Teacher Li looked at him with a smile and nodded, gesturing for him to speak. Jing stood up with slightly sweating palms as hundreds of eyes zeroed in on him, "It's somewhat of an unrelated question," He said hesitantly. "But I wonder what was Venerable Ancestor's real name teacher?"

Teacher Li seemed slightly surprised but he answered nonetheless. "Others might not know as he was always known as Venerable Ancestor or Daoist Li, or The Golden Mountain, but his name was Liao Li." He shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "And of course, he has no relation to the Liao Family in Sweet Blossom City."

Jing sat down with wide eyes, 'Could it be???' He exclaimed in his mind. Memories flashed in his mind where Aukhman had explained that there was no such thing as joining heaven's embrace, but when cultivators reached a certain stage they ascended into higher planes.

"Aukhman," He whispered in their shared connections. "Do you think there is a chance that Fading Liao Li with the negative review is also this Venerable Ancestor???"

Aukhman appeared with a surprised smile, "It's not that impossible. I had thought of that when I first saw the review but I couldn't tell you. Now that you've asked, I'll see what I can do."

"What you can do?" Jing asked.

"You can think of it like reporting the review from a representative's position," Aukhman explained. "If there was indeed a connection then the review would be taken down as it would be deemed biased. After all, you are trying to destroy his sect, and it is only natural that he'd want to weaken you in some manner."

"I knew it," Jing cursed as Aukhman disappeared.

The disciples continued firing one question at Teacher Li after the other, and Jing quickly dismissed those concerns from his mind and paid attention. Once no more questions were raised, the teacher said, "Disciples who are at the Body Tempering disciples can leave now and come back tomorrow at the same time."

After all of the Body Tempering disciples left, barely a hundred male and female disciples remained. With their departure, Jing was now able to see those he had been looking for this whole time. Yu Yong and his other friend, the one who kicked him in the climbing test and ambushed him. Just when Jing's eyes landed on them, they turned around and met his gaze. Yu Yong's face was all healed up, and even his teeth sprouted once again. However, his eyes held immense anger as he stared back with a cold emotionless look. The other friend on the other hand seemed to be enjoying the show as a faint smile tugged at his lips, he even carefreely waved in Jing's direction as if they were old friends.

Jing felt even more irritated when he saw that, and his frown deepened. Teacher Li suddenly asked all of the remaining disciples to follow him to the scriptures hall, and Jing stood up and broke eye contact with the duo.

Wang Fei commented from the side with a nervous tone, "They seem like they're preparing something."

Jing angrily shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever they prepare we'll just hit them back harder."

"True," Zho Tu said. "We're at the Qi Condensation now, and we have... three?"

Jing was reminded of Shen Yun and he glanced in his direction. He was walking after the group all alone after that girl Zhu Xie left with the Body Tempering disciples. Jing had a hesitant expression as he pondered over some issues. 'I need to rectify things with him,' He thought. 'Although, he is mostly in the wrong, yesterday specially I was to blame for most of it. He needed the pills to break through and I hardly needed them. I could have just given them to him and be done with it... But damn if he isn't one annoying bastard.'

Jing left the duo of Zho Tu and Wang Fei behind and ran after the lone Shen Yun, who when saw him frowned. "What do you want?" He asked.

"You don't have to put such a face," Jing said with a scowl of his own. However, he quickly composed himself, "Look," He said. "I admit it was my fault for not giving you the pills, I admit that." The duo slowly walked by the right flank of the group of disciples as they discussed. "But you were also plenty at fault. Not listening and blaming others for your shortcomings."

Shen Yun wasn't having it, he merely scoffed and said, "I was trying to help."

"Let's not waste our energies worrying about pointless crap like this and just move on alright?" Jing said with a serious voice. "After all, you of all people should know how sensitive is our place here."

As they were talking, Xu Yun appeared beside them as if out of nowhere with an angry glare and asked, "What did I say to you two? Didn't I tell you to not raise any issues? Now that Xu Fufu died, the guards received the news, you were questioned by the disciplinary hall, and you're still making problems with disciples. Do you want to die?"

Shen Yun merely glared back at him and he didn't say anything else before he coldly looked ahead. Jing, however, knew how much influence this guy had over the demonic side and so he just mustered a weak smile and defended, "It's not like we could have done things differently...That Xu Fufu tried to kill me because of Peak Master Zho, and both the guards and the disciplinary hall don't know what really happened, otherwise we wouldn't be here correct?"

Xu Yun frowned at the response and said, "It doesn't matter. Even though they aren't sure, they will most likely keep a tight watch over you two."

