Cultivation: Being Immortal

Chapter 113

Huangmu Village

On the hill behind the village, Huang Liang cautiously approached Lin Jiang. He looked at the bird that was even bigger than him next to Lin Jiang and started sweating with cold sweat.

"I have seen the senior."

"Not bad, you came just in time."

"I wonder if the senior has any advice to offer."

"I am getting ready to leave Huangmu Village, and I need your help with a small favor."

"It is an honor for me to serve someone older and more experienced."

Huang Liang said flatteringly. Great! This "esteemed deity" is finally leaving. He no longer needs to be so careful.

"Here is a token. Use your spiritual power to activate it. Within three to five days, someone will come to pick me up. I want to join their group as a mortal. You must remember my identity: I am the son of an ordinary farmer from Machao Village. About ten years ago, Machao Village was destroyed by monsters, and we fled here with the villagers. I am fifteen years old this year, and the token was handed down by my ancestors..."

Lin Jiang said. Machao Village is Xiao Yuan's village. It was one of the three villages that were destroyed. There aren't many people left alive in Machao Village now. In a few decades, when these people have died out, his identity will be unquestionable.

"Um..."

Huang Liang was suddenly dumbfounded. This meant he had to infiltrate the sect as a spy.

"Let me explain. I have already planned everything for you. If you are discovered, I might be able to escape, but your whole family will definitely be wiped out. You have no choice now."

Lin Jiang said to Huang Liang. He must be over sixty years old now. In the past few years, he has had seven children in Huangmu Village. The oldest is almost six years old. Huang Liang has no time or energy to go elsewhere. His family is now his greatest vulnerability.

"Yes, yes, senior, I dare not."

"Give you two hours to think through the details you should, and then activate it."

Lin Jiang threw the Ascension Order to him. The Ascension Order has two ways of being used. One is to take the token to the Five Elements Sect, and the other is to activate it with spiritual power. Naturally, the Five Elements Sect will send someone to pick him up.

Huangmu Village is thousands of miles away from the Five Elements Sect. Lin Jiang himself can't make it unless he takes the Big Shadiao. And it's not reliable for Huang Liang to escort him. With only the strength of Qi Refining fifth level, he might be killed halfway. Having the Five Elements Sect come to pick him up is the most secure option.

······

"Greetings, senior."

Five days later, two disciples from the Five Elements Sect appeared in Huangmu Village, and Huang Liang welcomed them right away.

"Are you the resident cultivator here?"

"Yes, senior."

"Who triggered the Ascension Order of my Five Elements Sect?"

"Reporting to the senior, it was me, but I was triggered by someone else."

Huang Liang's heart tightened, he thought it was an Ascension Order from some small sect, but he didn't expect it to be from the Five Elements Sect. He's in trouble now, he's done for this time.

"Where is the person?"

"Oh, I'll call the person for you right away."

Huang Liang quickly called for Lin Jiang, who was busy working. Lin Jiang had just come back from the field and was covered in mud.

"Kid, is this token yours?"

"Yes, it belongs to me, sir."

"How did you come here?"

"What my father gave me before he died."

"Tell me in detail, what happened?"

"Yes, immortal."

Lin Jiang explained everything in detail, which was the story he made up earlier.

"Taoist friend, can you guarantee that what he said is true?"

"I think so. I'm the only cultivator in this village. They all moved from other villages because the previous ones were affected by monsters. If you don't believe it, you can investigate."

"Child, come here."

The disciples of the Five Elements Sect didn't have the time for this. He just listened carefully for a while and indeed heard some villagers talking about past events.

Lin Jiang approached the disciple of the Five Elements Sect, and the man directly placed his hand on Lin Jiang's shoulder, his consciousness entering Lin Jiang's body.

"His energy channels are different from ordinary people, but there are no other problems."

The person turned around and said to the others. There is no spiritual energy detected in his body, no cultivation level detected either, only his energy channels are stronger than ordinary people. However, this detection cannot determine how strong his energy channels are.

