Liu Chuansheng

At those words, Xu Changshou raised his eyes and saw a flying boat approaching from afar before landing on a cliff on Front Gate Peak.

The sect's flying boats looked small from a distance, swaying like leaves in the breeze, but up close they were anything but small. They were over ten meters long and four or five meters wide, easily spacious enough to carry a hundred people.

At that moment, a dozen or so people stood aboard the flying boat.

Once the boat stopped, three people disembarked. They had clearly taken it to Front Gate Peak because they were heading out on a long journey.

With a wave of his hand, Zhang Zhengyuan took Xu Changshou aboard the flying boat.

Xu Changshou looked at the others on board. Every face was numb, vacant, and melancholy.

In short, they all wore bitter expressions.

Their expressions looked exactly like those of the tenant farmers on Wang Yuanwai's estate.

After boarding the flying boat, Xu Changshou inexplicably felt an oppressive atmosphere.

As though affected by it, Zhang Zhengyuan's face also filled with worry.

What was going on?

The scene aboard the flying boat was nothing like the blessed immortal paradise Xu Changshou had imagined. These people were all immortals. Did immortals have worries too?

Whoosh!

The flying boat began moving, swift and steady, without the slightest jolt.

"We're flying! So fast! It's so fast!"

Xu Changshou was beside himself with excitement. Leaning over the side, he peered down through the clouds and saw rocks and trees racing backward through the mountains.

This was so much faster than riding an ox.

What a rush.

What a thrill.

So exciting!

For a country boy who herded cattle, riding a flying boat was pure happiness.

Seeing him like this, the others aboard shook their heads slightly, as though mocking him for never having seen the world.

Zhang Zhengyuan quickly tugged at Xu Changshou, signaling him to keep quiet.

The flying boat stopped and started, making a circuit of the major peaks before finally landing on Steward Peak.

Steward Peak was bustling, with people constantly coming and going and an endless stream entering the Steward Hall.

Xu Changshou looked around. Though everyone here appeared vigorous and wore fine clothes, most were numb, vacant, and melancholy, with bitter expressions on their faces.

"Let's go!"

The two entered the Steward Hall.

Once inside, the space opened up before them. By some unknown means, the interior was countless times larger than it looked from outside.

From outside, the Steward Hall appeared to consist of three large chambers. Inside, however, it covered roughly ten mu of land.

A dazzling array of counters filled the interior.

Some exchanged spirit stones, while others sold magical artifacts, talismans, pills, puppets, or cultivation methods. There were also counters for accepting and turning in assignments.

Zhang Zhengyuan brought Xu Changshou to a counter for turning in assignments.

The counter was staffed by a balding old man who looked to be in his fifties or sixties.

"Senior Brother Liu, it's your junior brother, Zhang Zhengyuan. I'm here to turn in my assignment outside the sect."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhengyuan took out a mahogany plaque and placed it on the counter.

The mahogany plaque was a disciple's identification token. Everyone in the Green Immortal Sect had one.

"Ah, Junior Brother Zhang."

Liu Chuansheng smiled and picked up the token, then took out a jade plaque and scanned it. He frowned. "Junior Brother Zhang, your assignment outside the sect was for three months, but you were away for seven. You're four months overdue. According to sect rules, you must be fined..."

"Senior Brother Liu, a small token of my appreciation!"

Turning his hand over, Zhang Zhengyuan took out three Fragmented Spirit Stones with a pained expression and discreetly slipped them to Liu Chuansheng.

Liu Chuansheng grinned and immediately changed his tune. "My apologies, my apologies. I misread it. Junior Brother Zhang's assignment should have been seven months long. I remembered it incorrectly at the start. A quick correction will do."

"Thank you, Senior Brother. Thank you for your hard work."

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all. You're the one who's worked hard, Junior Brother."

"Senior Brother Liu, I hear you'll soon reach a hundred and Lay Down Arms and Return to Secular Life. I'll certainly attend your retirement ceremony."

"You're too kind, Junior Brother."

"It's only right, only right. You've served the sect for nearly a hundred years. Even without great achievements, your toil deserves recognition."

"Ah..."

