A Crisis Emerged

The night was dark and windy, and all was silent.

Li Ji'an and the others sat cross-legged aboard the flying boat. Outside, there was nothing to see beyond a few scattered stars that had slipped past the dark clouds, while inside, it was as bright as day.

The boat moved swiftly, yet there wasn't the slightest jolt. It was comfortable, and they couldn't hear even a trace of wind outside.

Li Ji'an couldn't stop praising the flying boat. He was just as eager to enter the real Cultivation World.

At the very least, this flying boat had shown him the true Cultivation World's level of "technology." It was a step above the fantasy worlds in the novels he'd read, where even flying swords needed guardrails.

"Immortal Master, are all the Immortal Masters in the Immortal Realm as handsome as you?"

Having noticed the immortal master's mood shift earlier, one of the female Immortal Seedlings had started to test the waters, offering him a little emotional validation.

"Hm?" The young immortal master was taken aback.

The smile tugging at the corner of his mouth refused to go away.

"Hehe, this... handsome? I have never paid attention to that. Looks are only skin-deep, and one is born with them, so there is no need to care too much."

Compared to his sharp demeanor in the Immortal Hall, the young immortal master was clearly much more amiable now.

The Immortal Seedlings, all prodigies of the Immortal Bestowed Dynasty, immediately caught on. They too began to speak up, hoping to learn more about the Immortal Realm.

"I see. I was being shallow. No wonder you, Immortal Master, are so peerlessly handsome, yet so approachable, without the slightest air of superiority. I have learned a great deal. Thank you, Immortal Master." The female Immortal Seedling curtsied gracefully.

Li Ji'an raised an eyebrow and gave her an appreciative look.

Aside from Zhao Shuyao, nearly all the Immortal Seedlings of this generation had already taken Li Ji'an as their senior brother. In the Immortal Palace, they followed his lead. Besides his status as the top disciple of the Grandmaster Ranking's number one, his strength had also earned their respect.

Li Ji'an knew the woman well. She was clever and calculating, a concubine-born daughter of a major Aristocratic Clan who had clawed her way to the top. Not just her peers—some old hands might not be able to outplay her.

With ease, she had just buttered up the young immortal master, laying a solid foundation for the conversation to come.

"Still, the Immortal Realm isn't filled with peerless beauties, as you imagine. Certainly, Immortal Methods can alter one's appearance, but that is ultimately an illusion. A person's bone structure is inborn and cannot be changed. Once you alter it, your path of cultivation is all but over." Seeing that the Immortal Seedlings had dropped the subject, the young immortal master added this of his own accord.

"Cultivation? May I ask, Immortal Master, how does one cultivate in the Immortal Realm? Is the Qi and blood in our bodies the foundation of cultivation?" another young man quickly picked up the thread.

The young immortal master looked a little displeased, but recalling the female Immortal Seedling's praise, he forced himself to hold it in and remained "approachable." "You will understand cultivation once you reach the Immortal Realm. As for Qi and blood... they have no real bearing on it."

"Huh?"

"It doesn't matter?"

The Immortal Seedlings were stunned.

"If Qi and blood have nothing to do with cultivating Immortal Methods, then why were Immortal Seedlings selected based on their Qi and blood cultivation?" Zhao Shuyao, who had been holding back her anger all this time, asked with some agitation.

Whoosh—the young immortal master's expression changed instantly, and he whipped his gaze toward Zhao Shuyao.

He didn't know how to answer that question, either.

And now he realized he'd violated the warning his elders had given him: he shouldn't have spoken so much with these ants.

Under the young immortal master's sharp gaze, Zhao Shuyao's heart tightened, and she regretted her rashness.

"Naturally, the Immortal Master had us temper our character, strengthen our will, and deepen our resolve to seek immortality..." At this critical moment, Li Ji'an hurriedly spoke up.

The young immortal master visibly paused, then looked at Li Ji'an with approval. "Well said. In our path of immortal cultivation, talent, character, and fortune are all indispensable, and character is the most important of all!"

With that, he had no desire to say more. He closed his eyes and stopped looking at everyone.

Yet the Immortal Seedlings' minds churned.

Qi and blood had nothing to do with immortal cultivation?

On one hand, they felt as if all their efforts over the years had been a joke.

