Immortality Through Array Formations

Chapter 795: Chapter 589: Introduction_3

Yu Er’s eyes immediately lit up, and she nodded like a pecking chicken, saying:

“Mhm, mhm, mhm!”

Afterward, an instructor from Taixu Gate came down to meet Mo Hua.

“This is your Senior Brother Xu, also a disciple of the Shangguan Family, but he joined two terms before you. After you join, you can ask him if there’s anything you don’t understand,” Wenren Wan introduced to Mo Hua.

Mo Hua glanced at the instructor and saw him wearing a Taoist robe woven with dark and white threads, the robe adorned with the pattern of Taixu, exuding gracefulness and a friendly smile, which made him seem quite approachable. So, Mo Hua clasped his fists and said,

“Senior Brother Xu.”

...

Shangguan Xu also courteously returned the gesture.

Afterwards, Wenren Wan took Yu Er by the hand and left.

Yu Er, while walking away, kept turning back, waving goodbye to Mo Hua with reluctance.

Once Wenren Wan and Yu Er had left, Mo Hua followed the instructor named Shangguan Xu, one after the other, up the mountain.

Taixu Mountain was very tall.

And the gate of Taixu Gate was halfway up the mountain.

So, from the base of the mountain to the gate, there was quite a distance to cover.

Shangguan Xu had profound cultivation and his steps were steady, whereas Mo Hua had exquisite movement techniques and trod lightly. They walked together for a while, and Mo Hua, finding it a bit boring, started chatting with Shangguan Xu.

Initially, Shangguan Xu was a bit distant, but seeing Mo Hua’s innocent and outright sincerity, he also took a liking to him.

Moreover, after the admission, he would be his junior brother.

Although only a junior brother from the Outer Gate, they still shared the bond of the same sect.

So, Shangguan Xu was quite open and answered all questions exhaustively.

After they became more familiar with each other, Mo Hua chatted non-stop on the latter part of the journey:

“Senior Brother Xu, is the sect very strict with its rules?”

“If I violate the sect rules, will I be expelled from the sect?”

“If not expelled from the sect, would I be confined, or would I be punished by guarding the gate or sweeping the floor?”

“Senior Brother Xu, if by chance, accidentally, by some coincidence… I learn something secretly, would it violate the sect rules?”

“…Of course, I don’t really intend to learn secretly; I’m just asking…”

“Also, what does the Sect Leader look like, and do the Elders have bad tempers?”

…

After hearing these questions, Shangguan Xu couldn’t help but laugh and cry, yet he still answered each and every one of them:

“Don’t worry, the rules of Taixu Gate are, relatively speaking, not so strict…”

“Unlike the Four Great Sects…”

“Within the Four Great Sects, disciples must abide by strict norms in every aspect of their behavior, following proper rites; they can’t be late for their daily wake-up and bedtime;”

“Whatever the instructors and elders teach, you must learn. If you don’t learn well, you will be scolded, or even made to apply for withdrawal from the sect;”

“The Four Great Sects also have many assessments…”

“If you do well in the exams, you are treated well; if not, you receive cold looks.”

“Cultivation, Formation, Artifact Refining, Alchemy, Refining Rune… etc.; all these require assessment, and there’s no room for negligence; the rules are very harsh…”

“There’s a minor exam every ten days, a major exam every month, and the exams rank the disciples in third, sixth, or ninth class…”

“So, the disciples of the Four Great Sects must be ‘diligent’…”

…

Mo Hua listened until his scalp tingled, “Is it really that exaggerated?”

Shangguan Xu nodded, “Yes, that’s why they are known as ‘Four Great Sects,’ they strive to excel in everything. The disciples they nurture are truly exceptional…”

Shangguan Xu sighed, feeling some admiration as well as envy, and then his tone became more relaxed.

“Of course, our Taixu Gate is much more lenient…”

“There are quite a few legacies within the sect, and you can learn whatever you want to learn. Even if you don’t learn well, you won’t be too harshly reprimanded, even getting a ‘D’ is fine…”

“Of course, you should still please the teaching instructors or the elders; otherwise, if you really anger them, it won’t be good…”

“When learning spell points…”

“Besides the truly Sect Protecting spell points, most spell points at the Outer Gate can also be learned, because, after all, this Sect is about passing on the teachings and imparting knowledge, and there’s not such a great divide between insiders and outsiders…”

“You learn it, it’s your own skill.”

