Esteemed Guest Arrives

After Zhou Er finished his meal and bid farewell to his father and stepmother, he returned to his room.

He washed up and went to bed with the maid Cai Huan serving him.

Zhou Er began to recall the experiences of this life. They were currently in Yunyang City, the capital of Great Qi.

Their family was a major merchant in Yunyang City, dealing in medicinal herbs.

Zhou Er had heard that his grandfather, Zhou Can, had gotten rich because he met an Esteemed Guest.

This Esteemed Guest was the one who had predicted he wouldn't live past sixteen, and it had been very accurate.

If not for the effects of the terms in his Equipment Slot, Zhou Er might have truly died yesterday.

Zhou Er's grandfather, Zhou Can, had greatly believed that Esteemed Guest's words back then.

The reason was simple: that Esteemed Guest was a legendary Cultivator.

When Zhou Can was young, that Esteemed Guest looked like a Youth. By the time Zhou Er was six, and Zhou Can was dying, that Esteemed Guest still looked the same, without any changes.

Zhou Er could still vaguely recall the memories from that time. That Esteemed Guest seemed to have mentioned something about spiritual roots.

'That person said I don't have spiritual roots!'

Zhou Er suddenly remembered that person's words.

The Esteemed Guest of their Zhou family had checked everyone in the Zhou family for spiritual roots back then. The entire family, not a single person had spiritual roots; they were all mortals without spiritual roots.

'So what if I don't have spiritual roots? I have a Cheat, do I need spiritual roots?'

Thinking this, Zhou Er closed his eyes to rest.

Even without spiritual roots, he had his Equipment Slot.

When he obtained more advanced terms in the future, he wouldn't be any worse than those with spiritual root aptitude.

"Master! I think young Er is a bit strange."

After thinking for a long time, Zhou Er's stepmother, Zhang Shi, decided to bring it up.

"What's strange about him?"

Zhou Er had been watched over by Zhou Zefa since he was young. Through his observation, apart from his health improving, there was nothing strange about him.

"Master, don't you find it strange? Young Er couldn't get out of bed a few days ago, and today he's running around and even fighting with people. I suspect young Er has been possessed by some Evil Spirit."

Zhang Shi said with deep worry.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Zhou Zefa wouldn't believe a woman's words.

"Master, don't we still have the last incense stick left by the Esteemed Guest at home? Why don't we light it and let the Esteemed Guest come take a look? It's also a good chance for the Esteemed Guest to see if our Qingyu has spiritual root aptitude."

Madam Zhang said.

Ten years ago, when the Esteemed Guest visited their Zhou family, Madam Zhang hadn't given birth yet. Her child, Zhou Qingyu, had missed that opportunity for the Esteemed Guest's spiritual root test, and she often thought about it.

Hearing Madam Zhang's suggestion, Zhou Zefa also had the same idea.

The next day, Zhou Zefa went to the ancestral hall and lit the incense stick left by his late father.

"Immortal Master, I am Zhou Can's son. I request you to come and see my son. Ten years ago, you said my son would not live past sixteen. Now my son has survived past sixteen. Please take a look and see what's going on."

Even though this was the last incense stick, Zhou Zefa used it without hesitation.

After all, if Zhou Er truly had an Evil Spirit, their Zhou family would be finished.

At the same time, at Xiayun Sect, a handsome Youth frowned.

"Descendant of the Zhou family?"

"I originally left three God-Summoning Incense sticks for their family, telling them to light it and guide me over if they had important matters. This last one has finally been used."

The handsome Youth opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

Back then, before he started cultivating, he owed Zhou Can a favor, so he left his family the God-Summoning Incense sticks for contact.

Although he left the incense, he had always worried that this debt of gratitude would never be repaid, affecting his Dao Heart.

Now, this matter could finally be settled.

A day later, the handsome Youth appeared in front of the Zhou family mansion and knocked on the door.

As soon as the door opened, before the Gatekeeper could even step out, he had already disappeared.

"Who is it? Who dares to knock on the Zhou family's door when they have nothing better to do?"

The Gatekeeper grumbled, thinking it was some mischievous child randomly knocking.

At this moment, the Cultivator from Xiayun Sect had already arrived in the main hall, taken the seat of honor, and used his spiritual energy to transmit his voice to the entire Zhou family, saying:

"Descendants of the Zhou family, what matter requires me to come?"

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, all the Zhou family members had arrived in the main hall, and even Zhou Er was summoned.

The handsome Youth cast a Spell, which could only be heard by the descendants of Zhou Can.

"Esteemed Guest!"

Zhou Zefa saw the handsome youth and immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing.

His offspring saw this and immediately followed their father's actions, kneeling down. Only Zhou Er was stunned for a moment. Just as he was about to follow the actions of the others, the youth arrived beside him.

"Zhou Er! I remember you. When you were born, your ears were large, signifying good fortune, so your grandfather named you Zhou Er."

