Chapter 38

Xu Yizhuo felt extremely confused and puzzled.

Had she just been discriminated against?

After Lin He finished laughing, she walked over to Xu Yizhuo’s side and said, “Those small sects not coming to harm you is actually a good thing for you. Every year, when the fog over the Lidan River disperses, some unranked sects send people to guard the riverbank and trick people from the Eastern Continent who have excellent talent but know nothing about cultivation into joining their sects. The best talent in those sects is probably no more than low-grade dual spiritual roots. If they want to recruit disciples with better talent, they can only use such lowly methods of deception and coaxing.”

Xu Yizhuo asked, “But wouldn’t the people who were tricked realize it sooner or later?”

Lin He snorted. “As if they don’t know that. They take advantage of people while they don’t understand anything and hurry to trick them into the sect. Then they guide them into making a heart-demon oath that they will never betray the sect in this life. That way, even if someone truly has the courage to break away from the sect, even if they don’t die, they’ll still lose a layer of skin.”

“However,” Lin He changed the subject, “the Immortal Order Office won’t just let them run wild either. For people with average talent, they’ll turn a blind eye and not pursue it. But if someone with truly outstanding talent appears, those small sects still have to obediently send that person to a major sect.”

Xu Yizhuo asked again, “What is the Immortal Order Office?”

“Just think of it as the government office of the cultivation world,” Lin He said. “But [bailiantales.com]the Immortal Order Office can’t control demonic cultivators, and on the immortal path side, its authority also can’t compare to a mortal government office. If there are small conflicts between cultivators, you can still try looking for it. But if the cultivators in conflict have backgrounds, then…”

“Then it can’t manage it?” Xu Yizhuo followed along.

Lin He shook her head. “Then it depends on the background of the cultivator who comes to mediate.”

She patted Xu Yizhuo’s shoulder. “Although the cultivation world has rules, absolute strength can stand above rules. Now that you’re here, it’s best to set aside the Eastern Continent’s ideas of morality and righteousness as soon as possible. Increasing your own strength is the most important thing.”

Xu Yizhuo nodded. She did not care too much in her heart. Barring any accidents, her stats could no longer be raised. What she could do now was only learn how to apply them. During this period, even if she really provoked some trouble, Xu Yizhuo was not afraid. At most, it would be a little troublesome.

“Speaking of which, I didn’t expect you to actually have five spiritual roots,” Lin He said again.

Xu Yizhuo had already learned from Di Xiang what kind of spiritual roots she had, but at the time, she had not had much of a concept of it. Only after seeing the reactions of the cultivators on the Western Continent did she realize that five spiritual roots were even more useless than she had imagined.

“Each of your five spiritual roots is evenly matched, which means you cannot specialize in one of them. Before Foundation Establishment, you may not feel the difference between yourself and other cultivators. But after Foundation Establishment, you will need to cultivate methods of five different attributes at the same time. The energy and resources consumed won’t be as simple as merely five times more than others. Precisely because of this, five spiritual roots are usually regarded as useless spiritual roots. Generally speaking, cultivators with five spiritual roots rarely have the talent to walk far on the path of cultivation. The vast majority of sects are also unwilling to waste large amounts of resources supporting a five-spiritual-root cultivator.”

Xu Yizhuo looked at Lin He in some surprise. She had not expected Lin He to tell her all read the original at bailiantales.com this, and judging by Lin He’s tone, she was not saying it to discourage her.

Sure enough, Lin He continued, “But this does not mean you are unsuitable for cultivation. On the spirit-testing stone, all five colors were clear and visible. The quality of all five of your spiritual roots is high-grade. Small sects may not be willing to take you, but you can try the major sects. Major sects have deep foundations. Perhaps they would be willing to nurture a disciple with five spiritual roots.”

Xu Yizhuo nodded. “I understand. Thank you for telling me all this.”

Lin He waved her hand carelessly. “We spent seven days together on the Lidan River, so that counts as fate between us. Even if I didn’t tell you these little things, you would slowly figure them out yourself.”

Xu Yizhuo saw that Lin He’s gaze had been looking behind her the whole time. Clearly, she was not looking at someone behind her, but at the main road leaving the ferry crossing behind her. So Xu Yizhuo asked, “Are you leaving?”

“I’ve been away from my sect for some time. It’s time to go back and report.” As Lin He spoke, she patted the top of Fang Yue’s head. “It’s also time to take this kid to my senior brother for a look.”

An expression of reluctance actually appeared on Fang Yue’s face.

He muttered, “After we get to the sect… are you not going to teach me anymore?”

Lin He smiled brightly. “What, do you want to follow me and become a body cultivator?”

Thinking back to the miserable days on the ship, Fang Yue shuddered and desperately shook his head.

Lin He could not help laughing aloud. Her mood was very good at this moment, and she even said to Xu Yizhuo, “Where do you plan to go? If it’s on the way, I can protect you for a while.”

Xu Yizhuo was going to Konglong Mountain with Old Li, but she did not know where Konglong Mountain was.

Xu Yizhuo looked at Old Li. Old Li shook his head. “We are not going the same way.”

“All right.” Lin He was a little regretful, but in the next moment, she tossed that feeling to the back of her mind and said freely, “Then Fang Yue and I will go on ahead. If fate allows, we’ll meet again in the future.”

Lin He walked in a hurry. It seemed she really was anxious to return to her sect. Xu Yizhuo stood at the pier and waved hard. The backs of Lin He and Fang Yue soon disappeared among the passing pedestrians.

Not long after they left, Xu Yizhuo and Old Li also set off.

