Infiltrating the Yunhua Sect

After a moment of cheerful amusement, Jiang Yao finally posed a question, her curiosity piqued.

“By the way, how did you two meet, and how did you even recognize each other? With brothers turning into sisters, it couldn’t have been easy to tell, could it?”

This question caused Xie Yuyan’s expression to stiffen; she quickly glanced at Yan Yun, shaking her head and winking repeatedly, a silent plea whose meaning Yan Yun, of course, understood.

Yet, as the saying goes, a true friend is also a mischievous one, and an opportunity to embarrass such a friend must never be missed.

Thus, Yan Yun promptly forgot her earlier promise to help Xie Yuyan conceal her elopement.

“Heh heh, my dear wife, you might not know this, but I ran into her on my way back from ‘walking the dog’ (TL Note: A humorous euphemism for a trivial or aimless outing). She was actually wearing a bridal gown at the time.”

The moment Xie Yuyan realized Yan Yun was about to expose her secrets, she instantly reached out and clapped a hand over Yan Yun’s mouth.

“Oh? You met her on the road, and she was wearing a bridal gown? What exactly happened?” Jiang Yao’s curiosity soared.

“Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph…” Yan Yun tried to continue speaking, but Xie Yuyan’s hand held her firmly, allowing only muffled sounds to escape.

Xie Yuyan, meanwhile, quickly offered a strained laugh.

“Little sister-in-law, don’t listen to this rascal’s nonsense. I was simply on my way to the Yunhua Sect to seek tutelage, and I happened upon her carriage. So, I stopped it, merely hoping for a ride.” Xie Yuyan managed a stiff smile, her expression rigid.

Any discerning person could tell at a glance that something was amiss between the two, yet Jiang Yao chose not to press for details.

“Alright, I understand you have your secrets, and I won’t pry. Stop bickering now.” Jiang Yao watched their antics, a wry smile playing on her lips.

Yan Yun forcefully pried Xie Yuyan’s hand away, casting a playful, threatening glance at her, an expression that clearly conveyed, ‘Oh, you little thing, your secret is now in my grasp.’

Xie Yuyan, her face dark and a muscle twitching at the corner of her mouth, glared fiercely at Yan Yun, her look silently warning that if Yan Yun dared to say another word, their ‘brotherhood’ would be irrevocably severed.

“Ahem, dear wife, we both wish to join the Yunhua Sect. Do you happen to know of any backdoor methods?” Yan Yun finally got down to business.

Yan Yun posing this question was well within Jiang Yao’s expectations, as Yan Yun’s secrets were not yet fit for public knowledge, making a normal entry process impossible for her.

“There is indeed a way to enter the Yunhua Sect through the back door, but Xie Xuan (TL Note: Jiang Yao mistakenly uses this name, which is later corrected to Xie Yuyan), are you sure you want to take the back door with this fellow as well?” Jiang Yao looked towards Xie Yuyan.

Xie Yuyan quickly corrected her name.

“My dear beauty Jiang, allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Xie Yuyan, not Xie Xuan.”

Listening to Xie Yuyan, who at one moment seemed like a man and the next like a woman, a bead of cold sweat trickled down Jiang Yao’s forehead.

“Ahem, then, my elder sister Yuyan, do you also intend to use the back door? I imagine you wouldn’t need to, would you?” Jiang Yao cooperatively addressed Xie Yuyan as ‘elder sister’.

She could clearly discern that Xie Yuyan had already reached the minor completion stage of the Gathering Spirit Realm.

While she was a direct disciple, she did not possess the authority to directly appoint someone as a formal disciple.

She could arrange for Yan Yun to become a nominal disciple, but it would be rather unsuitable for Xie Yuyan to hold such a position.

“If I can become a formal disciple directly, then a back door it is! But if not, I’ll simply follow the standard procedure,” Xie Yuyan declared.

Jiang Yao immediately clarified her reason for asking the question.

“My authority only extends to securing a nominal disciple spot. You could go through the normal process first; becoming a formal disciple is naturally the better option.”

Xie Yuyan glanced at Yan Yun, pondered for a moment, and then decided to undergo the assessment first.

“Alright, Third Sister, you go ahead and enter with little sister Jiang Yao. I’ll follow shortly,” Xie Yuyan said with a smile to Yan Yun.

Yan Yun nodded.

“Oh, and by the way, is there any danger in this entrance assessment?” Xie Yuyan quickly added, pressing for more information.

