Volume One, Chapter 1: My Disciple Has the Bearing of a Great Emperor

At the grand platform of the Immortal Ascension Assembly in the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect, the masters of every main peak had gathered, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

"Peak Master Li, I hear there are quite a few promising talents in today's assembly."

"Indeed. Aside from those with exceptional spiritual roots, there is even one talent rarely seen in ten thousand years. It's just that such a disciple could never enter my Talismancy Peak."

"Do not be discouraged. Talismancy Peak is also a place many disciples long to go. However you look at it, it is still better than Crimson Sun Peak, is it not?"

"That is true enough... after all, if no one is taken in as a disciple again, Crimson Sun Peak will cease to exist."

As they spoke, the two peak masters turned their gaze toward a green-robed man standing at the very edge, their eyes filled with a touch of helplessness.

Lin Yang noticed the old men's looks, but paid them little mind. Instead, he turned his gaze elsewhere.

"Master... before you left, why couldn't you have left me even one senior brother?"

"Crimson Sun Peak was dumped straight onto my shoulders. How am I supposed to hold it up?"

He murmured in a voice only he could hear, his tone full of bitterness.

Four years ago, Lin Yang had crossed over into this world and been taken in by the former Peak Master of Crimson Sun Peak, who happened to be traveling the lands. He was accepted as the first disciple to establish the peak.

The Great Wilderness Immortal Sect was the foremost immortal sect of the Central Continent, and the cultivation of the Crimson Sun Peak master had reached a heaven-defying level; one could say he stood just below the sect master.

Yet just when Lin Yang thought he was about to rise to the peak of life on the back of this bargain master, the former Peak Master of Crimson Sun Peak fell in the great struggle between righteousness and evil three years ago.

And before dying, that bargain master had passed the position of Peak Master of Crimson Sun Peak to Lin Yang.

Thus, with no cultivation to speak of, Lin Yang had somehow become the Peak Master of Crimson Sun Peak in a haze of confusion.

He probed the cultivation within his body, looked at the meager sliver of spiritual energy in his dantian, and could not help sighing.

In this world, cultivation was divided into Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Gold Core, Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation, Enlightenment, Feather Ascension, Immortal Ascension, and the Imperial Realm.

Lin Yang, meanwhile, was only at the third layer of Qi Refinement.

Beyond ordinary talent, the more important problem was that Lin Yang had no idea how to cultivate at all. As a result, even after three years, his progress remained painfully slow.

How could anyone be willing to bow to a peak master whose cultivation was worse than that of a freshly enrolled outer disciple?

And so, for three years, not a single person had been willing to join Crimson Sun Peak.

According to the rules of the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect, if a main peak failed to recruit any disciples for three consecutive years, it would be dissolved, and its peak master would be demoted to an inner disciple.

But the minimum cultivation requirement for an inner disciple was at least the Foundation Establishment stage, and even the outer sect laborers had to possess at least the fifth layer of Qi Refinement.

In other words, the moment Crimson Sun Peak was dissolved would be the moment Lin Yang was swept out of the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect.

A neat little chain of events had him firmly by the throat.

And to make matters worse, Lin Yang had also awakened a damned system.

[System activation condition: Recruit one disciple with Imperial Sovereign talent]

[Remaining time: 12 hours]

[Failure penalty: erasure]

Looking at the system before him, Lin Yang rubbed his face, his expression bleak.

If he could not find a disciple with Imperial Sovereign talent, then the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect would not even need to drive him out of Crimson Sun Peak. The system would erase him outright.

"Forget it. If I truly cannot find one, I shall simply take these four years as a dream of mirrors and water."

With that, Lin Yang no longer bothered dwelling on it and closed his eyes to rest.

...

At the same time, the Immortal Ascension Plaza of the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect was bustling with voices, every person there having just passed the sect's admission trial as an outer disciple.

Above the crowd, a peerlessly beautiful woman stood quietly upon the void, dressed in red gauze, her expression cool and her bearing magnificent beyond compare.

The disciples below looked up at her with undisguised admiration.

"So this is the genius disciple of our generation, Lin Hongye? She really does seem cold and aloof."

"That's probably the pride unique to a heavenly genius. Still, there's nothing that can be done about it. Her cultivation is at the peak of Core Formation, and she even caused the great bell of the Great Wilderness, silent for ten thousand years, to sound with a thunderous roar."

"Not only that, she was personally received by one of the hidden powerhouses of the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect. A genius like that is simply beyond our comparison."

Listening to the flattering voices below, Lin Hongye's face remained unmoved.

In truth, she was the mistress of the Jade Pool Sacred Land, the Jade Pool Empress.

However, when she broke through into the Imperial Realm, she fell victim to schemers. In desperation, she used a secret art and successfully transferred her soul into a younger body, returning to the age when she had just begun the path of cultivation.

Though her cultivation was gone, her ten thousand years of experience and all her techniques remained. Returning to the Immortal Ascension stage was only a matter of time.

Even after her rebirth, to avoid being hunted by the people of the Jade Pool Sacred Land, Lin Hongye chose to join the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect.

Though it could not compare to the Jade Pool Sacred Land, the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect valued talent above all. As long as she revealed her abilities, they would surely protect her.

Meanwhile, above the Immortal Ascension Platform, the masters of all the peaks had already arrived, their gazes fixed on Lin Hongye, their eyes glittering.

"Which peak do you think Lin Hongye will choose to join?"

"Naturally the Sword Peak. With such a genius, if she cannot display her cultivation on the battlefield, would that not be a waste?"

