In the Drifting Clouds World, mortals also existed. In fact, even when cultivators joined together and had children, it was possible for them to be born without a spiritual root. When the True Spirit Sect selected mortal servants for its official disciples, it mostly looked within the disciples' own clans.
Wang Chuyan was such a case. She had a good older brother who, despite having a three-element spirit root, was born naturally intelligent. His progress in magical arts was far faster than other disciples.
Wang Fang was looked upon favorably by an Elder and taken under his tutelage. Only then was an exception made to give him the chance to select a mortal servant ahead of time, allowing Wang Chuyan to enter the sect. However, not every cultivator had the protection of a sect or a family clan.
The opportunities that set them on the path of cultivation mostly came from various serendipitous encounters. After guiding qi into their bodies, they would begin a life known as that of a "rogue cultivator."
Aside from the powerful lone wolves among them who were unwilling to be shackled by a sect, the vast majority of rogue cultivators had low cultivation bases, hovering in the early to mid Qi Refinement stage. They lived together with mortals, forming cities of various sizes.
The place Zhao Chun's group was heading to this time was a medium-sized city—Ji City. Hong Qisheng had come from a humble background. He was injured by bandits during an escort mission and was fortunate enough to be given an elixir pill by a passing great cultivator.
He immediately guided qi into his body and even advanced all the way to the mid Qi Refinement stage. He was also granted Daoist arts, thus beginning his cultivation. However, he was already over thirty years old at the time and had a four-element spirit root, so there was no possibility of him entering a sect.
After many twists and turns, Hong Qisheng arrived in Ji City, where he married a wife, had a child, and settled down. It was just that his wife and daughter were both mortals, unable to inherit his Daoist arts. Fearing he would have no successor, he came up with the idea of selecting a son-in-law for his daughter.
He sought a generous, loyal, and righteous man, not asking for outstanding aptitude, but only for diligence and hard work in cultivation, and that he would genuinely cherish his only daughter. Once this matter was announced, all the young men in the city were overjoyed.
Hong Qisheng, at the mid Qi Refinement stage, held a rather high status in Ji City. Not to mention this father-in-law, his daughter Hong Qian, who was in the prime of her youth, was a renowned beauty, born with a face like a flower and a moon-like grace, her figure elegant and poised.
Power and beauty, who would not want to have both in their grasp? Hong Qisheng spent a large sum to post a notice in the True Spirit Sect. On one hand, he needed to identify whether the people coming for the son-in-law selection possessed a spiritual root.
He did not possess such a treasure, and thus could not accomplish this task. On the other hand, the Daoist arts he practiced were passed down by a great cultivator and were more exquisite than those of other rogue cultivators, which had long been coveted by others.
It was only because he was at the mid Qi Refinement stage that no one dared to make a rash move. But his future son-in-law would be different. Having just stepped onto the path of cultivation with low strength, he feared the man might be killed for his treasures.
The True Spirit Sect was not close to Ji City, but its reputation was illustrious. The large and small sects around Ji City all had to avoid it. Hong Qisheng's recruitment of this sect's disciples was also in the hope of using the True Spirit Sect's name to intimidate others.
It was only during this trip that Zhao Chun learned what kind of status her sect had in the surrounding area. When they stopped to rest in a small city, whether in taverns or inns, even the street vendors, upon learning they were from the True Spirit Sect, their legs would buckle as they were about to kneel.
Looking at Feng Sanchu and the others, their expressions were as normal as ever. They must have been accustomed to such situations. After traveling for two days, they would arrive at Ji City before noon the next day.
The group checked into an inn outside the city and ordered a table of food to enjoy. The inn did not separate immortals from mortals, and it was noisy with human voices. At the table next to Zhao Chun's, seven or eight cloth-robed and sword-wearing burly men were drinking from large bowls, speaking loudly without any regard for others.
"Have you lot heard?"
Someone replied, "Heard what? If you have something to say, spit it out!"
"You know of the Wind-Stopping Forest three hundred li to the east, right? An immortal has come there. He can live without eating anything!"
At Zhao Chun's table, though their faces showed nothing, all of them pricked up their ears. Qi Refinement stage cultivators still needed to eat to fill their stomachs. Only after reaching Foundation Establishment could one practice inedia and thereafter be untainted by the mortal dust.
