The sky was as clear as crystal, without a single cloud in sight.

In the State of Zhao, on a desolate stretch at the edge of the Eastern Region, there was a commercial road.

...

"This mountain is opened by me, and this tree is planted by me... Miss, hand over your valuables."

A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, wearing a coarse cloth garment and carrying a dilapidated knife, tried to look fierce on his youthful face as he spoke.

Behind him stood over a dozen men.

The clothes on these men were tattered and torn, making them look like beggars.

Except for a few who were armed with iron weapons, most of them held wooden sticks, looking rather destitute. However, their menacing appearance was quite intimidating to ordinary people.

They were bandits in this area, making a living by robbing passers-by on the commercial road.

The young man standing in the front was named Lin Hao.

He was the only one among these bandits who could read. He had only become the leader of this group of bandits a few months ago.

The woman blocked in front was about twenty-something years old and extremely beautiful.

She was dressed in expensive clothes, forming a sharp contrast with these down-and-out bandits.

Blocked by so many people, she didn't seem afraid at all. Her eyes fell on Lin Hao, the leader, and she said, "I didn't expect to encounter someone with cultivation aptitude in this remote place. Since it's a chance encounter, come with me."

Her voice was like the cold wind in the twelfth lunar month, carrying a mysterious power within it.

When it reached the ears of the bandits, it made them inexplicably nervous.

As soon as she finished speaking, she made a grasping motion in the air towards Lin Hao.

Suddenly, a force wrapped around him, and despite his horrified expression, his body was uncontrollably pulled forward.

With another wave of her fair hand, a cyan light enveloped Lin Hao, rendering him unable to move.

"Boss!"

The group of bandits were horrified, their hands gripping their weapons were sweaty, but they didn't dare to rush forward.

Obviously, this woman's abilities were beyond their comprehension.

"Help me..."

Lin Hao looked terrified, his face distorted with fear as he pleaded, "Miss, please spare my life. I... I only rob for money and have never taken anyone's life. Let me go!"

He had originally been an ordinary young man on Earth. While traveling to a famous mountain, he accidentally fell off a cliff and somehow ended up in this world, becoming one of the rare transmigrators.

It wasn't a soul transmigration but a physical transmigration.

When he woke up, he found himself in a bandit den. Relying on his modern knowledge, he managed to trick these bandits and became their leader with great difficulty.

He hadn't expected that shortly after starting his bandit career, he would run into such a tough opponent while robbing.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Shut up."

The woman gave him a cold look, her eyes as terrifying as the King of Hell who came to claim lives.

Lin Hao was so frightened that he didn't dare to make a sound, trembling all over, nervously standing within the cyan light emitted by the woman.

Then, the extremely beautiful woman ignored the other bandits.

She quickly waved her fair hand, forming a seal that Lin Hao couldn't understand.

A cyan wind appeared, swirling around Lin Hao and the woman, and they rose into the air.

They flew over one mountain after another, and the scenery on the ground was rapidly receding.

"People can actually fly! Could it be that one can cultivate immortality in this world!"

Lin Hao was greatly shocked in his heart.

The howling wind blew on him, making his face pale. His thin coarse cloth clothes couldn't withstand the cold at all, and he shivered from the chill.

Lin Hao endured great physical discomfort during the flight. He didn't know how long the woman had been carrying him in the air.

Just when he was about to be unable to bear the high-altitude flight and was on the verge of fainting.

The woman finally landed on the ground with him, appearing on a mountain surrounded by clouds.

There were magnificent and exquisitely built structures all around, quite imposing, as if crafted by the gods.

At a glance, it was clear that this was no ordinary place.

After being carried in the air for a flight, Lin Hao was in a very sorry state. When he landed on the ground, he couldn't even stand steadily.

"Senior Sister Liu, you've come here. Do you have any instructions for us?"

Two men came forward. They were dressed in blue robes and respectfully bowed.

"I happened to come across this person while I was out on business. He has cultivation aptitude. Arrange for him. There's no need to give him special treatment."

Senior Sister Liu had a cold expression and spoke in an icy tone.

After saying that, she didn't wait for the two men to respond. She quickly made a series of hand gestures, and the cyan wind appeared again, carrying her into the air, and she disappeared in an instant.

"I don't know when I'll be able to fly freely between heaven and earth like Senior Sister Liu, a true disciple."

One of the young men in the blue robe withdrew his gaze from the direction where Senior Sister Liu had disappeared and said.

"Alas, flying is no easy feat. Besides becoming a true disciple like Senior Sister Liu, reaching the ninth level of the Qi Refining Stage before the age of thirty and being bestowed a flying spiritual weapon by the sect elders. Only when one's cultivation reaches the Foundation Establishment Stage can one fly. With my cultivation talent, I can only be an inner disciple. I'm afraid I'll never have a chance to become a true disciple in this lifetime."

The other young man in the blue robe sighed.

After chatting for a few words, they both turned their eyes to Lin Hao, who was sitting on the ground, not yet recovered from the aftereffects of the high-altitude flight.

"Get up and follow me."

One of the young men in the blue robe said in a cold tone, looking aloof.

It seemed that he didn't think highly of Lin Hao just because he had cultivation aptitude.

"Okay."

These cultivators had an inexplicable aura. Lin Hao felt that when they fixed their eyes on him, it was as if he was facing a towering mountain, and he was just an ant at the foot of the mountain.

Even a small stone rolling down the mountain could crush him to death.

Lin Hao didn't dare to disobey the young man in the blue robe. He struggled to get up from the ground.

Staggering, he followed the man and walked for a long time in the unfamiliar environment.

"You'll live here from now on."

The young man in the blue robe pointed to a wooden house.

"Yes."

Lin Hao nodded.

"From now on, you are a handyman disciple in the ore area of the Xuanyue Sect. You are not allowed to leave the ore area without permission, or you'll be killed according to the sect's rules. Every day, the handyman disciples of the Xuanyue Sect have to complete the tasks assigned to them before they can have a meal."

The young man in the blue robe said indifferently, "Take this Qi Refining Manual and the clothes for handyman disciples. If you can draw Qi into your body according to the methods in the Qi Refining Manual and reach the third level of the Qi Refining Stage, you can get rid of your status as a handyman disciple and become an outer disciple."

After saying that, a jade slip and a gray coarse cloth garment suddenly appeared in the hand of the young man in the blue robe, and he handed them to Lin Hao beside him.

Lin Hao quickly stretched out his hand to take the jade slip and the gray coarse cloth clothes.

"As long as you concentrate on this jade slip, you can see the Qi Refining methods recorded inside."

The young man in the blue robe said, "Alright, that's all I'll tell you. Tomorrow, you'll follow the other handyman disciples in the ore area to learn how to work."

After simply instructing Lin Hao, the young man in the blue robe turned around and left.

"Alas, I finally became the leader of the bandits and could just have enough to eat. But then I had the bad luck to rob a cultivator and got caught and brought here. I don't know if it's easy to be a handyman disciple in the Xuanyue Sect."

Lin Hao was nervous in his heart, but when he saw the Qi Refining Manual jade slip in his hand, he also had some expectations: "Cultivating immortality should be more promising than being the leader of bandits. Since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it!"