Don't be fooled by how the outer disciples of the immortal sects seem to have high social status in Shangbao Immortal City. In reality, the vast majority of outer disciples remain outer disciples for their entire lives.
Their room for upward mobility is practically zero.
Other immortal sects do not tilt their resources toward cultivating alchemists the way the Caoling Immortal Sect does. Therefore, one of the few alternative paths to becoming a formal disciple is to perform monumental services for the sect.
Yet what kind of feat could possibly count as a monumental service?
Consequently, most outer disciples have always had only two paths to choose from:
Accumulating merits for promotion,
Or breaking through to Level 8 Chuyuan before the age of forty.
Both of these paths are exceptionally difficult in practice. The first requires connections; without connections, one cannot even secure a position that allows for the accumulation of merits. The second undoubtedly demands vast cultivation resources.
In the end, these outer disciples can only toil diligently for the sect, hoping to smooth the way for their descendants to eventually become formal disciples of the sect when their time comes.
Living days with such a foreseeable end, one inevitably accumulates a backlog of negative emotions over time.
After all, while the immortal sect can easily suppress these outer disciples, if they suppress them completely, who is going to wholeheartedly handle the sect's affairs?
Surely they don't expect their formal disciples to do the work!
At times like this, a spiritual "role model" becomes desperately needed!
Therefore, whenever such a "role model" emerges, the people within the immortal sect quietly fan the flames, letting more outer disciples learn of this figure.
Naturally, this also ensured that the rogue cultivators of the immortal city came to know of such a person.
"Brother Yun? It's really Brother Yun!" This was Zhang Yushu. Having fled quickly that day, he had naturally come out unscathed, yet he lacked the courage to seek out the immortal city's law enforcement team, leaving him with a lingering sense of guilt and too ashamed to seek out Yun Jingxiu.
"What? Yun Jingxiu has such formidable alchemy talent? He became an alchemist in just three months? Oh no, oh no, he isn't going to come looking for trouble with me, is he?" This was Mocheng, the one with Level 2 Chuyuan cultivation who had audaciously provoked someone at Level 4 Chuyuan.
After failing to make trouble that day and getting beaten by Yun Jingxiu, he hadn't been overly terrified. After all, even though Yun Jingxiu was at Level 4 Chuyuan and had managed to join an immortal sect's outer gate, his own uncle was an outer disciple too!
Moreover, his uncle had spent more than twenty years cultivating connections in Shangbao Immortal City; if he was willing to pay a price, he could even invite a formal disciple of the immortal sect to step in!
Right now, however, all Mocheng could think about was praying that Yun Jingxiu would simply brush him off as if he were nothing more than a fart!
A formal disciple of the immortal sect!
These were figures whom even the big shots within Shangbao Immortal City treated with utmost care! Even the eight great families of the immortal city had to host a formal disciple of an immortal sect with the highest hospitality.
The status of a formal disciple might not quite be a carp leaping through the dragon gate, but it could certainly be called flying up to a high branch to become a phoenix.
Meanwhile, Yun Jingxiu's name continued to spread.
In particular, his previous incarnation had cultivated in Shangbao Immortal City for ten years. Although he had always been at the very bottom—lacking even the qualifications to reside in the "Sanshui Blessed Land"—he had ultimately left behind a vast trail of verifiable activities.
Because of this, Yun Jingxiu's story suddenly became all the more "inspirational"!
Having practiced the Yunshui Jianyue Formula and trained diligently for ten years, he had managed to enter the immortal sect's outer gate relying on his Level 4 Chuyuan cultivation, and then rose to fame in a single bound by becoming an alchemist through his natural talent!
The motivational impact of this on outer disciples and rogue cultivators was undoubtedly enormous.
And the immortal sect was extremely pleased with this narrative.
After all, this story powerfully highlighted the importance of joining the outer gate! Without joining the outer gate of the Caoling Immortal Sect, how could this Yun Jingxiu have achieved his success today?
It was the outer gate that made Yun Jingxiu who he was! It was the outer gate that brought Yun Jingxiu all his glory!
***
Meanwhile, in a place where orioles flew and grass grew lush, Yun Jingxiu gazed at the rushing waterfall before him, along with flashes of silver leaping up from beneath the water from time to time, feeling truly eye-opened.
