My Senior Brother Turned Black After I Died. Chapter 3
byChapter 3: The Vinegar Jar Has Toppled
“Hmm?” Ji Hantong mumbled while chewing on a pastry. “It’s not really a matter of wanting to or not. If I see someone who catches my eye, I’ll keep them.”
Shen Lanchuan remained noncommittal, but he felt a bit stifled. If Ji Hantong really took a disciple, his attention would be divided among others and would no longer be focused entirely on him.
However, he did not argue with Ji Hantong, only saying, “Taking a disciple is no easy task; it requires a great deal of effort to teach them.”
“I know,” Ji Hantong nodded, swallowing the pastry as his expression grew more serious. “Don’t worry, Senior Brother, I understand. If there is a fated connection, it would be a good thing to take a disciple to pass on my legacy. If not, I’ll just treat it as going to watch the excitement.”
Shen Lanchuan gazed at him for a moment, suddenly thinking of the outer disciple he had met today. Could it be that his Junior Brother had developed an interest in taking that person as a disciple?
“I will accompany you when the time comes,” Shen Lanchuan said, taking a sip of his lukewarm tea.
“Sure!” Ji Hantong agreed with a smile, though his heart stirred slightly. In the original novel, Immortal Venerable Mingshu, Shen Lanchuan, did not attend the disciple recruitment ceremony. Immortal Venerable Yuheng had gone alone and taken Li Cangming as his disciple. Now that his Senior Brother was going too, it shouldn’t affect the plot, right?
He silently called out to the system: “0621, my Senior Brother wants to participate in the recruitment ceremony. Will this cause a plot deviation?”
System 0621 performed a quick calculation: “Please rest assured, Host. In the original work, Immortal Venerable Mingshu’s movement during this part of the plot was described as being in secluded meditation. He is a background character. As long as the final result is Immortal Venerable Yuheng successfully taking Li Cangming as a disciple, other details are not very important.”
That was good then. Ji Hantong felt relieved. As long as it didn’t hinder him from following the plot, his Senior Brother could go if he wanted; he could just treat it as a bit of entertainment and relaxation.
They chatted until it was quite late. Ji Hantong let out a small yawn, a bit of physiological moisture appearing at the corners of his eyes. Seeing this, Shen Lanchuan said, “It is getting late. You should rest, Junior Brother.”
“Mm.” Ji Hantong rubbed his eyes and stood up. “You should rest early too, Senior Brother.”
The two returned to their respective dwellings. Ji Hantong lay down on his jade bed covered in soft cloud-fleece and soon fell into a deep sleep. Shen Lanchuan, however, did not feel the slightest bit sleepy.
“Li Cangming…”
He sat cross-legged on a prayer mat in his quiet room with his eyes closed, his fingertips unconsciously tapping lightly on his knee. These three words rolled off his tongue, carrying a hint of coldness that even Shen Lanchuan himself had not noticed.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the third day of the next month.
On this day, as dawn broke, the bells and drums of the seventy-two peaks of the Taixuan Dao Sect rang out in unison. The distant and solemn sounds pierced through the sea of clouds, announcing the formal start of the decennial disciple recruitment ceremony.
On the high platform, Sect Leader Xin Xuezhen and several elders were already seated. Xin Xuezhen was an elegant young cultivator dressed in a purple Daoist robe embroidered with the sect’s cloud patterns, possessing a composed aura. He was conversing in a low voice with a white-haired elder beside him, but his gaze drifted toward the entrance of the plaza from time to time with a hint of subtle anticipation.
“The Sect Leader seems to be in a very good mood today?” the white-haired elder asked with a smile, stroking his beard.
Xin Xuezhen smiled back. “It is a rare blessing for the sect that Senior Brothers Yuheng and Mingshu are willing to come and observe the ceremony. If these two could choose one or two fine disciples to pass on their legacies, it would be of great benefit to the sect’s future.”
