Immortal Taoist

Meng Lin’s courtyard barrier flickered for the first time before the figure of a young girl stepped out.

Her body was wrapped in a blue robe, with silver trims on the edge which added more to her black eyes and hair.

As she walked out of her courtyard she took out the small map given to her, looking through it she wondered where to begin exploring the martial arts division.

“Hey there”

Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her, sending a shiver down her spine, turning around Meng Lin saw a young girl with a pale skin.

She had a pair of blank eyes that looked hollow to the light and long black hair that flowed down her back.

The girl wore the standard white robe of a sect diciple and she had a wide smile on her face, completely contrasting with her eyes.

Meng Lin felt a hint of fear just from looking at her, she didn't know how to address her, the girl had the eyes of a dead person.

More importantly the courtyard barrier was only a few feets away from her and this girl was able to appear in between her and the barrier without notice.

The girl noticed Meng Lin's hesitation and smiled warmly, "Don't be afraid, I'm not here to harm you. My name is Yue Feng, and I'm a disciple just like you."

Recovering from her shock Meng Lin said respectfully, "Greetings, senior sister Yue Feng. I'm Meng Lin, a new disciple of the martial arts division."

Yue Feng nodded, "I know. It's always good to see new blood in the sect. You caused quite a shock within the division?"

“A shock” Meng Lin was surprised, "Did I?"

Yue Feng nodded, "Yes, you arrived with a gold token and no one knew who you were or where you came from. It's not often that we get someone with Luan’s soul joining us."

Yue Feng chuckled. "But let's not talk about that now. You're going to explore the martial arts division, right? I can help you with that."

Meng Lin was wary but she didn’t let the chance slide and said, "Thank you, senior sister. I would appreciate any guidance you could offer."

Yue Feng grinned, "Great! Let's start with one of the training pagodas. That's where most of the disciples gather to practice their martial arts skills. We might even see something interesting happening there”

Meng Lin, not knowing the place could only nod her head, "Lead the way, senior sister."

Yue Feng smiled before gesturing for Meng Lin to follow her towards the training grounds.

As they walked, she explained some of the basic rules and customs of the martial arts division.

Meng Lin listened attentively, grateful for the insider knowledge.

They passed by a few disciples that were giving the duo curious glances, some even stopping to stare.

Meng Lin looked towards Yue Feng who didn’t pay much attention to them, continuing to talk to Meng Lin.

And as they approached the training pagoda, Yue Feng explained what kind of training pagoda it was.

“It’s called the Ancient Spirit Beast Pagoda, and it was designed to train disciples in fighting against spirit beasts, there are a total of 12 floors and each floor has a different level of difficulty.”

“There’s also a ranking board next to the entrance of the pagoda, at the top displays the names of the disciples who have completed the pagoda and their time, and below that are the disciples that participated and their scores”

Are you on that ranking board as well” Meng Lin asked with curiosity.

Yue Feng nooded her head, "yes, but I've only made it to the 8th floor so far, it gets really tough after that."

Meng Lin nodded, impressed.

As they arrived near the Ancient Spirit Beast Pagoda, Meng Lin could feel the energy in the air.

Before them was a tall tower that gave off a powerful aura, it was intimidating and yet mesmerizing at the same time.

Yue Feng’s eyebrows raised, "there are fewer diciples than expected”

‘You call that fewer’ Meng Lin wanted to say as she looked at the dozens of diciples surrounding the pagoda.

A few were gazing at the two as they made their arrival, upon arrival she could hear some of them murmur.

“It’s Senior Sister Yue Feng” one of them said, “but who is that by her side”

“She’s Meng Lin, the new disciple with the gold token” another replied.

“So she’s the one you’ve been talking about”

“Yes, like I said…”

Meng Lin was slightly nervous but Yue Feng walked with a blank face and continued to speak as if she hadn’t noticed them.

“There are a total of 12 gates all around the pagoda, so you don’t have to wait for others when you want to enter”

“And the diciples outside will only see your progress through the ranking board as to avoid your secrets being revealed. That’s what I like about these pagodas, the sect understands that no one will want to reveal their Secret Arts under the watchful eyes of their rivals” Yue Feng said with a laugh at the fact.

Meng Lin nodded, understanding it completely, she looked at the pagoda before turning her gaze at the ranking board on the side.

On it is the list of all the participants that challenged the pagoda.

Meng Li, feeling interested took a look and her eyebrows raised at the list of names.

There were 100 names etched onto the board with a score next to their names, At the very top of the ranking board were 5 named that glimmered in gold, making their position known.

YueQue - Golden Ranked

Tang Zuo - Golden Ranked

Fu Xuan - Golden Ranked

Wei Wei - Golden Ranked

Han Li - Golden Ranked

Even though the names above were renowned throughout the sect Meng Lin didn’t know them, so she could only try to memorize the names.

But she didn’t raise her eyebrows at that but she did raise her eyebrows at the ranking board below it.

The rankings of the disciples that are listed on the board.

‘This is ’ Meng Lin thought as she gazed at the board with a weird expression, she turned to Yue Feng who didn’t seem to be paying attention as she kept walking.

Coming closer to the pagoda, Meng Lin saw a wide space open up before them with the murmurs of the crowd slightly going down.

The disciples were talking between themselves with a few gazing at the duo, there were even some who took out talisman to notify others after seeing them.

Meng Lin noticing this, tried her best to keep a makeshift blank face and not pay attention to them, she turned to Yue Feng and asked.

“So can multiple diciples participate” Meng Lin asked.

“No, the trial is only for one person”

“But you said multiple diciples can enter it at the same time” Meng Lin asked, a-bit curious, she had some thoughts but she didn’t want to assume.

Yue Feng grinned, “oh that?, the Pagoda has the capacity to individually set up a trial for every diciple inside, impressive right”

Meng Lin nodded slightly impressed, she was impressed by the design of the pagoda and the training it offered to its diciples.

“Well how about it, you wanna try it out”

Yue Feng asked with her eye black with her lips smiling in excitement.

“Yes” she said, mentally preparing herself, she was intrigued and curious to see how the pagoda works.

“Go ahead, I’ll be cheering for you from outside” Yue Feng said with a clap.

Meng Lin nooded before walking towards the pagoda, she was feeling butterflies in her stomach and excitement was taking over her.