“Of course, excluding the Sect Protecting Ultimate Techniques…”

“On normal days, there aren’t too many rules; just attend classes on time, complete your assignments punctually, and for the rest of the time, it’s quite ample—the Sect won’t be too restrictive…”

…

Self-guided and autonomous, you can learn whatever you want, and it doesn’t matter much if you don’t excel…

It means, one can “muddle through”!

Mo Hua nodded.

He realized that he had made the right choice in coming to Taixu Gate!

Shangguan Xu continued, “You’ll meet the Sect Leader at the initiation ceremony in a few days. Anyway… it’s just the Sect Leader’s appearance, pretty approachable…”

“The Sect Leader is quite easygoing and also focuses on preserving health…”

“As for the Elders, it’s hard to say; there are all sorts…”

“Some are easy to talk to, and some have a rather bad temper…”

“This batch of disciples of yours, let me think…”

Shangguan Xu frowned in thought and then said:

“There’s an old Elder who teaches Formation, very senior, who hasn’t retired but stays in the Sect to teach Formation. He has a strange temper and is extremely strict, doesn’t allow even a speck of dust in his eyes, and won’t tolerate the slightest carelessness from disciples…”

Shangguan Xu looked at Mo Hua and sighed, “You’re a bit unlucky, be careful…”

“Oh…”

Mo Hua nodded, but deep down he was also curious about who this “old Elder” actually was…

Shangguan Xu wanted to say more, but looking up, he discovered that while he had been chatting with Mo Hua, they had unwittingly reached the mid-mountain, at the mountain gate of Taixu Gate.

Mo Hua also looked up to see an ancient and mysterious mountain gate.

The threshold of the mountain gate wasn’t high.

Hanging on the gate was a Stele, inscribed with ancient and forceful characters, full of Taoist Meaning:

Taixu Gate.

These three characters, like a knife or a sword, integrated seamlessly with the Stele, upright and unpretentious; however, when one caught sight of them, they carried an inherent sharp Sword Intent.

It seemed to be the handiwork of some great Sword Cultivator who had returned to simplicity and truth.

Mo Hua looked only once and was somewhat captivated.

He did not understand Swordsmanship, nor did he practice Sword Qi, but through a misty haze, his Divine Sense was able to perceive a vast and ethereal Sword Intent, as if soaring through the vastness of Taixu.

“Taixu Mind Transforming Sword True Jue…”

Mo Hua silently murmured in his heart.

“Junior brother?”

Shangguan Xu saw Mo Hua in a daze and showed a puzzled look.

Mo Hua came back to his senses and asked, “Senior Brother Xu, these three characters…”

Shangguan Xu looked up and said, “Oh, these three characters have been here since the founding of Taixu Gate, probably the handwriting of some old ancestor of the Sect, they’ve been around for many years…”

He glanced at the sky and said to Mo Hua, “It’s getting late; let’s enter the Sect first. You’re just joining and there’s a lot of trifles to take care of.”

“Sure.”

Mo Hua nodded, following Shangguan Xu across the threshold, into Taixu Gate.

But as Mo Hua stepped over the threshold and passed through the mountain gate, he didn’t notice the characters “Taixu Gate” above it, their inner light trembling slightly, emanating Sword Intent.

Following that, the nearby clouds condensed above the mountain gate, purified by the Sword Intent into a pure vapor, which rose gently and drifted toward the sky.

This thread of Sword Intent was extremely concentrated yet extremely subtle.

After the purification, the vapor took on the hue of purest blue flame, blending seamlessly with the surrounding mists.

Most disciples and Elders of Taixu Gate didn’t feel anything special, but in a room, where the Taixu Sect Master sat meditating for health, he suddenly opened his eyes.

His figure flashed and he stepped outside the house, looking through the majestic mountains and the Taixu Dao courts, toward the mountain gate, where he saw the rising vapor.

Taixu Sect Master remained stunned for a long time, expressing disbelief:

“My Taixu Gate’s mountain gate has… actually started to emit blue smoke?!”