The white-haired elder also nodded in agreement, his eyes showing similar expectation. Immortal Venerable Mingshu, Shen Lanchuan, and Immortal Venerable Yuheng, Ji Hantong, were the most brilliant figures of this generation in the Taixuan Dao Sect, and they were also renowned throughout the entire cultivation world.
It was just that neither of them liked taking disciples. After all these years, they were still solitary, only interacting closely with each other. If they could take disciples, it would naturally be a wonderful thing for the sect.
As the sun rose higher, the atmosphere in the plaza became increasingly enthusiastic. Thousands of new disciples stood in line, most of them looking excited and nervous, their gazes fixed on the high platform with awe.
Li Cangming stood in the middle of the line. His old, faded Daoist robe looked somewhat out of place among the brightly dressed crowd. His back was ramrod straight, his thin lips were pressed tight, and his gaze was calm as he looked toward the high platform.
Since the incident at the back mountain that day, he had practiced even more diligently. Finally, in yesterday’s final assessment for the outer sect, he had stood out and earned the qualification to participate in today’s inner sect selection.
From time to time, curious or disdainful glances fell upon him, and whispers could be heard faintly.
“Look, that’s Li Cangming. I heard that Huang Fengmao and the others were caught bullying him by Immortal Venerable Yuheng and were punished with three years of reflection at the Cliff of Reflection…”
“What incredible luck, to actually gain the favor of the Immortal Venerable…”
“Shh, keep it down. I heard he’s not weak. During the assessment, he defeated several children from prominent families of the same year.”
Li Cangming acted as if he hadn’t heard the discussions, only quietly clenching his fists at his sides. In his mind, the image of the white-clothed figure on the pine branch, looking down with clear eyes like a celestial being, involuntarily surfaced.
Immortal Venerable Yuheng…
If given the chance, he would definitely join that Immortal Venerable’s lineage.
Just then, a low commotion broke out at the entrance of the plaza.
“Look! It’s Immortal Venerable Mingshu and Immortal Venerable Yuheng!”
“The two Immortal Venerables actually came together!”
Everyone’s attention was instantly drawn over.
Two figures were seen treading on clouds side by side, landing on the high platform one after the other.
Ji Hantong’s gaze swept casually over the dense crowd below. His expression was indifferent, showing neither joy nor sorrow, perfectly matching the image required by the system. Only when he turned toward Shen Lanchuan beside him did a nearly imperceptible smile flicker in his eyes.
As soon as the two were seated, the Sect Leader and elders who had been sitting on the high platform stood up to welcome them.
“Senior Brother Mingshu, Senior Brother Yuheng, it is wonderful that you could come.” Xin Xuezhen stepped forward with a beaming face and personally led them to their seats—located on the left and right sides of the Sect Leader’s seat, the most prestigious positions.
“Junior Brother Xin is too polite,” Ji Hantong said with a slight nod, his voice clear and melodious.
Shen Lanchuan merely gave a slight nod without saying much, sitting directly in the seat to the left of Ji Hantong. He did not want to be separated from him.
His gaze seemingly unintentionally swept over the crowd below and quickly locked onto the young figure standing in the middle with a straight back.
Li Cangming.
Shen Lanchuan’s eyes darkened slightly.
Ji Hantong didn’t notice any of this. He was looking at the decorations in the plaza and the various expressions of the teenagers with great interest, chatting with the system in his mind: “The scale is quite large. It’s much livelier than when we joined the sect.”
System 0621: “Naturally. When you joined the sect, you were brought up the mountain directly by Dao Xuan Zhenren and didn’t go through these procedures. It certainly wouldn’t be as lively as this.”
Dao Xuan Zhenren was the master of Ji Hantong and Shen Lanchuan, as well as the previous Sect Leader of the Taixuan Dao Sect.
