Reentering the Immortal Sect, On Spiritual Roots

[Morgue].

In the dim world, a simple high platform stood tall. Upon it lay an open, majestic book, inscribed with ancient, grand seal script.

Wang Ping opened his eyes.

After staring blankly for a long while, he finally emerged from the lingering afterglow of resurrection. Then an enticing thought came to him: What if he resurrected and went straight back?

In that battle just now, he had cut the county yamen constables down by a third. All four veteran constables at External Arts Perfection had died. To put it bluntly, the court's foundation of rule in Longxing County had already crumbled by more than half. If he resurrected and charged back now, there was a very good chance he could kill Xu Bingzheng!

At that thought, Wang Ping's hands immediately itched.

Yet after seeing that he was now utterly alone, he quickly calmed down. "No. All my weapons were destroyed in that battle."

The Black Chi Bow, Ox-Tail Saber, Heart-Guard Mirror, Exquisite Girdle, soft armor... all the weapons that complemented his martial arts had been ruined in the battle. Those external objects would not return merely because he resurrected. Even if he came back on the spot, the destruction of his weapons would cause his combat ability to plummet.

"Besides, the Otherworldly Celestial Demon still needs to cool down."

"Xu Bingzheng's cultivation was already higher than mine, and I have no room for error. If I can't return at my peak, one misstep might capsize the boat in a ditch..."

After turning it over and over in his mind, Wang Ping still decided to play it safe.

After all, he was not the sort to bang his head against a wall. His recklessness was only a disguise; much of the time, there was method to his madness. Blindly charging ahead was simply courting death.

"A gentleman's revenge can wait ten years."

"I should go to the Immortal Sect world first. Once I cultivate immortality and learn a few spells, then return and crush these crude martial men from a higher dimension. That is the best strategy."

But before that...

Wang Ping turned his gaze, looking expectantly at the majestic book before him. Before dying this time, he had used his own corpse for settlement.

The Peace Scripture happened to have one empty slot left for a scroll.

What would this one bring?

As though responding to Wang Ping's thoughts, the majestic book soon lit up with a faint glow that spread across its pages at a visible speed.

On the empty page, Wang Ping soon saw scenes from before his death. To his surprise, Madam Su appeared in most of them: from his conversation with her, to his risking his life to storm the city, to the final conversation between Madam Su and a tall woman in the peach grove...

"Bound in life and death in a single conversation, a promise worth a thousand gold."

For a moment, even Wang Ping felt a little embarrassed. After all, the reason he could throw his life away so readily was ultimately because he could resurrect and start over.

If he could not, he admitted that he did not possess the resolve to sacrifice himself for righteousness.

"I didn't expect the Peace Scripture could even reveal scenes after my death. Judging by her appearance, someone from the Su Household in the capital must have come to receive her."

Wang Ping shifted his gaze toward the tall woman behind Madam Su.

Just one glance made his spirit sense ache faintly.

Clearly, this tall woman was anything but ordinary. The last person who had provoked such a reaction from his spirit sense had been Xu Bingzheng at the height of his strength.

With that, Wang Ping could finally rest easy. This death had not been in vain.

The next moment, the image shattered. Wang Ping's consciousness returned to reality, while the words on the third page of the majestic book finally settled into place.

[Scroll Three: A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold]

[For a promise made in life, you strode forth without hesitation even if it meant abandoning your own life. Your actions left an indelible impression upon someone's heart.]

Wang Ping carefully read the contents of the scroll.

Only after a long while did he rub the space between his brows, a gleam of delight rising in his eyes. "This scroll... its effect is completely different from what I imagined beforehand."

Put simply, it was a loan.

"After A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold is activated, I can write a [Promise] on the scroll and withdraw in advance the gains that will come after fulfilling that [Promise]."

"So long as I fulfill the [Promise] before the deadline, the gains withdrawn in advance will remain permanently. Otherwise, if I fail to fulfill the [Promise], the scroll will backlash. Not only will the gains withdrawn in advance vanish, the scroll itself will be directly ruined and can no longer be used."

"Of course, there is an exception."

"That is, if I suddenly die after making the [Promise]. Once the person is dead, the gains taken in advance disappear, and the [Promise] naturally resets."

When a man died, his debts died with him. Nothing could be more fitting.

