Qingyun Mountain Path.
"Ah, forget it."
"Since we've met, it must be fate."
"But let me be clear from the start: I can't promise you'll be allowed to stay."
"How about this? I'll check your aptitude first."
"If you have no talent at all, you should head down the mountain as soon as possible and find work among the common folk. That would be better than wasting your years up here."
Song Daren shook his head, as if trying to convince himself.
This was the most he could do.
If the child was completely hopeless,
he could give him some silver and send him down the mountain. That would be the least he could do for him.
If the child had some aptitude, even if it was only mediocre,
he could bring him back as a servant disciple. His master probably wouldn't object.
"Thank you, Immortal Brother!"
Ye Xuan was overjoyed.
He'd made the right bet!
He quickly let go of Song Daren's leg and stood up straight.
Though he only came up to Song Daren's waist, he did his best to look ready for an examination.
Actually,
Ye Xuan was nervous too.
He had no idea what kind of body he'd ended up with after crossing over.
If he'd started out as a total waste, he'd have no choice but to go sell roasted sweet potatoes at the foot of the mountain.
But he'd crossed into another world!
How could a transmigrator be a total waste?
Meanwhile,
Song Daren placed his rough, broad hand gently on Ye Xuan's slender shoulder.
"Bear with it."
"It might feel a little numb."
As soon as he finished speaking,
a warm current flowed from Song Daren's palm into Ye Xuan's body.
Ye Xuan felt his whole body shudder. It was as if countless ants were crawling through his veins. It tickled, with a faint tingling sensation.
Song Daren closed his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed.
At first,
his expression was casual. He was even thinking about how to gently tell the child to give up.
After all, among ordinary people, those with the talent to cultivate immortality were one in ten thousand.
To find a talented child just lying around in the middle of nowhere?
That was ridiculous.
And yet,
the next second,
Song Daren's honest, square face suddenly froze.
Then,
his eyes flew open, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks as though he'd seen some horrifying, unbelievable sight.
"Th-this can't be!"
Song Daren cried out, his voice breaking.
His spiritual energy had just entered the child's body. He'd only meant to go through the motions, letting it travel once around the meridians.
But who could have guessed?
The spiritual energy vanished like a mud cow sinking into the sea...
No!
It was more like dry firewood meeting a blazing flame!
The child's meridians were unbelievably broad!
No!
They weren't merely broad!
From Song Daren's perception,
every meridian in that little body was completely clear!
Without a trace of impurity!
An ordinary person's meridians were like narrow, blocked paths.
Cultivators had to spend decades of painstaking effort gradually opening and widening them.
But this child...
His meridians were practically an eighteen-lane highway!
And what was even more terrifying—
the child's body seemed to have an almost insatiable affinity for spiritual energy.
Before Song Daren could even guide the energy he'd sent in, it was already merrily circulating through the meridians on its own. It even began pulling at the spiritual energy inside Song Daren's body!
The Star Absorbing Great Method?!
Song Daren's hand trembled with fright. He almost withdrew his spiritual energy.
But the force wasn't overbearing. Instead, it carried a sense of balance and harmony, a trace of the Dao's charm.
The mountain breeze suddenly stopped.
The thin spiritual energy drifting through the air seemed to answer some kind of summons, rushing toward Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan felt like a vacuum cleaner.
He couldn't see anything,
but he could sense something around him desperately burrowing into his body. It felt warm and comfortable enough to make him want to groan.
He secretly glanced up at Song Daren.
The sight startled him.
The usually honest and earnest Senior Brother was now red-faced, his mouth gaping wide enough to fit a duck egg.
The way he stared at Ye Xuan was like a wolf that had been single for thirty years suddenly catching sight of an unmatched beauty.
That fervor.
That disbelief.
That look of someone who'd just won the lottery jackpot.
"Hiss—"
Song Daren stumbled back half a step, staring at Ye Xuan as if he were a monster.
"Innate Dao Body?"
"No..."
"This is even purer than the Innate Dao Body described in the records!"
Song Daren felt his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
In the two thousand years since the founding of the Qingyun Sect, no one had ever heard of a monster like this!
How could this be merely a promising candidate for cultivation?
This was a freak born to cultivate immortality!
If an ordinary genius was a fine piece of jade,
then this child was an uncarved He Shi Bi!
With just a little guidance, even without much hard cultivation, his cultivation would probably soar!
"This time..."
"This time, I've really found a treasure!"
Song Daren swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.
The lonely sight of Great Bamboo Peak flashed through his mind, along with his master's look of exasperation.
If he brought this child back...
His master would probably wake up laughing in his sleep!
No!
His master wouldn't just wake up laughing!
He might even bring out every last resource Great Bamboo Peak had to help the child establish his foundation!
"Immortal Brother?"
"Am I... not good enough?"
Looking at Song Daren's exaggerated reactions,
Ye Xuan was already overjoyed inside.
But on the surface, he still had to look nervous, as if he were about to burst into tears.
He had to sell the act!
"Who said you weren't good enough?!"
Song Daren's shout startled Ye Xuan.
The Senior Brother grabbed Ye Xuan by the shoulders, gripping him so hard it felt like he might press him into the flesh. His wide eyes gleamed green.
"You're good enough!"
"More than good enough!"
"If you're not good enough, then no one in this world is!"
"Come on! You're coming up the mountain with me!"
Song Daren didn't waste another word. He nearly forgot the bag of supplies he'd bought.
He had only one thought now:
Get back to the mountain!
He had to race back to Great Bamboo Peak as fast as possible!
He couldn't let that old Daoist Cang Song from Dragon Head Peak see the child!
And he couldn't let Sect Master True Person at Heaven-Piercing Peak notice him!
This uncut jade had to belong to Tian!
"But... my legs are weak..."
Ye Xuan said timidly.
"Don't worry! I'll carry you!"
Without another word, Song Daren tossed Ye Xuan onto his back.
The next moment,
the scarlet flying sword let out an excited hum and shot toward Great Bamboo Peak, carrying the two figures at a furious pace.
The wind roared.
Lying on Song Daren's broad back, Ye Xuan felt them rapidly climbing higher.
He secretly looked back at the forest shrinking beneath them.
At last, he couldn't help breaking into a huge grin.
The Qingyun Sect—I'm coming!
Up ahead, Song Daren was grinning foolishly as he flew on his sword.
"Heh heh..."
"Master, you'd better give me a good pat on the back this time..."
"Heh heh heh..."
His laughter scattered in the howling wind, full of the foolish pride of someone who'd stumbled upon an incredible bargain.
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