Early the next morning, the day of the Immortal Destiny Gathering, held once every fifty years, arrived.
Tens of thousands of young people had gathered from various prefectures, packing the streets so tightly they were almost impassable. A lively hubbub filled the air for miles around.
With one side of her room's windows facing the street, Shi Yu was overwhelmed by the noise. She opened the window, took a look outside, and immediately gave up any thought of going down right away.
Just imagining being trapped in the crowd, unable to move and carried along by the tide of people, made her scalp tingle with dread.
She had never liked being too close to crowds.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Shi Yu lifted her lashes. “Come in.”
Chen Er pushed the door open. Seeing her still in the room, he asked in surprise, “Young Master, aren't you going yet?”
Shi Yu leaned lightly against the window frame, the sunlight falling on her face and casting a soft glow on her long eyelashes. “I'll go when it's less crowded.”
Chen Er grinned. “Then I'll wait and go with you, Young Master.”
Only then did Shi Yu remember that Chen Er was under twenty and eligible to participate in the spiritual meridian testing of the Immortal Destiny Gathering. She nodded at him and said lazily, “Take a seat and wait, then.”
Returning to the wooden table in the room, she sat down and unhurriedly enjoyed some pastries. It was not until the tumultuous noise outside gradually subsided that she walked to the window and looked up at the horizon.
At noon, the sunlight became dazzling, making her squint slightly.
Finally, a small speck appeared in the distant sky. A cloud boat flew closer from afar, rapidly approaching.
“They're here! The immortals are here!”
Struck speechless by the flying ship, the crowd couldn't help but gape at it again and again, overwhelmed by the shock of witnessing immortal methods firsthand—perhaps for the first and last time in their lives.
Chen Er was equally thunderstruck. Swallowing hard, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Shi Yu's expression hadn't changed at all. He couldn't help asking, “Young Master Shi, are you not amazed at all?”
Shi Yu withdrew her gaze from the cloud boat and glanced at him. “Amazed by what?”
Owing to her frail and weak health, her words were slow and soft, carrying an inexplicable charm of innocence.
Shi Yu truly saw nothing to be amazed about.
Leaving aside the fact that before transmigrating, her private jet at the Shi family was on standby at all times, she had ridden similar contraptions countless times just in the holographic game Xian Yuan.
As an epoch-making holographic game, Xian Yuan possessed a fully immersive experience that differed little from the real world. Shi Yu had seen far too many rare birds, exotic beasts, magic spells, and immortal artifacts.
Besides... Shi Yu took a closer look at the cloud boat and recognized its refining technique at a glance.
The spiritual materials used, the restrictions engraved, the skill level of the craftsman who made it... everything was completely clear to her, like a kindergarten math problem placed before a doctoral candidate. She had no interest in giving it a second glance.
It was a low-grade cloud boat with crude refining techniques, barely reaching the Second Grade.
Though it wasn't worth looking at, the good news was that this cloud boat—along with the Rejuvenation Pill her Second Senior Brother had given her previously—gradually confirmed to Shi Yu that this world's setting was identical to the Xian Yuan game.
Once her body gradually recovered, with a bit of cultivation base under her belt and spiritual energy at her disposal, she could try picking up her old craft again.
In the game Xian Yuan, her attainments in side professions like pill refining, artifact forging, talisman crafting, and array formation were the absolute pinnacle of pinnacles.
Over on his side, Chen Er choked slightly on Shi Yu's response. Admiring her composure, he said no more and eagerly stared at the cloud boat, seizing this rare opportunity.
This was a once-in-fifty-years chance. By the time he saw such immortal methods next time, he would be nearly seventy—if he could even live that long. Soaking it in now was definitely worth every second.
The cloud boat, roughly thirty feet long, hovered above the center of Guangle Village. At the center of the village stood a massive stone platform specially built for the Immortal Destiny Gathering. More than twenty cultivators stepped off the cloud boat, followed last by a young cultivator with his hair tied in a high topknot. With a wave of his sleeve, the massive cloud boat shrank and was stowed into his sleeve, evoking another wave of gasps from the onlookers.
