"Huh! You really are strange. If you don't eat or drink, what's the point of living?" Li Xiaoya asked, puzzled by what he had heard.
"What would you know about the Heavenly Dao we Immortal Cultivators pursue? Once you truly learn the immortal arts, you'll understand the benefits of cultivation!" Lin Xuandao said haughtily, looking as though he would not stoop to arguing with a mortal.
"But I saw plenty of other cultivators eating here too. Aren't they Immortal Cultivators?" Li Xiaoya suddenly asked with curiosity, as though something had just occurred to him.
"They're all disciples who only joined recently, and their cultivation is still shallow. Either they haven't reached the stage of grain avoidance, or they don't have the spirit stones to buy Grain-Avoidance Pills!" Lin Xuandao explained, rolling his eyes at him.
"Grain-Avoidance Pills? Why eat those things? You're better off eating and drinking your fill. Enjoying good food is the true way!" Li Xiaoya said with a chuckle.
"What do you know? These Grain-Avoidance Pills are refined from precious medicinal ingredients. Not only can we Immortal Cultivators use them as food to replenish our strength, they also cleanse impurities from our bodies and make us stronger!" Lin Xuandao patted his waist, and a bottle appeared in his hand. Its label read "Grade-One Grain-Avoidance Pill," and he handed it to Li Xiaoya to examine.
Li Xiaoya took it, pulled out the stopper, and tipped the bottle over his palm. Four or five small brown pills fell into his hand, releasing a faint medicinal fragrance that smelled quite pleasant.
"These tiny pills can fill your stomach? They do smell pretty good. Let me try them!" Li Xiaoya said doubtfully at first, but then he brought the pills toward his mouth, ready to taste this legendary elixir of the immortals.
"Hey, hey, hey! Junior Brother Li, don't!" After spending an afternoon with him, Lin Xuandao knew the boy would not behave himself and had been watching his movements closely all along. Seeing him about to swallow those Grain-Avoidance Pills, he hurriedly grabbed Li Xiaoya to stop him.
"Come on, Senior Brother Lin. What harm could there be in letting me try a few? You're not that stingy, are you? We're friends!" Li Xiaoya said unhappily.
Tch! Who's your friend? Lin Xuandao thought, but he kept his grip on Li Xiaoya and urged, "Ah, Junior Brother Li, you don't understand. These Grain-Avoidance Pills can only be taken by disciples who have reached at least the sixth level of the true cultivation stage. For mortals and disciples whose cultivation is too low, the medicinal potency is too strong. Rather than benefiting their bodies, it will harm them. Lower-level disciples can't take higher-grade Grain-Avoidance Pills for the same reason. Besides, we usually take only one pill every ten days or half a month. If you swallow that many at once, Junior Brother, something is bound to go wrong!"
"Oh...! Really? Then I won't eat them!" Li Xiaoya said awkwardly upon hearing this, pouring the pills back into the bottle.
"That's good. If something happened, I wouldn't know how to explain it to Grand Supreme Ancestor Daoling!" Seeing that he had given up on eating them, Lin Xuandao breathed a sigh of relief and let go.
"Uh! Junior Brother Li, you should give those Grain-Avoidance Pills back to me. You can ask me for some once your cultivation is high enough!" Lin Xuandao watched in astonishment as Li Xiaoya slipped the bottle into his robes, showing no intention of returning it. He hurried forward and snatched it back, speaking anxiously.
"Hehe! So where are we going now?" Li Xiaoya showed not the slightest embarrassment. What a pity, he thought, changing the subject.
"We're going to see the sect master now. Grand Supreme Ancestor Daoling told me to help you collect your clothes and get something to eat, then take you to the sect master so we can return to the Grand Supreme Ancestor together!" All Lin Xuandao wanted now was to finish the task the Grand Supreme Ancestor had entrusted to him as soon as possible and escape this troublemaking god of misfortune. He strode ahead as he spoke, without even looking back.
Lin Xuandao led Li Xiaoya out of Heavenly Dao City and onto a broad road up the mountain, until they reached a long flight of steps. Li Xiaoya glanced back at Heavenly Dao City, now some distance behind them, and suddenly asked curiously, "Senior Brother Lin, just how many people are there in the Heavenly Dao Sect? This place looks enormous!"
"Our Heavenly Dao Sect has over a million disciples in total, but only a little over two hundred thousand are here at the main sect!" Lin Xuandao answered without looking back.
"That many? Our entire Treasure Immortal Town only has a little over fifty thousand people. But why doesn't it look like there are that many people here?" Li Xiaoya asked in confusion. Although the Heavenly Dao City they had just left was very large, it seemed about the same size as Treasure Immortal Town, only with much bigger and more magnificent buildings.
"Ah! You don't know this, but Heavenly Dao City is just a place where our Heavenly Dao Sect's disciples buy, sell, and trade. They don't normally live here and only come when they need something. Most disciples in the true cultivation stage study under masters on the seven great mountains beside Divine Path Mountain, so naturally they live over there. Take me, your senior brother, for example. Just this morning, I was accepted onto Heavenly Capital Peak under Grand Supreme Ancestor Daoling, so from now on I'll live in the dormitories at the foot of Heavenly Capital Peak. Once I reach the Core Condensation Stage, I can find a spot on Heavenly Capital Peak and establish my own cave abode. At the golden core stage, I can become the disciple of a senior in the nascent soul realm and cultivate under them. And once I reach the nascent soul realm myself, I'll be free of those restrictions and can live in a cave abode on Divine Path Mountain. That's why there usually aren't many cultivators in Heavenly Dao City. They're either cultivating and doing chores on the other peaks, or cultivating inside their cave abodes," Lin Xuandao explained as he led Li Xiaoya up the steps.
"So that's how it is! Hehe!" Li Xiaoya laughed as understanding dawned on him.
As they spoke, the two climbed a flight of steps and found an immense plaza above them. The ground was paved with huge slabs of bluestone weighing a thousand jin apiece, and colorful flags stood all around the plaza. At each of its four corners sat an enormous incense burner taller than a person, with wisps of bluish smoke drifting out. A thin white mist shrouded the entire plaza, and directly in its center stood a vast palace, looming in and out of sight through the pale haze. Li Xiaoya felt as though he had entered an immortal palace. Yet it also seemed vaguely familiar.
"What are we doing here, Senior Brother Lin?" Li Xiaoya asked blankly, only to discover that Lin Xuandao looked just as dazed. He gave him a shove.
"Ah...! Oh! This is our Heavenly Dao Sect's main hall-Heavenly Dao Hall! Hehe! It's my first time here too," Lin Xuandao said in wonder as he came back to his senses.
"Huh? But what are we doing here?" Li Xiaoya asked, puzzled. Inwardly, he thought, Isn't this the place Sister-Master Qingxia brought me to when I first came up the mountain? Hehe, you've never been here, but I've already been here once. Still, why does it look different from last time? I almost didn't recognize it. No wonder it seemed familiar!