Chen Sheng soon took his leave from Han Lou True Monarch's great hall.

Although he had received the True Monarch's verbal promise, there were still several formal procedures to officially become a member of the Three Elements Dao Sect.

Master De Ming guided him through several corridors adorned with carved beams and painted rafters.

Cloud patterns and immortal cranes were engraved on the pillars, and faint sounds of dao bells chimed, blending harmoniously with the distant sounds of gongs and chimes.

Arriving at an expansive courtyard, he saw a circular building built entirely of dark green stone standing at the center—it was the Heart Inquiry Array used by the sect to test one's heart technique.

A gentle white mist lingered above the building, and within the mist, countless runes flowed, sometimes forming a sword shape, sometimes transforming into a Pill Furnace, emanating a subtle pressure.

Standing outside the array, Master De Ming smiled and said:

"Fellow Daoist Tingyu, all you need to do is walk into the array and reveal your true heart."

"The array will only ask some basic questions to confirm that you aren't a spy from another sect and hold no malice towards our sect."

Feeling at ease, Chen Sheng stepped into the array.

As he entered, he felt a gentle yet irresistible force enveloping his body, as if he was soaking in warm water.

Several clear thoughts echoed in his mind, not human voices, but each word distinct:

"Where do you come from?"

"Why do you want to join the Three Elements Dao Sect?"

"Do you harbor any ill intentions towards the sect?"

He answered truthfully one by one, from his origins in Qinghua Sect of Chu Country to his aspirations for the sect's Alchemy Array heritage, without concealing anything in his words.

As he replied, the white mist within the array gradually surged, and the frequency of rune flickers also gradually stabilized.

After the time taken to brew a cup of tea, the white mist within the array slowly dissipated, and a gentle golden light descended from the dome, flowing over Chen Sheng like water—a sign of passing the heart inquiry.

He walked out of the array and followed Master De Ming to the oath altar.

The altar was carved entirely from white jade, and in the center stood a tall stone tablet inscribed with the ancient seal characters of "Three Elements Dao Sect," with vigorous strokes and faint spiritual power circulating.

Chen Sheng stood solemnly before the stone tablet and formally took his Dao Heart Oath.

As the oath was uttered, a faint spirit light emerged around his body, resonating with the spiritual power on the stone tablet, leaving an indelible mark in his divine sense.

"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, from now on you are a member of our sect."

Master De Ming smilingly waited outside the oath altar, and upon seeing Chen Sheng emerge, he clasped his hands and changed his address:

"Greetings, Elder Tingyu."

He paused, then shifted his tone with a hint of depth in his eyes: "Would fellow Daoist take this opportunity to adopt a Daoist name?"

Chen Sheng felt a stir in his heart upon hearing this.

He had long heard that the Three Elements Dao Sect, as a legitimate Daoist faction, had a heritage system for Daoist names, such as "Profound Mystery Path," "Cold Universe Enlightenment," "Great Transformation Containing Virtue and Benevolence," and other sequences.

Though not a strict seniority ranking, one cannot let a Nascent Soul True Monarch address later arrivals as "Senior Uncle," but it is also a symbol of the time one entered the sect and one's sect identity.

For cultivators like him who joined later, it wasn't mandatory to change, but it conveyed more of the meaning of integration into the sect.

Meeting Master De Ming's slightly mysterious smile, Chen Sheng nodded gently:

"The name Tingyu was something I came up with casually; since I have joined the Dao Sect, I naturally should have a proper Daoist name. Please give me guidance."

"That's easy."

Master De Ming laughed heartily, raising his hand to point at a pavilion shrouded in distant clouds:

"According to sect regulations, those who have recently entered the Inner Sect within the past fifty years should take a Daoist name starting with 'Micro.' Follow me to the Dao Tower to choose a name."

Chen Sheng was a bit surprised, not expecting that he would need to make a special trip to the Dao Tower just to choose a Daoist name.

After a brief airborne journey, they arrived at the towering pavilion, made entirely of mutton fat jade. It was divided into nine levels, surrounded by a magnificent array.

At the array hub, over a thousand jade scrolls of ancient designs floated, each one blank, emitting a faint spirit light.

