As it turns out, art is always loftier than life.

Elder Gong Ning, being of noble birth, would naturally not use a small, shabby boat as her ride, nor would she be foolish enough to fasten her collar buttons incorrectly.

On the contrary, it was the disciple who had volunteered who was sweating profusely, piloting such a large magical treasure for the first time.

“Can you still manage?”

“Of- of course, for a disciple like me, this is nothing…”

But the vessel had already begun to sway precariously.

‘Young people certainly have energy.’
When she first arrived in this world, she too had been eager to prove herself, always wanting to compete with Jiang Yuyao for superiority.
It was only gradually that she found her strength failing, and they drifted apart.

After so many years, she had come to see things more clearly.
Whether through effort or talent, one must live one’s own life.

Profound Heaven Peak was crowded, and to prevent accidents, flying magical treasures were not allowed to be operated in the airspace above.
They had to stop at the designated Cloud-Resting Ferry.

After retrieving the magical treasure and rewarding the disciple with a medicinal pill, Gong Ning headed towards the Hall of Worthy Selection.

To cultivate immortality in the Profound Heaven Sword Sect, one had to pass three trials.
The first was the Immortal-Ascension Platform, which tested a disciple’s natural aptitude.
The second was the Dao-Inquiring Steps, which tested a disciple’s disposition.
The final trial was in the Hall of Worthy Selection.

In truth, by the time they reached the Hall of Worthy Selection, they were already considered to have entered the sect.
This final stage involved no tests, but rather allowed the disciples to learn about the differences between the seven factions of Profound Heaven and ultimately decide their own path.

The people of this world were very practical and did not blindly pursue immortality.
Most would choose to return to secular life after achieving some success in cultivation, which was akin to “graduating.”
Those who doggedly pursued the path of the immortal were in the minority.

Those who returned to secular life from the Sky-Sword Pavilion were proficient in slaughter and suppressing evil, always at the forefront of suppressing malevolent spirits and demonic beasts.
Those from the Sword-Riding Cottage were masters of instantaneous movement, often responsible for intelligence gathering and rescue missions.
There was also the Blade-Forging Hall for sword crafting, the Sword of Justice Bureau, which offered a secure government job in the Yan Nation upon graduation, and even the Star-Gazing Observatory and the Hidden Sword Cloister, which could lead to a meteoric rise.

By her calculations, the disciples should have already chosen their desired factions by now.
From her vantage point, she could see that the disciples had already departed with their respective elders.

Gong Ning’s task was to represent the Heart-Sword Hall and lead its new disciples back to the Heart-Sword Hall’s Carefree Mountain.

However, when she arrived at the Heart-Sword Hall’s station, the person in charge was leisurely reading a book on a reclining chair.
The cover of the book clearly bore the two large characters “The Crippled Immortal.”

The disciple noticed someone watching him.
He glanced over out of the corner of his eye and was captivated for a long moment.
Then, suddenly noticing something, he quickly hid the book under the table.

“Is- is that Elder Gong Ning?”

Gong Ning decided to skip this topic.

“Where are our Heart-Sword Hall’s recruits for this year?”

“Well… I don’t know who started the rumor, but they’re saying the benefits for returning to secular life from our Heart-Sword Hall are terrible, and that you can only become a rogue cultivator after leaving… People these days are just too materialistic.”

‘That’s understandable,’ Gong Ning thought.

The Heart-Sword Hall had the worst post-sect benefits of all the factions in the Profound Heaven Sword Sect.
Its sole purpose was the pursuit of immortality, and those who joined were required to make cultivation their primary goal.

The goal was lofty, ambitious even, but what level of cultivation truly constituted an immortal?

An Outer Sect Elder of the Profound Heaven Sword Sect had to have a Golden Core cultivation, but how many people spent their entire lives barely reaching that level?
Above the Outer Sect were the Inner Sect, above them was the Sect Master, and above the Sect Master was the Sword Immortal, but even the Sword Immortal was not a true immortal.

What was an immortal?
No one had ever become one, and no one had ever seen one.

An ordinary person might spend ten years to reach the Qi Refinement stage, but it would take another twenty to break through to Foundation Establishment, and a hundred more to reach the Golden Core stage, not to mention the life-or-death heavenly tribulations in between.

No one wanted to end up with nothing after all their efforts.
This was true for the Qi Refinement stage, and even more so for the Foundation Establishment stage.
Rather than eventually turning into a pile of yellow earth, it was better to return to secular life and contribute to the great Yan Nation.

Gong Ning couldn’t bear to give up.
She had waited so long for this day and had finally taken this step.
Was she to just leisurely sip tea and wait for next year?

“Are there no disciples that no one else wanted?”

“…There were, but when they found out they could only join the Heart-Sword Hall, they turned around and went down the mountain to try for other sects.”