The handsome youth looked at Zhou Er as if he had seen something strange and unusual. Zhou Er, therefore, did not kneel.

As the youth looked him over, he said strangely:

"How peculiar. I calculated your destiny to be very weak, that you wouldn't live past sixteen. Now it seems I was mistaken back then. You still have ten years of life left."

Zhou Er did not speak. He hadn't expected this esteemed guest to be able to calculate that he still had ten years of life left; it was truly remarkable.

At this moment, Zhou Zefa stood up and said to the youth:

"Esteemed guest, it is because of my son's matter that I wished for you to take a look."

"I made a mistake in my calculation back then."

The youth admitted generously. He had not yet reached Golden Core back then, and his spiritual power was weak, so making a mistake was unavoidable.

Now, he had broken through and would no longer miscalculate.

"Then my son is fine?"

Zhou Zefa asked.

For the past two days, with his second wife, Zhang Shi, whispering in his ear, Zhou Zefa had begun to suspect if Zhou Er was possessed by some evil spirit.

"What problem is there?"

The youth looked at Zhou Zefa strangely.

"It's good that there's no problem, it's good that there's no problem."

Zhou Zefa breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Zhou Er was not, as Zhang Shi claimed, possessed by an evil spirit.

"Esteemed guest, I invited you here, firstly to have you look into my eldest son's matter, and secondly, to ask you to test if my youngest son has spiritual roots."

Zhou Zefa said.

"A small matter, a small matter."

Without Zhou Zefa needing to say it, the youth already knew who his youngest son was and where he was located.

He went to Zhou Qingyu's side and scanned him carefully with his spiritual sense, immediately making a judgment.

"Regrettably, there is no spiritual root aptitude."

The Youth shook his head and said.

Only one in ten thousand people possesses spiritual root aptitude; this situation is very normal.

"Is that so?"

Zhou Zefa was somewhat disappointed but could still accept it.

"You summoned me over, and I thought your family had run into some trouble. Now it seems it's just these trivial matters."

The Youth hadn't expected Zhou Zefa to use the last God-Summoning Incense for such minor things.

"Esteemed Guest! Can one truly not cultivate without a spiritual root?"

Zhou Er spoke up at this moment.

"Cultivation is inherently defying heaven and changing fate. Without a spiritual root, one can naturally cultivate, but the difficulty is immense. Without perseverance and resources, it is difficult to achieve anything in a lifetime."

The Youth looked at Zhou Er and said.

"Then, this junior dares to make a bet with Senior. Although I have no spiritual root, as long as Senior guides me into the path of cultivation, I will surely show Senior that even without a spiritual root, one can cultivate the Great Dao!"

Zhou Er said.

He wanted the cultivator before him to guide him into the path of cultivation.

"You only have ten years left to live, and you also want to cultivate the Great Dao?"

The Youth's lips curved slightly upwards, a half-smile on his face.

"Even a Mayfly has the ambition of the Bright Moon!"

Zhou Er said without fear.

He lacked one thing: an opportunity, a chance to cultivate immortality.

In Yunyang City, there were not many opportunities to come into contact with matters of cultivation.

He only had ten years of lifespan and no time to slowly seek immortality.

"Good! I will give you one chance. After I send you into my Xiayun Sect, we will have no further ties. This will also settle the Grudge between me and your grandfather."

The Youth thought for a moment and decided to give Zhou Er a chance.

Coincidentally, this would completely settle the debt of favor between him and Zhou Er's grandfather, Zhou Can.

Zhou Zefa hadn't expected that even without a spiritual root, this Youth could get them into a sect.

If I had known this would happen, I should have used that incense stick when I was young.

Unfortunately, there's no medicine for regret in life.

However, it's always good that his son can embark on the Immortal Path.

Moreover, Zhou Er can cultivate immortality and extend my lifespan.

"You have the time it takes for one incense stick to burn to say goodbye to your father. After the incense stick burns out, I will take you away from here and back to Xiayun Sect."

The Youth said to Zhou Er.

Zhou Er quickly bid farewell to his father, Zhou Zefa.

After saying a few words, time ran out, and Zhou Er could only leave with the Youth.

The Youth knew the Cloud Soaring Technique. Without any magical artifacts, he conjured a ball of clouds and rode the wind away.

In half a day, Zhou Er arrived at Xiayun Sect, nestled among mountains thousands of miles away.

At this moment, Zhou Er could see the rosy clouds reflecting the sunlight, a truly beautiful sight.

As the Youth entered Xiayun Sect's Barrier, Zhou Er saw immortals flying about.

"Master Jide!"

Many young cultivators greeted the Youth.

Zhou Er realized that this Youth before him held a significant position.

Master Jide brought Zhou Er to the place where new disciples were registered. He found a disciple and said:

"Help him complete the enrollment procedures. Just send him to the Outer Sect; no need to fuss over him."

"Yes! Master Jide."

The disciple immediately nodded.

After Master Jide handed Zhou Er over to this disciple, he left, no longer concerning himself with Zhou Er's affairs.

