You Will Become an Immortal

Su Yueli took a deep breath, her heart racing.

Since transmigrating here, she had had nothing. This was her chance to defy fate and change her destiny.

She stepped into the center of the pillar of light. One second, two seconds—dead silence.

The formation did not so much as ripple.

"A mortal body, completely devoid of Spiritual Bone. Next." The cultivator's voice was icy, crashing down upon her head.

Su Yueli's mind went blank in an instant.

What?

No response... I couldn't even touch the threshold of cultivation?!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

At that moment, a rejected young man burst out from the crowd. Looking utterly crazed, he shouted, "My mother said there was thunder and rain on the day I was born, a natural heavenly omen! I must be an unparalleled genius! Immortal, let me test again! This formation must be broken!"

The cultivator could not be bothered to acknowledge him.

Bang!

A blast of air exploded. The young man was struck as though by lightning, sent flying more than a hundred feet before crashing into an earthen wall and coughing up blood. Whether he lived or died was unknown.

"Even an ant dares question an immortal formation? Were it not for orders from the sect, you would already be dead."

The villagers immediately fell silent as cicadas in winter. The display of intimidation had been highly effective.

"Next!"

Only then did the cultivator continue, his tone growing ever more impatient.

After testing for so long in this godforsaken backwater, all he had found were mortals with no Spiritual Bone whatsoever.

Shen Huai'an saw her, glanced at the somewhat dejected Su Yueli, then let out a long breath and stepped forward.

A moment later, a beam of azure light shot into the heavens, piercing the clouds. The ground cracked open in lines under the force of that spiritual energy.

Azure light shone everywhere.

The entire little mountain village, along with everything within ten miles, was dyed a layer of blue-green.

The villagers trembled at this sudden miracle and fell to the ground one after another, not daring to raise their heads.

The previously impatient cultivator's pupils contracted. "Heavenly Bone... It is actually a Supreme Heavenly Bone, one seen only once in ten thousand!"

The cultivator's voice began to shake. His once lofty expression, when he looked at Shen Qing'an now, held not only shock but also a hint of ingratiation.

Once such a genius entered the sect, his Dao Path would be boundless. If he showed goodwill now, perhaps he might gain considerable benefits in the future.

Meanwhile, Shen Qing'an looked at his younger brother in the center of the radiance. His clenched fists loosened, and the stone weighing on his heart finally fell away.

Huai'an had finally made it. He would no longer have to live a bitter, impoverished life alongside him.

Yet Shen Huai'an, standing within that dazzling immortal light, felt a jumble of emotions.

His gaze passed over the villagers and landed on Su Yueli.

Entering an immortal sect meant leaving, meant severing mortal ties. He did not want to leave his brother, much less Su Yueli.

But this was a Heavenly Bone—the finest talent for cultivation. From now on, he would become the sect's favored child, standing above tens of thousands and below only one.

He would also have countless beauties and fellow cultivators, but he and Shen Qing'an had made an agreement...

Su Yueli remained standing in the shadows, watching the immortal light that illuminated the entire village.

The light was too bright, so bright that she could barely keep her eyes open.

Shouldn't such peerless cultivation talent belong to a transmigrator like her?

What was this? Had she transmigrated for nothing?

An inescapable weariness and sorrow rose within her.

"Good, good, good! Come with me. We return to the sect at once!"

The cultivator was extremely excited. He stepped forward and grabbed Shen Huai'an by the shoulder. "Your mortal ties have ended. Say your farewells quickly!"

Shen Huai'an took a deep breath and came to Shen Qing'an's side.

Lowering his voice, he gritted his teeth and said, "Brother, we agreed... if Yueli had Spiritual Bone, then whichever of us had it would protect her."

"If she did not, then whichever of us lacked it would stay and protect her. I have to leave. Yueli... you must watch over her for me."

"Don't worry." Shen Qing'an's expression was resolute. "Go. Don't look back."

Shen Huai'an released his hand and turned toward Su Yueli.

He wanted to take her hand, but it fell limply midway.

"Yueli, wait for me."

Shen Huai'an stared at her face as though he wanted to carve it into his bones. "Wait until I master great divine powers, then I'll come back for you. I will... I will definitely come back for you."

