Acting, Keep Acting

Lost in cultivation, he had no sense of time. In the blink of an eye, stars fell and the sun rose—a new day had arrived.

Ling Tian was immersed in the formation when a series of cheerful birdsongs suddenly woke him. He opened his eyes and looked through the room; it had long since dawned outside. Mother Humei Niang had risen early as well and was playing with the birds.

Ling Tian walked out of the small house and casually beckoned. The house vanished, presumably stored away in his Storage Ring. Facing the faintly cool breeze, he comfortably stretched his limbs, and a string of crackling bones immediately sounded out.

"Ah, that feels good." Ling Tian let out a long breath and looked toward the village houses in the distance.

Wisps of cooking smoke drifted above the houses, floating on the breeze and lingering for a long while. The sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking gradually rose from the village, and the entire little settlement began to bustle with life, warm and peaceful.

"This is far more peaceful than Qingyun Mountain. Living here for a long time would surely be quite pleasant." Ling Tian could not help but feel envious as he sighed at the warmth and serenity of this place.

At that moment, Humei Niang gave a light leap and landed on Ling Tian's shoulder. Having apparently heard his words, she too gazed enviously at the tranquil village. She could not help becoming lost in thought. Perhaps, after all the great rises and falls she had experienced, she had recalled her busy life and felt that it might have been better to retire here with Lingyun, hand in hand. Yet she soon came back to herself. The Heavenly Dao was merciless—how could it allow anyone to regret and begin anew? Besides, mortals had mortal troubles. If one was not in their place, one naturally only envied the good in each of their lives.

People were always like this: they could only see how glorious others appeared, never the hardships behind them!

"I told you, I really saw an immortal! Hmph, none of you believe me." At that moment, a slightly irritated voice rang out.

Listening closely, it was Huzi's voice. It seemed he was boasting to his little companions about having seen an immortal, but they simply did not believe him.

"You saw an immortal? I don't believe it." A childish voice spoke up, directly questioning Huzi's words.

"If you don't believe me, ask Younger Sister. Younger Sister, tell them, isn't that right?" Huzi said angrily, pulling Younger Sister over to testify for him.

Recalling yesterday's miraculous experience, Younger Sister said with longing in her eyes, "Mm, Brother Huzi is right. We really did see an immortal."

"Who knows whether you two just plotted together to fool us?" That child still refused to believe it.

"Look at Younger Sister's hand. Yesterday, you saw with your own eyes that it was injured. Look at it now—does it have even the slightest scar left?" Huzi grabbed Younger Sister's hand and showed it to the others.

There was not the slightest trace of injury on Younger Sister's hand. Apart from the child arguing with Huzi, all the others stared at her hand in astonishment. They clearly believed Huzi a little now.

"Who knows if you deliberately smeared blood on her hand yesterday and put on a show for me? I heard your family slaughtered a pig yesterday, Huzi. You must have stolen pig's blood from home to pass it off as real." That child stubbornly refused to back down. At last, he had thought of a way to strike back at Huzi. After speaking, he looked smugly at the other children. They began to waver, unsure whom to believe.

"You—you..." Huzi was so furious that he pointed angrily at the child with his little hand, yet he did not know how to prove himself.

"Haha, you can't even speak now. Feeling guilty, aren't you?" That child grew even more pleased with himself.

"Brother Huzi, look! It's the immortal brother!" Younger Sister cried joyfully, pointing at Ling Tian, who was washing his face by the nearby stream.

"Haha, see that? The immortal brother is still here. Little Fatty, let's see how you can argue your way out of this one." Huzi puffed up like a victorious rooster, proud and high-spirited.

"Who says he's an immortal? Maybe he's just some rich young master from Qingyun Town who came here for a trip. Look at his clothes—silks and brocades. Isn't he exactly like the rich young masters I saw when I went into town last time?" Little Fatty still refused to yield. He was the only one among them who had ever been to town, and he had always been rather proud of it.

