Vessel of Worlds

Andy collected the flying needles and other artifacts along with his opponent's storage pouch, swiftly cleaned up the scene, and destroyed all evidence.

Then, as though nothing had happened, he strolled out to Recluse Peak's restriction barrier exit with perfect composure.

The two Qi Condensation disciples standing guard were recent recruits. Seeing a Foundation Establishment elder approach, they bowed deeply. One of them spoke with proper courtesy: "Greetings, Uncle. Forgive this nephew's poor eyesight for failing to recognize you. If Uncle would kindly state his name—it is only our duty to ask. Please forgive the imposition."

"My name is Andy. I'm heading out. Open the exit, if you would." Andy's tone was calm and unhurried.

"Yes, Uncle!" The two promptly opened the exit and let him pass. A Qi Condensation disciple passing through would have faced a barrage of questions about identity and purpose, but before a Foundation Establishment elder, neither guard dared press the matter.

After leaving Recluse Peak, Andy did not go directly to Hanyang Peak. Instead, he headed first for Curtain Valley Peak. He had learned that after achieving Foundation Establishment, Jian Xin'er had chosen her cave dwelling on that peak.

He arrived at Curtain Valley Peak and spotted a formation restriction partway up the mountainside, not far from Curtain Valley Spring. Andy took out a Voice Transmission Talisman, murmured a few words into it, and tossed it into the restriction.

The talisman traced a streak of red light into the barrier and vanished. But after waiting the length of an incense stick, the restriction showed no response. Either Jian Xin'er was at a critical juncture in her cultivation and couldn't come out, or she simply wasn't in her dwelling.

Andy let out a quiet sigh and turned toward Hanyang Peak.

The moment he stepped into the Enquiry Hall, he spotted the white-bearded elder Xiong Yue resting with his eyes closed in a grand chair.

Andy bowed with clasped fists. "Senior Brother Sect Leader, I trust you've been well."

The old man rose at once and returned the greeting with equal formality. "Too kind, Junior Brother. It's been a long time—you look as fine as ever!" Inwardly, Elder Xiong was puzzled. Which young Foundation Establishment cultivator was this? The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it. When he finally studied the face before him, recognition hit and his eyes went wide. "It's you—the five-root nephew! You've achieved Foundation Establishment too!"

"I have Senior Brother Sect Leader's three Foundation Establishment Pills to thank for that. Without them, this stroke of fortune would never have been possible. Had I received even one fewer, I could never have succeeded," Andy said with a smile.

"With your aptitude, breaking through on just three Foundation Establishment Pills was no easy feat. It speaks to exceptional fortune. Perhaps greater opportunities lie ahead, and further advancement may well be within your reach!" The elder nodded approvingly, then shifted topics. "I take it you've come to complete the sect's Foundation Establishment certification?"

"That's right. I'd like to take care of it as quickly as possible. As Senior Brother suggested, perhaps my moment of fortune has arrived. I intend to leave the sect for a time—to travel and gain experience, and see if any opportunities present themselves." Andy stated his intentions plainly.

The elder nodded. "Wait here a moment. I'll be right back."

True to his word, he returned in less than half an incense stick's time, carrying several items.

"These two mid-grade spirit stones are the sect's reward for your breakthrough. You'll receive the same each year going forward. This white robe is the standard garment for Foundation Establishment disciples. It's also crafted from Firelight Beast hide, with several defensive spells woven into the fabric during the refining process—it does offer some measure of protection." The elder handed each item to Andy with an explanation.

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"This red token is your sect credential and a serviceable high-grade defensive artifact in its own right. Simply present it when passing through the mountain gate. Foundation Establishment disciples may come and go without restriction. Barring special circumstances, you should return to the Enquiry Hall every few years to collect your stipend. And this set of formation flags and disc is for setting up a Mist-Cloud Illusory Formation. Once you've found a cave dwelling, you can deploy it around the perimeter. The formation isn't particularly powerful, but Qi Condensation cultivators would have a hard time breaking through. The deployment instructions are inscribed on the disc." With that, the elder handed Andy a stack of seven or eight palm-sized blue flags and an octagonal jade disc.