"Then there is no problem."

The others said. Some people have extraordinary talents, so their energy channels are stronger than those of ordinary people. It's not something rare, there are even more special cases.

"Child, would you be willing to join our Five Elements Sect?"

"Immortal, can I also become an immortal?"

"Of course."

"Then I'm willing. Immortal, does that mean I won't have to farm anymore?"

"Haha, that's not necessarily the case."

The disciple of the Five Elements Sect laughed loudly and said. The most common occupation in the Five Elements Sect is a Spiritual Farmer. They have to farm.

"Ah, so even after becoming an immortal, they still have to farm?"

"So, are you going or not?"

"I will go. In any case, it's all farming. I want to farm the fields of immortals."

"Okay, let's go back then."

One person said, without much investigation. Firstly, they didn't believe that a young child and an independent cultivator with Qi Refining dare deceive them. Secondly, even if they were to join the sect, it depends on the situation. If they are merely outer disciples, it doesn't matter, as they won't have access to the core. If they were to become inner disciples, for example, then others would naturally verify.

"This is ten spirit stones for your settlement fee. He doesn't have any family left, so we're giving it to you."

A disciple of the Five Elements Sect threw ten spirit stones for Huang Liang's settlement fee and then flew away. Huang Liang looked at the spirit stones in his hand and fell into deep thought.

That night, Huang Liang lit a huge incense stick at home. When the aroma of the incense filled the entire village, he carefully took away several children, carrying and hugging them. He was running away, leaving behind his wife and concubine. Women are everywhere, but the children are the hope.

"Cheep..."

However, not long after flying, he saw a huge creature appear beside him. He turned his head and saw a gigantic bird head beside him, and Huang Liang almost fell off.

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"Name"

"Xiao Yi"

"Age"

"Fifteen"

"Spiritual Root"

"What?"

"What's happening? You don't even know your Spiritual Root? Come here, let's test again."

The disciple from the Five Elements Sect grumbled unhappily, then pulled Lin Jiang to the Spirit Measuring Platform. After pricking Lin Jiang's finger, he dropped a drop of blood into the Spirit Measuring Platform.

"All five elements are complete. Another Five Spiritual Roots."

"Immortal..."

"From now on, call me Martial Uncle or Senior Brother, not 'Immortal,' it's embarrassing."

"Yes, Martial Uncle."

"Five Spiritual Roots, you can be an outer disciple. Next."

The disciple wrote down the record on Lin Jiang's Identity Jade Disc and then called the next person.

"Martial Uncle, isn't our Five Elements Sect focused on nurturing talents with Five Spiritual Roots? Why is he still an outer disciple?"

A boy beside Lin Jiang said, Lin Jiang turned around and said thank you in his heart, he also wanted to ask this question.

"Joke, out of ten cultivators, eight either have Five Spiritual Roots or Four Spiritual Roots. If we consider Five Spiritual Roots to be superior, then everyone would be an inner disciple, wouldn't they?"

"But, Martial Uncle, that's what everyone outside says."

"It's just a rumor, but Five Elements Sect does indeed have the opportunity to become an inner disciple or even a true disciple. This is an opportunity that other sects don't have. Someone will tell you the specifics later, for now let's move on to the next one."

A disciple of Five Elements Sect casually explained a few words and hurriedly registered information for the next person. Lin Jiang held the Jade Disc and entered the outer gate of Five Elements Sect with a few others.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Yue Qing. I come from the Yue family in Nanjiang. I have an uncle who is a steward in the outer gate of Five Elements Sect. And what about you?"

"I'm Peng An. My ancestors were once disciples of Five Elements Sect, but now my family is independent cultivators."

"My name is Ji Wen, same as Peng An."

"I'm Xiao Yi, a farmer in the village."

Lin Jiang said that Xiao Yi is Xiao Yuan's son's name, which was originally chosen by Lin Jiang. Let Xiao Yuan have a little advantage because this name sounds cool.

"Farming?"