"Don't worry Xu Yun, we'll be careful." Jing smiled again and said. "As for the other disciples, that also can't be avoided. We can't remain here if we don't maintain our reputation, and at the same time it's a good way to make it seem like we're just normal disciples having normal issues."

"And you," Xu Yun addressed Shen Yun once again. "Leave that girl alone, I know what you're doing."

"Not your problem," Shen Yun simply said without even looking at him.

Xu Yun merely glared back at them with hatred before he disappeared into the throng of disciples.

"It's not his place to tell me what to do," Shen Yun coldly said. "He just came to the sect some months ago and now I am supposed to bow my head and follow his lead? What a load of nonsense."

"He was after all put in that spot by the sect master," Jing said with a shrug.

"I don't care for her either," Shen Yun said. "Either her or that fucking monster of hers or this disciple of his."

Jing's eyebrows shot up in astonishment as he could detect an unreasonable amount of malice in the latter's tone. "Why is that?" He asked.

"It's humiliating," Shen Yun with a disgusted face. "The sect master is supposedly our leader, and so her pride and image are intermingled with ours. If her face falls, so does ours. If she gets dominated by another, we also indirectly fall into that position."

"What does that have to do with?" Jing asked. "What did she do?"

Shen Yun got even closer and said in a whisper, "Now, I am not entirely certain, but I think that monster Elder Ma fucks the sect master."

"Noo..." Jing mumbled. "It can't be?"

Shen Yun's voice turned even more serious at that, "I am almost certain. I've always had a good instinct about these things. If two people lay in bed with one another, I know. Now, imagine, a dirty monster from somewhere comes along and fucks this leader whom we worship and pay our respect to. What does this say about us?"

Jing understood the point Shen Yun was making, and so he answered from that conclusion, "That he indirectly becomes on top of us as well?"

"Exactly," Shen Yun said with a smile. "See, I always knew you were smart."

Jing had an amused expression as he processed all of that. "I remember seeing the sect master with a slight belly," He said. "You don't think?"

"Precisely," said Shen Yun, "I think so too."

"Is it even possible?" Jing asked.

"Everything is," Shen Yun said. "And there are precedents in the history books."

"Heavens," Jing mumbled. Just as he was about to ask Shen Yun to expand on that point he had made earlier, purely from an intrigued perspective, the group halted.

The sun was at its zenith when they reached one of the tallest Pagodas in the outer sect. It was also located on the left side of the sect, with the other sect facilities like treasury, medical, and disciplinary hall. The outer sect was vast, and so there was a considerable distance between each building where shrubs and trees grew with abundance. The ground was leveled and the soil was rich. The perfect grounds for all kinds of life to flourish from insects, and vegetation, to small animals.

The Pagoda before them stood proudly, its facade adorned in hues of verdant green and rich earthy browns, blending seamlessly with the surrounding landscape. At its entrance, three magnificent golden statues commanded attention: a robust tall figure exuding unfathomable strength, an elderly man with a ponytail wielding a formidable cleaving blade, and a serene woman seated in the lotus position.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Before the Pagoda, a series of small marbled steps ascended to its first story where Teacher Li stood and looked at the disciples with a smile. "I won't be accompanying you for the rest of your journey, but you'll find Elder Lee inside and he will answer any questions you might have." He said. "As for the classes, you're no longer obligated to attend them, but I would personally advise that you do. Of course, I am talking about path-specific classes as what we've been doing in the past couple of days were merely integration classes. You can just ask around and you'll learn when each one of them is scheduled." Teacher Li gave them one final nod and left.

Before the teacher could depart, he approached Jing and gave him a small hand-size thin jade slip. "This is the Heart Tranquill Lotus Scripture I promised." He said.

"Thank you Teacher Li," Jing bowed as the figure swiftly disappeared into the heart of the sect. He raised the jade slip at eye level, studying its details with a fascinated look. The jade slip had an elongated circular tube shape and was crafted meticulously from polished dark brown wood. Intricate engravings adorn its surface, depicting scenes of both demons and meditative figures, each carving etched with exquisite detail. As the sun's light danced across its surface, the jade slip emanated a peculiar aura, dazzling Jing.

"What's that?!" Asked Shen Yun who had witnessed everything from the side.

"A jade slip apparently," Mumbled Jing uncertainly.

"I know what it is, but why gave it to you?" Shen Yun asked.

"It's nothing," Jing waved his hand dismissively before he followed after the group and they all climbed the small steps and set foot beyond the wide wooden gates of the pagoda.