Looking at the scroll, Wang Ping sank into thought.

"This scroll... can't be used to kill people. After all, no one can die twice. Making that the [Promise] is practically guaranteed to end in breaking it."

Nor was it easy to use for directly improving his combat strength.

If he used this scroll to break through to Titled Martial Master, how could he break through a second time afterward? The cost of crippling his cultivation and rebuilding it would be too great.

After thinking it through, only one use offered the greatest value.

"Cultivation."

Whether martial arts or immortal arts, he could use this scroll to withdraw the results in advance, then turn around and cultivate afterward. That would make his efficiency twice the effort for half the result.

For example, when he cultivated Qi Suppression, the experience instilled from being a Force Servitor had allowed him to cultivate the spell to the level of reconnecting bones and tendons in an extremely short time. He was only one step away from covering his body in True Qi and becoming impervious to blades and spears. This was how getting on the carriage before buying the ticket improved cultivation speed.

"...It really is a good thing."

Wang Ping rubbed his chin. If he had possessed this scroll earlier and borrowed the perfected realm of the Cloud-Piercing Heaven-Shaking Arrow in advance—

Then he might really have been able to break into the county yamen!

At that thought, Wang Ping recalled the Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill that he had deliberately handed to Xu Bingzheng before dying. A smile immediately appeared in his eyes.

"By now, that dog official should have begun examining it, right?"

"With his abilities, he won't be fooled by the Heartbreak Pills I hid in the outer pill shells. But it doesn't matter. Those were only a feint to begin with."

The Heaven's Will Soul-Returning Pill he had given Xu Bingzheng was a version Wang Ping had painstakingly reforged. The outermost shell had been made from the original pill's skin; the middle layer had been replaced with Heartbreak Pill; then the innermost layer was restored to the original pill, except Heartbreak Pill powder had been evenly fused into its shell.

The two pills had thus been perfectly kneaded together, possessing both nourishing properties and deadly poison.

This was no longer a method available to mortals.

"Only I, with spirit sense, can cut apart two pills so precisely, then piece and paste them back together without a single seam, merging them into one."

According to Wang Ping's estimate—

No matter how cautious Xu Bingzheng was, he was ultimately just a mortal without spirit sense. No method of testing medicine could possibly uncover the trap within the pill.

"If he chooses to take it himself, perhaps I won't even need to act. By the time I return from the Immortal Sect, I may hear that the county magistrate died suddenly..."

Returning from immortal cultivation to find the county magistrate dead suddenly—what a pleasing sound!

"Unfortunately, the Immortal Sect world is unlike the Great Shun Dynasty. There's no way to choose an identity by consuming Destiny. I can only let the Peace Scripture decide at random..."

He could only hope he would randomly receive a disciple's identity this time. He did not want to become a Force Servitor again.

With that thought, Wang Ping lingered no longer. He stood, patted his sleeves, and strode toward the gateway upon the Otherworldly Celestial Demon.

Clang!

Golden radiance erupted with the sound of the gateway opening. Wang Ping's vision was swiftly swallowed, and his consciousness grew heavy, as though he were sinking into the depths of the sea.

He did not know how long passed before a strange sensation of rising swept through Wang Ping's entire body. The golden radiance gradually faded and scattered apart. His five senses began functioning again, while entirely new sights, sounds, and scents rushed in alongside a vast flood of memories.

"Senior Sister, rest assured."

"This one was originally meant to be made into a Force Servitor. I called in a favor with the senior brother in charge of the guards to get him out."

"The records say that he was not only born with a Desire-Realm Celestial Body, but had also practiced many mortal martial arts. His qi and blood are vigorous; he is one in ten thousand."

"His value as human livestock is extremely high!"

A voice rang beside him. Wang Ping swiftly accepted the memories pouring into him, yet he soon heard a familiar voice with surprise.

"Of course I trust the two junior brothers."

The voice was soft and gentle. Merely hearing it was enough to conjure the image of a graceful noblewoman in one's mind, yet it carried an inexplicable seductive charm.

"Is that You Daoist Nun again?"

Wang Ping's heart tightened slightly, and he did not dare show the slightest reaction.

"Senior Sister is too polite."

The voice continued, with obvious fawning in its tone. "After all, Heaven and Earth Pavilion's quality control was lax before. They actually allowed a Force Servitor to retain some memories from before death."

