Qing Province.
At the foot of Coiling Dragon Mountain lay Peach Blossom Village.
Peach Blossom Village had several dozen households. The homes stood in neat clusters, and many peach trees had been planted throughout the village. It was spring, and the blossoms were in full bloom. Clusters of pink petals made the village look like a paradise hidden away from the world.
In a small courtyard on the eastern edge of the village, Li Qingshan reclined beneath a thick, old peach tree. He held a Yellow-Skin Wine Gourd and sipped from it contentedly.
Widow Wang, who lived at the western end of the village, was nothing special in the looks department, but she had a generous bosom and broad hips—and she was a master brewer. Her rice wine was sweet and sharp, with a flavor all its own.
"Hundred years old, huh? Tsk, tsk... I wonder if I'll live long enough to see Gouwa pass the imperial examination and become a provincial graduate?"
Li Qingshan muttered to himself.
His cloudy eyes were full of emotion.
He must have been the most pathetic transmigrator of them all.
Orphaned when he was young, he had wandered far and wide.
When he was eighteen, he encountered immortals recruiting disciples. Overjoyed, he thought his transmigrator's cheat was finally about to arrive.
Next would come joining an immortal sect, cultivating the Dao, slaughtering his way across the land, surviving tribulations, ascending to immortality, and becoming a generation's venerable immortal!
But reality had slapped him in the face without mercy.
They had tested him and found he had no spiritual roots. He simply couldn't cultivate.
It was as if Heaven had played a joke on him. Where was the protagonist treatment transmigrators were supposed to get? And where was his cheat?
Unwilling to accept it, he had spent his life as a mortal, still dreaming of defying fate and changing his lot.
He had studied and considered pursuing an official career, but he had failed the examinations time and again.
He had tried to make money in business, only to be extorted into bankruptcy by a corrupt official.
He had wanted to invent things—glass, soap, perfume—but he was a liberal arts student who didn't know the first thing about any of them.
Then, in the final years of the dynasty, the land fell into chaos. Disheartened, he wandered to Peach Blossom Village, married, and raised a family. In the blink of an eye, a hundred years had passed.
Looking back on his life, he had achieved nothing.
His wife had passed away thirty years ago. His son and daughter-in-law had gone before him ten years ago.
Now, alone in the world, he depended on his only grandson, Li Yun, and they relied on each other.
At least his grandson had made something of himself. He had passed the child examination and earned the title of licentiate three years ago. Now he was studying hard at the prefectural academy in the city, hoping to pass the provincial examination.
As a result, Li Yun hadn't been able to return for Li Qingshan's hundredth birthday.
The celebration was simple enough. The people of Peach Blossom Village were honest and kind, and they respected Li Qingshan greatly. They had gathered to set out several tables of food and wine in his honor, hoping to share in his good fortune. After all, a hundred-year-old man was a rare sight in an age like this.
Not long after seeing off the guests, Li Qingshan began to feel rather tired. He lay back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest, enjoying the peace and quiet.
"Grandpa Qingshan! Grandpa Qingshan..."
Just then, a girl of eleven or twelve ran into the courtyard, her forehead slick with sweat. She struggled under the weight of a basket of fruit, but she looked terribly excited.
Her hair was tied in braids, and she had a round face. Her bright, lively eyes were especially striking.
"Er Ya, what brings you here?"
Li Qingshan opened his eyes and smiled at the girl.
She was Widow Wang's daughter. Her full name was Zhou Taoyao, a name Li Qingshan had given her. Her nickname was Er Ya.
"Grandpa Qingshan, I picked a basket of wild cherries on the mountain today. They're so sweet! Hurry and try some!"
Er Ya wiped the sweat from her forehead and presented the basket of glistening wild cherries to Li Qingshan like a precious treasure.
"Wild cherries? That's a rare treat. Let me try one... Mm, they're sweet! Thank you, Er Ya!"
Li Qingshan smiled as he picked up two and popped them into his mouth. Sweet and tangy, with a flavor all their own.
He affectionately ruffled Er Ya's hair.
Er Ya said happily, "Grandpa Qingshan, today's your hundredth birthday. I didn't know what to get you, so I brought you this basket of wild cherries. I hope you live to be a thousand!"
"Live to a thousand? Wouldn't that make me an immortal?"
Li Qingshan teased her with a smile.
"But Grandpa Qingshan, aren't you already an immortal? You're exactly like the immortals in the storybooks! Grandpa Qingshan, can you tell me that story about the monkey causing havoc in the Heavenly Palace again today?"
Er Ya said admiringly.
Her father had died when she was young, and Widow Wang had struggled to raise her on her own. Li Qingshan had helped them many times. Er Ya had been close to him since she was little, and in his heart, she was just like his own granddaughter.
The Yellow-Skin Gourd at Li Qingshan's waist was one Er Ya had found on Coiling Dragon Mountain a year earlier and given to him.
"The monkey causing havoc in the Heavenly Palace? Haven't you heard that one plenty of times already?"
Li Qingshan smiled.
Er Ya and many of the village children loved to gather around Li Qingshan and listen to his stories. They were especially captivated by the tale of the monkey causing havoc in the Heavenly Palace, listening to it again and again.
"I can't get enough of it! Please, Grandpa Qingshan, please..."
Er Ya clung to Li Qingshan's arm and wheedled.
"All right, all right. Grandpa will tell you!"
Li Qingshan took a sip of wine to wet his throat. His old voice rang out through the courtyard. "It is said that in Eastern Victory Divine Continent, there was a kingdom called Aolai. The kingdom lay near the sea, and in the sea stood a famous mountain called Flower Fruit Mountain..."
Before long, a crowd of children had gathered in the courtyard around Li Qingshan.
A breeze stirred the old peach tree. Blossoms drifted down with a faint fragrance, carrying Li Qingshan's voice far into the distance.
The next day.
"An immortal has come! An immortal has come to Peach Blossom Village!"
Someone shouted excitedly in the village.
At the village entrance, two figures—a man and a woman—floated in midair, standing on flying swords. Their robes fluttered in the wind, and they looked like immortals themselves.
Before long, many villagers had gathered at the entrance. They gazed up at the pair hovering in the air, their eyes filled with awe, and knelt to pay their respects.
"Two immortals, may I ask why you've come to Peach Blossom Village?"
The village chief asked cautiously.
"Bring out every child in your village who's at least ten and under eighteen. If any of them are found to have spiritual roots, they can come back to the mountain with us, join the Spring Autumn Sect, and cultivate the Dao!"
The male cultivator, dressed in green, spoke impatiently.
"Yes, yes..."
The village chief bowed respectfully, unable to hide his excitement. Had Peach Blossom Village really encountered an immortal opportunity today?
He had traveled outside the village before and heard of immortals recruiting disciples. He had never expected it would be Peach Blossom Village's turn.
"Village chief, what are spiritual roots?"
"What kind of place is the Spring Autumn Sect?"
"What does it mean to cultivate the Dao? Does that mean becoming an immortal?"
The villagers gathered around the village chief, whispering their questions.
"What are you all standing around for? Hurry and bring your children here! This is Peach Blossom Village's chance at an immortal fate. If your children are chosen, they can become immortals. What are you waiting for?"
The village chief hurriedly scolded them in a hushed voice, afraid of upsetting the immortals.
"Become immortals?!"
The villagers were instantly thrilled.
They raced home to bring their children, eager to have the immortals see whether they had those so-called spiritual roots.
If they could become immortals, that would be an extraordinary stroke of fortune!
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