Old Qin, Do you want your apprentice

"Qin nephew? Qin nephew?!"

In the main hall of the Dao Sword Sect, Qin Ran, who was standing at the end of the line, snapped back to attention when he realized that the Sect Master was calling him. He quickly walked out of the queue and bowed towards the seat, saying, "Sect Master!"

The Sect Master of the Dao Sword Sect on the seat asked, "Did you hear what was just said?"

"Um..." Qin Ran pretended to ponder, clearly indicating that he hadn't heard clearly.

Because he had been distracted, his mind was actually occupied with thoughts of the twelve formulas for breaking through the Golden Core stage.

This was the scene of the Dao Questioning Grand Ceremony, which took place once every fifty years. It was essentially a ceremony for accepting disciples, and at this moment, the high-ranking members of the Dao Sword Sect were conducting the final test for the qualified individuals.

Hmm, accepting disciples and injecting fresh blood into the sect was important, but...

What did it have to do with him, an orphan from the Dan Peak?

Just by looking at the name of this sect, Dao Sword Sect, one could tell that alchemy had no status within this sect. As for accepting disciples, it was not Dan Peak's turn to do so.

Therefore, Qin Ran had only brought someone along to make up the numbers, intending to just go with the flow and not think about accepting disciples here.

Seeing his expression, the Sect Master offered guidance, "This young girl wants to join your sect and learn the art of alchemy. Are you willing to accept her?"

"Um!" Qin Ran instinctively nodded in agreement, but he quickly reacted and couldn't help but raise his voice in question, "Huh?"

The Sect Master gestured towards the center of the grand hall, where a figure in a bright yellow robe stood in line with the rest of the boys and girls.

Qin Ran followed the direction and saw the silhouette of a girl.

So, he realized that someone was asking him to be her master, and she was a girl!

This feeling was like being hit by a big prize. The last time he felt this way was when he transmigrated to this cultivation world.

"I will follow the Sect Master's arrangements..." he quickly agreed, "I'm willing."

"Hey, hey... hey..." At this moment, someone in the adjacent queue suddenly whispered to him. Qin Ran turned his head to look and saw Liu Boxian, the head of Sword Peak. This person appeared to be around thirty years old and was also dressed in a black robe. When he saw Qin Ran looking over, he raised his eyebrows and cursed, "You're willing, my ass... A top-grade Golden Spirit Root wants to learn alchemy from you, kid?!"

"Top-grade Golden Spirit Root?" Qin Ran was stunned. The girl was actually a top-grade Golden Spirit Root? If that were the case, she was indeed unsuitable for alchemy, and he couldn't help but hesitate.

On one hand, a Golden Spirit Root was not suitable for alchemy, and on the other hand, if she learned swordsmanship, she would become an extraordinary figure.

However, he had considered this aspect, and it was evident that the Sect Master had as well. During his previous daze, there had been multiple discussions in the hall. And now, even though he confirmed his willingness to accept disciples, the Sect Master still felt it was a pity and asked the yellow-robed girl once again, "Do you really want to learn alchemy?"

"I came here specifically for alchemy," the girl in the yellow robe replied.

Her voice was a bit cold, and her conversation with the Sect Master carried a touch of arrogance. She was probably the kind of person with a cold personality, difficult to get along with. Qin Ran became more hesitant.

"You possess the Golden Spirit Root, which is even more suited for the Way of the Sword. You could even become a Qi Cultivator. If you choose to cultivate the Way of Alchemy, your talent will be of no use and considered a waste," the Sect Master persuaded once again.

"I understand," replied the girl in a yellow dress.

"Sigh..." The Sect Master sighed. "Very well."

"What a pity!" Liu Boxian, the head of the Sword Peak, shook his head inwardly. Such a promising sword disciple was going to be wasted on the Alchemy Peak, truly a loss of a rare talent.

As Qin Ran watched the slender figure of the girl and listened to her firm response, he felt a strange sensation... Perhaps it was because someone had made such a decisive choice to be with him. He had intended to say something, to convince the girl to choose another peak, but in the end, he remained silent.

"You shall be assigned to the Alchemy Peak as an Inner Sect disciple. Well, let's make you a Direct Disciple!" The Sect Master circulated his true qi, wrote an identity token for the girl in a yellow dress, and then used a technique to send the identity token to her, saying, "Hurry and join the ranks of the Alchemy Peak."

Li Shiyin reached out and received her identity token. She looked at the name written on it—Li Shiyin. Although she was determined to learn alchemy, when it became official, she felt lost. After pausing for a moment, she remembered her deceased grandfather and finally made up her mind not to let her parents suffer from illness. She turned and looked at the queue behind her.

