Chapter 35 – Back Mountain
Over forty core disciples stood inside the hall. There were disciples from the black, white, and red factions, but no purple factions. All of these disciples had solemn expressions. Among them, Wang Lin could see many familiar faces, such as Wang Zhuo, the girl named Xu, the girl named Zhou, apprentice-brother Zhang, and so on.
Right in front of them sat two rows of more than 10 elders, all with cold expressions. Right in the middle sat someone, around 40 years old, wearing a blue dress, with eyes like lightning. He said, “Younger Sun, is this your disciple?”
Sun Dazhu immediately smiled and said, “Senior Brother, this is my disciple, Wang Lin. He entered the sect late, so he doesn’t know the meaning behind the bell ringing five times.”
A red-faced man sitting on the right sneered, “That student is really like his teacher. He’s a bit of a fool, just like you used to be.”
A man beside him laughed. “That apprentice brother is wrong. Junior Brother Sun at least has talent, so he’s much stronger than his apprentice.”
Sun Dazhu’s face turned red and white for a moment. He glared at Wang Lin. He snorted, ignored Wang Lin, and went to sit down.
The blue-robed man frowned. He glanced at Wang Lin once more before forgetting about him and saying, “As I said before, these four years of intense training must bear fruit. We must win the competition against the Xuan Dao Sect. Starting today, you will enter the back mountain. Each person will be assigned their own cultivation site. This time, the sect will provide 10,000 Qi Gathering Pills for all of you to use. None of you are allowed to leave the mountain during this time.”
All students answered in unison.
The blue-robed man nodded and continued, “I hope that within four years, one of you will become a purple-robed disciple. A purple-robed disciple means a core disciple, who is far more important than an inner disciple. Forget it, experience it for yourself. Now, all of you, go to the back mountain and someone will lead you to the cultivation place.”
After he finished speaking, he waved his sleeve and a white light shot out from it. After circling the hall once, he growled, “Open!”
The white light suddenly expanded and immediately enveloped all the inner disciples.
“Go!” Following the growl from the man in blue, a white light flashed and disappeared from the main hall.
Wang Lin felt a warm sensation in his body. In the blink of an eye, he found himself in a valley. This place possessed more spiritual energy than other places. The sound of water could be heard from all sides. He scanned the area and found other inner disciples chatting with each other.
This valley is devoid of vegetation. It’s a cliff with numerous holes carved into it, like a honeycomb. Some of the holes are blocked by giant boulders.
Suddenly, Wang Lin realized someone was watching him. He turned his head and saw Wang Zhuo smiling coldly at him.
At that moment, a young man emerged from one of the cliffs. He was dressed in purple and stared coldly at everyone. He said, “Fellow apprentice brothers and sisters, this is the back mountain of the Heng Yue Sect. As for the back mountain, it isn’t actually the back mountain of the Heng Yue Sect, but a cultivation ground for inner disciples built by several Soul Transformation stage experts 500 years ago. This place has a much thicker spiritual energy than usual. Since you’re here, you should concentrate on cultivating, or don’t blame us seniors for kicking you out of the back mountain.”
Wang Lin recognized this purple-clothed youth. He was the one who had purchased Wang Lin’s spiritual energy liquid. It was rumored that he was already at the 6th layer of Qi Condensation and was extremely unfathomable.
Wang Lin lowered his head. He understood this kind of cunning scheme well because he had put him in dangerous situations before.
“I have spells for the 7th layer and below. If you’ve reached that level but don’t have one, come to me. After I examine you, I’ll give you one. As for where you’ll be practicing, you can choose any of these caves that aren’t completely sealed. Here are some bottles of Qi Gathering Pills. Each bottle contains 50 pills and will be refilled once a year.” After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and 50 white bottles appeared on the ground.
Several inner disciples stepped forward and took the bottles, then began to look for the entrance to the cultivation area.
Wang Lin took a deep breath. Because he had taken a disguise pill at the time, the person didn’t know his identity, so he went forward and took a bottle. Zhang Kuang stood to the side, watching the inner disciples take bottles one by one, when he suddenly saw Wang Lin. He had a strange expression on his face and said, “What’s your name? Why haven’t you even reached the first layer of Qi Condensation? Who’s your teacher?” [E/N: Apparently, his name changed from Can Jie to Zhang Kuang. Whatever.]
Wang Lin stopped and turned around. He said respectfully, “Senior brother, my name is Wang Lin. My teacher is Sun Dazhu. My talent is lacking, that’s why I haven’t reached the first layer.”
Zhang Kuang was stunned. He smiled. “You’re Wang Lin? I’ve heard of you before. While talent is important, perseverance is also key. Since your talent is lacking, you need to work even harder!”
Wang Lin immediately promised.
“This cliff is too high for you since you haven’t even reached the first layer. I’ll help you.” Zhang Kuang waved his sleeve. An invisible force appeared under Wang Lin’s feet and pushed him until he was in front of a cave.
Wang Lin respectfully thanked Zhang Kuang. After he turned around and entered the cave, his face immediately darkened. If he hadn’t met this apprentice brother before, he would have been grateful, but after seeing his true colors, he naturally wouldn’t take this small favor for granted.
The cave wasn’t large. There was only a stone bed and a lever on the wall. Wang Lin walked over and pulled the lever. Suddenly, a rumbling sound rang out as a giant boulder fell, completely blocking the cave.
After thoroughly inspecting the cave again and finding nothing amiss, Wang Lin was very satisfied with the location. When he was searching for Sun Dazhu, he had wanted to find a place to cultivate outside the sect. Although he was rejected, the current situation brought him quite close to his original plan.
The only drawback was that there was no water source inside the cave. Wang Lin’s cultivation primarily relied on liquid spiritual energy. However, he had accumulated a lot of snow water in his storage bag, so it should be enough for him to use for a while.
He also heard the sound of water in the valley. As long as he was a little careful, the water shouldn’t be a problem.