For a moment, the atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly turned somewhat awkward.
"Princess, before all this, had you ever considered embarking on the path of immortality?"
Li Xiuxiu asked Qin Yue this question.
Qin Yue was slightly taken aback, then a trace of confusion flashed in her eyes, as if searching for something within her memories.
Then, she shook her head.
"No."
Qin Yue said.
If it weren't for that Offering Elder from the Star Heaven Sect who happened to travel to Taiyun City recently and accidentally discovered Qin Yue's Glazed Mirror Body, she might never have set foot on the path of immortal cultivation in her lifetime.
For the vast majority of people in this world, immortal cultivation is ethereal and elusive.
Take the Wang Family of Taiyun City, one of the top cultivation power families in the city - they only have two Qi Circulation Realm cultivators at most.
Qin Yue had truly never thought about cultivation before, because prior to all this happening, she considered it all too distant.
She only learned a few years ago, during a banquet where she overheard her father conversing with others, that the Crown Prince of the Qingque Kingdom's current emperor was deposed by the Emperor because he joined a certain Taoist temple near the capital to pursue cultivation.
The Crown Prince had enormous prestige in the court, yet not a single minister opposed his deposition.
The reason was simple - the path of immortality governing worldly affairs was the greatest taboo in this world. No cultivator was permitted to serve as an official in the court, let alone become emperor.
Originally, Qin Yue thought she would never have any opportunity to intersect with cultivators in her lifetime, but now she was about to join the Kongshan Sect, one of the five largest sects on the Chenping Continent.
If you asked her if she was looking forward to it?
Qin Yue's answer was actually negative. Regarding joining the Kongshan Sect, she felt more apprehension than excitement.
"Since I was a child, I wanted to become an immortal."
Li Xiuxiu said:
"Unlike you, Princess, I was born in a village in the southeastern borderlands of the Qingque Kingdom. Originally, I had a younger brother who was three years younger than me. Then, when I was seven years old, we encountered a once-in-a-century drought in the Qingque Kingdom."
"That year, the entire town, and even several neighboring towns, had complete crop failures in the fields. My father died accidentally due to corvée labor when I was four and my brother was one year old, leaving only my mother to rely on each other with me and my brother."
"Later, there was nothing left in the village, not even tree bark - all had been completely gnawed away by the disaster victims in the village. With no other choice, Mother could only take me and my brother to the town to seek a living."
"Coincidentally, we happened to arrive on the day when the town was distributing relief porridge. The town bailiffs set up a large pot at the market entrance, then poured lots of water into it."
"Lots of water, with only a small basin of rice."
"It was more like thin rice soup than porridge. Even so, the relief food distributed by the town was still insufficient to meet demand. Mother, with me and my brother, only managed to get one bowl of thin rice soup in total."
"Mother knew very clearly that both my brother and I were already very, very weak physically. This single bowl of thin rice soup might only have a chance of saving one life if given entirely to one person."
"Mother wanted to give it to my brother to drink."
"She didn't say it, but I knew - compared to me, she wanted to save my brother's life more. I could just tell from the look in her eyes."
"But what nobody expected was that before we could even drink the porridge, my brother died. He was trampled to death by the steward of the town's wealthy man while riding a horse."
"I think that steward was probably a good person, because he dismounted, carefully examined my brother lying on the ground, sighed, and gave both Mother and me one flatbread each."
"Thanks to those two flatbreads, Mother and I survived. Later, I encountered an immortal master from the Kongshan Sect who was traveling around the Qingque Kingdom, and he brought me back to the Kongshan Sect, where I became a Kongshan Sect disciple."
Li Xiuxiu told her story to Qin Yue like this.
Qin Yue blinked her eyes, listening to Li Xiuxiu's account. All the tragic experiences she described were like fantasy tales to Qin Yue.
She thought it was tragic.
But found it difficult to empathize.
This princess from the prince's manor had probably experienced her greatest hardship from birth until now as being slightly choked while accidentally eating osmanthus cake.
"Senior Sister, do you hate your mother?"
Qin Yue asked.
"I don't know."
Li Xiuxiu shook her head:
"Perhaps if my brother hadn't been trampled by the horse, and instead I had starved to death, then I think I would hate her."
As she spoke, Li Xiuxiu laughed.
Seeing Li Xiuxiu's smile, Qin Yue also seemed to suddenly feel relieved and let out a sigh:
"But now, Senior Sister Li, you're already an immortal master of the Kongshan Sect. You finally don't need to be bound by your origins and fate anymore, you can control your own life..."
"No, Princess."
Li Xiuxiu said with a serious expression:
"Cultivators are even more divided into hierarchies."
"Why?"
Qin Yue asked, puzzled.
"It's probably like this - I exhausted all efforts to join the Kongshan Sect, practiced arduously for twelve years, yet I'm still just an ordinary disciple in the outer court that nobody pays attention to."
Li Xiuxiu said, then paused slightly:
"While you, Princess, will become the direct disciple of an inner court elder of the Kongshan Sect as soon as you step into the sect."
"..."
Qin Yue fell silent.
The gap between cultivators is even greater than that between nobility and commoners.
Because talent is predetermined by fate, and no matter what happens, it cannot possibly change.
"Princess."
Li Xiuxiu said:
"Would it be convenient to reveal which elder of Qingchan Peak you'll be studying under after entering the sect?"
"I'm not clear about the specific details either."
Qin Yue thought for a moment, then said:
"Senior Lu only told me that my master's name is Bai Qiming."
...
Taiyun City, Market Street.
After passing through this street, Chen Yan would soon reach the city's Stationed Envoy residence.
Completely different from what one might imagine, although this compound was located in the center of Taiyun City, the surrounding environment was quite tranquil.
Standing at the entrance of the Envoy residence was a young page boy in blue clothes. Seeing Chen Yan approach, he quickly bowed with folded hands, looking quite adorable:
"Dare I ask, Immortal Master, are you here to see the Stationed Envoy Immortal Master?"
"Exactly."
Chen Yan replied.
"Then please follow me."
The Kongshan Sect's Stationed Envoys were usually filled by Qi Circulation Realm disciples from the outer court. Unless they made mistakes, there were rarely any changes.
The current Stationed Envoy of Taiyun City was named He Yinglang, who had held this position for over forty years.
In the backyard of the Envoy residence sat an elderly man with graying hair, wearing the Kongshan Sect outer court Taoist robe, holding a small teacup in his hand.
He looked up toward Chen Yan, who was being led in by the young page boy.
His gaze locked onto the gilded cloud crane patterns on Chen Yan's sleeve for a moment, then he asked:
"Dare I ask, fellow Daoist from Kongyuan Mountain, what business brings you here?"