"This Dao Tower itself is a Heaven-Reaching Array, and Daoist names are imparted by heaven. Stand in the center of the array hub."

Master De Ming pointed to the core of the array.

There, a giant Tai Chi pattern was carved on the ground, with Luminous Beads set in the eyes of the Yin Yang Fish, emitting a gentle glow.

Following the instructions, Chen Sheng walked into the center of the Tai Chi pattern. As soon as he stood still, the entire array suddenly exploded with brilliant golden light.

Numerous runes swam through the array like fish, eventually converging into a floating blank jade scroll.

As the golden light faded, two ancient seal characters appeared on the jade scroll—Micro-Image—surrounded by a faint purple aura, flowing gently as if alive.

"An excellent Daoist name!"

Master De Ming clapped his hands in admiration, his eyes full of joy:

"As the Dao scripture says: 'The Dao, as a thing, is indiscernible and indistinct. Faint and vague, therein lies an image.'"

"An image is the outline of the Dao, the sign of all things. It seems heaven knows the exceptional nature of the fellow Daoist and has bestowed such a meaningful Daoist name!"

As he spoke, he took down the jade scroll and handed it over to Chen Sheng with both hands.

The jade scroll felt smooth to the touch, as delicate as a baby's skin, and the characters "Micro-Image" on it seemed to come alive, faintly circulating spirit light, subtly resonating with Chen Sheng's aura.

"Let's go, fellow Daoist, we need to register the jade scroll and create a Soul Jade."

Master De Ming turned and guided him toward another palace.

That palace was made entirely of obsidian, with two stone lions standing at the entrance, each holding a Treasure Bead in their mouths, emanating a deep glow.

Chen Sheng held the jade scroll, his heart stirred, and he couldn't help but ask, "If one is unwilling to take a Daoist title, can they not obtain the jade scroll?"

Master De Ming smiled without speaking, but a trace of deep meaning flashed in his eyes, as if to say, "The key to this can only be grasped intuitively."

Chen Sheng's heart tightened, and he instantly understood—those who are unwilling to accept a Daoist title may have lost the opportunity to enter the core of the sect from the very beginning.

The jade scroll is not only a carrier of the Daoist title but also a symbol of identity and trust. Without it, one is like rootless duckweed, hard to penetrate the heart of the Daoist sect.

The two soon arrived in the palace, where dozens of crystal-clear jade platforms were set up, each with a soul jade emitting a faint glow.

Master De Ming handed the "Micro-Image" jade scroll to the steward inside the hall.

The steward was an elder with gray hair and beard, wearing a gray Daoist robe. After receiving the jade scroll, he took out a blank soul jade.

He gathered spiritual power at his fingertips, carefully extracting both Chen Sheng's mana aura and a weak divine soul wave, injecting them into the soul jade.

The soul jade first rippled, then resonated with the jade scroll, emitting a faint golden light.

A moment later, the jade scroll was divided into two by an invisible force, with one half embedded in the soul jade base, and the other returned to Chen Sheng's hand.

Master De Ming solemnly instructed, pointing to the soul jade:

"Fellow Daoist, you must preserve this jade well."

"This soul jade is connected to your divine soul, its yin and yang are interlinked. If one piece breaks, the other will display the scene before breaking, even if separated by millions of miles, the details can be known."

Chen Sheng nodded gently.

As he deepened his understanding of the Daoist sect, he already understood the miraculous use of this soul jade—similar to the soul lamp of Qinghua Sect, but much more advanced.

While the soul lamp can only monitor the cultivator's status, life, and death, the soul jade's function goes far beyond. If an inner sect disciple of Three Elements Dao Sect falls outside, the soul jade can not only notify the sect of the calamity but also lock onto the enemy's whereabouts through residual imagery, enabling an effective response.

Master De Ming added:

"The true purpose of this jade is not for posthumous revenge, but for deterrence."

"To use the sect's power as a backing, so that petty villains dare not easily provoke our Daoist sect disciples, that is the deep meaning of the soul jade."

Chen Sheng clenched the jade scroll in his hand, nodding lightly.

One day passed quietly.

Compared to the simple registration when joining Qinghua Sect, the entry affairs of Three Elements Dao Sect are obviously much more complicated.