On the other, they couldn't help feeling a little pleased—especially the two who had ranked at the bottom in martial cultivation. They had assumed that, as the weakest among the Immortal Seedlings, they would be looked down upon in the Immortal Realm for their lack of talent and end up at the bottom of the cultivation ladder, too.

But now, their thoughts had changed.

Several of them glanced at Li Ji'an, intentionally or otherwise, wondering how he felt about it.

Li Ji'an had been the number one in martial arts and their leader. They had thought he would stand out in the Immortal Realm, too, but now it seemed... things might turn out differently.

Dong Jiangling, in particular, seated behind Zhao Shuyao the whole time, could barely contain his delight. Looking at Zhao Shuyao's back again, his eyes lit up.

Ever since he first saw Ninth Princess Zhao Shuyao at the Immortal Palace ten years ago, he had regarded her as a celestial beauty. For ten years, he had watched her in silence, all because of the peerless monster that was Li Ji'an.

But now, things were different...

"No matter how powerful martial arts are, how could they compare to Immortal Methods?"

Paying no mind to what the others thought, Li Ji'an himself watched the young immortal master closely, taking note of every detail.

That included the phrase he'd said in the Immortal Hall: "Land Abandoned by Heaven."

Everyone else thought this "Immortal Master" was a true deity, too lofty to approach, and couldn't bring themselves to feel even the slightest disrespect.

But Li Ji'an had long since concluded that these were cultivators, and that their cultivation wasn't very high.

Besides, when the flying boat had first set off, he'd keenly noticed the young cultivator take a quail-egg-sized stone from his Storage Bag. It shimmered with a vivid green glow, and he had placed it precisely into a small hole in the boat's helm.

"Spirit stone..."

"If only Ning Sujin were here. At least she could sense whether fortune or misfortune lay ahead." As time passed and the flying boat continued on in silence, Li Ji'an, who had been on high alert the entire time, began to feel tired.

He couldn't help it. Back then, Ning Sujin had sensed that her clan brother's ascension to the Immortal Realm was a great misfortune. She had sensed the same when Ning Yutan ascended. That had made Li Ji'an wary of this journey to the Immortal Realm.

He didn't know whether the ill omen came from the Immortal Realm they were approaching, the journey itself, or the immortal master right in front of him...

The sun rose and the moon set. Before they knew it, five days had passed.

They sat inside the flying boat. They could see the sky changing, but not the ground, and had no idea where they were.

Still, judging by the stars at night and the sun's position, Li Ji'an figured the flying boat had been heading north the whole time.

Five days had passed. At the flying boat's speed, they should have covered at least thirty thousand li.

"Just as I suspected. The so-called Immortal Realm is on the same continent after all, not some celestial domain in the sky..."

Rumble!

The flying boat, which had been flying smoothly all along, suddenly lurched.

Several Immortal Seedlings who hadn't mastered the methods for channeling Qi and blood through external martial arts were thrown off their feet and slammed hard onto the floor.

Li Ji'an, Zhao Shuyao, and two others had practiced external martial arts and mastered the art of channeling Qi and blood. Their senses were sharp, and they immediately focused their Qi and blood beneath their feet, keeping themselves steady.

Even so, Li Ji'an's heart clenched. Could this be the great misfortune Ning Sujin sensed?

But the next moment—

"Do not panic. We are about to pass through a sandstorm zone. A little turbulence is nothing to worry about." The young immortal master hovered in midair, drew another yellow talisman from his Storage Bag, and activated it. A curtain of green water immediately enveloped the entire flying boat.

The flying boat settled back into a steady flight.

Seeing the miraculous water curtain, the Immortal Seedlings were once again awestruck. This time, however, the young immortal master didn't give them a chance to speak with him.

Li Ji'an keenly noticed a flicker of unease cross his face.

It seemed even he had been surprised by the sudden jolt.

Rumble! Before those Immortal Seedlings had even managed to get back on their feet, an even stronger jolt hit.

"What vermin dares to ambush me from the shadows!" The young immortal master finally sensed the Qi Mechanism and flew into a rage. A Stone Seal flew out of his Storage Bag, circling him protectively.

Li Ji'an's heart tightened. His Qi and blood stood ready to surge at a moment's notice. So the great misfortune really is waiting somewhere along this journey?