Token of the Cultivation Market

"You think you can see Senior Brother Han just because you say so?" The fat young man's face was full of fury. "Get out of my way, or don't blame me for being rude!"

Qin Sang refused to yield, utterly fearless as he said coldly, "I am Immortal Master Han's lifesaver. He once said that if I ever needed anything, I could come see him. Yet you insist on stopping me. What are your intentions? Do you want Immortal Master Han to break his word?"

"His lifesaver?"

The fat young man was stunned. "You saved Senior Brother Han's life?"

Qin Sang recounted what had happened at Guling Mountain.

The fat young man's swagger immediately ebbed away. His expression shifted between light and dark. In the end, he shot Qin Sang a resentful glance, took out a palm-sized scroll, and flicked his hand. An ancient painting unfurled before them.

Mist and haze blanketed the sky in the painting, layer upon layer of clouds stretching without end, as though it depicted the thirty-three tiers of heaven. It was profoundly mysterious.

A flock of immortal cranes roamed freely amid the clouds and rosy mists, lively and natural, rendered so vividly that they seemed alive.

Then Qin Sang sensed a fluctuation of spiritual power. The fat young man poured spiritual power into the scroll, and in the next instant, a mass of clouds flew out from it. Within the swirling mist came the unending cry of an immortal crane.

The immortal crane from the painting landed on the fat young man's palm. His lips moved as he whispered a few words into its ear. The crane spread its wings, its body growing with the wind, before vanishing into the horizon.

Before long, the clouds floating over the ancient painting suddenly churned. At last, they transformed into a man—the Young Man surnamed Han who had nearly lost his life at Guling Mountain.

"Junior Brother Zhen Ming," said the illusory Young Man surnamed Han formed from the clouds, his voice carrying an ethereal quality. "Why have you called me so urgently?"

Then the Young Man surnamed Han noticed Qin Sang beside him and recognized him at once. Smiling, he said, "General Qin, it has been many days. I hope you have been well."

Just as Qin Sang was about to speak, Zhen Ming rushed forward first and began pouring out his grievances. "Senior Brother Han, it wasn't that I wanted to disturb you. This boy surnamed Qin insisted on seeing you, and Zhen Ming had no choice. Following your instructions, I asked whether he was determined to pursue immortality. Once he made up his mind, I tested his spiritual roots. I warned him long ago that those with spiritual roots were one in ten thousand, and sure enough, this mere mortal has no spiritual roots. I advised him to return and live his life properly, but who knew he would mistake good intentions for ill will? He even thought I meant to harm him, claiming over and over that he was your lifesaver and insisting on seeing you."

After saying this, Zhen Ming glared at Qin Sang indignantly, looking deeply wronged.

The Young Man surnamed Han looked at Zhen Ming, then at Qin Sang, and smiled. "General Qin, Junior Brother Zhen Ming is right. Among mortals, those born with spiritual roots truly are one in ten thousand. He was not deceiving you. The path of cultivation is harder than ascending to the heavens. Even if you can cultivate, the Cultivation World holds countless dangers, and you may perish before your time. Living as a mortal is not necessarily a bad thing. Let Junior Brother Zhen Ming ask the Sacred Palace Master to look after you. Even if dynasties rise and fall in the future, you will be ensured a lifetime free of worry."

"But..."

Hearing even the Young Man surnamed Han say this, Qin Sang felt helpless. He wanted to ask why he could cultivate the Netherworld Scripture if he had no spiritual roots.

But when he recalled his two encounters with immortals, the righteous and demonic paths had fought to the death each time, determined to battle until one side perished. He himself had used the Yanluo Banner to kill quite a few mortals.

Relying on demonic arts to wreak havoc upon the world, Qin Sang did not even have the face to claim that he was not a Demon Lord.

"Immortal Master Han, is it truly impossible for someone without spiritual roots to become an Immortal Cultivator?" Qin Sang asked, his face filled with unwillingness. Could there really be something so absolute in this world?

Could it be because he was not native to this world that he was an exception? Or was it an ability granted to him by the Jade Buddha?

The Young Man surnamed Han looked somewhat moved. Zhen Ming was also startled. He stopped his endless chatter, glanced at Qin Sang, lowered his head, and fell silent.

After hesitating for a long time, the Young Man surnamed Han said, "General Qin, as far as Han knows, there has indeed never been a precedent in the righteous path of someone without spiritual roots stepping onto the immortal path. Even the great orthodox sects require their disciples to possess spiritual roots in order to cultivate their techniques. As for..."

