Chapter 226: Immortal and Mundane

"As for the specific criteria, you two may judge for yourselves. As long as you believe they can handle it, do not intervene. You need not have any scruples either; the trial for true disciples inherently involves risking life and limb, and no one will dare blame you afterward. Though you are guardians, you are in fact examiners, and must strive to be fair and just. Do you understand?" the purple-robed man said indifferently.

"Yes." Su Tongxiao and Han Li quickly bowed their heads in acknowledgment.

The purple-robed man grunted, glanced at the white-robed young woman beside him.

When the man looked over, the young woman met his gaze without flinching.

The purple-robed man said nothing more, turned, and with a flash of遁光, sped off into the distance.

Only then did the white-robed young woman shift her gaze, sweeping over Han Li and the other, finally pausing on Han Li for a moment, but the next instant, she too turned and flew away.

And at the moment the young woman turned, a flicker of strangeness passed through Han Li's eyes, but it returned to normal in the blink of an eye.

Watching their figures disappear into the horizon, Han Li and the other raised their heads and exchanged a glance.

"Brother Su, could that Daoist Master Ouyang just now be the ninth-ranked Daoist Master Ouyang Kuishan?" Han Li asked.

"Exactly. The thirteen Golden Immortal Daoist Masters in the sect rotate every hundred thousand years, taking turns governing the sect. The one currently governing the sect is precisely Daoist Master Ouyang. I just didn't expect that Daoist Master Yun would also come along, and then leave without a word. It seems she is worried about her precious disciple," Su Tongxiao nodded and said.

"It seems they are about to set out. We should prepare to move as well," Han Li said, casting a glance toward the main hall with his divine sense.

In the adjacent main hall, those inner disciples had already set out, led by Fang Yu toward the outside of the hall.

"Hehe, Brother Li, no need to rush. Let them get a bit farther, and we can slowly catch up," Su Tongxiao waved his hand and said.

But as soon as he finished speaking, a figure flickered in the side hall, and a gray-haired old man materialized, wearing the robes of a sect elder—an inner sect elder.

The gray-haired old man glanced at the two, quickly shifted his gaze from Han Li to Su Tongxiao, and walked over with a loud laugh.

"Hehe, Elder Su, it's been many years since we last met."

"Elder Wang, what a pleasant surprise." Su Tongxiao chuckled and stepped forward to meet him.

Seeing this, Han Li vaguely guessed what was happening, so he pretended not to notice and closed his eyes to rest.

The gray-haired old man did not linger long; after chatting a few words with Su Tongxiao, he took his leave, and Su Tongxiao saw him to the door of the side hall.

At parting, the gray-haired old man discreetly slipped a storage pouch into Su Tongxiao's hand, who put it away without even a glance.

No sooner had that old man left than another middle-aged burly man walked in, also appearing to be an inner sect elder.

"Elder Su, so it's you who holds the post of暗卫 this time." The burly man, after a sweep of his divine sense, automatically ignored Han Li's presence and directly clasped his hands to Su Tongxiao, speaking with a beaming smile.

"Elder Fan flatters me. It's just a coincidence," Su Tongxiao smiled and went to meet him.

The middle-aged burly man wasted no time on pleasantries; he directly took out a storage pouch and handed it to Su Tongxiao.

In the time that followed, the side hall was a constant stream of visitors; soon seven or eight groups came, all seemingly bringing gifts, and each left after a brief stay.

But Han Li understood in his heart that these people were likely the elders or masters of the participating disciples, coming to ask for care for their juniors or disciples.

However, since those people found Han Li unfamiliar and his cultivation only at the early True Immortal stage, the gifts naturally all went to Su Tongxiao, a mid-stage True Immortal.

Su Tongxiao accepted all comers without refusal, pocketing every gift.

Han Li sat quietly by the side, not saying a word from start to finish, but in his mind he was pondering the words of Daoist Master Yun before her departure.

That woman had insisted that he must ensure Bai Suyuan's safety, and it seemed she had not entrusted this matter to the more highly cultivated Su Tongxiao.

That was rather intriguing.

"Brother Li, I think the time is about right. Let's be on our way," Su Tongxiao said, seeing that no one else was coming.

"Alright." Han Li opened his eyes and nodded.

...

On a towering peak in the northern part of the Zhongming Mountain Range, a green stone hall stood.

This was the northernmost transmission pavilion of the Zhongming Mountain Range, where the Candledragon Dao was located.

Outside the hall, the wind howled, the temperature much lower than elsewhere, with snowflakes flying everywhere, covering the sky and earth in a vast expanse of white.

After walking out of the hall, Han Li and Su Tongxiao flew directly north without any pause.

After less than half an hour, their遁光 slowed.

In the high sky tens of thousands of li ahead, a giant flying boat was speeding forward, cutting through the sea of clouds like wind and waves.

"Hehe, the next part is relatively easy; we just need to follow slowly. By the way, Brother Li, since you entered the sect at the same time as Bai Suyuan, it's probably been less than a hundred years. How do you find our sect compared to the outside world?" Su Tongxiao looked at Han Li and asked with a smile.

