Within the humble room allocated to servant disciples of the Holy Land of the Immortal River, the cold floor was stained with blood and damp with the scent of mildew. From one corner of the room, a faint laughter echoed. It came from a young woman lying on a thin straw mat, her vacant eyes staring blankly at the wooden wall.
"Now that I've returned to life, I swear I will never live for anyone else ever again..." she murmured, her lips curled into a smile that seemed to mock herself.
"Whether it's that venomous fox, Mu Nansi... or my heartless master... or anyone else."
Her eyes gleamed with a light of unwavering resolve. Though her face still bore traces of injury, there was no fear or weakness left in those eyes.
"I am me... Mu Sishan. In this life, I will no longer be anyone's pawn."
Before her final words had fully faded, the wooden door was violently kicked open. The panels rattled with a loud thud, followed by hurried footsteps storming in.
Bang!!
"Mu Sishan! What kind of nonsense are you up to!" A sharp female voice rang out, dripping with scorn and arrogance.
"Today is the day the Holy Land welcomes its new disciples. Go clean the entrance right now. Don't make me repeat myself!"
That voice cut through Mu Sishan's thoughts like a blade. She flinched slightly, then went still for a moment before letting out a sigh, followed by a soft laugh, as if she had just awoken from a long dream.
Yes... right now, she was just a lowly servant disciple. No one cared about her. No one knew her. No one remembered her. But one thing she did remember was that today... was the day she would meet her master, Han Ming.
Mu Sishan clenched her fists tightly, a whirlwind of conflicting emotions churning inside her heart. Though she still held genuine respect and admiration for Han Ming feelings that had not diminished even after he personally ended her life in her past existence she bore no resentment toward him. She understood his reasons.
However... the fact that he chose to annihilate an entire bloodline in order to completely erase the problem, that was something she could not agree with. She believed there had to be another way, a better way. And in this life... she had already made her decision. She would walk a different path. In this life, she would not become Han Ming's disciple again.
"In this life, I will repay everything you once gave me... but I will do so in my own way." Her thoughts echoed within like an unspoken vow etched deep in her soul.
But just as Mu Sishan was lost in thought, the voice of that same woman rang out once again.
"Little girl, it's time to wake up from your fantasy. Sure, you're from the Mu clan, but only from a lowly branch. Stop dreaming that you're some kind of princess of the Mu clan!"
Those words sliced straight through Mu Sishan's heart like a dagger. Yet her face remained expressionless. She chose not to respond, not even to rise immediately, because she knew all too well... at this moment, she had no strength, no backing, and no right to retaliate.
Even if she had once been a mighty deity... that was a past life, nothing more.
"I really did pick up a bad habit from Master after all," Mu Sishan quietly thought to herself.
She closed her eyes, lowering her gaze, then replied in a calm but clear voice, "Understood."
The other woman smirked victoriously. "Then what are you waiting for? Go!"
Mu Sishan rose steadily to her feet. Though her body was still wracked with pain from the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her fellow servant disciples, her spirit now stood firmer than ever before.
She opened her spatial ring and swiftly inspected its contents. Inside were herbs, healing medicines, and a wealth of cultivation resources.
Though she was merely a servant disciple, the status of servant disciples within the Holy Land of the Immortal River was not low compared to other forces. The resources she received far surpassed those of official disciples in middle-tier sects.
In the Upper World, resources were never scarce. What was rare... were those worthy of using them.
She let out a cold smile and retrieved a healing pill from one of the bottles, swallowing it calmly before walking past the other woman and exiting the room without another word.
At the entrance plaza of the Holy Land of the Immortal River, a gentle breeze stirred the fallen leaves into the air. Faint traces of spiritual energy permeated the atmosphere, but for those lacking sufficient cultivation, it was no different from ordinary air.
Mu Sishan quietly swept the white stone floor with her head lowered. The broom in her hand moved slowly through the dust and debris, unhurried and silent. Yet her eyes drifted far beyond the stone beneath her hands... reaching back toward the past.
Though it was called the day of disciple selection, Mu Sishan knew well that none of those gathered here had any real chance of becoming inner disciples through this examination. What they were truly competing for... was the position of outer disciple, or at best, servant disciple. The slots for true inner disciples had already been chosen by the chief elders beforehand. It had never been officially announced, but Mu Sishan knew. She had once stood high enough to glimpse the truth behind the veil of the Holy Land of the Immortal River.
In her previous life... her cultivation had not only been formidable, she had possessed the strength to rival even Mu Nansi for the title of Holy Daughter.
