strictlysupreme Chapter 22 The Crimson Dawn
Chapter 22 The Crimson Dawn
The spirit boat traveled through the clouds at an extremely high speed.
Lin Chen stood motionless at the ship's railing, gazing at the surging sea of clouds below.
The wind was strong, making his robes flutter loudly. Moonlight shone on his face, illuminating his young but pale features, his eyes slightly red-rimmed, and his lips tightly pressed together, as if he were trying his best to suppress something.
Chen Xuanfeng's words still echoed in my ears.
"Your mother's name is Su Wan. She comes from an ancient civilization that has already vanished: the Dimensional Ruler."
"She is the ruler of dimensions."
"Lin Yuan is dead. He died in front of the Qingyun Sect's mountain gate."
"Su Wan... has also been arrested."
Every word was like a knife, cutting into his heart again and again. But Lin Chen did not cry. He had not cried when he was attacked by monsters in Willow River Town; he had not cried when he was trampled underfoot in the martial arts examination; he had not cried when he faced Shadow Four's torture in the interrogation room of Dark Blade Pavilion.
Not now.
He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
"Your mother is still alive. She is being held captive in the forbidden area of the Qingyun Sect."
This is the only comfort. The only hope.
But behind this hope lies an abyss he cannot reach for the time being: the Qingyun Sect.
"uncomfortable?"
A cold voice came from behind.
Lin Chen didn't need to turn around to know it was the female disciple from the spirit boat. Her name was Shen Qingluan, Lu Qinghe's junior sister, and she was at the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage in the Spirit Cultivation Realm. The other male disciple was named Zhou Mu, also at the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage.
The two remained silent throughout, only occasionally exchanging a glance, as if they had long been accustomed to this silence.
"No," Lin Chen said.
Shen Qingluan walked to his side and also looked at the sea of clouds in the distance.
"Those things Uncle Chen told you..." she began, her voice very soft, "I've guessed some of them."
Lin Chen did not speak.
"When Master was alive, he would occasionally mention someone." Shen Qingluan's gaze became distant. "He said that person was the most remarkable cultivator he had ever met, not because of talent, but because of courage."
"Knowing he was going to die, he still stormed the Qingyun Sect's mountain gate alone."
Lin Chen's throat tightened.
"His name is Lin Yuan." Shen Qingluan turned to look at Lin Chen, her gaze calm. "You and your father... have a very similar brow area."
Lin Chen subconsciously raised his hand and touched the warm mark between his eyebrows.
"Master also said..." Shen Qingluan's voice became even softer, almost as if it were being blown away by the wind, "When Lin Yuan died, he was holding a jade pendant in his hand. There were two names on the jade pendant."
"One of them is named Su Wan."
"The other one... is named Lin Chen."
Lin Chen's body trembled slightly.
He lowered his head and placed his hand on his chest.
The jade pendant is still there. Sixteen years have passed, and it has never left my side.
The spirit boat arrived at Qingyun Sect before dawn.
The moment the clouds parted, Lin Chen saw a sight he had never seen before in his life.
A colossal architectural complex spanning two mountain peaks, built layer upon layer, reaches into the clouds. Palaces, pavilions, bridges, and waterfalls all float in mid-air, enveloped by a massive protective shield of spiritual light. Countless runes can be faintly seen flowing slowly across the shield, emitting a bluish glow.
At the very top of the central mountain peak stands a giant ancient tree.
The ancient trees soared into the clouds, their canopies covering the entire mountain peak. Even in the darkest hour before dawn, the ancient trees still shimmered with golden light—spiritual fruits formed from condensed spiritual energy, each radiating boundless vitality.
"Qingyun Sect." Lu Qinghe stood at the cockpit door, his voice calm. "A sect with a history of 3,700 years, the number one cultivation sect in the world."
Three thousand seven hundred years.
Lin Chen took a deep breath.
This sect has existed for longer than the dynasty it once belonged to.
"Landing."
