An excruciating wave of dizziness struck Ye Tian’s head as his consciousness slowly returned. The first sensation to hit him was no longer the dry, bitter cold of Qingxi City’s night wind, but an air current so pure, cool, and fragrant—it felt as though every breath he drew was filled with the essence of the rarest flowers.

Ye Tian groaned, clutching his head, which felt as if it were about to split open. A second later, however, his eyes snapped open in panic. His hands immediately fumbled around the ground beneath him.

"The rice... Where's my rice?!" he cried out hoarsely.

The moment his fingers brushed against the coarse hemp fabric, Ye Tian let out a massive sigh of relief. The half-bag of rice was still there, tightly tied to his waist, not a single grain missing. Only after ensuring his most precious treasure was safe did Ye Tian scan his surroundings to see where that insane vortex of light had taken him.

And it was in that moment that Ye Tian’s breath completely caught in his throat.

He was no longer on a tiled rooftop, nor was he in the city square. Ye Tian was lying on a carpet of velvet-soft green grass that emitted a soft, silvery glow. All around him grew towering trees with leaves resembling jade crystals, clinking melodiously whenever the wind blew through them.

Far ahead, an extraordinary sight unfolded. Massive islands of land hovered freely in the sky, connected by shimmering rainbow bridges. Colossal waterfalls cascaded from these floating islands, plunging through an endless sea of white clouds below. Majestic palaces of gold and white architecture stood firmly atop the floating mountain peaks, surrounded by snow-feathered giant cranes soaring freely through the air.

"Where... is this?" Ye Tian whispered, his body trembling. The place was too beautiful, too grand, so much so that his mortal mind refused to process it.

"Welcome to the Ascension Gate of the Immortal Realm, Sister Mei," a deep, authoritative voice echoed from ahead, shattering Ye Tian's awe.

Ye Tian turned his head and saw Lady Mei—the woman he had desperately clung to in the sky moments ago—standing gracefully a few meters in front of him. Facing her were three white-haired old men clad in luxurious golden robes. The aura radiating from these elders was so potent it made the surrounding air vibrate subtly. Behind them lined up dozens of young disciples in handsome matching uniforms, carrying banners emblazoned with the words "Cloud Sword Sect."

Lady Mei bowed respectfully and calmly. "Mei Ling greets the Grand Elders of the Cloud Sword Sect."

"Magnificent! Pure, absolutely pure!" one of the white-haired elders laughed proudly, stroking his long beard. "Your natural talent with the Sacred Lotus Physique is the finest we have seen in a century. You are hereby accepted as a Core Disciple! Come, the divine carriage awaits to bring you to the Main Peak."

However, just as Lady Mei took a step forward, one of the elders’ gazes suddenly shifted, landing on the ragged young man sitting bewildered on the jade grass. The elder's warm demeanor instantly turned icy and filled with disgust.

"Hold on. Who is that dust-covered mortal brat? How did a pest from the lower realm slip into the Sacred Gate?" the second Elder asked with a booming voice that made Ye Tian’s chest tighten, as if struck by an invisible sledgehammer.

Lady Mei glanced briefly back at Ye Tian. A flash of annoyance flickered through her eyes as she recalled how tightly he had hugged her waist earlier, but her expression swiftly returned to a cold, detached mask.

"He is... merely an accidental mortal dragged into my Ascension vortex back in the lower realm," Lady Mei replied indifferently, as though Ye Tian were nothing more than a stray pebble inadvertently caught in the sole of her shoe.

Hearing this, the disciples of the Cloud Sword Sect immediately broke into hushed whispers, looking down at Ye Tian with contempt. A few even scoffed mockingly.

"Dragged along? How dare this mortal trash defile the sanctity of the Ascension ritual!"

One of the disciples stepped forward, examining Ye Tian with his spiritual sense. After a moment, he spat on the ground with a sneer. "Elders, this boy possesses no Spiritual Roots whatsoever. His meridians are completely blocked—a purely filthy mortal body. He is trash among trash, without a single shred of talent for cultivation!"

Ye Tian clenched his fists tightly at the insults. In the mortal world, he was look down upon for being poor; in this world, he was reviled for lacking a so-called "spiritual foundation." Hot-blooded, Ye Tian tried to push himself up, but the suffocating pressure of the elders' aura forced him back down onto his knees.

"Elders, what should we do with this pest? Shall we throw him back into the abyss of the lower realm?" the disciple asked.

The Supreme Elder shook his head lazily. "Throwing him back would only waste our dimensional formation's energy. Just leave him here. Without divine food and spiritual energy to absorb, his fragile mortal body will either starve to death or be devoured by wild beasts within a few weeks. The Immortal Realm is a world where the strong prey upon the weak. Trash has no right to live here."

"Let us depart. Do not allow the presence of this pest to delay the welcoming of our Core Disciple," the Elder added.

Lady Mei did not utter a single word. She turned away and stepped gracefully into the golden carriage drawn by two white-winged pegasi. The carriage then hurtled into the sky, followed by the Cloud Sword Sect entourage flying aboard their treasure swords.

In an instant, the grand plaza fell dead silent.

Ye Tian was left alone on the foreign floating land, surrounded by an unwelcoming splendor. The high mountain wind blew, carrying a different kind of chill—not physical coldness, but the frigid air of absolute abandonment. He was treated as a non-entity, a pest left behind to die on its own.

Ye Tian slowly pushed himself up to his feet, his knees still weak. He stared at the spot where Lady Mei’s carriage had disappeared behind the clouds, then looked down at the bag of rice at his waist. Fear briefly gripped his heart, but the image of his hungry little sister, Xiao Mei, flashed in his mind once more.

"Starve to death? Trash?" Ye Tian sneered bitterly, wiping the dried blood from his cheek—a souvenir from the mortal arrow strike earlier. His eyes ignited with a fierce, newfound determination.

"You look down on me just because I’m a mortal? Just you wait. I, Ye Tian, swear... I will not die here. I will crawl, I will fight, and I will grow stronger than all of you—just to go back home and deliver this rice to my sister!"