Born as an ant, I was summoned to ascend to immortality.

Chapter 34 Sword Gallery

As soon as Master Xuanhong finished speaking, Yan Xiaorong stepped forward and looked at Xia Mingduo with great joy.

"Little girl, you did a good job just now. Come back to Kunyang Peak with me."

Despite her somewhat unreliable appearance, she exudes a rather imposing aura when she stands there.

Xia Mingduo readily agreed, bowed, and walked to Yan Xiaorong's side to wait.

Meanwhile, Zhou Li noticed that Jiang Xing hadn't said a word, but walked straight to Chu Chengyun, gave a perfunctory bow, and stood aside, looking gloomy and without any sense of triumph.

Logically speaking, getting second place in the major exam is already an excellent result.

Just as he was wondering about this, he suddenly heard Master Xuanhong say to him with a smile, "Zhou Li, with your double-rank talent, you can go to any of the peaks. Do you have a master you prefer?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Li looked up and saw that all the second-generation disciples' eyes were fixed on him.

Being stared at by so many immortals at the same time, Zhou Li was sweating profusely. He could feel that there was expectation, appreciation, and hostility in each of those gazes.

But he did not hesitate, and bowed to say the name he had not heard for so long: "Reporting to the Immortal Master, this disciple has decided to enter Ziyun Peak to cultivate."

As soon as he finished speaking, a soft humming sounded from afar. Zhou Li looked up and saw a heroic woman stepping out from the crowd.

She slowly walked up to Zhou Li. A gust of wind swept across her delicate features, blowing her long black hair into a frenzy. In an instant, she resembled a drawn blade, her aura suddenly rising, her sharpness fierce.

A clear, cold voice was heard: "Ning Yue of Ziyun Peak is here. Come with me."

Before he could even bow, Zhou Li felt a sudden push from behind. He staggered forward, but Ning Yue grabbed his wrist and lifted him into the air with a burst of energy.

With a gust of wind beneath their feet, they were already a hundred feet off the ground in an instant.

Ning Yue didn't wait for anyone else; she took him and flew away on her sword. Once they left the Demon Suppression Realm, no one came forward to stop them.

They came freely and left with abandon; such spirit captivated every disciple present.

Zhou Li, suspended in mid-air, had no time to sigh. At this moment, his feet were barely on a sword blade less than half a zhang wide. Having left the Demon Suppression Realm, he was already surrounded by clouds stretching for thousands of miles.

This was not as stable as riding a cloud boat. He gripped Ning Yue's arm tightly, afraid that he might accidentally fall into the mountains.

The two sped through the air, but Zhou Li didn't feel the biting wind. He knew that Ning Yue was protecting him, and he felt a little relieved.

He looked at Ning Yue again. Her face was as smooth as jade, her shoulders were slender and her waist was narrow. Her green clothes fluttered in the wind, and a three-inch-long sword hung in front of her chest.

Noticing Zhou Li's gaze, Ning Yue turned around and saw that Zhou Li was no longer flustered and was calmly looking her over.

She nodded slightly inwardly; this temperament was acceptable. She couldn't help but recall the telepathic message from Master Yan Qing earlier:

"This child, Zhou Li, was born to meet a calamity and arrived with divine secrets. His future achievements may even surpass mine. We must guide him carefully and never let him go astray."

Looking at Ning Yue, who was so close to him, Zhou Li knew that she was the one who would guide him on his path of cultivation.

Given my sensitive identity, whether I can establish my foundation as soon as possible, cultivate in peace, and walk this long path to immortality well, all depends on the person in front of me.

Their eyes met amidst the peaks of the Changtian Sect, beginning a bond that would last for hundreds of years for this legendary master and disciple.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Ning Yue activated her escape technique.

The howling wind faded away, and the master and disciple landed in a purple bamboo grove that Zhou Li was quite familiar with.

As soon as he landed, Zhou Li bowed deeply and said, "Disciple Zhou Li greets Master."

"Disciple, you may rise." Ning Yue helped Zhou Li up, her voice still cool, but in this familiar place, it was as warm as a spring breeze.

"This mountain is Ziyun Peak. I prefer tranquility and have not yet taken on any disciples. However, before my senior brother passed away, he entrusted one of his disciples to my tutelage, who is your senior sister. It is already dark today, so tomorrow, when your senior sister brings you to the main hall, you can pay your respects again."

She pointed to a natural cave ahead and said, "This was once the dwelling of a senior. From now on, you will reside here. If you need anything, you can use your disciple token to send me a message."

After saying that, he tossed a disciple's token to Zhou Li, then set off on his escape route.

Zhou Li respectfully accepted the disciple's token and replied, "Disciple obeys. May I ask whose former residence this is?"

The words had barely left his lips when Ning Yue vanished without a trace, and only a voice reached Zhou Li's ears from afar:

"When Master Yanqing first joined the sect, he cultivated here for a hundred years."

Zhou Li bowed to the sky from afar, saying, "Since this is the former residence of my predecessors, I, your disciple, shall be diligent." He then turned around and slowly walked into the bamboo grove path.

Returning to this familiar place, Zhou Li couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia. He had been confined to the small courtyard behind the mountain and had never properly appreciated the scenery of Ziyun Peak. Now, things had changed, and his state of mind had shifted. Looking at this peak again, he felt none of the bewilderment he had felt before.

"It's getting dark today, I'll visit my senior brother at the back mountain another day." He thought to himself, but little did he know that this one wrong decision would cause him to miss his chance to meet his senior brother.

Upon reaching the end of the path, Zhou Li discovered that the cave entrance was not on the mountain path, but on the side of the cliff. To get to the cave entrance, he had to walk around the mountain wall and along a plank road.

The plank road here is incredibly steep, with protruding slopes or sunken pits on the rocky cliffs.

Zhou Li proceeded cautiously, but after turning a corner, he was surprised to find that the road ahead had ended, replaced by long swords stuck horizontally in the mountain wall.

Looking up, one sees two imposing characters carved into the cliff face: Sword Corridor.

It turns out that half of this plank road was actually paved with long swords that were pierced into the cliff face, forming a sword corridor that was dozens of feet long.

Zhou Li couldn't help but exclaim in admiration: "Wonderful! There is no way out in this perilous terrain, but I will build a covered walkway with my sword."

The first sword was a heavy sword about a foot wide. Zhou Li took a step forward and almost slipped.

It was already dark, and the surface of the sword was slippery with evening dew. A slight misstep could cause it to fall, and below the sword lay a bottomless valley.

If one were to walk in the form of an ant, one could simply fly across; but if one were to walk in the form of a human, each step would be quite perilous.

Zhou Li composed himself and thought to himself, "The path of cultivation is fraught with difficulties. If I can't even step into my own cave, I might as well just go down the mountain. What's the point of cultivating then?"

After thinking it over, he lifted his foot and continued to step forward, counting each step. There were a total of 108 longswords in the entire sword corridor, of varying heights and thicknesses.

The journey was fraught with danger, sometimes requiring the use of both hands and feet, and sometimes tumbling and crawling, leaving them in a truly miserable state.

Having finally reached the end safely, Zhou Li looked back and couldn't help but feel a surge of pride, shouting, "The mere Sword Corridor is nothing special."

Meanwhile, above the purple bamboo forest, Ning Yue, who was observing carefully, chuckled to herself: "This disciple's temperament is truly extraordinary; I was overthinking it."

"It's not that I'm deliberately making things difficult for you. There are two entrances to this cave. If you insist on taking the dangerous path of the Sword Corridor, you can't blame your master."