The spirit boat slowly landed on a platform halfway up the mountain. There were already more than a dozen people standing on the platform, all of them disciples in blue robes. The leader was a middle-aged man with a stern face and sharp eyes.
"Senior Brother Lu." The middle-aged man stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "The Sect Master already knows you've returned. He asked me to convey a message..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Lin Chen and Chen Xuanfeng.
"The trial will begin in seven days. Until then, please have this new disciple stay in the guest quarters."
Lu Qinghe nodded without saying anything more.
Lin Chen helped Chen Xuanfeng off the spirit boat. Chen Xuanfeng's injuries had been initially treated, but he was still very weak, and his face grew paler with each step he took.
Two disciples stepped forward and carefully helped Chen Xuanfeng up.
"Uncle-Master, I'll take you to the sanatorium," Shen Qingluan said.
Chen Xuanfeng glanced at Lin Chen and nodded slightly.
"Chen'er, go and rest first. There are some things... we can talk about them when you're ready."
Lin Chen pursed his lips, not pressing the matter. He knew Chen Xuanfeng was right; his current state was not suited to facing any further shocks.
The guest courtyard is located in the southeast corner of Qingyun Sect. It is an independent courtyard with three rooms and a small garden, in a quiet and secluded environment.
Lin Chen was assigned to the innermost room.
The room wasn't big, but it was very clean. There was a wooden bed, a desk, and a window with a view of distant, misty mountain peaks.
He sat on the edge of the bed, without moving.
I closed my eyes, but my mind was a complete mess.
Lin Yuan, the father, was an awakened guardian of time. He stormed into the Qingyun Sect alone and died in front of the mountain gate.
Mother Su Wan, the incarnation of the dimensional ruler, is imprisoned in the forbidden area of the Qingyun Sect.
Chen Xuanfeng, a close friend of his father, had his cultivation destroyed and waited for him for sixteen years.
Murong Xue...
Lin Chen suddenly opened his eyes.
Murong Xue!
He had almost forgotten! Before the spirit boat took off, Murong Xue was still confronting Ying Liu outside Cloud City. After that, the spirit boat headed north and he never received any more news from her.
How is she?
Lu Qinghe said she created chaos to attract the attention of the Dark Blade Pavilion. But that was just chaos, not a victory in battle. Shadow Six was a master of the Dark Blade Pavilion, and although Murong Xue had the cultivation of the early Dan Yuan Realm, she was already injured…
Lin Chen clenched his fist.
He needed to confirm Murong Xue's condition.
But now, he's at the Qingyun Sect. He's completely unfamiliar with the place and doesn't even know the way. How is he going to get back to Yunzhong City?
"Want to go out?"
A voice came from outside the window.
Lin Chen suddenly turned his head, his right hand instinctively reaching for the short knife at his waist.
Outside the window, a boy sat on a tree branch, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, tilting his head to look at him.
The boy was about fifteen or sixteen years old, half a head shorter than Lin Chen, with a round face, big eyes, and a cheerful demeanor, appearing completely harmless. He was wearing the inner disciple robes of the Qingyun Sect, with a flame embroidered on the badge on his collar.
"Who are you?" Lin Chen's right hand did not loosen its grip.
"My name is Xiao Yan." The young man jumped down from the tree branch, his movements as nimble as a cat's. "An inner disciple, with a fire elemental root. I heard there was a new face today, so I came here specifically to sneak a peek."
He looked at Lin Chen curiously, his gaze falling on the mark between Lin Chen's eyebrows, and his eyes lit up.
"Hey, this mark... is interesting."
His tone was casual, but Lin Chen noticed that his gaze suddenly became unusually sharp.
Lin Chen's vigilance was raised to the highest level.
"What did you see?" he asked.
Xiao Yan withdrew his gaze and resumed his smiling expression.
"I didn't see anything," he said. "Just a regular mark. Oh well."
He turned around and waved towards the window.
"By the way, there's an initiation ceremony for new disciples in the sect's main hall tomorrow. You'd better go. If you don't, the elder in charge will punish you by making you copy scriptures."