"Unfortunately, that out-of-control Force Servitor died suddenly. There's no evidence, and neither the Law Enforcement Court nor Heaven and Earth Pavilion will acknowledge it. Otherwise, we could certainly have squeezed them hard for a sum. Also... I heard Senior Sister's attendant boy caused a great disaster before, leading to the Dharma Coins for this season being swept away by villains?"

"If not for that, why would I trouble you two junior brothers?"

You Daoist Nun sighed faintly. "My purse is truly empty. I cannot afford a new Force Servitor, so I can only buy back a person to raise myself."

"Just in time, I have already refined that attendant boy. My seat is empty now, so let him fill the position, lest it become difficult to complete the heavy duties entrusted by the sect."

"So that's how it is..."

After that, the three exchanged a few more pleasantries. Finally, the two disciples who were clearly responsible for delivery took their leave, leaving only You Daoist Nun's breathing behind.

At the same time, Wang Ping finally sorted through the memories of this life.

"In this life, my predecessor was a mortal martial artist. To enter the Immortal Sect, he willingly became a Force Servitor, seeking only to be bestowed a spiritual root and gain the chance to cultivate immortality..."

The more Wang Ping explored the memories, the more shaken he became.

"My predecessor came from a great grassland nation called Northern Liao, also known as the Golden Horde Court. Its people worshiped the Immortal Sect and called it the Eternal Heaven."

Beyond its supreme status in matters of religion, the Eternal Heaven in Northern Liao even possessed the most important power in the secular realm: the right to levy taxes.

But what it collected was no ordinary monetary tax.

It was a "death tax."

"Under Northern Liao's rule, corpses after death are neither buried nor cremated. Instead, they are handed over as tax, collectively placed under the Eternal Heaven's jurisdiction."

"The more people die in a household, the more tax that household pays. It is called Sky Burial. The royal court even offers subsidies for it. That way, the people not only save funeral expenses but can also earn an additional windfall. It is thus a benevolent policy that benefits both nation and people, beloved by everyone across the grasslands..."

Wang Ping stared in stunned disbelief.

They said only death and taxes were unavoidable. Well, now even death itself could not avoid being taxed. This Immortal Sect was surely a demonic sect!

"The corpses gathered as taxes must be the materials for the Immortal Sect's Force Servitors."

"But my predecessor was different. While still alive, he voluntarily entered the Immortal Sect, seeking only to have his spiritual root tested one more time and thereby embark upon the path of immortal cultivation."

"It seemed he had already been tested once. The result showed only a Desire-Realm Celestial Body, without any spiritual root, so he was unable to enter the Immortal Sect. Yet he could not accept it and always felt the test had been wrong, so he wanted to test again. And the Immortal Sect was actually merciful enough to let him enter for another test?"

Wang Ping was somewhat surprised, but he quickly understood.

"Right. Corpses have grades of quality too. The main thing is how heavy their resentment was before death. A corpse from a normal death of old age cannot compare to one who died a sudden, violent death."

"Since my predecessor was already unwilling to accept it, if the second test produced the same result, his resentment would inevitably soar in his despair."

From that perspective, rather than saying the Immortal Sect was showing mercy by giving people a second chance to test, it would be more accurate to say it was trying to improve the quality of the corpses.

No wonder they had said his predecessor's value as human livestock was so high.

That made perfect sense!

"Even my predecessor probably understood this logic. He merely harbored a lucky hope and could not let go of his obsession... Sigh, cultivating immortality is difficult—harder than climbing to the blue sky."

Seeing this, Wang Ping's heart tightened.

Because the memories of his predecessor mentioned a term he could not overlook: spiritual roots. A mortal had to possess spiritual roots to cultivate immortality.

"Is that real?"

"The He Transforms Freely and Governs the Desire Realm Heavenly Book never mentioned this at all. Is it because the cultivation scripture is incomplete, so it assumes every cultivator has spiritual roots?"

At that thought, Wang Ping's scalp went numb.

Because there was one fact he could not ignore: every time he was reborn, it was said to be a predecessor's body, but in reality all the conditions were the same as his own.

In other words—

"If my predecessor had no spiritual roots, then perhaps I have none either!?"

