The Skyward Sect

Another hour went by, and nobody else passed the test. It felt somewhat unfair- only three out of fifty people being able to enter the sect, but if he understood why they did it. You couldn't just let anybody join the sect.

Elder Yang turned around after the last person failed and smiled as he observed the three youths standing there patiently.

"Three good talents," he grinned and nodded, and then waved his hand. Three iron medallions appeared in his hand.

"Names," he ordered.

"Zhu Jie."

"Yi Zian."

"Qi Lei!"

Elder Yang nodded and tossed the three medallions through the air.

They landed in each of their hands, with their names inscribed on the metal.

Li Zian wondered how he did it but after a second thought it wasn't that bizarre.

Elder Yang landed on the ground, and Li Zian looked past him towards Duan Jing.

He reached out with his divine sense to Duan Jing, establishing a connection.

``Thanks for getting me here. I'll make sure to repay you in the future,`` he told him.

``You'd better. I expect a palace waiting for me in fifty years.``

Elder Yang raised his arms, and blue light began to shine around the mountain gate.

The air twisted and the space distorted, and suddenly Li Zian found himself standing on the opposite side the mountain in a massive valley.

Spread across the valley were countless buildings, shops, arenas and people wandering through the streets, going about their personal business.

These people ranged from children like Li Zian to the elderly who were hobbling around on walking sticks.

Along the sides of the mountains were countless small houses, and the spiritual energy was extremely thick and rich.

'The spiritual energy here is twice as abundant than back in the villa!' Li Zian was utterly shocked at this revelation. 'Li Shen's strength must be way above mine by now…' He was slightly depressed by this thought.

"Each of you have been assigned a mountain abode. Use your outer sect medallions to enter the abodes. Other than that, ask your senior disciples for information about the sect," Elder Yang seemed quite busy all of a sudden and abruptly vanished into thin air.

'Void Returning Realm… The Skyward sect is truly strong. Just what is the strength of the sect master?'

Li Zian instantly walked off away from the others, determined to search for Li Shen.

He approached a disciple who was at the peak of Qi Condensing.

"Excuse me, senior brother. Do you happen to know where Li Shen's abode is?" He asked respectfully.

"Senior brother Li Shen? His abode is at the far end of the valley. I doubt he'll let a small fry like you anywhere near."

'He calls him senior brother… Li Shen must be at the Foundation Establishment Realm!'

Li Zian was secretly jealous of how fast Li Shen had advanced. He hastily made his way across the outer sect towards the far end of the valley.

Eventually he reached the end of the outer sect, and he spread out his divine sense over several abodes. His head stung a bit due to the countless sharp auras, but he eventually pinpointed which abode belonged to Li Shen.

An aura of tranquillity hovered around Li Shen but hidden deep within was an old chaos that was constantly trying to break free.

He remembered this feeling from five years ago- the Body of Decay.

That day his mother mentioned sealing it for another five years, and a shiver ran down his spine.

'How much longer until it breaks free?'

He quickly made his way up the mountain path towards the small house, and then knocked on the door thrice.

"Go away," a teenage voice called out from within.

"It's me, Li Zian!" He yelled.

There was a moment of silence before the door opened, and Li Shen emerged.

He was nearly two heads taller than Li Zian, with black hair that fell down his back and long blue robes. He wore a ring on his right hand and had dark bags under his eyes.

"Brother!" Li Zian yelled with a big smile.

"Li Zian? But how, the Li family was destroyed…" Li Shen was both shocked and elated by his brother's sudden visit.

"I escaped thanks to the Li family guards. I came straight here to seek refuge from the Feng family," he responded quickly.

"I see…" He nodded his head, but Li Zian noticed the troubled expression on his face.

"Brother, what's wrong?" He asked.

"I'll tell you in a minute. Come inside," he gestured for him to enter, and so he did.

The door closed behind him, and Li Zian inspected the inside of the house.

It was a single-story house, with three rooms- a bedroom, a front room containing a table and fireplace, and a cultivation room.

Li Shen sat down at the table and flicked his wrist, starting up the fireplace.

Li Zian sat down opposite him, glancing around at the minimal decoration.

"This place isn't exactly safe," he told him.

"What do you mean? I thought the Skyward sect had a good relationship with our Li family," Li Zian tilted his head.

"They did, but recently there's been some unrest in the sect. The sect master has been in seclusion for fifty years, and there's no sign of him returning any time soon. There's infighting between the elders over control of the sect due to this.

There are no laws in the sect anymore- you can just simply kill anybody and hope they don't have powerful backing. And finally, a new elder arrived, she's called Feng Xifeng. After her arrival, anyone loyal to or with links to the Li family mysteriously vanished. I've only survived because I've got the backing of Elder Yang."

"So you're saying… The sect is completely falling apart?"

"Exactly. Just make sure you complete the missions and cultivate hard. Build up your strength, otherwise you'll just be devoured…"

Li Zian gulped. He was still nothing in this world. He had never actually fought somebody, nor killed anybody. He was confident earlier fighting that puppet, but that was because it was a puppet.

"Oh, right, brother. What realm are you at?"

Li Shen smirked and patted his chest with confidence. "I've constructed three of my Foundation Pillars," he said proudly.

"Three… pillars?" Li Zian didn't understand much about the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"Yeah. There are nine pillars you must create by gathering vast amounts of qi. It takes a lot of effort to create each one. I've only constructed three, so I've still got a long way to go before I reach the Golden Core realm."

"Wow… That's still impressive though. You were so much weaker than me back at the villa!"

"No I wasn't- you just started cultivating earlier."

"Whatever you say."

"It's the truth!"

The two bickered on for a while. Li Zian enjoyed the company of his older brother after his experiences during the past few days. He knew that no matter what, he couldn't let anybody harm Li Shen.