The Long Road to Immortality

Song Ke spoke slowly:

"She was in the Heart-Peeking Mirror for too long and hasn't fully broken free of that state yet. I put her to sleep. She'll be fine once she wakes up."

"Thank you, Senior, for your help!"

The Wei family children immediately thanked him in unison.

Song Ke rather liked polite children. Smiling, he said:

"No matter. Rest and recover for a while first. The third round of assessment is about to begin."

"Yes, Senior!"

After Song Ke finished speaking, he went to prepare the third round of assessment. The Wei family members clumsily carried Wei Yunqing to their resting place, then each sat down to meditate and regulate their breathing.

"Yunxi, look after your sister."

Wei Yunting spoke.

Wei Yunxi nodded somewhat unwillingly.

Wei Yunting was in a difficult position as well. She was the leader and could not possibly look after only one person. Wei Yunying was clearly very repulsed by Wei Yunqing. Though Wei Yunxi's relationship with this sister of hers was only so-so, she was currently the only one conveniently able to care for Wei Yunqing.

As for "care," it merely meant reminding Wei Yunqing that they were still in the sect entry assessment when she opened her eyes.

A moment later, Wei Yunqing slowly woke up. Wei Yunxi leaned close and said:

"Sister, you're awake? If you didn't wake up soon, you'd miss the third round of assessment."

Wei Yunqing was still somewhat dazed. The moment she saw Wei Yunxi's face, her gaze sharpened, and she was just about to strike—but in the next instant, she discovered that she could not mobilize the spiritual power within her body. Looking closer, she found that she had pitifully little spiritual power. She was not Fairy Yunqing, renowned throughout the Weiyu Realm.

Wei Yunxi took in every shift in the other's expression and deliberately waved her little chubby hand before her eyes.

"Sister, are you all right? What exactly did you experience in the Heart-Peeking Mirror? You were really scary when you first came out."

Her words pulled Wei Yunqing back to herself. Only then did she remember that she had been the first to enter the Heart-Peeking Mirror, where she had lived through an entire lifetime.

And the younger sister before her had been a stumbling block on her path of cultivation. Just before her ascension, she had fought Wei Yunxi and nearly perished. Only then had she realized that she was in an illusion.

It was because Wei Yunxi possessed Three Spiritual Roots rather than the lightning-element Mutated Spiritual Root talent from the illusion that she had managed to break free from it.

Wei Yunqing let out a light breath.

"I'm fine. I was just in the illusion for a little too long, and my head hurts."

Wei Yunxi offered no comment on such a lame excuse. Since the person was awake, her task was complete. She returned to Zonghao's side to meditate, preparing herself for the third round of assessment.

Seeing the indifferent expressions of everyone around her, Wei Yunqing felt anger rise in her heart, though she did not show it. This trial targeted individuals; she could not blame anyone else.

By then, Song Ke had already recorded the rankings. He appeared once more before the fifty-two people who had passed the assessment and said:

"All of you are disciples who have passed the second round of assessment. We won't waste words. Next comes the final round. Only by passing this assessment may you enter the Haoran Sect and officially cultivate. Are you ready?"

"Ready!"

Fifty little turnip heads of varying heights shouted in reply.

Song Ke smiled in satisfaction and waved his hand, releasing three gates. Then he turned and said:

"Each of you may choose a gate to enter. As long as you successfully walk out through it, you will have passed the assessment. I'll be waiting for you on the other side."

With that, he turned and left.

This time, no one rushed in. Hadn't the little girl who entered the Heart-Peeking Mirror first been the last one to come out?

The Wei family members also stared at the three gates. Yet the three gates were identical: jade bases, red-lacquered doors, and bronze rings for knockers.

They looked at one another. Finally, Wei Yunting spoke:

"These three gates are all the same. We'll only know what's inside after entering. Each of us should choose one. We'll meet up at the other end."

"All right, Sister Yunting!"

"Mm, see you soon!"

This time, Wei Yunting and Wei Zonghan each chose one of the gates on the left and right. Wei Yunxi chose the middle gate, while the rest each selected a gate and entered.

Wei Yunqing had been secretly watching Yunxi the entire time. When she saw her choose the middle gate, she followed right behind her into it. Meanwhile, Wei Zonghao pulled the taciturn Zong Yu toward the gate on the left.

After Wei Yunxi entered the gate, she saw that amid a stretch of mist, there was only one straight Blue Stone Path. Without hesitation, she stepped onto it.

From the moment Wei Yunxi set foot on this path, she found the surroundings exceptionally quiet. There was only the sound of her own footsteps on the blue stone slabs, which felt rather creepy.

Wei Yunxi rubbed her arms and continued forward at her usual pace. She walked for an entire hour, but the road seemed endless, with no exit in sight at all.

When Wei Yunxi grew tired, she simply sat on the stone path to rest for a quarter of an hour. Then she got up and continued walking. She believed that as long as she persisted, she would reach the end.

At that moment, all the children undergoing the trial were sharing the same experience as Wei Yunxi. Everyone was quickening their steps, hurrying onward. Wei Yunqing was the same; she always felt that she ought to catch up to Wei Yunxi.

Thus, after walking and resting for a full day, Wei Yunxi's eyelids began to droop. She wanted to sleep, but she did not dare, so she vigorously rubbed her cheeks and continued onward. By then, her pace had slowed.

Fortunately, she could take items from her Storage Pouch. She ate as she walked to replenish her strength and drank the stream water she had stored earlier, ensuring that she had enough energy to keep walking.

But after another day, Wei Yunxi truly could not hold on any longer. She chose to meditate instead of sleeping, which could also quickly restore her strength. Yet the instant she began meditating, she sensed that something was wrong, because there was not a trace of Spiritual Qi here.

Wei Yunxi rubbed her chin and pondered for a while. Then she took a Low-Grade spirit stone from her Storage Pouch. This was cultivation resource the Wei Family had provided for them. She had originally wanted to save it, but it seemed she could not afford to now.

She then gripped the Low-Grade spirit stone and began cultivating. When she had studied at the Feng family academy, an elder of the clan had once reminded them that cultivation was not something achieved overnight, but a process of slow accumulation, and pills were merely an aid.

As long as one consumed pills, Pill Toxin would accumulate within the body. Over time, it would clog the Meridians. Only top-grade pills could thoroughly remove Pill Toxin, but the odds of producing top-grade pills from a single furnace were far too low, and not everyone could afford them.

Thus, even though the Feng Family had built its fortune on pills, their clansmen rarely used pills for cultivation. What they normally carried were Healing Pills and Spirit-Replenishing Pills, pills meant to deal with unexpected emergencies.

Wei Yunxi had taken this point to heart. In her era, there was also the saying that every medicine carried some poison. Thus, ever since she began cultivating, other than Bigu pills, she had not taken a single Nourishing Spirit Pill.

Therefore, in this environment without Spiritual Qi, she chose to cultivate with spirit stones. She did not want there to be a problem with the foundation of her cultivation.

After absorbing one-tenth of the Spiritual Qi within the Low-Grade spirit stone, she had fully recovered. She put the spirit stone away and continued onward.

Three days later, raindrops suddenly began falling from the sky. At first they were tiny, but they gradually grew heavier and heavier, striking painfully against her body. Unfortunately, there was not even a place to shelter from the rain.

On the surface, Wei Yunxi was merely a little shrimp at the first layer of Qi Refining, unable to use any techniques at all. She could only grit her teeth and keep moving through the rain.

See you tomorrow~