"Hello, junior disciple. My name is Wang Wenlang, and I'm also an Outer Sect disciple."

Wang Wenlang introduced himself.

"Senior Brother Wang, my name is Zhou Er. I'm from Yunyang City in the Qi Kingdom."

Zhou Er nodded.

"Are you a relative of Master Jide? To have Master Jide personally escort you to complete the enrollment procedures."

Wang Wenlang said enviously.

Those who could be called True Masters all possessed Golden Core cultivation.

Golden Core cultivators held extraordinary status in any power.

"I suppose so!"

Zhou Er did not deny it. He had indeed relied on Master Jide's connection to successfully join the sect.

"Brother Zhou, please take care of me in the future."

Wang Wenlang said with a smile.

"Brother Wang, it's more like you taking care of me. How could I possibly have the qualification to take care of you, Brother Wang?"

Zhou Er chuckled awkwardly.

Master Jide had made it very clear: once he got him into the Outer Sect, their debts would be settled, and he could no longer seek Master Jide's help in the future.

Chatting along the way, Wang Wenlang led Zhou Er to an area in the Outer Sect, located amidst a grove of phoenix trees.

"This is the Wutong District of the Outer Sect. Brother Zhou, if you are satisfied, how about settling down here?"

Wang Wenlang asked.

"Whatever Brother Wang arranges, I will obey."

Zhou Er said.

"That won't do. It must be satisfactory to you, Brother Zhou. Otherwise, if Master Jide questions me later, I won't know how to answer."

Wang Wenlang said with a smile.

Although Master Jide had told him to arrange it as he pleased, Wang Wenlang had personally seen Master Jide bring Zhou Er here, so he naturally couldn't just dismiss him casually.

"Satisfied, satisfied, I am satisfied with everything."

Zhou Er looked at his surroundings and could only nod.

"Good, then let's register and check in now!"

Wang Wenlang led Zhou Er to the administrative courtyard of the Wutong District in the Outer Sect and said:

"Brother Zhu, I've brought a newcomer. They were brought by Master Jide. Please pick a good spot for him."

Xiayun Sect had various methods for recruiting disciples. Among them, True Masters and Elders had several spots each year to directly admit disciples into the Outer Sect.

Brother Zhu, who was responsible for managing the Wutong District, heard that Zhou Er was a protégé of Master Jide and immediately came out to select a good residence for him.

"We Outer Sect disciples are a level above Servant Disciples. We have our own standalone courtyards and receive a monthly stipend of three Low-grade Spirit Stones and a bottle of Bigu Pills."

Senior Brother Zhu Shunyang explained to Zhou Er.

Zhou Er had initially thought Outer Sect disciples were the lowest rung, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

"Three Low-grade Spirit Stones are clearly not enough to sustain cultivation, so you'll need to go to the Mission Hall later to pick up some tasks and earn Cultivation Resources,"

Wang Wenlang explained to Zhou Er at this point.

"Once you've chosen your residence, I'll take you on a tour of the sect so you can familiarize yourself with the environment,"

"Thank you, Senior Brother Wang."

Zhou Er said. He then looked at the courtyard. Zhou Er couldn't tell the quality of these Outer Sect courtyards, as they all looked identical. He said, "Senior Brother Zhu, I'll take this courtyard."

"Junior Brother Zhou, no one is currently living in this courtyard, so you can move in today. I'll register it for you. Also, we'll need a drop of your Fingertip Blood to make your Identity Token,"

Zhu Shunyang said.

"Senior Brother Zhu, how should I do that?"

Zhou Er asked.

Zhu Shunyang took out a jade bottle and a silver needle. He said, "This silver needle hasn't been used by anyone. Junior Brother, you just need to prick your finger and squeeze out a drop of Fingertip Blood."

Zhou Er nodded, took the jade bottle and silver needle, and as Zhu Shunyang instructed, pricked the tip of his index finger, squeezing a drop of blood into the bottle.

"Good! Junior Brother Zhou, you can go explore the sect with Junior Brother Wang. I'll send you your Sect Token once it's made, which should take about five days,"

Zhu Shunyang explained to Zhou Er.

If it were an ordinary Servant Disciple promoted to the Outer Sect, Zhu Shunyang wouldn't have gone to such lengths or been so patient and gentle.

"Alright, Junior Brother Zhou, I'll show you around the sect,"

Wang Wenlang said as he led Zhou Er out.

"Our Xiayun Sect is divided into Inner and Outer Sects. The Inner Sect disciples are personally taught by Elders and are rarely seen. We in the Outer Sect are a step below, but we are still considered disciples under the Elders. The sect Elders and Inner Sect Senior Brothers occasionally go to the Lecture Platform to Discuss Dao, and we can listen. I'll take you to see the Lecture Platform."

Wang Wenlang then summoned his sword, lifted Zhou Er onto it, and brought him to the Xiayun Sect's Lecture Platform.