"You—you..." Huzi was tongue-tied to begin with, and in his fury, he could not say a word.

"Have you ever seen a young master with such a strange pet? It has eight tails—it must be an Immortal Beast." Seeing Huzi stammer, Younger Sister pointed at Humei Niang on Ling Tian's shoulder, whose eight tails were constantly swaying, and spoke up for him.

"I..." Little Fatty was left speechless. Yet his face was still full of anger, clearly showing that he remained unconvinced.

"Immortal brother, thank you for treating Younger Sister's injury yesterday." Huzi came before Ling Tian and bowed in thanks.

"It was a trivial matter. Don't worry about it." Ling Tian put on the airs of his father. Still, he truly did look somewhat calm and composed.

"He really is an immortal. Look at that bearing, look at the way he breathes." The children around them were extremely excited, whispering among themselves.

Ling Tian's face reddened, but he instantly concealed it and continued holding himself together.

"Immortal brother, what are you doing here? It seems like you spent the whole night here," Younger Sister asked.

She had spent time with Ling Tian before, and he had even treated her injury, so she was naturally bolder than the others and not so reserved. She came before him, blinking her eyes with unconcealed curiosity.

"I, I..." Ling Tian had originally wanted to say that he had come to learn how to catch birds from them. But remembering his status as an "immortal," he naturally felt too embarrassed to say it and stopped himself. He could not help inwardly cursing himself for puffing up his face to play the fat man.

"I heard that some of you can catch birds and have decent aptitude. I wish to pass on some Immortal Methods and Spiritual Medicine to you." A flash of inspiration struck Ling Tian. Thinking of how to phrase it, he began fooling the children.

It had to be said that under Lingyun's guidance, Ling Tian's skin had grown somewhat thicker, and his potential for being devious had begun to show.

"Immortal brother, teach me, teach me! I can catch birds!" Huzi was the first to cry out, raising his little hand high in the air, utterly excited.

"I can too, I can too..." Seeing Huzi seize the initiative, the other children secretly reproached themselves and hurriedly called out as well.

"Well, hearing is falsehood. I naturally need to test you first." Holding back his laughter, Ling Tian continued pretending to be an Expert. Humei Niang on his shoulder was trembling slightly from holding in her laughter.

"How will you test us, immortal brother?" everyone asked in unison.

"Do you see those birds? Catch them and show me. Whoever catches one..." Ling Tian pointed at the little birds flying in the distance. The meaning behind his expression was self-evident.

"Mm, just watch me." Every one of them was delighted, as though they would soon cultivate immortality and attain the Dao.

The children edged a little closer to the birds, took out their weapons—slingshots—from their clothes, then picked up a few pebbles from the ground. They drew back the bands and loaded—uh, loaded the stones.

Whoosh!

A pebble shot through the air, instantly striking a little bird. With a startled cry, the bird fell to the ground and fluttered incessantly, yet could not fly back up no matter how it tried.

"Haha, I hit one first!" Huzi laughed as he ran toward the bird. Several others had also hit other birds, but they were a little slower than Huzi.

"Wuwu, I didn't hit one. I can't become an immortal now." Younger Sister failed to hit a bird and immediately began to cry.

"Immortal brother, can you teach me Immortal Methods now?" Huzi brought the bird before Ling Tian, looking at him with eager anticipation.

The other children also came before Ling Tian with the birds they had hit, their faces full of joy. Younger Sister came before him as well, tears streaming down her face like pear blossoms in rain, her pitiful appearance stirring sympathy.

"Good, good. I'll teach you Immortal Methods in a little while," Ling Tian said.

He had finally learned how to catch birds, and he was overjoyed. Secretly, he considered how to improve the method. The pebbles fired by a slingshot were too slow and lacked killing power; naturally, they could not hit someone using Object Flight. Even if they did hit, they would not be much use. Weren't these little birds merely injured rather than dead?

