Hearing this, Xu Changshou lifted his gaze, spotting a flying boat descending from the distant horizon to alight upon a sheer cliff of the Front Gate Peak.

From afar, the Sect's aerial vessels appeared minuscule, drifting lazily like fallen leaves. Up close, however, their true scale was staggering-stretching over forty feet long and fifteen feet across, easily capable of bearing a hundred souls without feeling cramped.

Currently, a dozen or so figures stood upon the deck.

As the vessel docked, three of them disembarked. Having ridden to the Front Gate Peak, it was evident they were preparing for a long journey into the mortal realm.

Zhang Zhengyuan waved his sleeve, leading Xu Changshou as they vaulted onto the deck.

Xu Changshou discreetly observed his fellow passengers. Every single one wore a mask of numb, hollow melancholy.

In short, their faces were etched with deep, inescapable bitterness.

It was a look he knew intimately. Their expressions mirrored the exhausted tenant farmers laboring under Landlord Wang's whip.

The moment his feet touched the planks, a suffocating, oppressive aura washed over him.

As if infected by the miasma of despair, Zhang Zhengyuan's own features sagged into a mask of fretful worry.

What the hell is going on here?

This bleak atmosphere sharply contrasted with the immortal paradise he had envisioned. These men and women were cultivators, beings of myth. Did true immortals also suffer from mortal miseries?

Swoosh!

The flying boat surged forward, incredibly swift yet so stable he couldn't feel the slightest tremor.

"We're flying! It's so fast!"

Excitement bubbling over, Xu Changshou practically threw himself against the railing, peering over the edge. Through the wispy clouds, jagged rocks and ancient pines blurred into streaks of color as they shot past.

This beats riding a water buffalo any day of the week.

Awesome.

Thrilling.

Incredible!

For a starving cowherd from a dirt-poor village, riding the winds on a magical vessel was an absolute blessing.

Noticing his unbridled enthusiasm, a few of the older passengers shook their heads, faint smirks of mockery gracing their lips at the sight of this country bumpkin.

Zhang Zhengyuan quickly yanked Xu Changshou back by the collar, shooting him a warning glare to keep his mouth shut.

The vessel made a long, stopping circuit around the various grand peaks before finally descending upon Zhishi Peak.

The atmosphere here was bustling. An endless stream of robed figures hurried to and fro, pouring through the grand archways of the central administrative hall.

Xu Changshou swept his gaze across the courtyard. Despite the vibrant spiritual energy radiating from their bodies and the fine silk of their robes, the vast majority bore that same hollow, dead-eyed expression. A sea of bitter faces.

"Come along!"

The two stepped across the threshold of the grand hall.

Instantly, the world expanded. Forged by some unfathomable spatial Formation, the interior dwarfed its external dimensions by an impossible margin.

From the outside, the structure resembled three large connected pavilions. Inside, it spanned the size of a massive ten-acre estate.

Countless crystalline counters lined the vast interior, a dazzling bazaar of commerce and administration.

There were stations for exchanging Spirit Stones, stalls shimmering with Magical Artifacts, desks stacked with talismans, racks of glowing Pills, rows of lifeless puppets, and shelves lined with Cultivation manuals. Further back sat the massive registries for accepting and submitting Sect bounties.

Zhang Zhengyuan navigated the crowd, leading Xu Changshou toward a task-submission counter.

A balding elder, appearing to be in his late fifties, manned the station.

"Senior Brother Liu. Your Junior Brother, Zhang Zhengyuan, has returned to submit his external assignment."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhengyuan respectfully placed a rectangular tablet of red wood upon the crystal surface.

This token was his identity plaque, a standard artifact carried by every member of the Green Immortal Sect.

"Ah, Junior Brother Zhang."

Liu Chuansheng smiled affably, taking the wooden token and sweeping it with his own jade plaque. His smile vanished into a stern frown. "Junior Brother Zhang, your external assignment was scheduled for three months. Yet, you loitered in the mortal realm for seven. Overdue by four months. According to Sect regulations, you must be penalized.."

"Senior Brother Liu, please, just a small token of my respect!"

Zhang Zhengyuan's hand blurred. With an expression of agonizing physical pain, he produced three fragmented Spirit Stones, covertly sliding them across the counter into Liu Chuansheng's palm.

Liu Chuansheng's stern face melted into a broad, greasy grin, smoothly pocketing the stones. "My apologies, profound apologies! My old eyes deceived me. Junior Brother Zhang's assignment duration was indeed seven months. This foolish elder brother simply misremembered. A simple clerical adjustment will fix it."

"Many thanks, Senior Brother. You labor tirelessly for our sake."

"Not at all, not at all. It is you who has endured the true hardships of the road, Junior Brother."

"Senior Brother Liu, I hear you are approaching your hundredth year and plan to leave the mountain for secular life. When the day comes, I shall undoubtedly attend your Retirement Ceremony."

"Junior Brother is too polite."

"It is only right. You have ground your bones for the Sect for nearly a century. Even if there were no towering merits, the sheer blood and sweat you've poured out demands respect."

"Alas..."