A spacious hall welcomed Jing, its floor adorned with a peculiar rug woven from fragrant hay, emanating a rustic aroma that filled the air with earthy notes. Sunlight filtered through the expansive windows from different sides, casting warm rays that danced upon the ground, creating a serene ambiance.

The hall was divided into three sections: one ahead and two flanking sides. Each side boasted two broad bookshelves, their shelves laden with ancient tomes and scrolls. Nestled amidst every pair of bookshelves were several sets of jade platforms that rose from the ground with a crystalized core at the top. Each set of platforms had three, and they all reached around a man's waist in height.

The twenty or so group of disciples that reached the Qi Condensation stood there at the entrance in a confused daze as they stared at everything, unaware of how to proceed. However, a certain elderly person wasn't planning on letting them stew in that confusion for long as he appeared from out of the bookshelves to the left.

Jing had never felt conflicted about using the word elderly when describing a person until he met that man. Although it was technically correct as he observed his long white hair and short beard, an elderly person was always accompanied by certain qualities that he failed to find in the man before him. He stood upright with broad shoulders, his eyes coldly scrutinizing the disciples before him as he walked, each step accompanied with endless vigor and vitality.

Upon reaching a satisfying distance from the disciples, he stood still, tall as a pillar and stable as a mountain. "You're finally here," He said, his voice deep with a soft assured quality. "I hope you have prepared yourself because the decision you'd be making today would accompany you for the rest of your life."

The disciples squirmed in uncertainty as he said that, and even Jing felt slightly conflicted although he had already made his choice.

A female disciple shyly raised her shaky hand as she awaited Elder Lee's notice.

"Go on," Assured Elder Lee once he noticed her.

"Erm..." Mumbled the girl. "Is it true that we women can't choose the Might Path?"

Elder Lee nodded and said, "Yes, only The Golden Soul or The Balanced Path. As for the reason why that is the case you can speak to the historians, I am sure they have plenty of satisfying answers."

'Hmm,' Jing pondered. 'That's strange.' One would have expected to be no gender differences as strength in this world trespassed the mere confines of gender, but it seemed like this sect in particular was still entrenched in a lot of traditional gender expectations.

As another disciple raised his hand to ask something else, Jing tilted his head to Wang Fei's side and asked, "Wang, do you know why?"

At first, Wang Fei didn't understand what he was talking about, but all Jing had to do was point to the girl who raised the question and he seemed to understand. "That's a very complicated issue," He said. "The question of gender in the world of cultivation was always a tricky subject. All cultivators are mortals, but not all mortals are cultivators. I once read a book about this issue and it mentioned something about social inertia... I don't remember the whole content well but the main point was how most cultivators grow up in mortal families where gender affects one's life to a big degree, and so when they become cultivators there isn't much difference in which gender one is those traditions they were taught growing up still affect their thinking in some ways."

"However," He continued, his voice falling into a whisper. "In most all sects, there is no difference or limitations on women except for this sect."

"Why is that?" Jing asked, intrigued about where such a difference might come from.

"Both the ten old sects and the two remaining sects Feline Buddha Sect and Thousand Poisons Pavilion have histories longer than our sect. Thus, their culture had grown to a degree where it was no longer influenced by their mortal past as one generation after the next had grown up with parents who were cultivators. The Golden Mountain on the other hand is vastly different. Our founder Daoist ancestor's parents were farmers, and he was a very traditional man. His two disciples who deeply looked up to him and who were equally from mortal parents naturally emulated and adopted his views and one of them was the Sect Master. In a way, we're still in the first generation of the sect, and it is only the children of both the sect master and the grand elders who can subtly change those things."

"Are they changing it?" Jing asked because he knew that the Sect Master had a daughter, and even the Grand Elders had children of their own.

"Well," Wang Fei wryly smiled. "I heard she tried, but it didn't go well for her."

Jing knew that he was talking about the Sect Master of the demonic sect he was in, and his curiosity about what might have happened between the two reached a new peak. "Do you know what happened between them?" He asked.

Wang Fei merely shook his head and said, "No, there are a lot of rumors but no one knows for certain."

Jing noticed that Wang Fei was slightly pulling away in his questions because he wanted to pay attention to Elder Lee's words, so he let him be. Just as he raised his head again, he heard a disciple asking, "What is the best path to take?"

For the first time, Elder Lee seemed slightly amused and said, "There is no best path. If there was why would we allow a choice to be made? We would ask everyone to take it and be done with it. Our Sect Master who is one of the strongest powerhouses of the region had chosen the Golden Soul Path. His Senior Brother, The Old King was on the Balanced Path, and his Venerable Ancestor was on the Might Path. So, you can see the immensity and potential of each path in these legendary figures."

