At the northern registration booth of Dry-Well Public Cultivation High School #1, twenty young men in torn gray hemp shirts stood in a tight line, keeping their heads bowed low.
Their leader was Fang Zhen, a twenty-two-year-old Senior Outer Disciple of the Heavenly-Lock Array Sect—one of the Four Great Immortal Sects of the Central Continent.
Even though Fang Zhen had smeared yellow mud on his cheeks and ripped three holes in his sleeves to look like a starving border refugee, his sharp eyes kept darting toward the watchtowers and storehouses inside the school compound.
“Stay alert, Junior Brothers,” Fang Zhen transmitted his voice softly using a basic Rank 4 sound-threading trick. “Elder Zhen of our Heavenly-Lock Sect gave us strict orders: Deacon Liu and the other two tribute envoys haven’t reported back in four days, and rumors say Pei Xuan is using a stolen ancient manual to turn mortal brats into Qi-Gathering cultivators! Tonight, once we get inside the school dormitory, we find the secret underground Scripture Vault, copy the manual onto our hidden jade slips, and burn down their array storehouse!”
“Understood, Senior Brother Fang!” whispered the nineteen young spies behind him. Every single one of them was a Rank 3 Peak or Rank 4 Early array apprentice who had spent the last five years scrubbing chamber pots, chopping spirit-firewood, and paying heavy “tuition bribes” at Heavenly-Lock Mountain just to learn three basic array diagrams.