Liu Chuansheng let out a long, shuddering sigh. "In times of peace, we are but indentured beasts of burden, pulling the Sect's plow. In times of war, we are mere grist for the meat grinder. With the gates of Foundation Establishment forever barred to us, a hundred years of toiling in the mud is hardly worth celebrating."

"Alas... Foundation Establishment is but a pipe dream."

Zhang Zhengyuan echoed the sigh, his own shoulders slumping in defeat.

Standing to the side, Xu Changshou was utterly paralyzed by the exchange.

Given Zhang Zhengyuan's overwhelming arrogance and ethereal posturing back in the mortal realm, Xu Changshou had staked his life on the man being a grand elder. He never fathomed that his 'Master' was stuck rotting at the Qi Condensation realm.

That aloof, untouchable aura he paraded around Xu Family Village? A total farce. Zhang Zhengyuan's true identity was nothing but a bottom-feeding Cultivator.

Even as a mortal, Xu Changshou had listened to the wild tales spun by the village elders. They whispered of the great boundaries: Qi Condensation, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and the mythical Soul Formation.

He genuinely believed Zhang Zhengyuan was a mighty Nascent Soul ancestor, or perhaps a peerless Soul Formation lord. At the absolute bare minimum, a Golden Core grandmaster!

After all that pomp and circumstance, he was just a miserable foot soldier.

No wonder the old bastard fed me that line about flying swords ruining my Dao Heart. He didn't want to test me; the broke fraud just didn't own one!

"Senior Brother Zhang, is breaking through to Foundation Establishment truly that impossible?" Xu Changshou asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Liu Chuansheng caught the whisper and couldn't suppress a bitter, mocking laugh. "For lowly Qi Condensation fodder like us? Foundation Establishment is like a mortal attempting to scale the heavens on a ladder of spun glass. Unless you stumble upon some heaven-defying fortune, your chances are absolute zero."

What?

A thunderbolt crashed through Xu Changshou's mind, incinerating his naive dreams.

Zhang Zhengyuan had sworn to him that upon entering the Sect, they would be showered with resources. He promised endless troves of Magical Artifacts, libraries overflowing with peerless Cultivation manuals, and fleets of flying swords for the taking.

He promised that joining the Green Immortal Sect was the golden ticket to immortality. The power to split the heavens and sunder the earth, to ride the winds and conquer the clouds, to seize eternal youth, and master the art of Sword Riding.

To stand atop a blade of light, soaring untethered across the vast world-such absolute freedom!

Zhang Zhengyuan, you lying sack of shit. Isn't that what you sold me? Why has the story completely flipped now that we're inside the gates?

Xu Changshou glared at Zhang Zhengyuan, his eyes burning with betrayed fury. The older man shrank under the gaze, coughing awkwardly into his fist, thoroughly lacking the spine to meet the boy's eyes.

"Senior Brother Zhang, is what Senior Brother Liu said the absolute truth?"

"Er.."

Zhang Zhengyuan squeezed out a pathetic, bitter smile. "Junior Brother Xu, Liu speaks the harsh truth. We common Qi Condensation disciples are barred from Foundation Establishment. Only the pampered scions of the great legacy clans, those born with silver spoons forged from Spiritual Qi, hold the qualifications to tread that path. We bleed for a century, labor until our bones turn to dust, and struggle until our souls break, all to serve as the stepping stones paving the Foundation Establishment path for our 'betters'."

"In this brutal world of Cultivation, only two things matter: mountains of resources and untouchable patrons. We possess neither. How could we possibly dare to dream of Foundation Establishment?"

"This.."

Xu Changshou's mind spun into violent chaos. His grand, beautiful dream of Cultivation shattered into a million jagged pieces.

Back in Xu Family Village, he was a starving farmhand, bled dry by the whip of Landlord Wang.

He foolishly believed that stepping into the immortal realms would finally break the shackles of his cruel fate.

Only to find that the invisible whip remained exactly the same.

I just traded a mud-brick cage for a palace of jade.

Worse. Qi Condensation extends your lifespan. These bastards just get to milk my labor for another hundred years.

Screw it. I'm already inside the gates.

Xu Changshou swallowed his sigh, his cynical survival instincts rapidly locking down his panic. Bleeding for the Green Immortal Sect was still infinitely superior to starving in Xu Family Village.

At the very least, my belly won't touch my spine, and there's still a microscopic thread of hope for Foundation Establishment.

Those legacy brats rely on their bottomless coffers and powerful daddies to break through.

I might not have a patron, and my pockets might be empty... but I have the Bloodline Jade Talisman.

Xu Changshou traced the hard outline of the gem through his rough tunic. A thrilling, paranoid excitement ignited within his chest, burning away the despair.

The Bloodline Jade Talisman was the supreme treasure of the mythical Xu Clan he saw in his dreams. If that blood truly ran in his veins, this was his divine inheritance, left by ancient ancestors. He swore to the heavens that, sooner or later, he would crack its secrets.

Once I unlock this cheat, who says a lowly peasant can't reach Foundation Establishment?

He had to hide this secret with his life and find a way to activate it. In the suffocating shadows of this predatory Sect, Xu Changshou finally grasped the terrifying weight of what he carried.

It was his singular, heaven-defying key to rising above the mud of the Cultivation world.