Apprenticeship

"Apprenticeship?" Qin Sang felt a stir in his heart, but shook his head repeatedly and said, "Fellow Daoist, you jest. Even if we wanted to join the Landou Sect, they wouldn't take us." "True," the burly man sighed. "We are already Foundation Establishment cultivators. Barring very special circumstances, those prestigious, great sects would never take us into their fold. And if someone truly bore an ulterior motive, they wouldn't make it past the Landou Sect's Heart-Questioning Path either." "Heart-Questioning Path?" This was the first time Qin Sang had heard the term. Asking further, he learned it was a method the Landou Sect used to vet disciples; even their existing disciples had to walk a stretch of the Heart-Questioning Path after reaching Foundation Establishment. In most sects, Qi Refinement disciples were called external-affairs disciples or outer disciples; without Foundation Establishment, they could never step into the true halls of importance. Foundation Establishment disciples, on the other hand, formed the core strength of a sect, so they had to be vetted with the utmost caution. No major sect accepted core disciples lightly; all possessed similar means. Some even began doing so when accepting outer disciples. It was just that the sects Qin Sang had joined in the past had been rather peculiar, so he had never experienced it. The Kuiyin Sect recruited people to find sacrifices for the Yanluo Banner; so long as the conditions fit, none were turned away. The Yuanzhao Sect held its Ascension Conference to provide blood food for an impending secret realm collapse; to lure in more rogue cultivators, they set no other barriers. Those selected into the sect received no regard whatsoever. They were treated as menial laborers burdened with grueling chores and harsh demands, with no future to speak of, only to be cast out once they reached a certain age. Had it not been for the help of Yu Hua—who had been bribed by the Kuiyin Sect—Qin Sang would have collapsed from exhaustion in the Yuanzhao Sect, leaving him no time at all to cultivate. Shaohua Mountain did have similar means, but Qin Sang had entered using a Sword Intent decree, and such tests were only administered after an outer disciple achieved Foundation Establishment and had their name entered into a new jade registry. However, Qin Sang's manner of reaching Foundation Establishment had been unique—truly unprecedented. Not only was he tied to a Core Formation elder of the sect, but a Nascent Soul Patriarch had personally bestowed pills upon him, while the sect master observed the entire process, marveling at him as an exceptional prodigy. They naturally dared not subject him to such trials. Through one twist of fate after another, he had never once undergone such a test. Of course, even if Qin Sang were subjected to a heart-questioning test, it would have been impossible for any flaw to show. With the protection of the jade Buddha, such methods were completely useless against him. Joining the Landou Sect was merely a joke; both knew it was utterly impossible. Qin Sang pondered the situation. It seemed his only option was to make contact with Landou Sect disciples in order to dig up news about Qiyunzi. The trouble was that ever since the demon chaos erupted, even the Landou Sect master had rushed to the Demon Sea. At present, the Landou Sect was virtually sealed off; core disciples rarely ventured out, and it was hard to run into them even in the Landou Sect's cultivation market. Moreover, just as the burly man had said, the Landou Sect would never allow outsiders to peruse their true inheritances at will. Even if he found out which true inheritance it was, getting his hands on it would still be an issue. The burly man said with an excited expression, "In the past, I always commissioned an artifact crafting master from the Landou Sect. That fellow was exceedingly arrogant and charged exorbitant prices, yet his craftsmanship was far inferior to Fellow Daoist Mingyue's. Fortunately, he's been holed up inside the Landou Sect recently and hasn't come out. It was only on a friend's recommendation that I traveled thousands of li to seek your aid, Daoist—otherwise, I would have missed out on this stroke of fortune!" Hearing the burly man treat meeting him as a stroke of fortune, Qin Sang smiled faintly. After seeing the man off, he sank into deep thought. A moment later, he strode out of the quiet room, gave a quick instruction to the shop assistant, and hurriedly departed. It was not until the evening of the following day that Qin Sang returned to the cave dwelling. Looking at his external incarnation, his eyes flickered incessantly. Over the course of the day, he had gone to investigate when the Landou Sect and the sects subordinate to it recruited disciples. He learned that the Landou Sect opened its gates