From identity verification to divine soul seal recording, from cultivation technique inheritance registration to welfare privilege confirmation, each item has strict procedures.

Even with Master De Ming accompanying him and leveraging his status as an inner sect elder to skip the queue several times, by the time all trivial matters were handled, the sky was already tinted with the evening glow.

Master De Ming smiled and bid farewell with a cupped hand salute, "Fellow Daoist Micro-Image, Nine Cloud Peak has been prepared for you, it will be your place for secluded cultivation henceforth."

Chen Sheng thanked Master De Ming and followed the direction indicated by the jade scroll to fly in the air.

According to sect rules, inner sect elders at Golden Core Realm, including True Inheritors at Foundation Establishment Realm, can independently establish a mountain peak cave mansion.

Through layers of clouds and mist, a towering peak gradually appeared before his eyes—the Nine Cloud Peak.

The peak stands within deep mountains, its form as sharp as if cut and chiseled by knives!

The summit is covered with snow, while the mountain waist is lush with numerous exotic flowers and herbs growing, a clear spiritual spring meanders down from the summit, creating pleasant sounds in the mountain stream.

The entire mountain peak is shrouded in a faint spiritual qi mist, faintly visible are spirit veins surging underground, the grade reaching quasi-Tier Four.

"What a magnificent place for a cave mansion!"

Chen Sheng praised inwardly as he landed on the platform at the peak.

Around the platform lay several exquisite pavilions and towers, all constructed of purple sandalwood, their roofs covered with glazed tiles, which shimmered with colorful lights in the reflection of the sunset.

Beside the towers are thousands of acres of neatly developed high-grade spirit fields and medicine gardens, the ridges etched with spirit gathering array patterns, continuously absorbing Heaven and Earth spiritual qi, at this moment many common spirit grasses have already sprouted new buds in the fields.

According to sect rules, inner sect elders can freely cultivate various spiritual objects here, if unable to care for them, simply posting a task on the sect task list, Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment disciples from the Spirit Plant Hall will come to manage them.

Chen Sheng looked at this fertile spirit field, a trace of a smile flashed in his eyes, saving a lot of effort for alchemy spiritual materials in the future.

He had already changed his attire, wearing a pale cyan inner sect elder magic robe, the hem exquisitely embroidered with cloud patterns and pill furnace designs, faintly flowing with spirit light, unexpectedly a Tier Three High Grade magic robe.

Hanging from his waist was the identity jade scroll inscribed with "Micro-Image", it felt warm to the touch and emitted a faint spiritual power fluctuation.

Chen Sheng pointed lightly at the jade scroll, which instantly projected a water screen, clearly recording his privileges, benefits, and duties:

"Privileges: may choose five cultivation techniques from Three Elements Scripture Pavilion; may enter inner sect cultivation room; may borrow Tier Three and below cultivation techniques, pill formulas, array maps…"

"Benefits: an annual tribute of fifty thousand small merit, convertible to five hundred thousand lower grade spirit stones, ten bottles of Tier Three Basic Cultivation Elixirs every ten years, three times top-level fire chamber usage rights every ten years…"

Looking at these benefits, Chen Sheng couldn't help but lament:

"Indeed, the Nascent Soul Major Sect's treatment!"

Back in Qinghua Sect, even as the master of the Pill Hall, the annual tribute was merely one hundred thousand lower grade spirit stones, let alone other benefits. Compared to Three Elements Dao Sect, it's simply worlds apart.

The water screen continued scrolling, displaying his responsibilities and obligations:

"Required to complete one routine duty annually, one high-level duty every thirty years, must not disclose sect secrets, must uphold sect's reputation…"

Chen Sheng briefly inspected the arrangements for duties, and his heart was instantly relieved.

As Pill Vein Elder, his routine duties mainly involve refining designated pills for the sect, while high-level duties might involve participating in large-scale alchemy projects or guiding low-tier disciples in alchemy.

Chen Sheng chuckled to himself:

"These duties, for me, are entirely about using the sect's resources to enhance my alchemy skills."

Though the sect will likely profit from these duties, he has the opportunity to hone various pill formulas, improve alchemy techniques, it's a win-win scenario no matter how it's viewed.

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