Although everything had happened suddenly, Lin Ke had already anticipated it, and Zong Ya remained calm and composed.
The sister and brother had divided their tasks between them.
Lin Ke would stay at Golden Silkworm Peak, continuing to excavate underground space and forge the peak into an impregnable whole.
Zong Ya would go to the Yi-Wa Market to see whether she could buy supplies.
After all, they were going to house so many people underground. Feeding all those mouths would be no small expense, and there was plenty they needed to buy.
Zong Ya had always been steady and meticulous, so Lin Ke felt reassured leaving this task to her.
Besides, the sect had not truly descended into chaos yet.
The Golden Wing Sect was no ordinary minor sect. Even with a Nascent Soul elder murdered, its strength remained undiminished.
Lin Ke was simply the sort who repaired the roof before the rain came, preferring to prepare ahead of time for every possible crisis.
"Immortal Lin! We're ready!"
While Lin Ke was still excavating underground, Fang Tong's voice came booming through the tunnel entrance.
Lin Ke stopped his work and emerged from the tunnel.
Outside, he saw hundreds of people standing at the entrance, laden with bundles large and small, each wearing a different expression.
Some were uneasy, some exhausted, some worried, some curious, some hopeful...
These were all the people of the Green Mulberry Garden.
They included the young and strong, as well as the elderly, the frail, women, and children.
"Immortal Lin, should we go inside now?" Fang Tong glanced at the tunnel entrance Lin Ke had emerged from. It was pitch-black within, with nothing visible-a sight that set his nerves on edge.
"There's no light inside. Let's wait a little." Lin Ke wore a warm smile. "I've sent my senior sister to buy some things so everyone can live more comfortably once they move in."
That smile alone immediately dispelled most of the crowd's anxiety and panic.
They were fleeing disaster, after all!
Yet Lin Ke's unhurried manner put them considerably more at ease.
"This is your son, isn't he?"
Lin Ke looked at the woman beside Fang Tong, who was holding a boy by the hand.
The boy wore the traditional clothes of the Miaowei People. His skin was dark, his eyes bright, and he looked full of spirit.
"Yes, yes..." Fang Tong hurriedly urged the boy beside him to pay his respects. "Little Mang, greet Immortal Lin."
"Greetings, Immortal Lin!" The boy had thick brows and large eyes. At a glance, he looked like a smaller version of Fang Tong, yet his bearing was worlds apart from his father's.
Fang Tong resembled an honest, dutiful old farmer, while his son had a distinctly lively air.
"Good, good. What's your name?" Lin Ke smiled and nodded.
"My name is Fang Mang!" Fang Mang's voice was lively and confident.
Such was the spirit of youth.
"Fang Mang? Dragons and serpents rise from the earth within a square inch; beneath the round heavens and upon the square earth, insects and pythons roam free. A fine name!" Lin Ke rather admired that youthful spirit.
Then he remembered what he had learned earlier about joining the sect and said to Fang Tong, "Oh, come over here for a moment. There's something I need to discuss with you."
Fang Tong stiffened, then cautiously approached and nervously leaned in to listen.
Lin Ke brought up the matter Fang Tong had previously mentioned: Fang Mang joining the sect.
He had already felt that war was imminent, and that Fang Mang might become cannon fodder if he joined.
Now that war was a certainty, whether Fang Mang should join the sect at such a time was up to Fang Tong.
"War... joining the sect..." After hearing Lin Ke's words, Fang Tong's expression grew conflicted.
Joining the sect would let his son learn the Miaojiang Gu Art, but it would also place him in immediate danger. He might become cannon fodder and die the moment war broke out.
But what if he did not join?
Who knew how long this war would last? Cultivators lived long lives, and the Poison Tempering Mountains were home to countless venomous insects and savage beasts. A war between the two sides would surely drag on for ages.
If it lasted several decades, wouldn't his son's best years be squandered just as his own had been?
The more Fang Tong thought about it, the more torn he became.
Lin Ke understood his dilemma, so he said nothing more and let him think it over at his own pace.
With his connection to Rain Spider True Person, recommending someone as an outer disciple would not be much trouble.
Many people used their connections to get others admitted, which was why outer disciples formed the largest group in the sect.
In a sect with several hundred thousand people, there were even as many outer disciples as mortals. That meant gaining admission was not actually very difficult.
Of course, Lin Ke knew that all of this came down to Rain Spider True Person.
Rain Spider True Person might seem to be merely a Transmission Elder, but she was effectively in charge of the sect's entire outer sect, with power that knew no bounds.
If she decided you could join, you could join. The only distinction was whether you entered the inner or outer sect.
Lin Ke, for instance, had been brought into the sect by Zong Ya and admitted to the inner sect because his aptitude was decent.
"Ah..." Fang Tong knew none of this. He sighed, then said, "Immortal Lin, I really don't know what to do. Could you show me a clear path?"
It was plain that Fang Tong valued his son deeply.
But he was only a farmer in the Green Mulberry Garden. Over the years, most of those assigned to oversee the garden had been overlooked outer disciples who came to while away their old age. Naturally, none could help him with this.
The gulf between a mortal and someone at the Qi Refining Stage was even greater than that between the Qi Refining Stage and the Nascent Soul Realm.
The latter were merely different cultivation realms, while the former divided immortal from mortal.
Fang Tong probably knew little about cultivation realms, but he knew that the Immortal Lin before him was unlike anyone who had come before.
Whether in his kindness, his hidden strength, or his plans and arrangements for the Green Mulberry Garden, he had displayed power and talent.
Thus, Fang Tong was willing to place this crucial choice that would determine his son's fate in Lin Ke's hands.
"Show you a clear path..."
Lin Ke sighed at those words.
To be honest, he could understand Fang Tong's dilemma.
Was he himself really any different?
For his own part, he would certainly choose a life of excitement over mediocrity.
Having transmigrated here, how could he not experience what it meant to "hear the Dao in the morning and die content that evening"?
But Fang Tong's son was a different matter!
How many people, after sailing past a thousand sails, found themselves yearning for the little mountain village where they had begun?
Would leading this boy into the cultivation world ultimately be good or bad?
"Joining the sect now is almost like refining true gold in a blazing fire." After considering it for a moment, Lin Ke finally spoke. "The chances of dying are greater than those of surviving!"
When he spoke, not only Fang Tong but all the farmers of the Green Mulberry Garden listened intently.
At the word "dying," everyone immediately held their breath.
All living things instinctively feared death.
"But..." Lin Ke's tone shifted. "If you emerge as true gold, you will surely soar into the heavens."
"That applies not only to your son, but to everyone. Whether you join the sect or not, you will eventually face death and the extinguishing of your path."
"The fairest thing about life is that it ends in death for everyone."
"But its greatest splendor lies in the life between birth and death."
Lin Ke looked at Fang Tong. His voice was quiet, yet to Fang Tong it rang like thunder awakening the deaf:
"Living an ordinary life in a mountain village is not the same as choosing to live an ordinary life in a mountain village after becoming powerful."
"A mayfly lives for only a day. If you, too, could live for only one day, would you rather be a mayfly or a human?"
"Or would you wish to spend that day as an immortal patriarch, free and joyful?"
As he spoke, a smile appeared on Lin Ke's face. "How should you choose to live your life? That is how I see it."
"Now I leave the choice to you, Fang Mang."
Before you continue