The disciples all had an enlightened expression, and all of them seemed terribly relieved after learning that fact, Jing and company included.

"However," Elder Lee continued as he stared deeply into every disciple. "One's Path is still very important. We all have our own natural talents, tendencies, likes, and dislikes. You need to make sure that the Path you chose will complement your natural personality so that you can go even further."

The disciples continued with their questions for a while, and when no one raised their hands anymore, Elder Lee gestured to the different sections and said, "As you can imagine, each side of the hall specializes in one Path. You're free to roam and explore as you like, and I'll be here to answer any of your questions."

Jing's back stood erect, straight as a spear, devoid of any slouch or curvature. Shoulders squared and pulled back, they framed his torso with disciplined precision. His gaze, unwavering and focused, studied the different wide boards hanging low from the ceiling at the entrance of every section.

To his left, the board said, "The Golden Soul Path," and already the majority of the disciples spilled into it with endless vigor and excitement. In front of him was, "The Balanced Path," and it also had plenty of interested disciples, including Shen Yun and Zho Tu.

Wang Fei nudged him from the side and said, "My decision is already made."

"Oh?" Murmured Jing in surprise with raised eyebrows, "What is it?"

"The Might Path, of course." Wang Fei said with a proud expression.

"Mee too!" Excitedly said Jing, happy at the notion that they'd be choosing the same path as he was really fond of this chubby and delightful guy. "Why are you so certain of your choice?" He continued asking.

"Well," Wang Fei said, his voice turning slightly reminiscence. "I have always had a very good appetite, and I was more often than not plenty strong than most boys my age. You can imagine how much that helped me in the complicated environment in our clan's estate."

Jing slightly winced at that as he imagined the situation described by Wang Fei the other day. The Wang Family was a patriarchal clan that was fairly old, and so they had dozen upon dozens of relatives that lived in the same place. His mother was merely one of the concubines of the old Patriarch, and so in the ladder hierarchy of the whole family, they were practically at the very bottom. There was also a lot of discrimination from the higher-ranking families to the point that most of the lower-ranking families would either break down and become their inofficial servants or just flee in fear.

Because of her lack of connections and money, Wang Fei's mother was the former. Thus, his childhood was fraught with all manners of bullying. When Jing first learned of his state back home, he couldn't help but sympathize with the guy. At the same time, he immediately understood where most of his behaviors stemmed from. His fear, anxiety, over-politeness, awkwardness, and his constant people-pleasing tendencies. All things considered, Jing was still a 23-year-old, and as he learned that he became even more protective of Wang Fei.

"I understand," Jing said as he clutched the man's shoulder. "Let's become the strongest, bulkiest, motherfuckers in the sect."

Wang Fei was initially just as pumped and motivated, but when he heard the word, "Motherfucker," which doesn't translate well, he was shocked.

"Wait," Jing defended amusingly. "Don't take it literally. It's just a saying in our village."

"Strange...phrasing..." Wang Fei said with a still petrified voice as he looked left and right whether someone had heard Jing say the word.

As they began walking in the direction of the Might Path with some other male disciples, Wang Fei suddenly remembered and said, "What about you? Why is your decision set as well?"

Jing felt slightly emotional hearing that, but as he felt his legs brimming with strength and perfectly functional body, his eyes watered in joy. "You might not believe it," He said. "But when I was young an accident occurred, and I became paralyzed. I couldn't feel my legs and most of my left torso. My right hand although functional was very weak and it used to shake a lot."

Wang Fei's steps paused when he heard that, and he had a shocked expression on his face. "For how long?" He questioned.

Jing paused as well and said with a wry smile and a slightly choked voice, "Five long years... Five long years of pain and isolation."

An intense silence descended as Wang Fei's lips seemed to quiver as they rose up and down. Jing felt slightly awkward and in need of assuring him so he said, "Don't worry about it, it's all in the past. Look where I am now, Golden Talent, Healthy Body, and about to embark on the Might Path, aren't I lucky?"

Wang Fei seemed comforted by those words as he heaved a huge sigh of relief, and his face widened into a toothy grin, "Yes..." He said with an emotional voice. "That is good, that is good. It's great that it worked out in the end."

Jing smiled and quickened his pace, he was no longer able to contain his excitement and he wanted to start learning Cultivation Techniques right about now. He who had plenty of memories about them understood how life-changing a cultivator's life they were. His power would increase considerably once he had a way of expressing his Qi outwardly.