Seeing the hesitation on the Young Man surnamed Han's face, Qin Sang's eyes suddenly lit up. "Immortal Master Han, is there another way?"

The Young Man surnamed Han gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Without spiritual roots, no method will work. If you cannot sense spiritual power, how can you speak of cultivation? What I was about to say was that our Han family only understands the situation among righteous cultivators. We know very little about the Demonic Sect. Demonic Path cultivators practice strange techniques and possess countless evil arts. Whether there is some way to break through these shackles, I do not know."

"The Demonic Sect?"

Qin Sang was somewhat surprised. Was the Young Man surnamed Han going to advise him to join the Demonic Sect?

Then he saw a mass of cloud transform in the Young Man surnamed Han's palm into a round Jade Disc. Solemnly, he said, "Since Han has made a promise, I will not go back on my word. This Jade Disc is a token for a cultivation market located somewhere along the border between the northern lands and the Demonic Sect. I obtained it from that Demon Lord's Mustard Seed Pouch. If you insist on trying your luck, I will have Crane Shadow deliver it to you. But if you truly enter the Demonic Sect, then when we meet again, you and I will be enemies, not friends. Han will not show mercy."

Without the slightest hesitation, Qin Sang cupped his hands. "Qin Sang thanks Immortal Master Han!"

The Young Man surnamed Han gave Qin Sang a deep look, nodded, and dissolved into cloud shadows.

Qin Sang and Zhen Ming waited where they were for a while. Crane Shadow soon flew back, carrying a Jade Disc and a scroll of silk in its beak.

Zhen Ming took them and handed them to Qin Sang. He cupped his hands to him, mounted Crane Shadow, and departed.

Qin Sang unfolded the silk scroll and discovered that it was an enormous geographical map. This was the first time he had seen a map so vast and detailed. He quickly found Great Sui, which truly looked tiny on the map.

To the north, Heng Kingdom was dozens of times larger than Great Sui. Beyond Heng Kingdom lay quite a few nations even larger than Heng Kingdom.

After passing Heng Kingdom and several more countries, Qin Sang finally saw the Young Man surnamed Han's mark within Biyun Kingdom. As for the exact location of that cultivation market, the Young Man surnamed Han had left a message saying that Qin Sang only needed to bring the Jade Disc near the area. The Jade Disc would automatically sense the market and lead him there.

The Young Man surnamed Han briefly explained the cultivation market, then finally warned him that Demonic Sect cultivators were extremely dangerous, especially to mortals. If things proved impossible, he should flee for his life as quickly as possible. That was all the kindness he could offer.

Qin Sang estimated the distance in his heart. If he traveled by horse, setting out at dawn and resting at dusk, it would probably still take several years to arrive. Fortunately, he discovered that west of Great Sui ran a great river called the Tianlu River, stretching from south to north. The Wuling River was merely one of its tributaries.

If he took a boat on that river, he would travel much faster.

After putting away the silk scroll and turning the Jade Disc over in his hand for a while, Qin Sang resisted the urge to probe it with spiritual power. He nodded to the Sacred Palace Master waiting nearby and headed down the mountain.

Night shrouded everything. From Pilgrimage Mountain, one could overlook the entire Imperial Capital. The Jade Palace was ablaze with lights. The new emperor had likely ascended the throne, and with a hundred matters awaiting renewal, the officials had yet to finish discussing state affairs.

(A few words.

When the Mortal animation came out, it stirred up memories from the past. I happened to have some free time, and so the urge to start writing arose.

Thinking carefully, what left the deepest impression on me from Mortal was not its winding, magnificent plot, nor Old Devil's miraculous spells and treasures, but rather this sentence of Mo Caihuan's.

The plot of the first fifty chapters, nearly a hundred thousand words, was actually all for the sake of bringing out this sentence from the protagonist's mouth.

A tribute to Mortal, a tribute to Wang Yu. Remembering Han Paopao, commemorating the days when I used to read.

Fortunately, as I wrote along, the plot did not deviate too far from what I had envisioned before. This sentence was successfully spoken. For me, that counted as achieving a small goal.

But that also made the early plot rather bland. I do not know whether few readers enjoy reading about mundane-world storylines anymore.

A hundred thousand words, yet unable to secure a contract. Bookmarks had barely broken one hundred. Bleak, miserable, desolate.

I do not know how many among those hundred-odd bookmarks belong to readers who are truly following the book.

A few readers have continued to vote with recommendation tickets. I have seen it all and remembered it in my heart. Thank you for your support.

As I said before, if you feel my writing is still passable, please bookmark it, cast a vote, and helping spread the word would be even better. Many thanks!)