to recruit disciples once every twelve years. Unfortunately, they had just taken in a wave of disciples this year, so the next intake would not be for another twelve years. Just as Qin Sang was plunged into deep disappointment, he learned that among the sects subordinate to the Landou Sect, there was one called Yanmiao Pavilion that would soon be holding a grand disciple recruitment ceremony. Quite a few rogue cultivators had already hurried over to prepare for it. Although Yanmiao Pavilion could not compare to the Landou Sect, it had a solid heritage of its own. Its master was a Core Formation expert. Subordinate to the Landou Sect, the sect flourished like a fish in water and lived very comfortably; it could certainly be counted as a prestigious sect. During his earlier conversation with the burly man, an idea had naturally sprouted in Qin Sang's mind. While it was difficult for him to be accepted by the Landou Sect, his external incarnation had a clean background and might stand a chance of sneaking in. After Qin Sang brought the external incarnation into the market, the incarnation had remained behind closed doors cultivating within the cave dwelling without contacting any outsiders. The connection between the two had not been exposed. The external incarnation's real name was Zhang Yue, and he had a clean background as a cultivator born and raised on Lu Island. After taking over this physical body, to do right by the man and put his own conscience at ease, Qin Sang had properly settled his affairs. Before departing, he had told Zhang Yue's parents that he was leaving to seek the Dao. Thus, Zhang Yue's identity had been preserved. His origins were completely traceable. Even if he were questioned, there was nothing to fear; the sword soul within the external incarnation carried a fraction of the jade Buddha's power. Furthermore, these sects would never employ overly violent methods on newly admitted disciples, lest it cause irreversible internal injuries. As long as he did not face a Nascent Soul Patriarch in person, the external incarnation's identity would be exceedingly difficult to see through. If it were a matter of infiltrating the Landou Sect, Qin Sang would still have hesitated. But Yanmiao Pavilion possessed no cultivator powerful enough to see through the external incarnation's secrets. Yanmiao Pavilion shared close ties with the Landou Sect. Taking a roundabout approach might cost some extra time, but it was still a viable path. His true body could still remain outside and investigate in secret. Coordinating from within and without would yield a much greater chance of success. What worried Qin Sang most was that the external incarnation lacked sufficient strength and would have no way to adapt if he encountered danger. If the plan failed and he ended up losing the external incarnation as well, he would regret it bitterly. "Never mind—riches and honor are sought amidst peril!" Qin Sang's expression hardened as he made up his mind. *Heavenly Demon Form Refining* was just as important as the external incarnation; neither could be dispensed with. Taking a gamble was well worth it. Even so, Qin Sang would not act recklessly. He had to leave sufficient life-preserving means for the external incarnation. The most effective items were treasures like fire beads and Xutian Thunder, which possessed terrifying power and detonated in an instant, leaving enemies no way to dodge. However, those had already been used up. Settling for second best, he could only prepare more Essence-Devouring Awl magic tools. The one thing not lacking here was monster corpses. Qin Sang's artifact crafting was nothing like it used to be. By refining the Essence-Devouring Awl anew, he was confident he could elevate this magic tool's might to a level that would terrify even False Core stage cultivators. The Essence-Devouring Awl was more than enough to handle ordinary dangers, but if he were targeted by a Core Formation cultivator, it would still fall short. After some thought, Qin Sang decided to let the Heavenly Eye Butterfly accompany the external incarnation. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly was adept at concealment and illusory transformation; its ability to hide itself was even greater than the external incarnation's, capable of pulling off complete deception. After acquiring the lightning-controlling divine ability, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's strength was by no means weak. It ought to be able to contend with a Core Formation cultivator for a short time and hold out until his true body arrived. Once he sent the external incarnation off, his true body naturally would not stay too far away. The Qingfu coin's power was not yet exhausted and could still be used. He would have the external incarnation carry it so that an alert could be sounded in time.