He had already arrived at the Caoling Immortal Sect by this point.
No wonder that in his predecessor's memories, there were Chuanwen that the Caoling Immortal Sect was located near Shangbao Immortal City, yet no one had ever been able to find its whereabouts from beginning to end.
This immortal sect was actually a true immortal sect!
As it turned out, after Yun Jingxiu left Shangbao Immortal City alongside Fang Xuanji, they traveled all the way to a expanse of wetlands outside the immortal city. Then, as Fang Xuanji produced a token and spun three times to the left and three times to the right on the spot, a gateway wreathed in immortal mist instantly appeared!
Only by crossing this gate could one truly reach the mountain gates of the Caoling Immortal Sect.
Within that dream, the reborn supporting female lead had always relied on her foreknowledge to stir up trouble and had never entered an immortal sect, which was why Yun Jingxiu had no idea that such immortal sects were actually hidden within a genuine Grotto-heaven Blessed Land!
At that moment, three crisp strikes suddenly rang out. The sound was light and ethereal, lingering in the ears and sinking into the soul, leaving anyone who heard it completely refreshed throughout their entire body. Especially for someone of Yun Jingxiu's meager cultivation, his foundational power actually advanced by a notch because of it.
"Junior Brother Yun, this is the Jade Drum Immortal Sound, a congratulatory gift from the immortal sect welcoming you!"
Fang Xuanji said with a smile.
Now that Yun Jingxiu had become a formal disciple, Fang Xuanji had directly taken charge of guiding him.
Hearing this, Yun Jingxiu realized that he was the only one enjoying the benefit of enhanced cultivation, rather than everyone of his cultivation level reaping the rewards.
This caused him to instinctively compare it to the scene when he had first joined the outer gate.
At that time, even for the celebration banquet, they had been left to hire people and prepare things themselves, all while being constantly urged to take on missions and labor.
The treatment between the two was as different as heaven and earth!
Following that, Fang Xuanji waved his hand, and two white cranes fluttered down gracefully.
These two white cranes possessed abundant spiritual intelligence, and their long feathers seemed cast from iron. As their auras circulated, they emitted wave after wave of intangible momentum.
This was the characteristic of the Merit Momentum Formation.
In other words, these were two spirit beasts whose cultivation realm matched Yun Jingxiu's!
"Let's go, Junior Brother Yun!" Fang Xuanji strode forward and mounted a white crane.
Seeing this, Yun Jingxiu followed suit.
The white crane's temperament seemed very gentle, or perhaps it had already been thoroughly domesticated. The moment Yun Jingxiu sat upon its back, the white crane slowly lifted off. Its ascent was steady yet swift, and in just the span of a few breaths, they had already reached the summit of the mountain.
At the summit stood a complex of antique buildings, though nothing about them was particularly breathtaking.
The white cranes landed and each found a spot to rest.
Fang Xuanji led Yun Jingxiu inside. From the outside, the buildings merely seemed ordinary, but the moment they stepped within, a sense of immense antiquity rushed over them, as if a vast expanse of time were flowing past in a single instant.
Before long, the two stopped in front of a giant stone statue.
Many parts of the stone statue had already blurred away, making it impossible to distinguish what ancient existence the statue was carved to depict.
At this moment, a middle-aged cultivator stood before the stone statue. He wore a long cyan robe and sported a long beard, giving him a rather transcendent, immortal-like aura.
"Third Uncle!"
Fang Xuanji greeted him.
"So this is the newly initiated disciple Yun Jingxiu? Since you were brought in by this brat Xuanji, you may call me Third Uncle just as he does!"
The middle-aged cultivator nodded slightly toward Yun Jingxiu. As soon as he finished speaking, three stone tablets glowing with spiritual light flew over.
The stone tablets hovered steadily to a halt.
Yun Jingxiu looked over and saw that they were three different cultivation manuals!
One of them was shockingly the Yunshui Jianyue Formula.
However, it was not the portion that Yun Jingxiu had previously practiced; the opening lines on this stone tablet inscribed with the Yunshui Jianyue Formula boldly declared: "Seeing Mountains and Waters Yet No Peaks"!
This was the content for the second stage of the Yunshui Jianyue Formula—the cultivation realm of the Yuqing Realm.