Hanyuan's breath hitched as the man spoke. The pressure he radiated was not aggressive, but it was absolute,like the weight of the sky itself pressing down on a single blade of grass.
"I am Cang Jue," the man said, his golden eyes reflecting the swirling black and gold energies still dissipating in the room. "I am the Sect Leader of the Mystic Sky Sect."
"Ah!" Hanyuan gasped, his knees hitting the floor instinctively. He performed a deep, formal kowtow, his forehead nearly touching the stone. "Bai Hanyuan greets the Sect Leader! I… I did not know my breakthrough would attract your esteemed presence."
Cang Jue nodded slightly, his purple hair shimmering like a nebula. "Your Spirit Root is rare, Hanyuan. The Nine-Abyssal Winter-Thunder… it is a reflection of your determined and unyielding will. Most who seek to condense a root fail because their spirit wavers when the stars shatter. If you were a weak willed person, your root would have taken a lesser form,a low grade Root. But you hammered your soul until it became this."
He stepped closer, the space around him rippling with every movement. "In the centuries I have led this sect, I have never taken a personal disciple. The geniuses I have seen were plenty, but their hearts were often brittle. I will give you a trial. If you succeed, I will take you in as my direct disciple. Do you understand the weight of this offer?"
Hanyuan didn't even need to ponder. To be the disciple of a man who stood at the peak of the Southern Continent was a chance that surpassed any pill or spirit stone. "I accept, Sect Leader! Whatever the cost, I will see it through."
Cang Jue looked him deeply in the eyes, his golden gaze piercing through Hanyuan's layers of defense. "Even if you cannot see your family for this year? The trial I have in mind is not short. It will test your patience as much as your spear."
Hanyuan thought of his mother's tears and his father's pride. He felt a pang of longing, but he remembered his vow. To protect them, he needed to be a god, not just a man. He bowed again, his voice cracking but firm. "Yes. I am ready."
"Very well," Cang Jue said.
He waved his hand, and the laws of the world seemed to unbind. Space twisted violently around Hanyuan. The interior of his pagoda blurred and stretched until it vanished into a kaleidoscope of grey light.
When Hanyuan opened his eyes and took a breath, the air was no longer the thin, cold mist of the high peaks. It was heavy, smelling of damp pine and old stone.
He was standing on a rugged, weathered stone wall. It was massive, spanning a narrow pass between two jagged, black rock mountains that pierced the clouds like spears. Behind the wall, tucked into the valley, was a small, rustic village. Smoke rose peacefully from a few chimneys, and he could see children playing in the dirt paths.
Cang Jue appeared beside him, his gaze fixed on the horizon where the sun was beginning to set.
"The trial is simple in words, but brutal in execution," Cang Jue stated. "You are to defend this wall and the village behind it for sixteen months. If even one human life in that village is lost, you fail. Every two weeks, a massive beast tide will emerge from the wilderness to attack these gates."
Hanyuan looked down at the wall. It was old, the stones cracked and covered in moss. There were no defensive arrays here, no high level guards,just him.
"But you are alone. Your eagle, remains at your estate. You cannot rely on the help of beasts or the Sect."
He waved his hand once more. "The first tide arrives in six hours. Good luck, Hanyuan."
With that, the Sect Leader vanished into a ripple of air, leaving Hanyuan standing solitary on the ramparts.
"Sixteen months..." Hanyuan whispered, a cold light igniting in his obsidian eyes.
Hanyuan stepped off the wall and walked slowly toward the heart of the village. The air here was heavy with the scents of damp earth, livestock, and woodsmoke,a stark contrast to the sterile, high energy atmosphere of the Inner Sect peaks. As he walked, he noticed the residents were ordinary mortals. Some were tilling the small patches of fertile earth, while others were hauling timber to repair the thatched roofs of their simple huts.
"Wow, look at that! A beautiful immortal man!" A small child stopped playing in the dirt and pointed a finger at Hanyuan, his eyes wide with wonder. Hanyuan's refined features and the subconscious aura of his Mortal Core made him look like a celestial being descended into the mud.
A hunched old woman with silver hair, leaning heavily on a gnarled wooden cane, approached him. Her face was full of deep wrinkles, but her eyes held a spark of wisdom. She stopped before him and bowed as low as her aching back would allow.
"You must be the new Protector," she rasped, her voice trembling with age and respect.
"New?" Hanyuan asked, his interest piqued. "Were there others before me?"
The old woman nodded slowly. "Yes, young master. For generations, the great masters of the mountains have sent their students to guard this pass. Usually, at least five or more people come at the same time. They are from different forces across the province. Each group usually stays for one month before being replaced."
Hanyuan's brows lifted in realization. This wasn't just a random village, it was a strategic defense point or a traditional testing ground for various sects.
"I see," Hanyuan said calmly. "However, I will be staying here for sixteen months. And I am here alone."
The old woman froze. Her jaw dropped slightly, and she stared at the youth with renewed shock. "Sixteen months? Alone?" She searched his steady, obsidian eyes and then beamed, her tone becoming even more reverent. "Then you surely must be more powerful than all of them combined! The heavens have truly blessed us with a mighty dragon."
She turned toward the villagers and called out, "Li Tian! Lead our Protector to his residence!"
A ten year-old boy with messy blond hair and dirt on his cheeks scurried out from behind a cart. He bowed frantically, his small frame shaking with nerves. "C-come with me, Sir!"
Hanyuan followed the boy through the winding dirt paths until they reached the edge of the village, closest to the great wall. The residence was a simple, sturdy wooden hut.
Hanyuan pushed the door open and looked around. The interior was sparse,a wooden table, a single chair, and a bed made of woven straw and clean linen.
"It looks cozy," Hanyuan said with a genuine smile, turning to the boy.
Li Tian stared at him, his mouth slightly agape. He had guided at least five different groups of cultivators to this very hut in the past few years. Most of them had looked at the humble dwelling with open disgust, making mean comments about the "peasant filth" or the "smell of dirt." But this handsome young master had actually complimented it.
"R-rest well, Sir!" Li Tian stammered, performing a clumsy bow before sprinting out of the door as if he were afraid his presence would offend the kind master.
Hanyuan sat down on the straw bed. The texture was rough, but he found it strangely grounding. He leaned his back against the timber wall and closed his eyes.
Six hours until the first tide, he thought. Usually, a group of five Mortal Core cultivators guards this place for thirty days. I have to do it alone for four hundred and eighty days. The Sect Leader is essentially asking me to be a one man army.