Treading the Immortal Path

"How do you want to handle this, Brother Qiu?"

Fat Dragon rubbed the smooth head of the young attendant, then tilted his head toward Chen Qiu. He actually wanted to go take a look; he was rather curious what this person might manage to gamble out.

But Chen Qiu was the one calling the shots, so he could not act on his own.

The Flower-Offering Sect was not exactly an upright sect. The reason he had survived there, even breaking through minor cultivation stages several times within the sect, was not solely because of his unique secret technique. More than that, it was because he knew how to read the room.

Who could refuse a little brother who never opposed you and did whatever you said?

To be an outstanding boss,

you needed to be strong enough, know how to win people's hearts, possess a broad view of the overall situation, maneuver among many factions, give those beneath you sufficient benefits, and so on.

But to be an outstanding little brother,

you only needed to find an outstanding boss and follow closely behind him.

Which was easier went without saying.

At least, with Brother Qiu's current trajectory, as long as he did not die halfway through, Fat Dragon felt that he would definitely live more comfortably than he had in the Flower-Offering Sect.

"Let's go take a look."

Chen Qiu toyed with the jade feather fan in his hand, signaling for the young attendant to lead the way.

"Right away."

The young attendant excitedly waved over a carriage driver waiting in the distance. About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, Chen Qiu and his group arrived at their destination: Windward City's central square.

It was a square platform, about three chi high.

Not a single blade of grass could be seen. Yet upon the platform, one could faintly make out mottled bloodstains left behind by the years. Whenever Windward City's City Lord's Manor had announcements to make, they would be posted here before being distributed throughout the city.

It occasionally served other purposes as well, such as executions.

And today, the place was already packed with people.

Quite a few small chairs had been neatly arranged around the area, and many were already occupied by spectators chatting amongst themselves. Temporary railings had also been built atop the surrounding low houses, their roofs crowded with people as well.

Along the way,

Chen Qiu noticed that Parent-Child Mirrors had been set up in many corners of Windward City, broadcasting the square's scenes in real time.

"Parent-Child Mirrors."

They were a special spirit treasure. Their only function was to transmit scenes from one location through the Parent Mirror to other locations in real time. One Parent Mirror generally came paired with twelve Child Mirrors, making them quite expensive. They were somewhat like Voice-Transmission Rings, yet not quite the same. These were fixed in place and could not be carried around. Their range was shorter, but the image quality was much clearer.

"Whoa."

Fat Dragon clicked his tongue as he swept his gaze around. "There really are a lot of people."

Meanwhile, in a courtyard near the square,

Attendant Liu was carefully instructing the dozen or so dirty-looking children before him. "You all remembered what I just said, right? Remember, you must add one more line: many disciples from great lineages and major sects have come."

"Hurry up and go."

"For every person you bring in, I'll give you one hundred copper coins!"

As soon as he finished speaking,

the dirty children rushed out the door, their eyes brimming with excitement. To them, one hundred copper coins was no small fortune.

After the children had left,

the middle-aged man standing beside Attendant Liu finally said bitterly, "Attendant Liu, although I left it entirely to you, aren't we investing a little too much? We're giving gifts and renting those expensive clothes."

"What if we lose money?"

"Master."

Attendant Liu sighed softly and looked solemnly at his master. "When have I ever made you lose money?"

"Although Windward City has no rule requiring large events to be reported to the authorities, think about it. If we didn't report it or offer some benefits, and then stirred up such a huge commotion in Windward City, what would the City Lord think?"

"And without Windward City sending officers to maintain order for us, wouldn't some petty scoundrels come cause trouble?"

"Those expensive clothes also had to be rented. Master, do you know what the disciples of these great lineages and major sects fear most? They all carry a sense of superiority in their hearts. What they fear most is being seen as having poor taste."

"So when we promote this, we must say that many people of the same standing as them will also come to watch. Otherwise, they may think watching someone chop a bull is something terribly shameful."

"Once they arrive and see that everyone present is dressed in costly clothes, they will naturally want to blend in with the crowd and no longer feel ashamed. Once people follow the herd, their intelligence is often cut in half!"

"Trust me, Master. We definitely won't lose money this time. Just from the Spirit Stones we've collected so far, we've already recovered our costs. It's merely a matter of how much we make. Master, just wait for my good news."

"Fine."

The middle-aged man let out a long sigh, patted Attendant Liu on the shoulder, and said helplessly, "Attendant Liu, it's not that I doubt your ability. I'm just truly feeling a little panicked. Have I ever told you that I'm actually quite afraid of pain?"

"No."

"Oh."

Chen Qiu and the others had already been sitting in the square for more than half an hour. More and more people gathered around them, and the voices of conversation grew increasingly chaotic. From those conversations, he also gleaned quite a bit of information.

For example, from the two people beside him.

"I wonder which lineage this fellow who wants to chop a bull belongs to. He's got some nerve. Randomly drawing eight White Traits or Green Traits—he really isn't afraid of drawing a demonic cultivator trait and sending himself straight to his death?"

"Exactly. What if he draws the classic demonic cultivator trait—Treading the Immortal Path: one day, first slaughter your parents, then kill your son."

"Those Windward City officers maintaining order would probably rush up and surround him on the spot. This guy is gambling hard. If it were me, I'd never dare gamble in public like this. How is that any different from gambling with your life?"

"Not necessarily. He's the only one who can see his traits anyway. If he doesn't reveal them, wouldn't that be that?"

"Wouldn't that directly prove he has a guilty conscience? Besides, so many people came to see what trait he could gamble out. He took their Spirit Stones but won't let them see it? Is he playing around?"

Through their conversation, Chen Qiu came to understand.

Many traits were suited for demonic cultivators and evil cultivators, but those traits would not directly label themselves as suitable for demonic cultivators. Rather, if you wanted to fully make use of such a trait, the things you had to do would make you a demonic cultivator.

If you did not use that trait, then you had made up your mind not to become a demonic cultivator, and there was no problem.

As long as you did not reveal your trait in public or go somewhere that required trait inspections, there was generally no issue. After all, holding a knife did mean you might become a butcher, but it did not mean you would definitely become one.

Only when collecting the medicine for breaking through to the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm and obtaining one's first random trait would drawing a demonic cultivator or evil cultivator trait result in immediate execution. At other times, as long as you did not court death, no one would come after you.

It was essentially the same as strict laws and lax enforcement. As long as you did not expose yourself in public, no one would deal with you.

Of course,

those who went to the City Lord to receive the medicine were generally poor people. And once poor people were given such an opportunity, most of them would rather become demonic cultivators in order to change their miserable lives.

For instance—

the most classic trait among demonic cultivators, and also the most widespread and recognizable one.

"Trait Name": Treading the Immortal Path.

"Trait Grade": White Trait.

"Trait Effect": For every direct blood relative within three generations killed, gain three Spirit Stones.