"Hehe, Li Xiaoya, go with Senior Brother Lin!" Fairy Qingxia instructed Li Xiaoya.
"Oh... ah! Then I'll be off, Sister Qingxia," Li Xiaoya said with a grin.
"Junior Brother Li! Please follow me!" Lin Xuandao said to Li Xiaoya with a smile. Though he had no idea what connection this mortal had to these three great immortals, it certainly was not something a True Cultivation Stage disciple like him could ask about. All he needed to do was carry out the instructions of these Grand Supreme Ancestors.
"Ah! All right! Sorry for the trouble, Senior Brother Lin." Li Xiaoya smiled somewhat shyly, but inwardly, he had already decided to ask this senior brother all about the flying sword in a moment. If he could get one himself, it would be both impressive and fun to play with.
Lin Xuandao led Li Xiaoya outside. At the entrance to the cave abode, Lin Xuandao slapped his waist, and a streak of blue light shot out. A small sword glowing blue appeared before him. He pointed a finger at it, and the little sword flew straight forward, swelling as it met the wind. In the blink of an eye, it became a giant sword the size of a small boat, hovering before Lin Xuandao.
Lin Xuandao leaped onto it and stood firmly on top. Seeing this, Li Xiaoya jumped on as well, only for his foot to slip the moment he stepped onto the flying sword. He toppled sideways, with a bottomless precipice below him.
One glance at that bottomless precipice sent Li Xiaoya's head spinning. With a terrified scream, he pitched downward. Amid the panic, he suddenly felt a tug at his waist-Lin Xuandao had caught his belt with one hand.
"Careful, Junior Brother Li!" Lin Xuandao pulled him upright but did not let go, afraid this mortal might cause another mishap.
"Th-thank you, Senior Brother Lin!" Relief washed through Li Xiaoya. Still shaken, he patted his chest and spoke with some gratitude.
"No need to be so polite! Junior Brother Li, you haven't learned any immortal arts yet, so you can't use spiritual power to hold yourself to the flying sword. You'll have to hold on tightly to me!" Lin Xuandao said with a smile.
"Yes, yes! I've made a fool of myself in front of you, Senior Brother Lin. Hehe!" Though Li Xiaoya had embarrassed himself, fortunately, he was thick-skinned enough to grin without so much as a blush. Both hands gripped the back of Lin Xuandao's robes tightly.
"All right, hold tight!" Though Lin Xuandao felt somewhat awkward about having his clothes tugged, he gave the warning, and the flying sword beneath his feet began to glow blue. Li Xiaoya felt a slight pull from the sword, as though he were stuck to it. Guiding the flying sword, Lin Xuandao slowly carried Li Xiaoya down the mountain.
The Three Immortals of the Heavenly Dao had all seen Li Xiaoya's embarrassing display and could not help finding it amusing. Once the two had left, the three sat down again to talk.
"Senior Brother Buddha, you sent us a voice transmission just now, asking that we send the boy away first. Presumably, you have something in mind," Heavenly Venerable Daoling said, speaking first.
"From the five-element ganoderma, the spirit child appears; upon the Heavenly Dao, ten thousand years bring calamity; only the five elements can end this tribulation." Buddha Xuanmen's expression grew solemn as he uttered these seemingly disconnected words.
"Senior Brother Buddha, isn't that the prophecy left by our Heavenly Dao Sect's seventeenth Great Elder, divined through his calculations when he ascended to the Spirit World ten thousand years ago? Do you mean...?" Fairy Qingxia paused, a trace of uncertainty in her voice.
"You mean Li Xiaoya has something to do with the ten-thousand-year calamity?" After a moment's thought, Heavenly Venerable Daoling suddenly spoke in surprise.
"Could it be... that Li Xiaoya is the legendary Calamity-Bound One?" Fairy Qingxia had also begun to understand Buddha Xuanmen's meaning, though she still sounded uncertain.
"Exactly! If my judgment is correct, that is. When I first received Junior Brother Daoling's message saying that the Five-Element Rainbow Ganoderma had possessed that person, I already had some suspicions. After meeting Li Xiaoya, I became eighty percent certain that he was the legendary Calamity-Bound One. Think about it, both of you: how could the Five-Element Rainbow Ganoderma have possessed Li Xiaoya by such a coincidence? If he were an ordinary mortal, that would be one thing, but Li Xiaoya has the legendary five-element spiritual root, possessing all five elemental attributes. A five-element spiritual root is even rarer than a heavenly spiritual root. In fact, to this day, we have never heard of an Immortal Cultivator with a five-element spiritual root. Analyzing it this way, Li Xiaoya must be the Calamity-Bound Spirit Child we have been searching for," Buddha Xuanmen reasoned, his expression grave.
"Now that you've put it that way, Senior Brother Buddha, it really does make sense. How did I fail to see that connection? Ah! I nearly jeopardized a matter of tremendous importance!" Fairy Qingxia said reproachfully to herself.
"Mm! With Senior Brother Buddha's reminder, that does seem quite likely. Then this time, we truly have found a blessing in misfortune! I was far too careless," Heavenly Venerable Daoling agreed.
"Neither of you needs to blame yourselves too much. The Five-Element Rainbow Ganoderma had absorbed your attention, and the sect's rise and fall weighed on your minds. As the saying goes, those within the game are blind to it, while those watching from the sidelines see clearly. I merely had the clearer view of an onlooker!" Buddha Xuanmen reassured them.
"Then, Senior Brother Buddha, are you suggesting that we take Li Xiaoya into the sect and nurture him carefully?" Heavenly Venerable Daoling asked tentatively.
"We certainly must take him into the sect and nurture him well. The difficulty lies in his aptitude as someone with a five-element spiritual root-it is truly too dreadful to behold. Still, with the strength of our Heavenly Dao Sect, if we devote ourselves fully to cultivating him, supplying large quantities of spirit pills and elixirs along with guidance from us Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, we can still make his cultivation advance greatly. Though external resources are important to us cultivators in increasing our magical power, they cannot help us advance our understanding of cultivation realms or comprehend divine abilities. Judging by Li Xiaoya's features and bone structure, he is exceptionally intelligent, so his comprehension should not be poor. His greatest problem, however, is that he still lacks a steadfast heart of the Dao. Aptitude may be important to us cultivators, but those who attain true fruition are the ones with unyielding hearts," Buddha Xuanmen said slowly.
"That is indeed a problem, Senior Brother Buddha. With the abilities of the three of us and the powerful backing of the sect, it would even be possible to force Li Xiaoya's cultivation through to the Nascent Soul Realm. But if this were something a mere Nascent Soul Cultivator could resolve, it would hardly be called the ten-thousand-year calamity!" Heavenly Venerable Daoling said gravely.
"Mm! I agree. Every one of us at the Nascent Soul Late Stage endured countless years of arduous cultivation and hardship to reach our present realm. Li Xiaoya may be extraordinarily clever, but he is mischievous and unruly, given to petty tricks, swindling, and deception. He is not someone with a heart set on the Dao who can painstakingly cultivate his magical power and techniques!" Fairy Qingxia nodded in agreement.
"So guiding Li Xiaoya onto the path of immortal cultivation will still be quite a headache..."
And so the Three Immortals of the Heavenly Dao each offered their views, discussing how to bring Li Xiaoya into the Cultivation World and make him an Immortal Cultivator.