After Andy had stored everything away, the elder produced one more item with evident gravity: a jade box about a chi long. Inside lay a scroll made from some unknown beast hide and an ordinary-looking talisman brush. The elder slowly unrolled the scroll, which was covered edge to edge in characters no larger than grains of rice. He turned to a blank section and said: "Would Junior Brother Zhao please add a drop of vital blood and inscribe your name on this sect scroll. For thousands of years, every Great Void Sect disciple at Foundation Establishment or above has been recorded here."

Andy drew a small red knife artifact and lightly nicked his fingertip. A few drops of blood welled up and fell onto the brush's tip. He then cast a basic wood-attribute Qi Condensation healing spell—the Rejuvenation Technique—on himself. The cut stopped bleeding at once, healed rapidly, and vanished without a trace.

Andy picked up the talisman brush and wrote "Andy" in neat strokes on the blank section of the scroll. The moment he finished, the beast hide flashed with spiritual light. The two characters seemed to come alive, twisting and shrinking to the size of rice grains before arranging themselves among the countless other names on the scroll.

With that, Andy was officially a Foundation Establishment disciple of the Great Void Sect. He took his leave of the Xiong surnamed elder and, rather than heading for the mountain gate, made a stop at the White Deer Pavilion first.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he now had access to the second floor and above.

With his red token and white robe, Andy entered the second floor without difficulty. Despite being called the "second floor," it wasn't physically above the first—one reached it through a teleportation formation on the ground level.

What he found was deeply disappointing. The collection was pitifully small, less than a tenth of the first floor's holdings, and most of it consisted of biographical accounts of past cultivators' travels and cultivation careers—of limited value. The cultivation technique texts Andy wanted most numbered barely a dozen: common Foundation Establishment methods like the Raging Sea Technique, the Single Yang Technique, the Earth-Breaking Technique, and the like. There were also some texts on Foundation Establishment talismans, artifact crafting, formations, and pills, but they were all cursory overviews with no real detail.

With no time for careful study, Andy skimmed the descriptions, then picked out several dozen jade slips that might prove useful and tossed them to an attending Qi Condensation disciple. "I want copies of all of these."

"All of them, Uncle? Copying one jade slip costs five spirit stones!" The disciple blinked.

"All of them. Quickly." Andy tossed out two mid-grade spirit stones, his tone impatient.

"Yes, Uncle!" The disciple worked with brisk efficiency, immediately producing dozens of blank jade slips and placing each one atop the originals, then forming hand seals in rapid succession.

Moments later, the disciple presented the copied jade slips along with a handful of leftover spirit stones. "Here is your change, Uncle."

"Keep it." Andy swept his sleeve, and a flash of white light drew the jade slips into his storage pouch, leaving the spirit stones behind. He walked out of the White Deer Pavilion without a backward glance.

Next, he returned to Hanyang Peak and made his way to the Great Void Sect's mountain gate exit.

After presenting his red token, Andy passed through the gate without the slightest challenge or inquiry.

Once he was a good distance from the gate, Andy produced a creamy-white jade carving shaped like a flood dragon and tossed it into the air. The jade swelled in the wind, transforming in an instant into a jade dragon roughly a zhang long and over two chi thick.

This was the flying artifact Andy had crafted from the flood dragon's dorsal fin—the Wind-Treader Dragon.

Andy stood atop it and channeled a surge of spiritual power through his feet into the artifact. The Wind-Treader Dragon let out a keening cry and shot eastward at astonishing speed.

He couldn't help glancing back at the Kuanglu Mountain Range receding below him. When will I return? he wondered silently.

And so, without fanfare, a newly minted Foundation Establishment cultivator slipped quietly away from the Great Void Sect. His departure caused not the slightest ripple. Apart from a handful of people, the sect didn't even know it had ever counted such a cultivator among its ranks. A few individuals did make inquiries and search for news of Andy, but they turned up nothing.

In the end, like so many cultivators who vanished without explanation, the name Andy was never spoken in the Great Void Sect again.

Yet more than two hundred years later—in stark contrast to the silence of his leaving—Andy's return to the Great Void Sect would shake the entire sect to its foundations and reshape the balance of power across the Golden Flame Kingdom's cultivation world.