The Mortal Heart Beneath the White Clouds
After the rainy season, the weather will be sunny and warm.
The rice seedlings on the mountainside are growing slightly, and with the gentle breeze, they create a continuous wave of rice.
A Spirit Boat descended from the sky, and two figures dressed in Spirit Boat robes stepped out of it.
Ye Jingcheng looked at the vast wheat field, which seemed to sway with the breeze and the waves of grain.
At the end of the rice paddies lies a small town nestled at the foot of a mountain.
The town is small, but the two mountains are quite high, providing ample shade.
The temple at the village entrance still looked golden and luxurious, and the road was much wider. It was the Immortal Hall, but unfortunately, no immortals ever lived there.
Ye Jingcheng's eyes suddenly became somewhat dazed.
In an instant, many images flashed before my eyes.
Finally, it lands on the three characters "White Cloud Town" at the entrance of the archway.
He shook his head, then smiled slightly.
He's here to ascend to immortality today, how could he be so distracted?
"Jingcheng, is this the small town you left behind?" Ye Jingyu asked from the side.
"Yes, Seventh Sister, those are Two Journeys Mountain in White Cloud Town, which connects with the clouds. When we were little, everyone in the town thought that the immortals lived on Two Journeys Mountain. Only the old town mayor would happily point to the Immortal Hall and tell us that the immortals lived in the Immortal Hall!" Ye Jingcheng nodded and then spoke up.
"Many years ago, I didn't understand what the old mayor meant, because the Immortal Hall was more deserted than any other house in the town. I even stayed there for a while until the day of the Ascension Ceremony. That's when I realized that we were... immortals!" After Ye Jingcheng finished speaking, he walked directly along a wide path and headed towards the town.
We passed the archway and the palace.
In a daze, he seemed to see himself standing guard in front of the Immortal Hall, his eyes filled with anticipation for the immortal riding a crane under the moon.
He then shook his head again.
Ye Jingcheng thought he had long since achieved a state of emotional indifference.
But now, standing before White Cloud Town once again, those mundane memories feel as if they happened just yesterday.
Ye Jingcheng entered the palace and landed in front of the green bell at the very center of the palace.
This bell is called the Immortal Bell.
However, it is not Law Artifact, and ordinary people cannot hang Law Artifact.
However, this bell is extremely loud; if struck with a magic spell, its sound can be heard for miles around.
It is also the guardian beast of White Cloud Town, and it will sound whenever Demon Beast appears.
This serves both as a warning to the clansmen and as a plea for faith from the Ye Family's monks.
"Jingyu, wait for me a moment!" Ye Jingcheng hesitated for a moment, but still did not knock immediately.
He walked out of the Immortal Hall, into the bustling street, through the wisps of smoke rising from the steamed bun shop, and past a group of children clamoring for candied hawthorns.
The streets were still so familiar, but the feeling of things being different and people gone still washed over me.
The aroma of wine and loud laughter wafted from the restaurants with their bright red signs hanging on both sides of the street.
He arrived at a large courtyard.
There is a big leaf character at the door of the courtyard, which is the courtyard of the old mayor.
His body began to become transparent, accompanied by a spiritual light; at this moment, no one could see him.
Now, twenty years later, he is unsure whether the old town mayor is still alive.
In the years he's been living on the mountain, due to Lineage rules, he can only visit once every ten years, and although he's almost forty-four now, he's only come back to visit once.
Back in his early twenties, he was just a lowly cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining. Now, more than twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye.
The compound was extremely populous and had expanded considerably compared to his memory.
Inside the courtyard, the old locust tree has grown even thicker, and an old man lies on a wicker chair beneath it.
The old town mayor was getting old; his eyes could no longer be fully open, and the wrinkles on his face were as numerous as those on the old locust tree beside him.
One of his shoes fell off, revealing a thin, bony foot, but in his old age, even moving for a short while seemed extremely difficult.
Ye Jingcheng's body gradually materialized, and he picked up the shoes from the ground.
Gently help the elderly man put on the clothes.
"Grandpa Mayor, it's cool under the locust tree, it's better to stay indoors!" Ye Jingcheng said softly.
The latter raised his eyelids in surprise and doubt:
Is it Liu'er?
His voice was low, as if he were struggling to speak, and his cloudy eyes seemed to be filled with reminiscence.
But he still immediately knew Ye Jingcheng's childhood nickname.
His former name was Ye Liu. Within the Ye Family's territory, any member of the Ye Family without Spirit Roots could only have a two-character name.
Only those Spirit Roots have just begun to manifest can be bestowed with a generational name.
"An immortal has arrived! I am so sorry for not being able to greet you properly!" The old town mayor pondered for a long time, then seemed to remember something and began to try to get up from the rattan chair.
In his view, there are no ruffians now, only high and mighty immortals.
"Grandpa Mayor, he's no immortal, just an ordinary mortal!" Ye Jingcheng shook his head and helped the old mayor to sit up straight.
"Grandpa Mayor, please forgive me for only coming to see you today." Ye Jingcheng took out the Spring Welcoming Tea and poured a cup for the old mayor.
"No, that won't do!" The old town mayor thought it was a waste of the spiritual tea.
"It's not a spiritual tea, it's just ordinary tea, but I grew it myself, just like you said back then, picked at dawn with the rain and dew. It's not from an immortal, but it's better than an immortal's!" Ye Jingcheng said with a smile.
The old man finally agreed to drink it.
This tea is naturally Spring Welcoming Tea. Spring Welcoming Tea is not harmful to the body. Although it has a low Spiritual Qi content, it is still considered a spiritual tea and is better for the old town mayor's health.
While it may not prolong life, it certainly increases the amount of time one is conscious of.
"This tea is good, this tea is good!" the old town mayor kept praising.
Ye Jingcheng was also filled with joy, but this joy was different from usual.
The Lineage has always emphasized the separation between the mortal and immortal realms.
Ye Jingcheng had previously agreed that one should not neglect Dao Heart.
After all, a mortal's lifetime is less than a hundred years, while he still has two hundred years left, even if his cultivation doesn't improve.
Soaring Cloud Peak is at least a thousand miles away from the Lineage's ordinary county town.
So over the past twenty years, he has consciously or unconsciously given up the idea of coming back to visit.
But now, in his view, that kind of escapism might have been a mistake.
Cultivating immortality is also about cultivating the mind.
Everyone's Dao Heart are different.
Even just sitting to the side, he felt content.
Instead, if he keeps running away, there might be big problems when he finally breaks through.
As Ye Jingcheng drank tea with the old town mayor, he felt a shift in his State of Mind.
"Grandpa Mayor, I'm here today to guide the seedlings of immortality. Why don't you let me check yours first? If you have any good seedlings, I can take a look beforehand!" Ye Jingcheng said.
He had already spotted several middle-aged men waiting outside the inner courtyard.
They were carrying tea and rice, and had clearly noticed Ye Jingcheng in the courtyard.
They simply didn't disturb them.
"Uncles and elders are welcome to bring their children as well; they can stay in the courtyard today!" Ye Jingcheng said.
The middle-aged men were overjoyed and forgot to bring in their food and drink, instead going to summon their children.
Ye Jingcheng's decision to have them inspect here implies that he intends to give them preferential treatment.
To ensure fairness in the selection of immortal seedlings, the Ye Family will close the Immortal Hall and allow each child to enter individually without adult accompaniment. Moreover, even if a child is confirmed to have Spirit Roots, they will be taken directly into the clan mountain without any separation.
Although this was rather cruel, it was the first lesson these celestial seedlings learned.
There is a difference between immortals and mortals!