After saying that, he nimbly flipped over the window frame and disappeared into the garden, just as he had come.
Lin Chen stood there, his brows furrowed.
Xiao Yan.
Fire elemental root. Inner disciple.
He deliberately approached me and even noticed the mark between my eyebrows. This person's purpose was definitely not as simple as it seemed on the surface.
But Lin Chen doesn't have the energy to delve into this issue right now.
He has more important things to do.
That night.
Lin Chen did not sleep.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, concentrated, and circulated the spiritual energy within his body.
He's at the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage in the Spirit Cultivation Realm. In Willow River Town, this level is considered top-tier; but in the Azure Cloud Sect, he probably wouldn't even qualify for the threshold of an inner disciple.
He must improve his cultivation level as soon as possible.
The trial in seven days! Lu Qinghe mentioned this. The Heavenly Pivot Secret Realm, the Qingyun Sect's century-old trial, it is said that only outer disciples who perform exceptionally well in the trial are qualified to enter the inner sect for cultivation.
The inner sect means more resources, stronger techniques, closer access to the core of the Qingyun Sect, and closer access to the forbidden area.
He was closer to his mother.
The spiritual energy flowed slowly through his meridians, each cycle smoother than the last. The bottleneck of the fifth level of the Qi Refining stage was already quite fragile; with just a little more accumulation, he could break through to the sixth level.
Lin Chen focused his attention on the vortex of spiritual energy in his dantian, feeling it slowly rotating and absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.
The spiritual energy concentration of Qingyun Sect is more than ten times higher than that of Liuhe Town.
Every breath here contains a vast amount of spiritual energy. No wonder the Qingyun Sect can cultivate so many geniuses; the concentration of spiritual energy alone far surpasses that of cultivators outside.
"call!"
Lin Chen exhaled a long breath and opened his eyes.
He felt the vortex of spiritual energy in his dantian spinning faster, a faint sign of a breakthrough.
But not enough.
He stood up and walked to the window.
Night had fallen, and the peaks of the Qingyun Sect stood silently like a painting under the moonlight. In the distance, the enormous ancient tree still shimmered with golden light, like an ever-burning star.
Just then, a thought suddenly flashed through Lin Chen's mind.
Murong Xue.
She is still in Cloud City.
Shadow Six is a member of the Dark Blade Pavilion. There is some kind of business relationship between the Dark Blade Pavilion and the Azure Cloud Sect, as evidenced by Lu Qinghe's ability to easily enter the Dark Blade Pavilion's interrogation room. However, that only means "not stopping" him, not "protecting" him.
If Murong Xue were to deal with Shadow Six alone...
Lin Chen dared not think any further.
He closed his eyes, suppressing all his worries.
"After the trial is over," he whispered to himself, "I will definitely come to find you."
The mark between his brows felt slightly warm, as if responding to his determination.
The next morning.
Lin Chen was awakened by the sound of a bell.
The deep, resonant sound of the bell came from the summit of Qingyun Sect, piercing through layers of clouds and echoing throughout the entire mountain gate.
After a quick wash, he pushed open the door and walked out of the guest room.
The morning light, like gold, spills onto the bluestone path, and a faint spiritual energy permeates the air, invigorating the spirit.
"Go north, follow that road straight, and you'll reach the sect's main hall."
Xiao Yan appeared behind him at some point, still with that same grinning expression, holding a meat bun in his hand. He took a bite and mumbled something indistinctly.
"Why are you here again?" Lin Chen frowned.
"I live next door," Xiao Yan said matter-of-factly. "Besides, today is your first day as a disciple, so of course I, as your 'junior brother,' should take you there."
He referred to himself as "junior brother".
Lin Chen did not correct him. He was indeed only an outer disciple, or even not an outer disciple yet, but a newcomer "awaiting entry".
The two walked north along the bluestone path.