"The sect has all the techniques and resources one could need, but if we want to obtain any, the price is not small," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Well said, Brother Li. For us loose-cultivator elders without roots in the sect, without special opportunities, how difficult it is to advance further! The stipends upon joining the sect are a drop in the bucket; everything afterward depends on oneself. At this stage, if one still wants to make any progress, even mountains of gold and seas of silver are not enough to sustain it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken over a hundred thousand years just to barely take this step," Su Tongxiao said with a self-deprecating laugh, deeply sympathetic.

"Stipends upon joining the sect... what is that?" Han Li was slightly taken aback.

"That is five hundred top-grade spirit stones and three immortal spirit stones. May I ask, Brother Li, who guided you when you first entered the sect?" Su Tongxiao cleared his throat and asked.

"Qi Liang," Han Li replied.

Su Tongxiao gave Han Li a knowing look but only smiled and said nothing.

However, the implication was clear: he was telling Han Li that those spirit stones and immortal spirit stones had been taken by Qi Liang.

A flash of anger crossed Han Li's face, but in his heart, he was not much disturbed.

Such behavior by Qi Liang was probably commonplace within the Candledragon Dao. Hearing Su Tongxiao say this actually made Han Li feel more at ease about Qi Liang's earlier enthusiasm.

Thinking of Su Tongxiao's recent gift-receiving, Han Li couldn't help but feel somewhat speechless.

He hadn't expected that whether in the mortal world, the spirit realm, or the immortal realm, the prevailing rules were the same, and even the actions of these True Immortals were increasingly resembling those of the mundane world.

"By the way, Brother Li, do you still remember the incident when Vice Daoist Master Xiong failed in forging his sword?" Su Tongxiao suddenly thought of something and said.

"Regarding this... Vice Daoist Master Xiong asked us not to spread it. It's best we don't talk about it," Han Li frowned and said.

"Haha... it's just the two of us here, no outsiders, so it's fine. Besides, even if we don't spread it, which elder in the sect doesn't know about it by now? It's already an open secret and a laughing matter," Su Tongxiao said with a carefree laugh, unconcerned.

Han Li just smiled and said nothing.

"It is said that to set up the sword array, Vice Daoist Master Xiong borrowed a large sum of immortal spirit stones from Elder Moxie of the Immortal Spirit Hall, and has been in arrears ever since. A few days ago, Elder Moxie came to his door demanding repayment, and the two nearly came to blows, causing quite a stir in the sect—very unsightly..."

Su Tongxiao seemed quite keen on such sect gossip, rambling on and on to Han Li.

Although Han Li had little interest in this, with nothing else to do along the way, he deliberately or inadvertently steered the conversation toward topics he cared about. After all, he had been in the sect for only a short time and did not want to inadvertently get drawn into any disputes.

For a time, the two chatted incessantly like old friends who hadn't seen each other for years.

As the giant flying boat went further north, the temperature grew colder, and they encountered several rain and snow storms along the way, allowing Han Li, who had been busy in seclusion for cultivation, to enjoy a rare view of the mountain snowscape.

In the blink of an eye, over half a month had passed.

The flying boat carrying Bai Suyuan and the other inner sect elites finally stopped before a huge mountain range in the northern part of the Zhongming Mountain Range.

This was the location of the trial: the Xuanbing Mountain Range.

This was the third largest branch range in the northern part of the Zhongming Mountain Range, extending from south to north, where a plant called the snow-ground needle pine mainly grew.

These trees were tall with dense branches, their leaves needle-shaped, extremely cold-resistant, and were one of the few plants that could grow in this mountain range, covered in white snow like white spires.

At this moment, on an open area in the southern part of the mountain range, Bai Suyuan and over twenty other disciples had disembarked from the flying boat.

Fang Yu put away the flying boat and then said:

"Alright, I've brought you here, so my task is done for now. You all have the maps of this place. There are roughly three routes forward; you can arrange them yourselves. Just achieve the objective. One month from now, I will wait here for your return."

With that, his form flickered and landed on the peak of a low mountain, where he sat cross-legged with eyes closed, ignoring the inner disciples.

Soon, the twenty-odd people gathered in small groups.

Qi Huanyu and Tang Chuan each had several people gathered around them, apparently having already decided to act together.

The female cultivators who had been with Bai Suyuan in the Chaoyang Hall had now joined the two groups respectively, evidently having made their decisions during the previous journey.

On the other side, several loose cultivators like Sun Ke had also automatically banded together.

Qi Huanyu glanced at Bai Suyuan, who was alone studying a map, then left his companions and approached her.

"Junior Sister Bai, a few fellow apprentices and I have chosen the route through Snow Camel Ridge. Although it is relatively dangerous, it is closest to the Snow Bear haunt in the center of the mountain range, and there should be considerable extra gains along the way. Why not join us, so we can look out for each other," Qi Huanyu said, a look of anticipation on his handsome face.