Su Yueli had recovered somewhat. Looking at Shen Huai'an, she felt a little helpless.

She truly wanted to tell him that there was no such word as waiting between mortals and immortals.

"Cultivate well."

After Shen Huai'an finished his farewells, the cultivator pointed at the four people who had tested positive for Spiritual Bone. "Three Mortal Bones will enter the sect as menial disciples. The Low-grade Spiritual Bone will enter the outer sect. This is settlement money. Sever your mortal ties and follow me."

A heavy money pouch was casually tossed at the village chief's feet.

The five youths were swept up by an invisible force and deposited directly onto the flying boat.

A sound tore through the air. The flying boat became a streak of light and vanished into the clouds in an instant.

At the village entrance, all the villagers chased after it, as though they too wished to follow.

Only Su Yueli remained where she stood, the cold wind brushing her cheeks as she stared blankly ahead.

No Spiritual Bone.

She had waited three years and tried every method she could think of. She had believed the time simply had not come yet—what transmigrator ended up like this?

Just moments ago, she had been brimming with confidence, certain she could defy fate and change her destiny. Yet now she was told she did not even qualify to become a sect menial.

Su Yueli's vision went dark.

The heavens had collapsed.

"..."

Night fell, and the evening breeze was faintly cool.

Su Yueli lay atop the thatched roof, staring at the cold moon in the night sky with a dim expression.

No Spiritual Bone.

Those four words were like a blade endlessly stirring through her mind, nearly shattering her spirit.

Was she truly going to spend her entire life as an ordinary mortal in this godforsaken backwater, living, aging, sickening, and dying like wild grass in a field?

Su Yueli was unwilling. In her previous life, she had worked herself like an ox and horse for her boss, enduring the 996 grind every day. She had finally been given another life and come to a world with spiritual energy, where one could cultivate immortality.

She had thought she had finally received a script to defy fate and change her destiny, but what happened?

She was still a bottom-feeding ant!

In this world without laws, where only the strong devoured the weak and the biggest fist was reason, mortals did not even have the right to control their own lives and deaths.

Just like her parents...

She had transmigrated while still in her mother's womb. Though her parents had been mortals, their days had been warm and full of flavor.

Even when she tinkered with cultivation every day, her mother had merely smiled, patted her head, and showered her with praise. Her father left early and returned late, often bringing back things little girls liked.

Though Su Yueli had not been interested in those things, the warmth of family and her parents' love had truly flowed through her heart.

Until several years ago, when several cultivators happened to pass through and discover her. They had wanted to seize her by force and killed her parents with a wave of their hands.

Fortunately, an elder had apparently caught up afterward. To preserve the sect's reputation, he rebuked them, allowing her to escape disaster and wander here.

From that moment onward, Su Yueli had become even more determined to cultivate.

To immortals, mortals were like ants. If they did not care about their reputation, even enslaving them would not be impossible.

The villager who had been casually sent flying and made to cough blood by an immortal merely for saying one extra sentence during the day was the best example.

An hour ago, he had succumbed to his injuries and died.

Perhaps that was also a reflection of her future.

"The wind is strong up there. Come down, or you'll catch cold."

A familiar male voice suddenly came from the courtyard, interrupting Su Yueli's self-imposed gloom.

Shen Qing'an leaned in the shadow of the courtyard wall, looking up at the corner of clothing hanging from the edge of the roof.

"Being an immortal... isn't all that easy either."

Shen Qing'an comforted her softly. "Apart from Huai'an, the people on that flying boat will still be the lowest-ranking menial disciples even after entering the sect. Who knows when some high-level cultivator might casually kill them? Being an ordinary mortal and living peacefully into old age isn't so bad."

Su Yueli's lips pulled into a bitter smile.

"Peacefully?"

She murmured, "Even a passing low-level demon beast can treat us as food. An immortal can wipe out an entire village with a sneeze. Handing our lives over to someone else's mood—does that count as peace?"

Buddhas fight for a stick of incense; people fight for a breath of pride.

Born into the cultivation world, how could she remain calm and be content with merely being a mortal?