But the one who stopped her... had been her own master, Han Ming. He hadn't said much, only left her with a single sentence.
"The waters of this place are too deep for a small fish like you to swim. You don't need to leap in and become prey for the hunters lurking within."
At the time, she didn't understand. Out of respect, she stepped back without questioning it. It wasn't until much later that she learned the truth... within the Holy Land of the Immortal River were hidden deities and god-clans, their true identities concealed. This was not a place where anyone could rise to the top on strength alone unless they possessed a divine body powerful enough to rival the heavens.
Mu Sishan let out a quiet laugh as she brushed dust from the edge of a stone slab. She lifted her gaze to the new disciples pouring into the plaza. Some were dressed in fine robes, adorned with spirit accessories. Others wore only worn-out cultivation garments, yet their eyes gleamed with hope.
They all dreamed of becoming inner disciples of the Holy Land of the Immortal River... but to Mu Sishan, it was nothing more than a fleeting illusion.
Not because it was truly impossible, but because even those who passed every test would be offered only the status of outer disciple. And those who failed... if they had enough connections, could still buy their way in as servant disciples.
In truth, what separated them... was a wall. The wall between inner disciples and outer disciples. And it was not a wall that could be crossed easily. Not everyone would ever make it across.
To advance from outer disciple to inner disciple required passing a selection process that did not merely assess cultivation strength. There were other factors... deeper, more elusive qualities that mattered far more.
"Even if a deity came to take the test in person, if they didn't pass, they would remain an outer disciple all the same…"
Mu Sishan paused briefly, lifting the broom in her hand. But the rules here were ruthless. Every outer disciple was granted a total of one hundred attempts over the course of one thousand years. If that limit was reached without success, or if the time expired without a breakthrough into inner disciple status, the result was exile from the Holy Land. No exceptions. That was the rule.
Just as Mu Sishan was lost in her memories, the sharp clang of a spirit sword striking stone echoed through the plaza, followed by a voice that rang down from the mountain peaks above, carried by the spiritual transmission formation.
The voice of an outer elder thundered through the air.
"The Holy Land of the Immortal River now commences the disciple initiation ceremony!"
The proclamation boomed like thunder, reverberating across the plaza and silencing all conversation in an instant. Some new disciples turned pale. Some were filled with excitement. Others trembled in fear.
As for Mu Sishan... she simply continued sweeping the stone floor, her head lowered as if the voice had nothing to do with her anymore.
Though her movements appeared calm, her heart was far from quiet.
At first, she had no intention of paying any attention to today's disciple ceremony. She knew well that this was not a stage meant for someone like her. But then... a thought surfaced from the depths of her memory.
"Master... he should have ascended from the lower realm five days ago," she murmured silently to herself.
Yes... she remembered it clearly. In the rumors she had heard in her previous life, Han Ming had been appointed as an inner elder of the Divine Alchemy Peak the youngest elder in the history of that peak.
Even though she had resolved not to involve herself with him anymore, she couldn't help but lift her head and glance toward the elevated platform above, where the elders of each peak were seated in neat rows. But...
"He's not here..." Her eyes swept across every face with scrutiny.
Han Ming was nowhere among them. Mu Sishan frowned slightly. She was certain she hadn't remembered wrong. The rumors from her past life couldn't have been mistaken, and she had personally seen the elder's insignia in Han Ming's possession.
"Could it be... he's not here as a representative? No, that can't be... if I saw my master's face in a situation like this, now that would be strange."
She knew full well what kind of person her master was. Han Ming never liked being in the spotlight, unless absolutely necessary. In many important events, he would either disappear quietly or sit in silence, speaking only to those close to him.
"He could be anywhere... hiding in some obscure corner, just like his nature always was," Mu Sishan thought to herself with a quiet sigh.
Though she told herself it no longer concerned her, she still couldn't stop her gaze from drifting silently across the plaza, hoping to catch a glimpse of a familiar silhouette whether it be her master, or any of her senior martial brothers or sisters. But no matter how she looked, there was not the faintest trace of them anywhere.
Mu Sishan closed her eyes, swept away the final bit of dust in front of her with care, then brushed off her robes and turned to leave without looking back at the elders' platform again.
Her eyes were cold and composed... but deep within them, a faint glimmer of something yet to be extinguished still flickered.
"No matter where you are, it doesn't matter anymore. I will no longer be your shadow. It's time for the light and the shadow to walk separate paths."
Mu Sishan's figure slowly disappeared into the crowd that was steadily entering the examination grounds, leaving behind only a clean, polished floor.