Jiang Yao then preemptively shared the assessment details she knew with both of them.

This information would certainly prove helpful to Xie Yuyan.

Having finished speaking, Xie Yuyan then proceeded alone to the mountain gate to participate in the entrance assessment.

****

The first stage was the Heavenly Staircase.

All candidates were required to ascend the several-thousand-meter-high mountain on foot, reaching the Yunhua Sect’s entrance before they could undergo the formal entrance examination.

“Hmm? Yan Yun, don’t you think Xie Xuan (TL Note: Jiang Yao mistakenly uses this name, referring to Xie Yuyan) is a bit… unusual?” Jiang Yao couldn’t help but remark after Xie Yuyan had left.

Yan Yun let out a heavy sigh upon hearing this.

“She was born a woman, and she’s lived as a woman for over a decade. It’s only natural she’d have some feminine habits. Honestly, she nearly drove me mad on the journey here.”

Jiang Yao chuckled softly.

“How amusing. Things will certainly be lively from now on. Come, I’ll take you up the mountain.” After watching Xie Yuyan depart, Jiang Yao immediately extended her hand to Yan Yun with a smile.

Yan Yun smiled in return, promptly placing her hand into Jiang Yao’s.

Immediately afterward, Jiang Yao’s body lifted from the ground, pulling Yan Yun along as they gradually ascended.

Although Yan Yun had now changed her appearance and concealed her identity, the two were, at last, truly reunited, a far different affair from their previous encounter in Qifeng City.

They swiftly flew out of the forest, soaring towards the towering summit of Yunxia Mountain.

This inaugural flight left Yan Yun considerably nervous; her hands clutched Jiang Yao’s left hand tightly as she gazed at the rapidly receding ground below.

“You… you’re flying too fast. This is my very first time flying,” Yan Yun stammered, a hint of fear in her voice.

“Once you reach the Cavern Heaven Realm, you’ll be able to fly too. You might as well get used to it now,” Jiang Yao replied.

As they ascended through the clouds and emerged above them, a floating island suspended in a sea of mist, adorned with a cluster of magnificent palaces, appeared in Yan Yun’s line of sight.

“Wow! It’s absolutely beautiful, like a celestial palace atop the clouds!” Yan Yun exclaimed, marveling at the scene before her.

“Naturally. Oh, and about this: a nominal disciple isn’t considered a formal disciple of the sect; they’re more like general laborers, specifically performing various chores for the sect. I was thinking, why don’t you just become my personal maid? That way, you could stay by my side every day,” Jiang Yao suggested.

Yan Yun immediately rolled her eyes at Jiang Yao.

“No way! I was already suppressed by you after marrying you, and you still want me to be your maid? Absolutely not! Besides, my identity isn’t fit for public eyes, and being too close to you wouldn’t be ideal. You should find me a more secluded place.”

Jiang Yao, in turn, wore an expression of helplessness.

“Alright, if we’re talking about a quiet place within the sect, it would undoubtedly be the Alchemy Elder’s Alchemy Peak. She needs many errand disciples there to help with tasks. I’ll take you to the Errand Department to register first, and then we’ll go to Alchemy Peak.”

As the two entered the Yunhua Sect, its full grandeur finally came into Yan Yun’s view. From a distance, the Yunhua Sect didn’t appear particularly large, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that it was divided into over a dozen distinct areas.

The seven most prominent areas comprised the Yunhua Sect’s seven major factions, while the remaining spaces were common zones, such as the Alchemy Pavilion and the Artifact Forging Hall, which everyone could enter and exit freely.

However, disciples from other factions were strictly forbidden from trespassing into the faction-specific areas controlled by the various elders.

At this moment, Yan Yun felt very much like Granny Liu visiting Grand View Garden (TL Note: A Chinese idiom describing someone from a humble background being overwhelmed by a grand, luxurious, or unfamiliar environment); they were in the Yunhua Sect’s marketplace, a bustling area filled with shops, all selling goods essential to cultivators.

As they walked, Jiang Yao continued to explain the workings of the Yunhua Sect to Yan Yun, eventually leading her to the Errand Department.

With Jiang Yao personally escorting her, the deacon at the Errand Department naturally refrained from probing into Yan Yun’s background. The deacon simply registered Yan Yun’s identity, issued her a set of errand disciple robes, and then assigned her to the medicine garden under the Alchemy Pavilion.

Thus, Yan Yun effortlessly became an errand disciple of the Yunhua Sect.