At that moment, a pleasant fragrance suddenly wafted over. Then Wang Ping felt the restraints around his body come undone, while a seductive voice echoed beside his ear.

"Wake up."

At those words, Wang Ping hurriedly cast aside his stray thoughts and slowly opened his eyes.

The familiar face of You Daoist Nun immediately entered his view. Compared with last time, however, You Daoist Nun seemed considerably more haggard now.

"This is..."

Wang Ping feigned confusion. After staring blankly for a moment, he immediately said, "My second test. The immortal elders promised me that I could test one more time!"

His obsession was performed just right.

Seeing him like this, You Daoist Nun did not care. She smiled. "Rest assured. Since I brought you here, I will naturally give you another chance to test."

Having said that, she pointed around them.

Only then did Wang Ping see that he was in a grand hall. At the head of the hall stood a shrine, within which rested a statue.

The statue's appearance was extremely unusual. It was far from the solemn, majestic likeness found in mortal temples and monasteries. It did not even possess a true face. What he saw was a Daoist figure with flowing robes, standing sideways. Its face tilted slightly, its features impossible to discern beneath a wisp of green smoke rising from the incense burner within the shrine.

It seemed to be constantly changing, yet also like something eternal and unchanging.

It gazed down equally upon every person. More strange still, no matter from what angle one looked, all one could see was this sideways figure.

Profound beyond profundity; change was unchanging.

"This is the Celestial Venerable Hall."

You Daoist Nun explained on her own initiative. "The Immortal Sect was founded by the Celestial Venerable. Every disciple of our Immortal Sect, regardless of cultivation level, is a successor of the Celestial Venerable."

"Thus, beneath the Celestial Venerable's statue's gaze, no spiritual root can hide. The test is far more accurate than those methods outside... After all, aside from Defective Spiritual Roots and True Spiritual Roots, there are indeed certain Variant Spiritual Roots in this world that are harder to detect."

At those words, Wang Ping's heart stirred.

His predecessor had understood both Defective Spiritual Roots and True Spiritual Roots. Defective Spiritual Roots were incomplete spiritual roots; one could still cultivate immortality with them, but the Great Dao held no hope.

True Spiritual Roots were the roots that could truly allow a person to cultivate immortality and attain longevity.

Yet now, You Daoist Nun had introduced a third kind: Variant Spiritual Roots. As the name implied, they differed from other spiritual roots, making them difficult to detect under normal circumstances.

This reignited the flame of hope in Wang Ping's heart.

Who the hell would not want to cultivate immortality if they could? Compared to crude martial men, immortal cultivators who could live long and see far were unquestionably a crushing blow from a higher dimension!

"But don't raise your hopes too high."

The next moment, You Daoist Nun's faint voice reached him. "Though Variant Spiritual Roots are difficult to detect, mortals who possess such roots are one in ten thousand."

Maybe I'm one of them?

Wang Ping took a deep breath and sat before the shrine, filled with expectation. Gathering his strength and circulating his qi, he said quietly, "Thank you for your guidance, Immortal Elder. Please test me."

You Daoist Nun nodded. "Very well."

As her words fell, she formed a hand seal. The shrine in the hall immediately shimmered with radiance, and the statue inside turned slightly, as though casting a sidelong glance toward him.

At the sight, Wang Ping unconsciously held his breath.

Yet nothing happened.

As the statue's light dimmed again and its former divine wonder vanished, Wang Ping's heart sank to the bottom, until You Daoist Nun spoke once more.

"It seems you are not."

With that, she tossed a jade slip into Wang Ping's arms and said blandly, "This is the cultivation method practiced by menial disciples. Take it back and practice."

"My attendant boy practiced this method as well. There are still some cultivation resources he left behind in the Daoist temple, which can help you improve quickly. If you are lucky and can cultivate this method to its utmost limit, you may even refine a Defective Spiritual Root. Though the Great Dao will remain beyond your reach, extending your lifespan will be more than easy."

After saying that, You Daoist Nun turned and left without another word.

Wang Ping: "..."

Come to think of it, cultivating immortality was not all that great. Though it could grant longevity, one would spend half one's life in secluded cultivation and meditation, nothing more than dry bones in a tomb.

How could it compare to the unrestrained freedom of martial arts?

I don't care for it!