There were many forests here, and the location was remote. How could a Foundation Establishment cultivator appear here?
"Is that true? You must have been bewitched in your sleep!"
"How could I lie to you! The immortal has established a sect deep in the forest and has even accepted several apprentices!"
The burly man picked up an empty bowl and plate, saying, "A white jade disc this big, you just shine it on a person's face, and you can know if they have immortal fate! Isn't that miraculous?" That was a jade disc used for spirit testing.
It was not common outside, but all the major sects had them. One only needed to shine it on a person's yintang, and by seeing whether the jade disc glowed, one could tell if the person had a spiritual root. Meng Han had brought such an item for the son-in-law selection assembly.
However, this item was not as mystical as the Spirit-reflecting Shadow Screen; it could only distinguish presence or absence, not the details of the spiritual root. Zhao Chun still remembered the silver fish that Cao Wenguan had used that day.
Only after entering the sect did she learn that the spiritual qi in the Flying Gourd Minor World was thin, so the jade disc would not react. They used fish born from the source of the Heaven-Piercing River, which naturally contained spiritual qi and were very precious. However, not every small world was like this.
Flying Gourd and Drifting Clouds had lost contact for a long time, so the spiritual qi had dissipated severely. Most of the other small worlds still had residual spiritual qi. Although it was insufficient for a cultivator's cultivation, it was enough for the mortals within to live long lives with few illnesses.
Then they heard the burly man say, "The immortal is very benevolent. Anyone under the age of thirty-five, as long as they have immortal fate, can enter! It's a pity we brothers are all long past that age, otherwise we'd go and try too!"
Zhao Chun frowned. It was naturally better for a cultivator to step onto the path of cultivation as early as possible. Being over twenty was already considered extremely late.
Unless one was a genius with a heavenly spiritual root or a dual spirit root, reaching the mid Qi Refinement stage was basically hopeless. The entry threshold for small sects was low, but surely not this low.
Everyone at the table felt something was wrong, but then they considered that some cultivators indeed did not play by the rules, like the one who gifted the pill to Hong Qisheng, or the Core Condensation elder in their own sect who most enjoyed mingling with mortals. Others truly could not fathom their thoughts.
Deciding not to think about it anymore, they each returned to their rooms after finishing their meal. Since her confinement ended, Zhao Chun had already opened two more meridians in those two months.
She was now entering the sixth meridian, the Hand Taiyang Small Intestine Meridian among the Three Yang Meridians of the Hand, and her cultivation had reached the final step. She sat cross-legged on the bed plank, the metal and fire spiritual energy moving with the flow, completely breaking through the meridian! With that, half of the twelve meridians were complete.
At this rate, in about another half a year, she would be able to break through to the third level of Qi Refinement. The speed was so fast it startled even her! However, every strand of spiritual qi was truly earned through her daily ascetic cultivation, and she had thoroughly mastered every meridian.
Zhao Chun had also suspected whether her progress was so fast because her meridians were too narrow. But after discussing it with Lian Jing, she confirmed that although her meridians could not be described as wide as rivers, they were still superior to those of ordinary cultivators. Later, she asked Xun Xian during a minor class.
He guessed, "The fire attribute is explosive, and the metal attribute is sharp. Cultivators of these two types indeed progress faster than others in the second level of Qi Refinement. You are cultivating two elements concurrently, so this is likely the reason."
He paused halfway through his sentence and then said to the remaining disciples, "You all need not be envious. When you reach the third level of Qi Refinement, the acupoints need to be nurtured. That is when wood and water attribute cultivators will have the advantage."
The disciples nodded their heads like pounding garlic. Only the earth attribute cultivators wore bitter expressions; they were the ones left out among the five elements. Zhao Chun took out a transparent pearl from the inner pocket of her robes.
It was the one she had picked up in the dry well. As her cultivation base grew more profound, the pearl also became more translucent, but it had never again shown the brilliance of that day. She felt that this pearl had a certain spirituality, so she always carried it with her.
Although it was uncomfortable to sleep on and she felt nothing else from it, Zhao Chun always had a thought in her heart: she and it were linked to each other, and neither could leave the other.
"What is so special about you?"
Zhao Chun held it in her palm and murmured.
(End of Chapter)