Divine Ability: Bonding

Last night.

After being replaced by his eldest and second sons, he couldn't sleep. He went out into the courtyard for a breath of fresh air, and then he saw the little tree bathing in moonlight.

At the time, the entire little tree seemed to glow. In the hazy light, he felt as though he could see it breathing, cultivating just like a person.

In that moment, he was so excited he could barely contain himself.

He never imagined that his youngest son's far-fetched fantasy from a few days ago would actually come true.

It took a great deal of effort before he managed to calm himself down.

Then he began to consider what to do with this Rare Species.

Given his family's current circumstances, this Rare Species was a fortune that had fallen straight from the heavens.

But the question was, could his family hold on to that fortune?

Recently, because the price of Blessed Land quotas had risen, some people had begun taking desperate risks. The entire settlement was on edge, everyone's eyes bloodshot as they guarded their own Spirit Fields.

In this situation, if word suddenly got out that his family possessed a Rare Species, the covetous stares alone would be enough to leave his entire family dead and buried without a grave.

Selling it quietly would be even harder.

The main problem was that time was too short, leaving his family few options. There were only two or three forces in the settlement wealthy enough to buy it.

And not one of those forces was benevolent. If they refrained from outright seizing it, that would already count as showing mercy. How could they possibly keep his family's secret?

Once the excavation officially began, there would be no way to hide it, even if they wanted to.

At that point, could his family really protect those Spirit Stones with just two people at Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment, one sickly person at Fetal Movement Minor Accomplishment, and a half-grown boy who hadn't even reached Fetal Movement?

Even the cultivators stationed in the settlement to maintain order could turn into Tribulation Cultivators the moment night fell. It would take no more than a single thought.

Entrusting your family's lives to someone else's mercy was undoubtedly the height of foolishness.

There were plenty of stories circulating about people who stumbled upon a Rare Species and made a fortune overnight, but there were far more tales of murder and robbery.

In the eyes of Qi Refining Realm cultivators, someone like him, at Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment, was hardly any different from an ant. Crushing him—or even his whole family—would take no effort at all.

That was exactly why, even though Old Man Yu knew that selling this Rare Species would let his whole family enter a Blessed Land and never have to worry about Spirit Stones again, he didn't dare risk it recklessly.

But that wasn't the most important thing.

The most important thing was that a Rare Species could be exchanged directly for an [Immortal Destiny].

Yes, an [Immortal Destiny].

Selling the Rare Species for Spirit Stones would undoubtedly be a foolish move.

In theory, Spirit Stones = Rare Species = Immortal Destiny.

As long as you had enough Spirit Stones, you could certainly buy a Rare Species, and you could buy an Immortal Destiny, too.

But how many Spirit Stones counted as "enough"?

In the hands of different people, the value of these three things differed.

For example, Old Man Yu could sell this Rare Species for ten thousand Spirit Stones, but could he use ten thousand Spirit Stones to buy an Immortal Destiny?

The answer was obviously no.

But he could trade the Rare Species directly for an Immortal Destiny.

Clearly, in some people's eyes, a Rare Species was undoubtedly worth more than an Immortal Destiny.

But in Old Man Yu's eyes, an Immortal Destiny was what mattered most.

At the thought, his heart, already growing old and feeble, gave an involuntary thump.

Yu An watched Old Man Yu's face shift between joy and worry, his expression changing from wild elation to apprehension. He didn't react.

Last night, by a stroke of luck, he had finally reached Fetal Movement and begun cultivating as a tree.

At the time, his entire mind had been immersed in the experience, and he had neglected to observe what was happening around him.

By the time he finally got the changes in his body under control, it was already too late.

He saw Old Man Yu standing right in front of him.

The look on the man's face then had been even worse than it was now.

Yu An had no intention of killing him to keep him quiet. The main thing was, he couldn't do it anyway.

For Yu An, being able to cultivate had already given him the means to survive in this world. He was no longer as lost and uneasy as before.