Gong Ning sighed, preparing to turn and leave, but a whim made her ask one more time, “Really, not a single one?”

Her hesitant, reluctant demeanor completely charmed the disciple.
He lowered his head, clutching the copy of “The Crippled Immortal” tightly in his hands.

“If I had to say, there is one girl. The moment she arrived at our sect, she started clamoring to join the Heart-Sword Hall.”

A flicker of joy ignited in Gong Ning’s heart.
She asked, “Oh? And where is she?”

“She… although she passed the Immortal-Ascension Platform, she couldn’t even climb the first step of the Dao-Inquiring Steps.”

‘How could that be?’

The Dao-Inquiring Steps weren’t a difficult trial.
Whether one’s ambition was to slay demons and exorcise evil, to serve the country and its people, or even just to live a long life or seek revenge, as long as one had a path in their heart, they could pass.

To not even be able to pass the Dao-Inquiring Steps… was her disposition truly suited for cultivation?

Reason told Gong Ning it was best not to accept such a disciple, but if she didn’t, the Heart-Sword Hall would have no new disciples this year, and her Master-Disciple System would not activate.

“I’ll go take a look. Perhaps it’s just some minor issue.”

Gong Ning started walking down the mountain.

Since being transformed into this weak form, she had never felt so fatigued.
Just a few steps left her feeling tired, and the feminine symbols on her chest were far too heavy.

Moreover, those things were like water bags, swaying heavily with every two steps.
Gong Ning was shy, so she wrapped them with cotton cloth, but this inevitably caused chest tightness and shortness of breath.

By the time she reached the Dao-Inquiring Steps, she was already out of breath.

She looked towards the bottom of the Dao-Inquiring Steps and indeed saw a girl.
The girl had one foot on the steps, a silly smile inexplicably on her face.

After a moment’s hesitation, Gong Ning stepped onto the Dao-Inquiring Steps, which she hadn’t walked on in a long time, and approached the girl.

Tao Lingling was immersed in a dream of her own making.

In the dream, she had become her Master’s sole disciple, even driving away that shameless vixen Jiang Yuyao, and was currently embracing her fragrant, soft Master…

The most painful thing in life is to be woken up in the middle of a dream, especially when someone else wakes you.
In that instant, one truly feels like slaughtering the offender’s entire family.

When Tao Lingling angrily opened her eyes, ready to start cursing, she saw the Master she had been longing for.

With a thud, she knelt on the ground.

“Sob, sob, sob… Master, my life has been so bitter! My entire family was massacred when I was young, leaving me all alone. I was pursued by my enemies, living on the road and barely eating, just to get here. But everyone else scorns me for my foolish aptitude and refuses to take me as a disciple. If this goes on, I’ll be cut into eight pieces by my enemies! I beg you to take me in!”

This speech was pre-prepared and delivered with such vivid emotion that it was only missing a few tears.

Before coming to the Profound Heaven Sword Sect, Tao Lingling had already planned out this spiel.
Because she knew that her Master’s softest spot was not her chest, but her compassionate, bodhisattva-like heart.

However, she then heard Gong Ning ask curiously, “Why do you call me Master? And, with such an experience, why can’t you pass these Dao-Inquiring Steps?”

In that moment, Tao Lingling broke out in a cold sweat.

Because she was a person reliving this life.

In her previous life, she had indeed experienced those things.
The difference was that she hadn’t even been able to pass the Immortal-Ascension Platform.
At that time, her Master had taken pity on her and made an exception, accepting her as a disciple and teaching her everything she knew.

In this life, she retained her memories.
After managing to ensure her family had a good ending, she had come to the Profound Heaven Sword Sect, satisfied.
To make sure her Master would have only her as a disciple, she had deliberately spread rumors to ensure the Heart-Sword Hall couldn’t recruit anyone.

Everything was going according to plan, but she had never expected to be stumped by these Dao-Inquiring Steps.

Tao Lingling’s life this time around was already quite perfect.
The only thing missing was her Master.

But these Dao-Inquiring Steps refused to acknowledge her grand ambition of winning the beauty’s heart!

On the first step, she had seen a beautiful life with her Master, but on the second, her Master had left her, snatched away by that vixen Jiang Yuyao!
Unable to defeat Jiang Yuyao, she couldn’t reach the third step.

‘The Dao-Inquiring Steps must be deliberately targeting me! Otherwise, why would the Jiang Yuyao in the illusion be so fierce!’

Gong Ning watched as the girl went from being grief-stricken one second, to smiling foolishly the next, and then gritting her teeth in anger the second after that.

‘If she truly bore such a deep-seated grudge, it’s no wonder she’s lost her mind.’

“Tsk, you poor child. Although I don’t know what hardships you’ve faced, since you are so persistent, you can come and stay under my Heart-Sword Hall for the time being.”