Yue Qing was speechless. The Five Elements Sect no longer accepts disciples from the ordinary world unless they discover a talented disciple. Why would there be farmers?

So quickly, the small team of four, Lin Jiang became the invisible person, and the other three naturally formed a group. This is called having a common topic.

The four of them lived in the same courtyard, each with their own small room. But they were very small, even smaller than the rented house Lin Jiang had in a certain village. There was hardly any space besides a bed and a small table.

On the first day of the Five Elements Sect, everyone was excited. Yue Qing also invited Lin Jiang to discuss cultivation together. The three of them had never formally practiced cultivation before. The oldest was only thirteen years old, but their families all had cultivators, so they were familiar with cultivation. Their wish was to become Building Foundation cultivators because Building Foundation Period was the highest cultivation level they could aspire to. In their eyes, Building Foundation Period was already very powerful and prestigious.

(Translated by Gravity Tales 😨)

The next day, a disciple from the Five Elements Sect led them to familiarize themselves with the outer sect, but only in a small area because the outer sect of the Five Elements Sect was very large.

The Five Elements Sect's main gate covers an area of thousands of miles, but the core area of the inner sect is only a few tens of miles. The other places are considered part of the outer sect.

When the disciple found out that all four of them could read, he lazily handed them a small booklet and told them to read it on their own. He didn't bother giving them any more instructions.

Yue Qing and his friends were very familiar with the outer gate area. They had done their homework at home and could recognize everything without looking. Only Lin Jiang was busy reading a book.

On the third day, Lin Jiang and his friends became members of the Shanxue School, which is part of the Five Elements Sect. They didn't need to attend a beginner class because they could read, so they went straight to the practice class.

However, the practice class wasn't all about practicing. They also learned some basic knowledge about cultivating immortality, such as meridians, acupoints, and different levels of cultivation.

These things were very basic but very important. If they couldn't learn them, their cultivation would be in danger. Losing control and getting possessed by evil spirits was a definite possibility.

Lin Jiang had learned about these things in the Lin family, but the teachings in the Lin family couldn't compare to those in the Five Elements Sect. The knowledge was the same, but the key was the quality of the teachers. The instructors in the Five Elements Sect were specially trained to teach newcomers. It was like having top-level teachers in Blue Star.

Yue Qing had also learned about these things at home, but it wasn't systematic. They had to start learning from scratch. This part, overall, was not difficult. It was simply a matter of studying and memorizing.

None of the four of them acted immature or restless like typical children. They appeared quite mature and were diligent in their studies. Skipping class was nonexistent; each of them was hardworking.

After about a month, Lin Jiang graduated from the practice class along with Yue Qing and his friends. This level of strength was already impressive to the instructors at the Shanxue School because they knew that Yue Qing and his friends had family teachings, while Lin Jiang was a complete beginner.

After graduating from the practice class, they continued learning real cultivation.

These cultivation techniques are selected based on your Spiritual Root. They may not perfectly match with you, but you can practice them for now. If they don't suit you in the future, you can choose different techniques. The techniques collected by our Five Elements Sect are the best in Yun State, and there are plenty of them.

It's worth noting, disciples with Five Spiritual Roots, the cultivation technique you will practice is called 'Five Elements Sitting Zen Classic.' It is a simplified version of our sect's main technique, Five Spirit Manual. If you can break through three layers in one year without external assistance, you can be promoted to the inner sect and learn the true Five Spirit Manual, or you can choose the Unity Art and Hunyuan Treasure Book. There is also a greater chance of becoming a true disciple.

"Master, if we can't break through three layers in one year, does that mean we won't have a chance to learn the main technique?"

"That's not the case. If you can build a solid foundation and contribute to the sect after entering the inner sect, relying on Merit Points, you can still obtain it."

"Thank you, Master."

Lin Jiang replied, he had made up his mind not to be a genius. Being a genius attracted too much attention and made it easy to expose his true abilities. He decided to follow the ordinary path of those with Five Spiritual Roots.