In fact, Dao Xuan Zhenren had originally intended to pass the position of Sect Leader to one of his two disciples. However, Ji Hantong was used to a leisurely life and didn’t want to do such laborious work, and as for Shen Lanchuan…
Shen Lanchuan’s identity was not suitable. He was the son of the Valley Master of Zichen Valley. In this cultivation world where nine out of ten cultivators were single dogs, Shen Lanchuan’s father, Shen Fu, had single-handedly fulfilled the progeny quota for the entire Zichen Valley. He had over thirty lovers and had fathered more than twenty children.
Shen Lanchuan was the most unfortunate among them because his mother was Shen Fu’s legitimate wife.
Shen Lanchuan’s mother was an old acquaintance of Dao Xuan Zhenren. Before she passed away, she didn’t want her son to suffer in that cutthroat place, so she entrusted him to Dao Xuan Zhenren.
Before Dao Xuan Zhenren passed away, he had wanted to pass the Sect Leader position to Shen Lanchuan. However, his scumbag father, Shen Fu, made a scene for some reason, insisting that Shen Lanchuan would inherit Zichen Valley in the future and was a child of the Shen family, so he could not inherit the Taixuan Dao Sect.
Coincidentally, Shen Lanchuan himself did not want to be the Sect Leader either. Dao Xuan Zhenren had no choice but to eventually pass it to his martial nephew, Xin Xuezhen.
“Host, please focus. The key plot point is about to begin,” System 0621 reminded him.
“I know, I know,” Ji Hantong replied, also composing himself.
Once everyone was seated again, Xin Xuezhen cleared his throat and used his spiritual power to project his voice across the entire plaza: “The auspicious hour has arrived. The 132nd Disciple Recruitment Ceremony of the Taixuan Dao Sect officially begins!”
“Spirit roots are the foundation of cultivation. Next, we shall test the spirit root attributes and grades of all new disciples.”
Ji Hantong turned his gaze toward the center of the plaza.
A massive Spirit Testing Stone had already been prepared there. It was translucent and white like jade, about the height of a person, with complex formation patterns engraved on its surface that shimmered with a faint spiritual light under the sun.
The new disciples stepped forward in order, placing their hands on the Spirit Testing Stone. Every time someone touched it, the stone would light up with different colors and intensities based on their spirit root attributes and quality, while a nearby deacon would call out the results loudly.
“Zhang San, Metal and Wood Dual Spirit Roots, Mid-grade.”
“Li Si, Water, Fire, and Earth Triple Spirit Roots, Lower-mid grade.”
“Wang Wu, Fire and Earth Dual Spirit Roots, Mid-grade.”
The results varied, triggering bursts of envious or regretful whispers. The elders on the high platform observed calmly, making mental notes whenever they encountered someone with superior talent.
Ji Hantong watched with some boredom. Although there were occasional bright spots among the spirit roots of these new disciples, they weren’t enough to shock him. He picked up the spiritual tea by his side and took a light sip, his gaze occasionally sweeping through the crowd to find Li Cangming’s figure.
Finally, it was Li Cangming’s turn.
The youth stepped out from the line with steady paces, appearing exceptionally calm among his nervous or excited peers. He arrived before the Spirit Testing Stone, raised his hand, and pressed his palm lightly against the cold jade surface.
One second, two seconds…
The Spirit Testing Stone remained silent for a moment.
Just as everyone thought this youth might have mediocre talent and was struggling to even get a reaction from the stone—
Buzz—
The Spirit Testing Stone suddenly jolted. Immediately afterward, a blinding light erupted without warning. The light was not a single color but a swirling mass of chaos.
A powerful surge of spiritual energy rippled out from the center of the Spirit Testing Stone, causing several nearby disciples to involuntarily take a few steps back.
The entire field fell into a deathly silence.
Even the elders on the high platform, who had been composed all along, now widened their eyes one after another, their faces filled with expressions of disbelief.
“This… this is…” The deacon responsible for announcing the results spoke with a voice that had changed pitch, carrying an uncontrollable tremble. “A Chaotic Spirit Root!”