Jade Cauldron Paradise

After thinking it over for a moment, Ye Fan's classmates felt that this Sacred Physique sounded incredibly powerful.

The elders from the other great Heavenly Caves all sighed and walked away, losing interest in Ye Fan and finding the matter utterly dull.

Several elders from Spiritual Void Cave Heaven were immediately immensely disappointed.

Before the Ancient Era, this physique had stood proudly above all heavens. Nine Sacred Physiques had appeared in succession, battling beneath the firmament and protecting humanity.

But after the Ancient Era, the Sacred Physique had indeed faded away. It was fundamentally unsuited for cultivation, and no Sacred Physique had ever successfully cultivated again.

Ye Fan had suddenly gone from being a prized treasure to someone everyone shunned and ignored, leaving him somewhat embarrassed.

"Ye Fan, come with me to Jade Cauldron Paradise."

Seeing Pang Bo about to speak, Jiang Yun spoke first.

"Elder Ma Yun, Ye Fan is my younger brother. He is my only family in this world. The two of us arrived in this land together, with no one to rely on, no way back, and no idea where we are headed. So I hope Ye Fan can enter Jade Cauldron Paradise and cultivate alongside me. I hope Elder can grant this request."

Jiang Yun looked at Elder Ma Yun and spoke with genuine emotion. Afterward, he bowed slightly in salute.

"Oh, you said your name is Jiang Yun? Could you be from that Jiang surname of the Eastern Wilderness?" Elder Ma Yun asked with a startled expression.

He truly had not expected this future Immortal Seedling, who had also eaten the sacred fruit of the Desolate Forbidden Land, to bear the Jiang surname.

Jade Cauldron Paradise was supported by the ancient aristocratic Jiang Family, so they naturally held a favorable impression of those surnamed Jiang.

A future Immortal Seedling had enough standing to request that someone be brought back with him.

The abrupt and seemingly unrelated question left Jiang Yun a little confused, but he understood what Elder Ma meant.

"Yes, that Jiang."

Jiang Yun wrote the ancient form of his surname in the air. Fortunately, he had studied his own surname somewhat and knew how to write the ancient character.

"What a coincidence. Perhaps you even have some Jiang Family blood in you. Bringing Ye Fan along won't be a problem."

Elder Ma Yun happily patted Jiang Yun on the shoulder and agreed.

Jiang Yun was somewhat puzzled. The Jiang Family was indeed immensely powerful, one of the foremost aristocratic families in the Eastern Wilderness.

But the Jiang Family had multiplied in the Big Dipper for over a hundred thousand years. There were likely countless billions of humans with the Jiang surname.

Elder Ma Yun could not possibly think more highly of him just because his surname was Jiang, could he?

Hearing Jiang Yun's words, Ye Fan was deeply moved as well.

Having arrived in the unfamiliar land of the Eastern Wilderness in the Big Dipper, everyone else had no family or friends to turn to. Yet he still had a relative constantly thinking of him. That was a truly happy thing.

"Thank you, Cousin."

After saying farewell to Pang Bo, Ye Fan followed him over, his eyes nearly reddening.

Next, Spiritual Void Cave Heaven selected another three people from the six great Heavenly Caves, while each of the other Heavenly Caves took another two.

Aside from Ye Fan, the Ancient Sacred Body, every Heavenly Cave took four people.

All of them who had come from Earth to the Big Dipper were separated. After wishing each other well, they each followed the elders and vanished into the distance as streaks of rainbow light.

The next news they heard of one another would either be that they had embarked on the path of cultivation, or that they had been buried in a foreign land.

Elder Ma Yun carried Jiang Yun, Ye Fan, and two classmates on a rainbow through the sky, racing along at tremendous speed. Unfortunately, it was night, so they could not admire the Eastern Wilderness's magnificent mountains and rivers.

Along the way, the doubts in Jiang Yun's heart were answered. He learned why Elder Ma Yun had valued him more after hearing his surname.

Jade Cauldron Paradise was supported by the Jiang Family. If he succeeded in cultivation, entering the Jiang Family would be much easier. Jiang Yun was very satisfied with this outcome.

After roughly one or two hours, they saw a range of mountains in the distance. In the night, it radiated a hazy glow. They could vaguely make out immortal cranes dancing through the air and halls rising one after another, presenting a scene fit for immortals.

"We're almost at the mountain gate," Elder Ma Yun reminded them.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived before the immortal mountains.

Jade Cauldron Paradise was encircled by immortal mountains, shrouded in mist and clouds. From afar, it appeared exceptionally ethereal, like a pure land beyond the mortal world.

The place was filled with a natural, peaceful aura. Its peaks were verdant, its valleys lush, its springs flowed and waterfalls flew, its vegetation flourished, and its birds and beasts possessed spirituality. It was as beautiful as a world within a painting.

Before Jade Cauldron Paradise's mountain gate, an unusual beast stood guard. Its body resembled that of a wild ox, its head resembled a qilin's, and it was eight or nine meters long. It lay in a pool with its eyes narrowed.

Seeing that Elder Ma Yun had arrived, the unusual beast paid no further attention.

Elder Ma Yun was used to this. He bowed slightly to the unusual beast, then led the still-stunned Jiang Yun and the other four toward the mountain gate.

Only after passing through a dense blanket of white mist did they truly enter Jade Cauldron Paradise. Inside, verdant immortal mountains stood like green jade, speckled with radiance and wrapped in immortal mist. Waterfalls cascaded down, their white streams like starlight condensed into ribbons, incomparably gorgeous against the night.

At the center stood a snow-white mountain, jade-like from top to bottom and completely barren of grass. It glittered with faint luster, shaped like a round cauldron and embraced by the surrounding mountains.

