Early the next morning, Wei Yuan finished his ablutions first thing after he got out of bed and made his way to the square in front of the entrance gate.

The Palace of Absolute Beginning’s immortal boat was parked at the center of the square. Twenty zhang long and light blue in color, several folded masts lined the vessel’s sides. When it was time, it would carry all newly recruited disciples toward the entrance gate.

Wei Yuan followed Zhang Sheng onto the vessel. It was separated into three floors. The bottom floor was where the cargo and luggage were stored, the middle floor was where the servants and menial resided, and the upper floor had six tables in it.

The scholar picked a random table on the upper floor and took his seat. A short while later, Sun Yu and Daoist Fu Feng entered the immortal boat and sat at their table.

As the departure time neared, more people began to show up. Two boys entered the boat first. They were led by their elders, and they each occupied a table. Their attendants went downstairs after attending to their needs. Wei Yuan vaguely remembered their faces. One of them had stood next to Lee Zhi, and the other Bao Yun.

The next group of people to show up wore strange outfits that were both extravagantly ornate and exposed a lot of skin. Their complexions were deeply tanned, with large swathes of scales covering their necks and wrists. The one characteristic they all shared in common was their amber-colored eyes.

There was a boy among the group of four. He was none other than the one belonging to the Yan Clan of the Eastern Sea; the one who rode a nine-hued deer to participate in the unified exam at the beginning.

The Yan group had chosen the table at the farthest end; also the one table that didn’t have a window view. Zhang Sheng found it a little strange that the normally ostentatious Yan Clan was keeping such a low profile.

It was at this moment another two groups showed up. They were accompanying a boy and a girl. As soon as Wei Yuan saw them, his heart skipped a beat, and his head slowly turned toward the window. The view outside had never looked more scenic than now.

He recognized both the boy and the girl. The girl was Bao Yun, and the boy was the one who attacked Wei Yuan several hundred times with his sword and nearly injured him, Xiao Yun.

During the martial test, Wei Yuan was possessed by Outlawed by Heaven and Earth and naturally thought himself to be above all. He hadn’t cared about the trifles at all. But now that he was back to normal, he couldn’t help but feel that he had gone a little overboard. This was especially true about the finishing blow he dealt Bao Yun after realizing that she was still alive. He felt embarrassed just thinking about it.

By now, every table in the upper floor was occupied. Since all the passengers were aboard, multiple screens rose out of the floor and separated the hold into six individual compartments. A faint glow then affected the screens, isolating not just sound, but also one’s perception.

After the screens were up, Zhang Sheng finally asked, “Why are there six disciples? I thought there would be four at most.”

Sun Yu began, “It’s a rather complicated story...”

He gave Daoist Fu Feng a look before continuing, “The Yan Clan of the Eastern Sea invested a significant amount of effort and paid Daoist Fu Feng a huge price to secure third place for their scion, and to be fair, he did succeed. By the time the aptitude test and the literary test were over, the scion was sitting in third place. However, Yuan’er defeated everyone in the martial test and claimed the first spot as a matter of course. This wasn’t part of the plan, and he was pushed out of the third place as a result.”

Zhang Sheng looked puzzled. “Why is he still on the boat then?”

“Both the Yan Clan of Eastern Sea and the Lu Clan of Hsu Province, who is in fourth place, were reluctant to accept this outcome. After the exam was over, they found ways to pry a spot from somewhere and use it for their scions. As a result, five candidates were set to join the Palace. That was the case until last night.

“The Miss of the Bao Clan was set to join the Exquisite Blossom Pure Land at first. There was an existing Avatar just waiting for her to inherit. But for whatever reason, she suddenly decided to enter the Palace of Absolute Beginning. Thus, the Yan Clan of Eastern Sea was pushed out once more.”

Wei Yuan wore a puzzled expression. Unless he heard wrongly, the Lu Clan was the one who should be pushed out, not the Yan Clan. Zhang Sheng apparently thought the same thing and voiced his doubts.

Sun Yu continued his explanation, “The margin for this unified exam is five points, and the Yan boy’s final score is only two points higher than the Lu Clan’s scion. The Lu Clan had put in far more effort than the Yan Clan to secure a spot, which was why the one who was ultimately pushed out was still the Yan Clan.

“As for why the Yan Clan is sitting with us right now, it’s because they worked things out eventually. The Palace simply didn’t have a sixth spot to give out, but they could bend the rules a little. The current situation is like this: Officially, Yan Ming entered a grotto-heaven. However, he would be studying in the Palace of Absolute Beginning.”

Zhang Sheng was stunned to say the least. “You can do that?”

Sun Yu lowered his voice and whispered, “I also heard that the Yan Clan would be paying a yearly tribute to the Palace from now on.”