Xu Yizhuo truly knew nothing about the Western Continent’s situation, so she could only follow Old Li and watch him bustle around. Old Li first brought Xu Yizhuo to the Immortal Order Office right by the ferry crossing. Very quickly, Xu Yizhuo’s identity nameplate was made.

The identity nameplate was like Xu Yizhuo’s ID card in the cultivation world, but the Immortal Order Office did not have much power, so the information it could record was also very limited. Xu Yizhuo only reported her name and origin, and the Immortal Order Office made her nameplate. They did not even verify whether this information was true.

“Many cultivators actually don’t come here to make nameplates. Some cultivators even refuse to acknowledge the Immortal Order Office,” Old Li said. “But when your cultivation is still shallow, the Immortal Order Office’s nameplate can indeed bring quite a bit of convenience.”

Xu Yizhuo quickly experienced one of those conveniences.

After leaving the Immortal Order Office, Old Li bought two tickets for the flying boat. They waited at the Cloud-Ascent Platform. Xu Yizhuo tilted her head back and widened her eyes. A huge wooden ship flew through the air, its hull casting a massive shadow that almost covered the entire Cloud-Ascent Platform.

“So this is the Yunwai Flying Boat?” Xu Yizhuo murmured.

Old Li nodded. “This is the largest Yunwai Flying Boat in the cultivation world, and also the only one most ordinary cultivators have the chance to board. It belongs to the Immortal Order Office. Ordinary cultivators only need to pay a certain amount of spirit stones to board.”

As they spoke, the flying boat slowly descended to the very center of the Cloud-Ascent Platform. It let out a deep, muffled sound, and the airwave it stirred up blew against Xu Yizhuo’s hair by her temples.

“However, ordinary cultivators rarely use the flying boat to travel, because the Immortal Order Office only has this one Yunwai Flying Boat. Its flight [bailiantales.com]route is fixed. Unless one’s itinerary happens to overlap with the flying boat’s route, taking the flying boat will often cost more time instead.”

Xu Yizhuo followed Old Li up the stairs and onto the flying boat while asking, “Is Konglong Mountain on this route?”

Old Li shook his head. “Only part of the route overlaps.”

Xu Yizhuo copied Old Li and showed her nameplate to the cultivator from the Immortal Order Office, then was guided to their rooms on the ship. Having an identity nameplate from the Immortal Order Office made taking the ship much more convenient. There was no need for an additional proof of passage. They only had to verify the identity nameplate. This nameplate could even store spirit stones, and one could directly use it to spend at businesses under the Immortal Order Office.

Xu Yizhuo learned from Old Li that the Immortal Order Office’s businesses were spread throughout the cultivation world. Although none were especially outstanding, they had long since penetrated every aspect of the cultivation world.

She suddenly felt that on the Western Continent, the Immortal Order Office was the one with the greatest prospects.

Xu Yizhuo and Old Li only stayed on the flying boat for two days before getting off. She bought a map of the Mingxu Domain on the flying boat. At first, she did not know why there was no separate map of the Western Continent, but after getting it in her hands, Xu Yizhuo understood the reason.

Because the Eastern Continent was simply too small.

So small that it was not clear whether it was even one-tenth the size of the Western Continent. On the map, Xu Yizhuo also saw the Lidan River. The Lidan River was not a straight river. On the map, it was arc-shaped, like a crescent moon. The two ends of the Lidan River were marked with symbols Xu Yizhuo could not understand. Old Li told her this was because the Lidan River had no definite starting point or end point.

Xu Yizhuo could not understand the Lidan River through materialist thinking.

The map was very crude. Aside from roughly dividing the regions, the most eye-catching thing on it was a red line. That was the Yunwai Flying Boat’s flight route.

For the Yunwai Flying Boat to complete one round trip took three and a half months. Because another month and a half had to be used for maintenance, it could only make three round trips in a year. During each trip, it would stop in twenty-four places. Every year, when the fog over the Lidan River dispersed, the flying boat would definitely land by the Lidan River. This was also the starting point of the flying boat.

Xu Yizhuo and Old Li got off the boat at the second landing.

They arrived outside a towering city. The Yunwai Flying Boat landed at the Cloud-Ascent Platform outside the city. From far away, Xu Yizhuo saw the majestic city walls. When she walked beneath the city, she was so shocked for a moment that she could not speak.

If the buildings she had seen on the Eastern Continent were all ancient buildings she could imagine, then this city named Xucheng made her deeply realize that this was actually a cultivation world.

Xu Yizhuo raised her head to look at the city wall. The wall rose straight into the clouds, as if it truly wanted to touch the sky.

“Most cultivators can fly through the sky and bailiantales.comescape through the earth. Building the city wall a little higher can indeed guard against some cultivators with ill intentions,” Old Li said calmly.

Xu Yizhuo blinked. “I think I just saw someone fly over the city wall into the city.”

Old Li raised his head to look once, then withdrew his gaze. “Sword flight. Even if most cultivators can fly into the city on swords, they still have to obediently enter through the city gate. Otherwise, they’ll only be treated as enemies and shot down. The one you saw should be a cultivator belonging to this city.”

Xu Yizhuo’s eyes shone brightly.

“Interested?” Old Li asked.

Xu Yizhuo reluctantly withdrew her gaze. “I want to learn.”

“The Broken Sword Cliff of Konglong Mountain is a good place to practice sword flight.” As Old Li spoke, he patted Xu Yizhuo’s shoulder. “Let’s enter the city first and buy some things for going into the mountain.”

Author’s Note:

Zhuozhuo: It suddenly feels like a fantasy novel!