"Nonsense. A genius like that should be carefully protected. What battlefield are you talking about? In my opinion, she should join our Alchemy Peak."

"With a talent like hers, I doubt any of us can win her over. The sect master will probably take her as a disciple, as a reserve for the next sect master."

At that moment, the Sword Peak master turned to the silent Lin Yang beside him and sneered.

"She could join anyone's peak, but there is one place she absolutely cannot join: Peak Master Lin's Crimson Sun Peak."

Lin Yang could not be bothered to answer that old fool. Instead, he stared blankly at Lin Hongye.

[Chosen: Lin Hongye]

[Identity: Jade Pool Empress]

[Cultivation: Peak Core Formation]

[Talent: Imperial Sovereign talent]

[Other: Damaged foundation, weakened soul]

Looking at Lin Hongye, Lin Yang felt tears welling up in his eyes.

Three years. Three whole years. At last, a disciple with Imperial Sovereign talent had appeared. He was saved.

A rumble rolled through the heavens.

At that moment, a rainbow light streaked across the sky and descended upon the Immortal Ascension Platform. A white-robed middle-aged man with snow-white hair stepped out from within it.

This man was none other than the sect master of the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect, Zhang Xianfeng.

With the sect master’s arrival, all sound vanished at once, and everyone called out to him in unison.

Zhang Xianfeng nodded, then declared in a loud voice, "The Immortal Ascension Assembly begins now."

At his command, countless disciples rushed toward the peaks they wished to join.

Some joined Sword Peak, determined to become sword cultivators. Some entered Alchemy Peak, aspiring to be alchemists.

But without exception, none were willing to join Crimson Sun Peak.

Seeing the empty seat allotted to Crimson Sun Peak, one disciple asked curiously, "Why does no one want to join that peak? It looks completely vacant over there."

Another disciple, upon seeing Crimson Sun Peak, said with a face full of disdain, "You don't know this? The peak master of Crimson Sun Peak doesn't even understand his own cultivation, let alone helping others cultivate."

"Exactly. His cultivation at the third layer of Qi Refinement is not even as high as mine, and he still wants to be someone's master?"

"That's right. My father said it plainly: I can join any peak, but if I join Crimson Sun Peak, he will no longer acknowledge me as his son."

Everyone avoided Crimson Sun Peak's seats as if avoiding a plague, and Lin Yang did not mind in the least. After all, these were not the people he intended to recruit.

"Who will join my Crimson Sun Peak? All the cultivation resources of my Crimson Sun Peak will be given to that person!"

Lin Yang had nothing else, but he did have abundant cultivation resources. Before his departure, that bargain master of his had left him quite a lot.

He began shouting at the top of his lungs, but still no one came. What use were resources if no one taught you? Without guidance, one would still fall behind.

Then, at that moment, Lin Hongye turned her gaze toward Crimson Sun Peak. Lin Yang cried out in delight.

"Yes! Young lady! You!"

"Stop looking around. Come join Crimson Sun Peak quickly! With the cultivation resources of Crimson Sun Peak, I could pile you all the way to the Imperial Realm! Come here!"

Hearing Lin Yang's outrageous boasting, the other peak masters could not help twitching their mouths.

Raise someone to the Imperial Realm with resources alone? Entire Central Continent might not even have a single Imperial Realm expert!

The Sword Peak master laughed aloud for a long while before saying in disdain, "I think you've gone mad from wanting a disciple. Raise someone to the Imperial Realm with resources? And you even think you can recruit Lin Hongye?"

"If you can recruit Lin Hongye today, then everyone on Sword Peak will respectfully call you Peak Master Lin!"

But at that very moment, something happened that left everyone utterly dumbstruck.

Lin Hongye actually flew slowly toward the seats of Crimson Sun Peak and finally sat down there.

At the same time, a system panel popped up before Lin Yang's eyes.

[Congratulations, Host, on recruiting a disciple with Imperial Sovereign talent. The ten-thousandfold return system has been activated!]

...

The Immortal Ascension Assembly fell silent. Everyone stared dumbfounded at Lin Hongye, seated in Crimson Sun Peak's place, and for a moment none of them knew what to do.

The Sword Peak master came to his senses and hurriedly tried to persuade her. "Young lady, you've taken the wrong seat. That is Crimson Sun Peak's seat."

Who would have thought that Lin Hongye would simply nod matter-of-factly and say, "Correct. The peak I intend to join is Crimson Sun Peak."

A single stone stirred a thousand waves. Her words instantly caused an enormous uproar.

But of course, Lin Hongye had her own reasons for doing this.

She had been reborn, and returning to the peak of her power was only a matter of time. She did not need a master at all.

However, she still retained other memories and techniques in her mind. The weakest of the peak masters of the Great Wilderness Immortal Sect were all at least at the Nascent Soul stage. It would be hard to guarantee that they would not notice something strange.

But joining Crimson Sun Peak was different. Lin Yang's cultivation was only at the third layer of Qi Refinement. Let alone seeing through Lin Hongye's oddities, he would not even be able to discern her cultivation.

On Crimson Sun Peak, Lin Hongye could display her talents to her heart's content without fearing that anyone would see through her. Thus, joining Crimson Sun Peak was her best choice.

Lin Yang also snapped back to reality at this moment. He did not bother checking the system for the time being, and instead looked mockingly at the Sword Peak master.

"Peak Master Wang, now, do you intend to keep your promise?"

All eyes turned to the Sword Peak master, Wang Zijian, and his expression immediately became unsightly.