Chapter 6: Path of Self-Reflection

A few buzzing noises attracted the children's attention, and the spirit boat slowly started to move. In just a moment, the spirit boat slowly rose up and sailed towards the distance at a high speed.

They are all children who have rarely seen a real immortal cultivator. Everyone was shocked when they saw this scene. They were all deeply moved by this fantastic ability and marveled at the magic of cultivating immortals.

Although a small number of them have experienced the feeling of being above the heavens, most of them have never seen such a scene.

Yun Shang is a materialist of the 21st century, and all these things are simply a subversion of her cognition.

Now we have to overturn all previous concepts, such as gravity and atheism. Now she truly believed that immortals could really fly and hide underground.

The journey to the sect was long, and Yun Shang was still small and could not withstand the waves of the flying boat. So she returned to the room the monks had prepared for them.

The flying boat seemed to have passed through a layer of transparent film, and also pushed away the thick mist. In the distance, we could see green mountains, rushing waterfalls, and chirping birds. It was so beautiful and ethereal that it could not be described in words. Even Yun Shang, who had experienced a colorful world, could not help but be shocked by the scene before him.

"Senior Brother Lin!" A Taoist priest dressed similarly to the deacon who had tested spirits before came forward.

"Junior Brother Zhao, these are all the disciples selected from the secular world this time, a total of 283 people. Please take them to their places."

It turned out that the deacon who she had been working with for a long time was named Lin.

"Two hundred and eighty-three people! It's quite a harvest. Are there any good talents?"

There are nearly three hundred people, and the most number of people selected as disciples in previous years was no more than a hundred.

"It's not bad. There are four with single spiritual roots, and there are also a few good ones with double spiritual roots. I am just about to go to Chenghe Hall to report to the headmaster." Lin Chengzhi smiled and twirled his beard.

"Four natural spiritual roots! Congratulations, senior brother, congratulations, senior brother!" Zhao Guangshun's heart skipped a beat.

Lin Chengzhi was really lucky. Originally, it was a task that no one in the Deacon Hall was willing to take, but he was asked to take it. But it was too late to regret now.

...

Yun Shang and the others were placed in a hut at the foot of the mountain, two people per room.

Even until she lay down on the bed, she still felt a sense of unreality, but it seemed that the Lingxu Sect was really not bad!

After a good night's sleep, the next day everyone was gathered in a small square at the foot of the mountain. There were already more than 10,000 people gathered in the small square.

"My future junior brothers and sisters, I am Zhao Guangshun, the deacon of the Deacon Hall. I will supervise you to complete this entry test."

Zhao Guangshun's sleeves fluttered, and his voice was heard by the novices in the square. Seeing everyone's performance, Zhao Guangshun nodded with satisfaction.

Then, he pointed to a small bluestone staircase towering into the sky behind him and said, "This is the path of self-examination set up by our sect's founder, Daojun Qingyang. Please calm down and take a walk. There is no time limit, but you must not give up halfway. Once you give up, it will be regarded as automatically giving up becoming a disciple of our sect, and we will send you back to where you came from."

We have to climb the mountain again! Everyone was wailing in their hearts. Can't immortals fly? Why do they always like to test others to walk?

Yun Shang couldn't help but smile. The seniors who traveled through time and space to cultivate immortality were not lying to me. It is true that the army of time travelers is constantly changing, but the stalks are always there. If you don't walk the Path of Self-Reflection, you will be embarrassed to say that you have cultivated immortality!

Zhao Guangshun saw that the time was almost up, so he cleared his throat and said, "Okay, do you have any objections? If not, let's get started. Two hundred people in a group, forty-one groups in total. The first group will enter from the left!"

As soon as he finished speaking, two hundred people on the left stepped onto the Road of Self-Examination one after another. It turned out that those who took part in the Road of Self-Examination were not only selected from the secular world, but most of them were probably from the world of cultivation.

Yun Shang was still in the middle of the line. She couldn't help but look at the towering stone steps. Strangely, there was no one on the road.

Then, one after another, it was soon the turn of the group selected from the secular world by Yun Shang.

Stepping onto the stairs, it seemed that there was no difference. But things couldn't be that simple, could they? Yun Shang didn't dare to take it lightly. Just when she was about to tell the other three people, she realized that there was no trace of them.

Was it really like that? She patiently moved forward step by step, and walked straight up more than a thousand steps. Then it seemed that every step up was more difficult, and something was pressing on her and making her breathless.