With just one glance, Li Shiyin spotted the person she was looking for, the master she had just bowed to. After all, there was only one person standing outside the queue in the grand hall.

But...

Li Shiyin hesitated. Was there something wrong?

Was that young man, who was smiling foolishly, her master?!

She scanned the hall, making sure no one else was there to receive her, and then looked back at the young man. He was indeed wearing the black robe of a head disciple.

Well, maybe this master just looked young but was actually very old and had a high cultivation level. Li Shiyin could only console herself in her heart.

She didn't mean to discriminate against appearance. After all, appearances in the cultivation world had no reference value. However, if he looked a little older and had a more mature and steady temperament, it would indeed make people feel more secure.

And this young man in front of her...

"Sigh!" Just as she had made up her mind, Li Shiyin wanted to change her mind. She turned to look at the Sect Master, intending to ask if she could switch to another sect, but the Sect Master had already inquired multiple times before, and in the end, she didn't speak up.

"Is there anything else?" However, seeing her like this, the Sect Master understood her thoughts as clear as a mirror and asked aloud.

"No!" she replied coldly.

"Very well..." The Sect Master smiled. "I hope you will perform well when you knock on the door before the Dao three years from now."

Knocking on the door before the Dao meant inspecting the cultivation progress of newly admitted disciples, checking if they had been lazy and whether they were suitable for cultivation. In other words, it was the Sect's Grand Competition, followed by the allocation of resources.

The Sect Master deliberately emphasized this, somewhat mocking Li Shiyin for not knowing her place and wanting to see her make a fool of herself.

Li Shiyin could sense it, but she pretended not to and nodded with a cold face, saying, "Very well!"

She was confident in her talent and temperament for cultivation, knowing that she would definitely go far...right?

She turned around and saw her newly accepted master.

"I can only take it step by step," Li Shiyin sighed inwardly, walking slowly towards Qin Ran with a hint of reluctance.

When the girl in the yellow dress turned around, Qin Ran couldn't help but pause for a moment. It wasn't because of anything else, but because she was incredibly beautiful. Ahem...no, it was because she was relatively older in terms of age.

It didn't mean that the girl was old; she appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen, the most youthful and energetic age. It's just that her age for starting cultivation as a disciple was considered relatively old among the dozen or so disciples in the Dao Questioning Grand Hall.

Although it's not that younger is always better, but at fifteen or sixteen, she had clearly missed the best time for foundation building. If it weren't for her top-grade Golden Spirit Root and the fact that Dao Sword Sect was a small sect, she probably wouldn't have been accepted.

Of course, setting aside all that, she was really good-looking.

Her lovely almond-shaped eyes carried a hint of feigned maturity, and her baby-fat cheeks had a touch of forced coldness. There was a contrast between her temperament and appearance, with her sharp and steep bridge-like nose, thin lips condensed like a blade edge, thick eyebrows exuding a heroic spirit, and jet-black hair that moved hearts.

Although she was a girl who hadn't fully matured yet, she already possessed a bit of sharpness like a sword.

"Truly worthy of the Golden Spirit Root," Qin Ran thought to himself.

When he thought about living, eating, and cultivating together with such a beautiful girl in the future, Qin Ran couldn't help but feel a bit excited...ah no, he wasn't excited at all. He reminded himself not to think about dirty and vulgar things like the relationship between master and disciple.

Quietly watching the conversation between the Sect Master and the girl, Qin Ran didn't say anything. He looked at the girl hesitantly walking towards him and just smiled, nodding at her, indicating that she should go back to the queue with him.

Dao Sword Sect wasn't a major sect, so there weren't that many people coming here to become disciples. Once every fifty years, there was an opportunity to become a disciple, and there were only over a thousand people who came to the mountain gate. After various assessments, there were only about a hundred or so left, and after the elimination of menial tasks and outer disciples, there were only a dozen or so left in the Dao Questioning Grand Hall.

This year's performance was considered normal. There were sixteen people in the Dao Questioning Grand Hall. Without exception, all of them possessed extraordinary talents and were the kind of people who would become formidable Nascent Soul experts with just a little bit of resources.

When Li Shiyin followed Qin Ran into the queue for the Dan Peak, there were still seven disciples standing there. Among these seven disciples, four were accepted into the Sword Peak and three into the Qi Peak.

Adding those who had already been assigned to their peaks before Li Shiyin, the distribution of inner disciples for this Dao Questioning Grand Ceremony was as follows:

Master Peak received five disciples; Sword Peak received six disciples; Qi Peak received four disciples; Dan Peak received one disciple.