The sky was clear, with not a cloud in sight.

Zhao Kingdom, a desolate area on the eastern edge, along a trade route.

...

“This mountain is mine, this tree is mine... Miss, let's have a little robbery.”

A boy, about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a coarse cloth outfit and carrying a broken blade, spoke in a deliberately fierce tone, though his face was still quite youthful.

Behind him stood more than ten men, dressed in tattered clothes like beggars.

Except for a few with iron weapons, most of them held wooden sticks, appearing poor and ragged, yet their menacing demeanor still posed a significant threat to ordinary people.

They were bandits of the area, surviving by robbing travelers on the trade route.

The boy leading them was named Lin Hao.

He was the only one among the bandits who could read, having recently become the leader of this group.

In front of them stood a woman, appearing to be in her twenties, with an extraordinarily beautiful face.

She wore exquisite clothing, a stark contrast to the ragged appearance of the bandits.

The woman was blocked by this group of men, but her expression remained cold and unmoved. Her gaze fell on the leader, Lin Hao, as she spoke: "I didn't expect to find someone with cultivation potential in such a desolate place. Since you're here, you might as well come with me."

Her voice was as cold as a winter wind, carrying with it a mysterious power.

To the bandits, her words sent a chill down their spines, leaving them inexplicably terrified.

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman stretched out her hand toward the air in front of her and grasped it.

Instantly, a force wrapped around Lin Hao, and in his terrified expression, his body was uncontrollably pulled toward her.

The woman’s pale hand waved again, and a green light enveloped Lin Hao, rendering him immobile.

“Boss!”

The bandits trembled in fear, their hands gripping their weapons in cold sweat, but none dared to move.

Clearly, the woman's abilities were beyond their understanding.

"Please... let me go..."

Lin Hao, with a terrified expression and a pleading voice, cried out: "Miss... spare me! I... I only rob for money, I've never harmed anyone... Please let me go!"

Lin Hao had originally been an ordinary high school student on Earth. He had fallen off a mountain during a trip, and for some inexplicable reason, had been transported to this world.

It wasn’t a soul transfer; he had physically traveled here.

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When he woke up, he found himself in a bandit's hideout. Using his modern knowledge, he had managed to fool the bandits and rise to the position of their leader.

He hadn’t been in the bandit business long, but he never imagined that he would run into a cultivator so soon.

"Silence."

The woman gave him a cold look, her gaze as terrifying as that of the King of Hell.

Lin Hao immediately shut up, trembling in fear, unable to even dare to breathe.

The woman paid no attention to the other bandits.

She quickly formed a seal with her hand, summoning an incantation Lin Hao couldn’t understand.

A gust of green wind appeared, lifting both Lin Hao and the woman into the air.

They flew over towering mountains, and the landscape below rapidly retreated.

"People can actually fly! Could this world be a world of cultivation?"

Lin Hao’s heart raced in shock.

The howling wind turned his face pale, and his thin, coarse clothes were no match for the cold, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.

Despite the immense physical discomfort, Lin Hao had no idea how long they had been flying.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness from the altitude, the woman finally descended, landing on a mountain surrounded by clouds.

Surrounding them were beautiful, majestic buildings, resembling works of divine craftsmanship.

It was clear this was no ordinary place.

After the flight, Lin Hao, still disoriented and dizzy, stumbled as he landed. He couldn't even stand up straight.

"Senior Sister Liu, is there something you need from us?"

Two young men in blue robes came forward and bowed respectfully.

“This person I encountered while handling some business outside. He has cultivation potential, so arrange for him to stay, but don’t treat him any differently.”

Senior Sister Liu’s tone was cold and indifferent.

Without waiting for the two men to respond, she quickly formed another hand seal, summoning the green wind again, lifting her into the air. In an instant, she vanished from sight.

“I wonder when I’ll be able to fly like Senior Sister Liu, as a true disciple...”

One of the young men in the blue robe sighed, watching as Senior Sister Liu disappeared into the distance.

"Sigh, flying isn't so easy. Unless you're like Senior Sister Liu and reach the ninth level of Qi Refining before the age of thirty, becoming a true disciple and receiving the Wind-Controlling Pearl from the Sect Leader, or unless you reach Foundation Establishment, you can't fly. With my cultivation talent, I probably won’t have the chance in this lifetime,” the other young man responded with a sigh.

After a brief conversation, they turned their attention to Lin Hao, who was still sitting on the ground, struggling to recover from the aftereffects of high-altitude flight.

“Get up, follow me,” one of the young men in the blue robe ordered coldly, his tone dismissive, as if he didn’t care much for Lin Hao’s presence.

"Yes, sir," Lin Hao responded obediently.

The cultivators possessed an overwhelming aura, and Lin Hao felt as though he was standing before an immovable mountain—he was merely an ant beneath it.

Even the smallest stone falling from such a mountain could crush him.

Not daring to disobey, Lin Hao struggled to stand up and followed the young man, stumbling through the unfamiliar environment for a long while.

"You’ll live here," the young man in the blue robe said, pointing to a wooden house.

"Yes," Lin Hao nodded.

"From now on, you’re a servant disciple in the mining district of Xuan Yue Sect. You cannot leave without permission, or you’ll be killed according to the sect’s rules. As a servant disciple of Xuan Yue Sect, you’ll have to complete tasks before you’re allowed to eat."

The blue-robed youth continued in a detached tone, "Here’s the Qi Refining method and the clothes for a servant disciple. If you can cultivate according to the method and reach the third level of Qi Refining, you’ll no longer be a servant disciple, but an outer disciple."

With that, a jade slip and a set of gray clothes appeared in the young man’s hand, and he handed them to Lin Hao.

Lin Hao quickly reached out and accepted the jade slip and clothes.

"The jade slip contains the cultivation method. Focus your mind, and you’ll be able to see the instructions inside," the young man added. "That’s all I have to say. You’ll find out how to work by following the other servant disciples in the mining district."

After briefly instructing Lin Hao, the blue-robed youth turned and left.

"Sigh, I finally became the bandit leader, just got to eat well, and now I’ve had the misfortune of robbing a cultivator and ending up here... I wonder what life as a servant disciple of Xuan Yue Sect is like."

Though Lin Hao felt uneasy, he couldn’t help but look at the jade slip and feel a bit of hope: "Cultivation is definitely a better future than being a bandit leader. Since I’m here, I’ll make the best of it!"