Sit down and take a break? There's no time limit anyway.

No, of course not, she can still walk!

So she walked up another thousand steps.

"Huff huff," sweat blurred Yun Shang's eyes, so she simply closed her eyes and continued moving forward.

But when I opened my eyes again, eh? Where was I? Who was I?

"Miss, Miss, you're awake!" A maid wearing a silver-red bodice and a plain white skirt said in surprise.

"Xiao Lan, what time is it?" Huh? How do I know her name?

"My dear lady, you still remember to ask the time. Come with me and see. My son-in-law has passed the imperial examination and will be paraded in the streets soon!" Xiaolan said as she pulled the person on the bed up quickly, then washed, changed clothes, applied facial mask, and combed hair, all in one go!

Yun Shang always felt something was wrong, but she couldn't tell what it was. She could only let Xiaolan dress her up.

After Xiaolan looked Yun Shang up and down and made sure there was nothing wrong, she pulled her through the inner courtyard and ran straight to the west door.

The gatekeeper did not stop them when she saw them, but asked the servant to harness the carriage. The driver then drove the carriage straight to Zhuangyuan Street.

"Miss, Miss, look, our son-in-law, the most handsome one is our son-in-law!" Xiaolan's cheeks flushed, and she excitedly pulled Yun Shang.

Yun Shang: ...

"Miss, what's wrong with you? Don't you know the uncle?"

Yun Shang lowered her head and saw the person downstairs, who was riding a tall horse. He was wearing a red dress and had a red flower on it, which made him look like a handsome jade-like figure with an extraordinary demeanor.

But should I know him?

"Miss, don't scare me. Have you heard the rumors before? My son-in-law is a man of high moral character. How could he be such an ungrateful villain who would divorce his wife and remarry?" Xiaolan looked at Yun Shang nervously.

"Divorcing your wife and remarrying?" It seems that this is the case, but what does it have to do with me?

"Miss, are you feeling unwell? Let's go back home." Xiaolan looked at her mistress worriedly. What happened to her today? Wasn't she the one who always wanted to marry her son-in-law?

Three months later, the Yun Mansion was decorated with lanterns and filled with guests.

"Congratulations! Congratulations to the Minister for finding a good girl. This is cause for celebration!"

"Congratulations, Mr. Minister!"

…

In the new house, Yun Shang pulled off her veil in annoyance! Recently, I always feel like I have forgotten something important, but I can't remember it.

Who is it, the man who steps forward with unsteady steps?

The man pushes the door open and enters.

"Madam, why did you take off your veil?" He was already very drunk.

Yun Shang felt a little disgusted.

Someone next to him put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Hey, my lady, a night of spring is worth a thousand gold. Why don't we go to bed early?"

"Why?"

"what why?"

"Why do you want to get married?"

"Why do we have to get married? Isn't this how everyone lives? Study, grow up, then get married and have children, children have children again, and grandchildren, isn't the purpose of life to have a prosperous and wealthy life?" As he said this, he wanted to take off Yun Shang's clothes.

Marry a wife, have children, have children again, have endless descendants... Is this how she has to live her whole life? No, it's not like that. This is not the life she wants, never! Yun Shang was still immersed in her own thoughts, and she didn't realize that her clothes were being stripped off.

The cold air on her skin stimulated her, and she suddenly woke up from her thoughts! She pushed the person in front of her away and rushed out!

…

When she woke up again, there were stairs with no end in sight.

Fortunately, fortunately. This illusion is really powerful, she almost got lost in it. Yun Shang was still frightened and did not dare to delay any longer, so she quickened her pace and continued to move forward.

But this time, after just a few steps, it seemed that she had reached the end.

In front of her was a magnificent hall, in front of which two people dressed as deacons were registering with a dozen ordinary disciples. Yun Shang walked forward.

"Name, place of origin, bone age, spiritual roots?" asked a disciple in white.

"Yun Shang, Linzhou City, Dongyue State, five years old, fire and wood." Yun Shang answered concisely.

"Fire and wood? It's actually a dual spiritual root?" The ordinary disciple was shocked for a while and then entered this information and gave her a sign.

"There are 2,792 steps in the Heart-Searching Road. It will take two hours. This is your identity token. You will need it as proof when accepting missions and exchanging contribution points. Keep it."

"Yes, thank you, Senior Brother!" At least three months had passed in the illusion, but only two hours had passed since returning to reality. Yun Shang thanked him, then turned and walked towards the front of the hall.