Along the way, disciples of the Qingyun Sect came and went. Some carried long swords, some held medicine hoes, and some carried spirit cauldrons on their backs. Each person had a different temperament, but without exception, they all carried a sense of composure and confidence.
This is the atmosphere of a cultivation sect.
Lin Chen watched silently, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside him.
In Liuhe Town, he once thought that the Body Tempering Realm was the pinnacle, and the Spiritual Cultivation Realm was just a legend. But now, he is surrounded by cultivators in the Spiritual Cultivation Realm, the weakest of whom is at the third level of the Qi Refining Stage.
The world is much bigger than he imagined.
"What are you thinking about?" Xiao Yan asked from the side.
"It's nothing."
"Don't be too nervous." Xiao Yan patted his shoulder. "The initiation ceremony for new disciples of the Qingyun Sect is actually very simple. You just need to bow to the ancestral master's statue in the main hall, receive a set of clothes and a waist token, and then the elder in charge will assign you to the outer sect or the inner sect based on your spiritual root and cultivation level."
"With your cultivation at the fifth level of the Qi Induction stage of the Spiritual Cultivation Realm..." He looked Lin Chen up and down, "you'll probably be assigned to the outer sect elite class."
"The outer sect elite class?"
"They are the strongest disciples in the outer sect. They live in better courtyards and eat better food," Xiao Yan said casually, but there was a subtle hint of disdain in his tone. "However, they are still far inferior to the inner sect disciples."
"And you?" Lin Chen asked. "Are you an inner disciple?"
"Hmm." Xiao Yan nodded. "He entered the sect at twelve and became an inner disciple at fourteen. He has a fire spirit root and is ranked first in affinity."
He paused, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, but he quickly suppressed that smile.
"Let's go, we're almost there."
The main hall of the sect is located in the central square of the Qingyun Sect.
The main hall was magnificent and imposing, standing thirty feet high and a hundred feet wide, entirely constructed of blue jade. A coiled blue dragon adorned the roof, its head raised, mouth slightly open, holding a fist-sized spiritual pearl that emitted a soft blue light.
Nearly a hundred people were already standing in front of the hall.
Most of them were young people around Lin Chen's age; some were nervous, some were excited, and some were expressionless. Their clothing varied; some wore simple clothes, clearly from the mortal world, while others wore fine clothes, obviously from noble families.
Xiao Yan led Lin Chen to stand at the very back of the line.
"These are the new disciples this year," Xiao Yan said in a low voice. "Ninety-seven in total, from all over the country. However, most of them are mortal martial artists; those with a real foundation in cultivation..."
His gaze swept across the crowd, finally settling on Lin Chen.
"You're the only one."
Lin Chen did not speak.
A moment later, the doors of the main hall slowly opened.
An elderly man with white hair came out.
The old man wore a long blue robe and had a kind face, but his eyes were as deep as an abyss, making people afraid to look directly at him. Lin Chen could not sense his cultivation level at all.
Is this what a Nascent Soul Realm expert is like?
After the old man stopped, his gaze slowly swept over everyone present. When he looked at Lin Chen, his gaze paused for a moment, then subtly shifted away.
"I am Zhao Yuanzhen, the managing elder of the Qingyun Sect." The old man's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears. "Welcome to the Qingyun Sect."
He paused.
"Before you begin, I have three things to say."
"First, the Qingyun Sect is founded on the way of the sword and based on benevolence. Those who enter our sect must respect their teachers and value the way of the Dao, and must not bully the weak."
"Secondly, the Qingyun Sect's Centennial Heavenly Pivot Secret Realm Trial will begin in seven days. All newly initiated disciples are eligible to participate. Those who perform exceptionally well in the trial will be directly promoted to the inner sect."
"third!"
Zhao Yuanzhen's gaze suddenly turned sharp.
"Within the Qingyun Sect, there is an ironclad rule."
"Entering this forbidden area is strictly prohibited."
"Those who violate this rule will have their cultivation revoked and be expelled from the sect."
There was complete silence in front of the main hall.
Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat.
forbidden.
His mother was imprisoned there.