“This... This is just preposterous! Does this not mean that anyone can pay to enter the Palace of Absolute Beginning?”

He replied meaningfully, “Not at all. Only those who can pay a lot can join us.”

The scholar couldn’t say anything in return.

The time was up. A gentle tremor later, the immortal boat slowly rose into the air. The public square and the entrance gate below rapidly shrank in size until the vessel passed through an invisible boundary, and the scenery below abruptly transformed. The immortal mountain and the trees had all disappeared into nothing, leaving behind only a small verdant hill embedded in an endless expanse of yellow earth.

The immortal boat ascended steadily until it pierced the clouds and emerged up top. Only then did it unfurl its masts and raised sails that looked like fish fins.

Sunlight poured down from above and dyed the sea of clouds below golden. Wherever the immortal boat passed, the clouds automatically parted like waves as if it was sailing through a golden ocean. It was a spectacle of indescribable grandeur and splendor.

The immortal boat gradually sped up and floated higher, eventually pulling away the golden sea of clouds completely. The view outside the window blurred, and the sea of clouds transformed into strips of gold. It was clear that they were moving at high speed, but the vessel was so steady that one would not even realize that they were moving unless they looked outside.

This was the first time Wei Yuan saw a scenery that only an immortal had the privilege to enjoy. Naturally, he was speechless with emotion. His eyes would be fixed to the window for a very, very long time.

The sun fell, and the sun rose.

A day later, an immortal mountain suddenly appeared from the sea of clouds in front of the immortal boat. From the distance, the mountain just looked like a treacherous peak. But up close, a massive immortal gate suddenly appeared at the center of the peak.

The immortal boat passed through the gate, and the world changed completely. It landed on a circular plaza that was paved with white jade. It was connected to a limestone road that led all the way to a cluster of magnificent-looking palaces and halls. Gentle meadows lay on both sides of the road, stretching into the far distance seemingly without end. They were dotted here and there with colorful wild flowers.

Most of the white jade plaza was suspended in mid-air. The only thing one could see from the edges was a vast, bottomless ocean of clouds. The plaza was several hundred zhang in radius and shaped like a gigantic jade disc. It was suspended midway up the mountainside and seemingly held in place without any visible supports.

Looking out from the plaza, an expanse of undulating mountains with several verdant, cloud-piercing peaks lay behind the cluster of palaces and halls. Kiosks, pavilions, and towers could be seen peeking out of cascading waterfalls and pine forests. Even further away, a few mountains seemed to be floating above the sea of clouds.

From time to time, a giant beast or immortal bird that Wei Yuan could not put a name to would burst out of the sea of clouds. Some were flying toward a mountain, and some kept soaring upward until they vanished into the ends of the firmaments completely.

Wei Yuan stepped out of the hold and admired the view from the deck. Not even in his dreams had he seen such a scenery. Even the most ordinary meadow stretched like a soft, vibrant carpet for a hundred li on end. Upon closer inspection, the tiny flowers dotting the grass weren’t ordinary either. Each one was different and constantly exhaling wisps of mist.

As someone who was born into a peasant household, Wei Yuan instantly recognized these “meadows” as prime farmland unlike anything he had ever seen. If it was used to cultivate crops, he reckoned that it would yield a thousand catties per mu. But having witnessed the marvels of the immortals, Wei Yuan now felt that the breadth of his horizons might be too narrow. With immortal techniques, a land like this could very well yield twelve hundred catties per mu.

Wei Yuan’s gaze kept moving farther and farther along the lively meadows. The longer he watched, the more active his mind became. His field of vision had nearly reached the edge of the grassland when darkness suddenly engulfed his eyes, and he nearly stumbled.

Zhang Sheng patted him once on the back and renewed his energy instantly. The terrible fatigue that gripped him without warning earlier was gone just like that. The scholar warned, “Do not look that far ahead before you begin cultivating. You don’t have any Dao energy right now, so you’re using up your own primordial spirit to perform this feat.”

Sun Yu was looking at Wei Yuan with envy. “A disciple who can use up his primordial spirit in one go? I’m really starting to get envious here.”

Zhang Sheng ignored him and pointed a finger ahead of him. He said, “This is one of the three entrance gates of the Palace of Absolute Beginning, Green Cliffs That Hang Over An Empty Valley. What do you think?”

Wei Yuan looked at the white jade plaza that was used only to park immortal vessels, the huge limestone road that looked as flat and smooth as a mirror, the clusters of towering and magnificent-looking palaces, and the bluish green peaks that were brimming with immortal splendor. But in the end, his eyes ultimately settled on the bluish green meadows, and he asked:

“If the path to immortality is so miraculous, then how is it possible that people are still starving to death in the mortal world?”

His question caught both Sun Yu and Zhang Sheng off guard.

It was at this moment a vigorous voice boomed behind him, “A good question!”