"It truly deserves to be called a blessed land for cultivation. The scenery is extraordinary, like a pure land beyond the world," Jiang Yun sighed.

As they continued, ancient trees towered along both sides of the road. There were also cultivated medicinal gardens, filled with ginseng as thick as arms, nine-leaf lingzhi, polygonatum as large as human heads, and more. Yet these seemed to be only the most ordinary herbs.

There were also medicinal plants Jiang Yun did not recognize, glittering with crystalline light and containing divine radiance. A faint mist drifted around them as though they were breathing.

Amid the ancient trees, halls and pavilions stood one after another, perfectly blending into the mountain environment.

At once, Jiang Yun felt endless anticipation for his future life of cultivation.

Before long, Elder Ma Yun made arrangements for Jiang Yun and Ye Fan, leaving them in a small valley.

There was a small courtyard within it, containing three rooms. A little stream flowed murmuring past the entrance, with fish of all kinds of shapes swimming through it.

A fishing enthusiast who came here surely would not leave empty-handed.

The scenery here was beautiful, tranquil, and natural. A gentle breeze blew past, seeming to wash away every worry, while the days of terror and unease faded into the distance.

The other three classmates were assigned elsewhere.

Jiang Yun was receiving the treatment of an Immortal Seedling, so he had a private courtyard. There was only this one courtyard in the entire small valley. The other three classmates did not receive such treatment.

Jiang Yun and Ye Fan walked around the small valley before entering the courtyard. It was called a small courtyard, but it was not actually small.

It was rather large, roughly three or four hundred square meters, like a small plaza.

Yet the courtyard was empty. Apart from a huge peach tree and a set of stone tables and chairs, there was nothing else.

Neither of them bothered tidying up. They looked through the three rooms and found that two were for living in, each with a bed and simple furniture. They looked antique and full of charm.

The other room was empty, with some ashes still lingering on the floor. The outline of a pill cauldron could faintly be seen on the blue floorboards. Perhaps it had been the previous resident's pill-refining room.

The private courtyard had no gate, and neither of them had anything to hide. Doors and gates were not much use in the cultivation world anyway.

Jiang Yun and Ye Fan were exhausted. They had no desire to stay up talking by candlelight at night, and it was better to sleep in separate rooms rather than share a bed.

They each chose a room and fell into deep sleep the moment they lay down.

The next day, when the sky was fully bright, Jiang Yun was awakened by someone calling outside. He pushed open his door and walked out.

Ye Fan had also been awakened by the voice and emerged from his room.

The two exchanged a glance and headed together toward the voice at the entrance.

When they got closer, they found a young female Daoist attendant, around eleven or twelve years old. Her lips were red and her teeth white, while her round little face still carried some baby fat. A food box sat beside her feet.

Her large, glossy black eyes stared blankly at Jiang Yun and Ye Fan in their strange clothing. She had never seen anyone dressed like them in all her life.

"Are you two Jiang Yun and Ye Fan?"

The little Daoist attendant spoke in a slightly childish voice.

"Yes, that's us. Little Daoist attendant, are you here to bring us food?"

Jiang Yun stepped forward, rubbed the little Daoist attendant's head, and asked.

"Can you not touch my head? Senior Sister Shuanglan said doing that will keep me from growing taller."

The little Daoist attendant's voice became slightly unhappy.

"Oh? Is your Senior Sister Shuanglan taller than me?"

Jiang Yun found this little Daoist attendant quite amusing and could not resist teasing her.

The little Daoist attendant raised her head and blinked. She looked at Jiang Yun's height, then gestured with her hand and pondered for a moment.

"She seems a little shorter than you. She isn't as tall as you."

"Then when it comes to growing taller, who knows more? Someone tall, or someone short?"

"Someone tall definitely knows more."

The little Daoist attendant answered with great certainty.

"Exactly. So you should listen to Big Brother more. I have plenty of experience when it comes to growing taller. If I rub your head like this, you'll definitely grow a little taller within a month."

Jiang Yun crouched down and looked at the little Daoist attendant with a sincere expression.

"Really? Then I'll wait a month and see. If you lied to me, then I... I won't bring you food for three days."

The little Daoist attendant nodded with a conflicted, half-doubtful expression.

"Do I look like a liar to you?"

The little Daoist attendant shook her head.

"This is your food for today. I'll bring you more tomorrow. I have to go back now! Otherwise, I'll have to eat leftovers! Eating leftovers won't help me grow taller."

The little Daoist attendant handed the food box to them, then hurriedly ran away.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Dingdang."

The little Daoist attendant's voice drifted back from afar.

"Can all the children in this Heavenly Cave run this fast?"

Ye Fan could not help clicking his tongue as he watched Little Dingdang's swiftly receding figure.

"Seriously, that was way too fast!"

Jiang Yun was also somewhat astonished. At that speed, she could probably run one hundred meters in six or seven seconds.

The two carried the food box to the stone table in the courtyard and opened the double-layered box expectantly. The food cultivators ate should not taste bad, right?

But after opening it, the two were dumbfounded. They looked at one another, unsure what to say.

The food was excessively plain: sliced lotus root, polygonatum, poria, gastrodia, lotus seeds, and an herb they did not recognize.

They all appeared to be relatively mild medicinal ingredients.

Forget oil—there was not even any water.

Still unwilling to believe it, they opened the lower layer. It was exactly the same, apparently a double serving.

"This is... food for an entire day?"

Ye Fan was stunned. Back on Earth, his Ancient Sacred Body had made him a huge eater, someone who could not live without meat.

How could these things possibly fill him up?