Ling Tian bit down hard on his finger, then tapped repeatedly with it, sending streaks of blood-red light toward the little birds. A moment later, the birds' wounds healed. Soon, they were able to flap their wings and slowly fly away. As his finger healed, that strange sensation returned, but it was overshadowed by his major discovery of how to deal with people who could fly.

"Immortal Method! Hahaha, I've seen an Immortal Method!" It was the first time those children had witnessed something so miraculous, and they jumped up in delight.

Ling Tian felt rather pleased with himself. He then took out some pills, spirit fruits, and a book from his Storage Ring. The pills and fruits contained traces of spiritual energy. The pills were some of the stamina-restoring ones Lingyun had given him, while Ling Tian usually ate the fruit as meals. Still, to these children, they could improve their physical constitution somewhat.

"Wow, immortal pills! Spirit fruits! A secret manual of Immortal Methods!" The children were beside themselves with excitement, staring unblinkingly at the things Ling Tian held in his hands.

"Here. Each of you gets five of these pills and three fruits. Huzi will keep this book for now, and you can read it together, understand?" Ling Tian spoke solemnly, with a hint of authority in his expression. He then distributed the pills and spirit fruits among them, even giving some to Younger Sister, though he handed the book to Huzi.

"Immortal brother, I didn't hit any little birds. Why do I get some too?" Though Younger Sister's face was filled with joy, she still asked somewhat doubtfully.

"Younger Sister, you were injured yesterday. Otherwise, you definitely would have hit one, wouldn't you?" Ling Tian could not bear to see her cry, so he found an excuse for her.

"Mhm, I definitely could!" Younger Sister nodded heavily, her expression exceptionally resolute.

"Huzi, if you're a man, don't stand by and watch a girl cry in front of you. From now on, Younger Sister will be in your care. Can you do that?" Ling Tian's expression turned stern as he looked seriously at Huzi.

"Immortal brother, I can!" Huzi looked at Younger Sister and blushed, but he still nodded firmly.

"The same goes for all of you. Can you do it?" Ling Tian swept his gaze over the other children.

Seeing the faint authority in Ling Tian's eyes, the children hurriedly nodded and answered in unison, "We can!"

"Mm, very good. Eat one pill every ten days and one fruit every month, understand?" Seeing the children nod firmly, Ling Tian was quite satisfied and gave them these instructions.

These pills and spirit fruits contained immense spiritual energy for children like them, so naturally they could not eat them all at once. Only by consuming them gradually could they better absorb the energy contained within. Once they had absorbed all that spiritual energy, their physical constitutions would likely improve severalfold. It would also temper their bodies and lay a sound foundation for cultivation.

"As for that book, cultivate diligently according to what it says." The book Ling Tian had taken out was naturally Introduction to Cultivation. Following its instructions could allow one to cultivate to the peak of the Qi Solidification Stage, though that naturally depended on one's aptitude.

"Mm, understood." The children spoke to Ling Tian with utmost respect.

"After you learn it, you are not allowed to bully others at will. From now on, your village will be protected by you. But this book must not be casually passed on to others, understood?" Ling Tian put on a solemn, dignified air—though of course, he was only pretending. Then he carefully warned the children. If this book spread among mortals, it would likely stir up a tremendous uproar.

"Mm, understood," the children replied in unison.

They were filled with the lofty spirit of believing that they would become immortals in the future, slay demons and eliminate evil, and guard the world themselves. They also understood Ling Tian's warning. This was an immortal art handed down by an immortal, so naturally they could not casually let outsiders see it.

"Alright, that's it. I'm leaving. If fate permits, we'll meet again." Ling Tian continued putting on the airs of a master, then unfolded his movement technique and vanished after a few flickers.

Seeing Ling Tian disappear so quickly, the children were naturally overjoyed. But after Ling Tian's earlier display, they were no longer surprised. What could an immortal not do? Then they all went home, thinking about how they had to cultivate diligently.

What Ling Tian did not expect was that one day, they really would meet again by fate. Of course, Ling Tian could not have imagined that now.