More importantly, last night he hadn't merely reached Fetal Movement for the first time. His panel had changed, too, and he had even gained a Divine Ability!

He silently focused, and the panel appeared.

Name: Yu An

Species: Elm Tree (Rare Species)

Age: 1/300

Realm: Juvenile Stage Two (Fetal Movement)

Divine Abilities: Town Protection (With an elm in the household, there will be surplus year after year. It can slightly improve the fortune of the homestead and shelter future generations.)

Karmic Bond (Every ten years, or by consuming an equivalent amount of lifespan, produce one Natal Elm Seed to assist those in the Fetal Movement Realm in entering the Qi Refining Realm. This is an Immortal Destiny! The Elm Seed is the cause, and the bond's fulfillment is the result. Any living being bound by this bond will nourish its source after death, accelerating its growth.)

Yu An carefully examined the panel. First of all, with his breakthrough, his lifespan had increased from 108 years to 300, which made him feel much more at ease.

A lifespan of three hundred didn't mean he was guaranteed to live that long, but at least it was a promising start.

As long as he cultivated diligently and grew up soon, reaching maturity, he believed his lifespan would increase dramatically.

A thousand years?

Ten thousand?

The immortality he had dreamed of for so long had finally come into view, if only at the edge.

As for his realm, the change was just as he had guessed: he had entered Juvenile Stage Two, a realm equivalent to human Fetal Movement.

It meant he had officially embarked on the path of cultivation, with a bright future ahead.

Then there were his Divine Abilities. Town Protection had originally only slightly improved the fortune of the homestead, but now it could also shelter future generations.

But what delighted Yu An most was the new Divine Ability.

Before, he had occasionally heard the Yu Family mention Immortal Destiny, and every time, they spoke with longing and yearning.

He also knew that only by obtaining an Immortal Destiny could someone enter the Qi Refining Realm and become a true cultivator.

He never expected that the Divine Ability granted by his breakthrough could produce an [Immortal Destiny] directly.

The only drawback was the long wait: it took ten years to produce a single Natal Elm Seed.

Unless he was willing to consume ten years of his lifespan outright.

The final part of the explanation was interesting, though. What did it mean to nourish its source after death?

Could it be...

If so, were the Immortal Destinies in this world, especially those artificially created, truly just Immortal Destinies?

Whose destiny were they?

At the thought, even Yu An, though he was a tree, felt a chill run through him.

There was no doubt about it: the waters of this world ran far deeper than he had imagined.

Still, this Divine Ability gave him a little more confidence.

He had thought it through carefully. Even in the worst-case scenario, if Old Man Yu sold him, the force that bought him wouldn't do anything rash to his body before discovering the presence of "him," the soul within.

After all, he was a Rare Species bought for a hefty sum. Who would be willing to burn him for firewood?

And now that he could cultivate, with the panel as his Golden Finger, he should be able to conceal himself even better.

But when all was said and done, it still came down to the Divine Ability, Karmic Bond.

To put it bluntly, even a pile of shit was good shit as long as it had value.

The only thing people could expect from an ordinary Rare Species was that it might one day have a chance to become a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root.

But what about him?

Every ten years, he could produce a Natal Elm Seed—that was, an Immortal Destiny.

This was an Immortal Destiny!

Even the Foundation Building Families in the Blessed Land couldn't possibly treat an Immortal Destiny as worthless.

Once they learned he had this ability, they might not worship him like an ancestor, but they would certainly take good care of him, afraid of harming this money tree.

So he basically didn't need to worry about his safety, and his strategic value was even greater.

As long as he was given enough time, he could grow to a higher stage, until no one could hurt him.

In a sense, going to a Blessed Land and demonstrating his value would do even more to help him grow.

Of course, fortune and misfortune went hand in hand. What was good now might not be good in the future.

Especially with this Divine Ability, Karmic Bond, which nourished his source after death. It left him with an inexplicable fear of those Blessed Lands.

Was an Immortal Destiny really so easy to obtain?