only Chu He was an exception, holding no fondness for Leng Yueyao. In the plot, Chu He was the beloved disciple of Sword Peak Master Wu Xiang and the unattainable white moonlight in Leng Yueyao's heart. He possessed extraordinary talent in the Dao of the Sword, though he was poor at socializing.
The original plot stated that he was cold-hearted, devoid of romantic emotion, and that was why he rejected Leng Yueyao's affections.
In reality, he harbored a grand and selfless love. When the Qingxuan Sect faced annihilation, he stepped forward and died to protect the sect.
Since Chu He was ranked first, the Sect Master naturally held him in higher regard, and thus asked him first which peak he wished to join.
This year marked the first time in a century that Immortal Lord Changheng had come out of seclusion to take in disciples. Everyone present assumed Chu He would choose Immortal Lord Changheng, yet unexpectedly, Chu He looked with firm determination at Sword Peak Master Wu Xiang. "This disciple wishes to join Sword Peak!"
"Sword Peak? A fine choice. Wu Xiang, are you willing to take on this disciple?"
The Sect Master paused only slightly before looking at Wu Xiang with a smile.
A single Metal Spiritual Root, and the number one trialist of the Stepping Heaven Ladder besides—Wu Xiang had long coveted this disciple in his heart. It was only because Immortal Lord Changheng was present that he knew he could not compete and thus hadn't spoken up. Now, it felt as though spirit stones had fallen straight from the sky to smash right into him; how could he possibly be unwilling?
Without even bothering to reply to the Sect Master's words, Wu Xiang flew down directly and landed in front of Chu He. "Good, good, good! A fine sapling for sword cultivation. Follow your master back to Sword Peak!"
With a wave of his sleeve, Wu Xiang summoned his spirit sword. Casting one last regretful glance at Zhang Wulei, who possessed the Lightning Spiritual Root, he ignored the inner hall's rule against flying swords and swept Chu He away on his spiritual blade, acting as though he feared someone might steal his disciple from him.
The moment the Sword Peak Master departed, disappointment was difficult to conceal on the faces of the remaining disciples, for they too had come aiming for the position of a personal disciple on Sword Peak.
The Sect Master did not ask them where they wished to go next; instead, he let the various peak masters make their own selections.
However, the remaining peak masters were not as eccentric as Wu Xiang. With Immortal Lord Changheng present, they did not dare to make their picks first, and all turned their gazes in unison toward Immortal Lord Changheng.
Ever since listening to the new disciples' introductions, Immortal Lord Changheng had shown a distinct lack of interest. Seeing the other peak masters look over, not only did he fail to announce a choice, but he even frowned and questioned Sect Master Gu Langhuai, "Is there truly no Heavenly Water Spiritual Root among this year's disciples?"
"None. There are three single Water Spiritual Roots, but their spiritual root values are all below ninety, still some distance away from the full value of a Heavenly Water Spiritual Root. Only Leng Zhuxin down below possesses a Heavenly Ice Spiritual Root.
Ice is a mutated root of water; perhaps Junior Brother's divination was mistaken?"
Gu Langhuai also furrowed his brow. This was already the third time his junior brother had asked him whether there was a Heavenly Water Spiritual Root among this year's disciples. His junior brother's previous few disciples had all been deduced from dreams, never once erring from spiritual roots to rankings.
Yet precisely this year, among all the new disciples, not a single one possessed a Heavenly Water Spiritual Root, and the number one trialist of the Stepping Heaven Ladder was a male disciple with a Metal Spiritual Root—a far cry from the female disciple with a Heavenly Water Spiritual Root foretold in the vision.
Upon hearing Gu Langhuai's words, Shangguan Heng felt there was reason to them as well. Yet his divination could not possibly be wrong, nor could there be discrepancies ranging from spiritual roots all the way to rankings. The female disciple with the Heavenly Ice Spiritual Root down below was merely ranked five hundred and sixty-sixth. Ranking beyond the five-hundred mark was far too poor; she was simply unworthy of becoming a disciple of Immortal Lord Changheng.
Since there was no Heavenly Water Spiritual Root, and the Heavenly Ice Spiritual Root—which had some relation to it—hadn't even made it into the top one hundred, it seemed he was destined to have no affinity for taking disciples this year.
Shangguan Heng withdrew his assessing gaze from Leng Zhuxin, flicked his sleeves, and stood up. "Since there is no Heavenly Water Spiritual Root, it implies no one here shares an affinity with me. I shall not take any disciples for now."
The Sword Peak Master had just left, and now Immortal Lord Changheng was leaving as well. This dealt a heavy blow to the new disciples waiting below.
Especially since they hailed from various immortal cultivation families and had rushed to the Qingxuan Sect precisely because all the peak masters, along with Immortal Lord Changheng, had spread word that they intended to take disciples. Now that Immortal Lord Changheng was also leaving, hadn't they made the trip for nothing?
They felt a wave of despondency, but since they had already arrived, there was no sense in turning back. They could only stand below and wait for the remaining peak masters to make their selections.
Up on the dais, Gu Langhuai and the remaining five peak masters quickly discussed and settled their placements.
Chen Junya, possessing the Water Spiritual Root, and Zhao Huaquan, with the Wood and Water Dual Spiritual Roots, entered Medicine Peak; Shen Tingyu, with the Fire Spiritual Root, and Liu Qingqing, with the Wood Spiritual Root, entered Pill Peak; Chen Jundu, with the Wind Spiritual Root, entered Talisman Peak; Linghu Ying, with the Earth Spiritual Root, entered Formation Peak; while Qin Wuliang, with the Metal and Wood Dual Spiritual Roots, and Ruan Zhen, with the Fire Spiritual Root, entered Artifact Peak.
In the end, only Zhang Wulei, who possessed the Lightning Spiritual Root, and Leng Zhuxin remained.
A lightning spiritual root possessed formidable offensive power. After a brief moment of deliberation, the Sect Master sent a message via a transmission jade slip to Sword Peak Master Wu Xiang.
The very next moment, Wu Xiang returned to the inner hall. How could he possibly not want a disciple with a Lightning Spiritual Root? He wanted one to death! It was simply that the only two lightning spiritual roots in the Qingxuan Sect's history had both been under Immortal Lord Changheng, and seeing that Immortal Lord Changheng had come out to take disciples this time, he had forced himself to endure the pain and give up.
Now, hearing that Immortal Lord Changheng had not chosen him, he immediately rushed back, made Zhang Wulei stand behind him, and cast a sidelong glance at Leng Zhuxin, believing he was doing so without leaving a trace.
"Ahem, aren't you leaving yet?" Gu Langhuai saw through his little schemes and drove him away.
Only then did Wu Xiang reluctantly take Zhang Wulei and depart, leaving the massive inner hall with only Sect Master Gu Langhuai and Leng Zhuxin.