If she could not cultivate, perhaps she could become a martial artist and gain strength that way.

But martial artists likely required an entry point too. She had nothing and knew nothing, as though she had been isolated from the world, trapped in a closed loop of information disparity.

Shen Qing'an fell silent at her words.

Under the cold moonlight, he looked at the dispirited girl on the roof. For no reason, his chest tightened, and he felt a little sad.

He clenched his fists, raised his head, and fixed his dark eyes on her. "You... really want to cultivate that badly?"

Su Yueli did not look at him. She merely nodded toward the moon high above.

"I do. I dream about it."

Shen Qing'an's taut shoulders slowly relaxed. Looking at Su Yueli, he suddenly smiled.

"Don't be so down." Shen Qing'an spoke softly, his tone unusually certain. "You will become an immortal."

Before Su Yueli could ask what he meant, Shen Qing'an had already turned away. "It's late. Sleep early. We still have to work the fields tomorrow."

His footsteps gradually faded until the wooden door creaked shut.

Su Yueli turned over and looked at the empty courtyard, curling her lips in self-mockery.

Become an immortal? Shen Qing'an's empty promise was even more outrageous than hers.

In this cultivation world, where class solidification had reached a horrifying degree, without Spiritual Bone, one could not even achieve Qi Gathering.

To conjure something from nothing and step onto the immortal path, she would have to step in dog shit luck and encounter one of those legendary supreme opportunities capable of defying fate, cleansing the marrow, and shedding the bones.

But which such great opportunity was not accompanied by mountains of corpses and seas of blood? Why would it fall upon a mortal like her, someone who could not even sense qi?

It was simply a fantasy beyond fantasy.

Thinking and thinking, Su Yueli let out a sigh and closed her eyes.

"..."

"Ha—achoo!"

In the early morning, Su Yueli woke from the cold and sneezed.

Her thoughts had been a complete mess last night, and she had actually fallen asleep on the roof.

She rubbed her stiff neck and climbed down.

The courtyard was silent. She discovered a letter pinned beneath a stone on the table in the center of the yard, with two buns still carrying residual warmth beside it. The person who had delivered the letter seemed to have left only recently.

She walked over and pulled out the letter. The forceful handwriting penetrated the page—it was written by Shen Qing'an.

"I'm leaving.

My father had someone bring a letter this morning. Now that our enemies are gone, it is time for me to go to Fengling City and take over the business. Don't wallow in sorrow either.

If you have no Spiritual Bone, accept your fate. Don't go stirring up trouble. Remember to eat the buns on the table. You cannot skip breakfast.

Oh, right. There's also a sacred healing medicine inside. A few days ago, my father was afraid something might happen to me on the road, so he spent a great sum begging it from an immortal. I'm leaving it for you.

Once I strike it rich in Fengling City and become a great shopkeeper, if I'm in a good mood, I'll casually buy you an immortal pill that cleanses the marrow and sheds the bones, so you can eat it like candy.

You're slow-witted. Don't let a demon beast eat you, and don't freeze to death either. Keep that life of yours for me. Wait until I return to collect the debt."

The letter was short, without the slightest sticky sentiment of parting. Every line was filled with concern and the stench of money.

Looking at the letter, Su Yueli could not help but chuckle.

She cursed under her breath, "A profiteer to the bone."

Last night, that boy had sworn she would become an immortal. So he had meant he would go into business, make a fortune, and buy her an immortal pill?

Fengling City was famous for its scenery and flourishing commerce. It was not difficult for mortals to make money there, but buying an immortal pill was no different from dreaming.

Rumor had it that the Bone-Shedding Pill that allowed those without Spiritual Bone to cultivate was a fifth-grade pill.

Some sects with slightly weaker foundations did not even possess such a pill, let alone sell one.

Su Yueli shook her head, not taking those words to heart. She carefully folded the letter and tucked it close against her chest.

Then she picked up a bun from the table and took a bite. The coarse dough and shriveled meat filling slid into her stomach. With food in her belly, a trace of warmth finally rose through her body.

After eating, Su Yueli walked to the center of the courtyard. Looking at her fair hands without a single callus, her gaze gradually became focused.