Liu Chuansheng let out a long sigh. "Beasts of burden in prosperous times, cannon fodder in troubled times. For those of us with no hope of Foundation Establishment, a hundred years of running ourselves ragged isn't worth mentioning."

"Ah... no hope of Foundation Establishment."

Zhang Zhengyuan sighed, his spirits sinking as well.

Xu Changshou was dumbstruck.

He had assumed that someone with Zhang Zhengyuan's imposing manner must be a high-ranking member of the sect. Never had he imagined that Zhang Zhengyuan was merely a Qi Refining cultivator.

So all that lofty posturing in Xu Family Village had been an act. Zhang Zhengyuan's true identity was just that of a lowly Qi Refining cultivator.

Although Xu Changshou had yet to enter the cultivation world, he had heard the village elders speak of immortal realms such as Qi Refining, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation.

He had always thought Zhang Zhengyuan was an immortal at the Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation realm, or at the very least a mighty Golden Core expert.

After all that, he was just a lowly Qi Refining cultivator.

No wonder he had refused to produce a flying sword when asked. It wasn't that he wouldn't-he didn't have one.

"Senior Brother Zhang, is Foundation Establishment very difficult?" Xu Changshou asked in a lowered voice.

Liu Chuansheng heard the question too and said mockingly, "For ordinary Qi Refining cultivators like us, reaching Foundation Establishment is like climbing to heaven. Unless we encounter fortune vast enough to engulf the heavens, we don't have even the slightest chance."

What?

Those words struck Xu Changshou like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

Zhang Zhengyuan had told him that once he joined the sect, it would focus on nurturing him. He could have whatever magical artifacts, cultivation methods, or flying swords he wanted.

By joining the Green Immortal Sect, he could become a true immortal. He could soar into the heavens and delve beneath the earth, ride clouds and mist, live forever without aging, and fly on a sword.

With a flying sword beneath his feet, he could roam the world at will. How free and unfettered that would be!

Zhang Zhengyuan, wasn't that what you always said? Why had everything changed now that we were in the Green Immortal Sect?

Xu Changshou looked at Zhang Zhengyuan with anger. The latter looked guilty, coughed twice, and had no idea what to say.

"Senior Brother Zhang, is everything Senior Brother Liu said true?"

"Uh."

Zhang Zhengyuan smiled bitterly. "Junior Brother Xu, what Liu said is true. Ordinary Qi Refining cultivators like us simply can't reach Foundation Establishment. Only disciples from Aristocratic Clans, those Immortal Second-Generation, are qualified to tread that path. We spend a hundred years in mediocrity, a hundred years toiling, a hundred years struggling, merely to add bricks and mortar to the path to Foundation Establishment for those clan disciples and Immortal Second-Generation."

"The most important things in the cultivation world are resources and powerful backers. We have neither. How can we even speak of Foundation Establishment?"

"This..."

Xu Changshou's heart was in turmoil. His dream of cultivating immortality had shattered completely.

In Xu Family Village, he had worked as a hired farmhand for Wang Yuanwai and been exploited by him.

He had thought entering the cultivation world would let him escape the cage of fate.

He had never expected that he would still be exploited.

The only difference was that he would be exploited somewhere more prestigious.

Qi Refining cultivators lived longer, so they could be exploited for longer too.

Forget it. Since I'm here, I might as well settle in.

Xu Changshou sighed inwardly and soon adjusted his outlook. Being exploited in the Green Immortal Sect was still better than being in Xu Family Village.

At least he wouldn't go hungry, and he still had a sliver of a chance at Foundation Establishment.

Those Immortal Second-Generation had connections and resources. That was why they could reach Foundation Establishment.

I might have neither connections nor resources, but I had the Bloodline Jade Talisman.

Xu Changshou touched the Bloodline Jade Talisman through his clothes, and anticipation stirred within him again.

The Bloodline Jade Talisman was a precious treasure of the Xu Family from his dream. If he truly belonged to that Xu Family, then this was a treasure his ancestors had left him. He believed that sooner or later, he would unlock it.

If I could unlock the Bloodline Jade Talisman, why worry about failing to reach Foundation Establishment?

No matter what, he had to find a way to unlock the Bloodline Jade Talisman. Only now did Xu Changshou realize how important it was.

Perhaps this was his only chance to rise in the cultivation world.