Hearing these exclamations, the young cultivator couldn't help a flash of youthful pride in his eyes.
Their Yuxu Sect was situated at the boundary between the Origin Realm and the Mortal Realm. Their sect's strength was meager, making them an obscure, minor sect in the Origin Realm.
Traveling outside, these disciples had endured plenty of cold glares and contempt from major sect disciples. Coming to the mortal world now and receiving so many awe-filled glances made it hard not to feel a bit light-headed.
For this reason, everyone fought for the assignment to search for disciples in the Mortal Realm.
The village chief and several officials approached, bowing and showering them with compliments. “Immortals, you have traveled far to reach us. Please allow us to host a welcoming banquet for you...”
Before he could finish, the young cultivator raised a hand to stop him. “No need. We come by our master's order to fulfill a good destiny from three hundred years ago. It is better to finish our official business first.”
They would have liked to rest as well, but their master had instructed them to make it quick, so they couldn't afford to delay.
The officials dared not argue, nodding in agreement repeatedly.
The young cultivator then cleared his throat and produced a sound-amplifying stone. Spurring it with his spiritual force, his voice echoed for miles around: “First, everyone stand on the north side of the stone platform. Ascend from the northern steps, one hundred people at a time. Once your spiritual meridian is tested, descend from the south side.”
The crowd shifted instantly, surging toward the northern side of the stone platform and leaving a vast open space on the southern side.
After waiting a moment until everyone moved, the young cultivator added, “Remember, only those aged ten to twenty are eligible. Do not attempt to fish in troubled waters; we have our own methods to test bone age.”
As soon as these words were spoken, those who had hoped to try their luck hesitated before stepping back reluctantly.
“No pushing or hurting others either. Come up in order.” After giving a few instructions, the young cultivator nodded to his fellow disciples. “Begin.”
One of the maidens, wearing a goose-yellow dress, brushed her hand over the mustard-seed bag at her waist and produced a fist-sized spirit-testing stone.
The rest of the cultivators signaled for the young people to ascend the stone platform in order.
A hundred people went up at once. When the group was full, the girl in the goose-yellow dress channeled spiritual force into the spirit-testing stone, causing it to emit a hundred hazy strands of spiritual energy that attached to each person.
After about ten breaths, not a single strand among the hundred altered in the slightest. Seeing this, the girl shook her head. “The test is complete. Head down to the south side.”
Someone couldn't help asking, “May I ask which of us was chosen?”
The young cultivator replied, “Not a single one. If the spiritual energy shows no change, it means none of you possess a spiritual meridian. Go on down.”
The crowd walked to the other side of the stone platform in disappointment.
Watching from a distance, Chen Er had expected this outcome, yet he still couldn't help muttering, “Not even one among a hundred... that really is...”
Spiritual energy was thin in the Mortal Realm, and someone born with a spiritual meridian was one in ten thousand; such a result was entirely normal.
Shi Yu's gaze fell upon the spirit-testing stone.
Since this spirit-testing stone tested a hundred people at once, it naturally wasn't very precise, capable only of detecting whether a spiritual meridian existed inside the body. The exact quality of the spiritual meridian was impossible to discern, though it was sufficient for the present situation.
She wondered whether the spirit-testing stone would react when she went up for the test.
Because of the Life Spring water, a tiny crimson halo had developed where her empty spiritual meridian once was. However, that halo was far too faint and thin, still a long way off from a true spiritual meridian. If it couldn't be detected, she would just have to figure out another way.
On the stone platform, a hundred people went up at a time, and each test concluded in ten breaths, making the process move quite quickly.
By the time the sun was setting, only one or two thousand people remained untested.
Unable to contain his impatience any longer, Chen Er called out to Shi Yu, “Young Master, let's go too.”
Shi Yu murmured an assent and stepped forward to follow him.
Rate on N.U.
