The three Immortals walked ahead, with Wang Jialing following merrily beside them, while behind them were the old village chief Wang Youcai and his son, who was Wang Jialing's father.
This entire family was beaming with joy. Seeing Wang Jialing standing beside the Immortals, it seemed she had been chosen by the Immortals, indicating she possessed Aptitude for Cultivation.
Everyone around cast envious and jealous gazes at Wang Jialing.
Meanwhile, Wang Shitou's Aunt ran over to Wang Shitou, kicked him, and roared, "What are you doing here? Aren't you going to pick firewood?"
Her actions also caught the attention of the beaming old village chief. The old village chief immediately said, "Little Shitou, come here."
"Village Chief Grandpa!" Wang Shitou ducked his Aunt's slap, ran to the old village chief's side, and obediently bowed to the village chief, then bowed to the three Immortals:
"Hello, Village Chief Grandpa, hello, Immortal Brother."
"Immortal Brother..." The leading man, walking at the very front, couldn't help but smile and asked, "Do you have something to say?"
Wang Shitou said, "Immortal Brother, I'm here to test my Aptitude for Cultivation."
"You good-for-nothing, what Aptitude for Cultivation are you testing?" Wang Shitou's Aunt ran over, pulling Wang Shitou, yelling as she pulled, "Go home and fetch water!"
But the old village chief stopped her.
The handsome man leading the group asked the old village chief, "Is this child also from your village?"
The old village chief nodded and said, "Yes, Immortal Zhao. This child is Wang Shitou. His parents died early. He should be... ten years old this year."
"Ten years old, that fits the age," the man nodded and said, "Why are you only coming now? The Aptitude tests for your village are already over."
Although he said this, he still swept his palm across his waist, and a transparent bead appeared out of thin air in his hand.
Taking something out of thin air, this scene immediately made Wang Shitou feel magical. Is this the power of an Immortal?
The man handed the transparent bead to Wang Shitou and said, "Hold this bead in your hand, then close your eyes and don't think about anything."
Wang Shitou took the bead with both hands, then held it in his right hand and closed his eyes.
He couldn't see with his eyes closed, but he heard exclamations from the people around him:
"It's glowing! It's glowing!"
"Oh my god, it's really glowing!"
Wang Shitou felt uneasy.
What's glowing? Is it the bead in his hand? They're so surprised, does glowing mean he has Aptitude for Cultivation?
"Alright, open your eyes."
Wang Shitou heard the man's voice and opened his eyes.
The bead in his hand was indeed emitting a soft white light.
The man took the bead back, with an even bigger smile on his face:
"I didn't expect such a small village like yours to have two people with Aptitude for Cultivation."
"Not bad, very good."
Wang Shitou asked nervously, "Immortal Brother, do I really have Aptitude for Cultivation?"
The man's gaze softened as he looked at Wang Shitou and said, "Yes, if the bead glows, it means you have Aptitude for Cultivation. You can come up the mountain with us to Cultivate the Great Dao to Immortal Ascension."
"Up the mountain? Does that mean leaving this village?"
"Yes," the man asked with a smile, "Reluctant?"
Wang Shitou shook his head and said, "There's nothing to be reluctant about. Will I live on the mountain from now on?"
"Yes," the man replied patiently, "Our Sect, called Purple Cloud Sect, is nestled among the vast mountains, with pavilions and towers, beautiful and magnificent."
"Then I'll go," Wang Shitou nodded.
"Immortal, Immortal!" At this moment, Wang Shitou's Aunt, pulling her son, Wang Shitou's cousin, ran over again, shouting, "Immortal, please test our Wang Guzi again."
The man frowned and said, "Move aside."
He remembered this child; he had been tested earlier and, like most people, had no Aptitude for Cultivation.
Wang Shitou's Aunt quickly said, "Immortal, I am Wang Shitou's Aunt. Shitou's parents died early, and it was our family who worked hard, raising Shitou with great difficulty."
"This child is Shitou's younger brother; they are blood relatives, so they should also have Aptitude for Cultivation, right? Please test him again."
"Oh, so you raised this child?" The man's brows remained furrowed, puzzled by her words. He had seen the scene where this plump woman had pulled Wang Shitou, not wanting him to be tested.
However, since they were Wang Shitou's relatives, the man still took out the bead again and said to Wang Guzi, "Hold it, close your eyes."
Cousin Wang Guzi immediately gripped the bead, holding it so tightly as if he wanted to crush it. He felt as if doing so would make the bead glow.
But the bead remained motionless.
"Alright," the man snatched the bead back, saying, "You do not have Aptitude for Cultivation."
"Impossible!" Wang Guzi pointed at Wang Shitou and roared, "That bastard has Aptitude, why don't I?!"
"I don't believe it!"
"Noisy!" One of the men behind him snorted and waved his sleeve, a gust of wind striking Wang Guzi and sending him tumbling twice.
"Guzi! My Guzi..." Wang Shitou's Aunt immediately cried out and went to help Wang Guzi up.
She helped Wang Guzi up, checked him all over, and seeing that he was not injured, breathed a sigh of relief.
The leading man glanced back and said, "Watch your step, he's still just a child."
Although he was also annoyed, as an Immortal, he still had to maintain his composure in front of ordinary people.
"Yes, Junior Martial Uncle."
Wang Shitou's Aunt finally admitted that her child had no Aptitude for Cultivation and no longer begged the Immortal to test him again. But she still walked up to the Immortal and said,
"Immortal, since our Shitou has been chosen by you, isn't there one hundred taels of silver for the Immortal Ascension money?"
This was indeed a rule of the Purple Cloud Sect: if a child from a family was chosen to Cultivate as an Immortal, then the child's family would receive one hundred taels of silver as compensation. Ordinary families referred to this compensation as Immortal Ascension money. The old village chief Wang Youcai had received it earlier, and everyone had seen it.
Even if the man disliked the plump woman's behavior, the rules of the Purple Cloud Sect still had to be followed.
He touched his waist again, and a money pouch appeared in his hand. The money pouch was bulging, and Wang Shitou's Aunt's eyes showed a greedy glint.
Wang Shitou's Aunt was about to reach out to take it, and the man was also ready to hand it over, but at this moment, Wang Shitou spoke:
"Immortal Brother."
"What is it?" The man's hand slightly retracted as he asked.
"Immortal Brother, they were not good to me," Wang Shitou said, "My parents died early and left me some money. But my uncle and Wang Shitou's Aunt took all that money, and they also took the house, which they later sold."
"I could only live with them. But they..."
"Wang Shitou!" Wang Shitou's Aunt immediately shouted, "Don't talk nonsense! Don't repay kindness with enmity!"
"We've been raising you all these years!"
"We gave you food and clothes!"
"Without us, you would have starved to death long ago!"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
"If you make any more noise, I'll cut out your tongue," the sword-backed man behind him spoke coldly again, his tone and gaze immediately scaring Wang Shitou's Aunt into silence.
Wang Shitou continued, "They were not good to me. Every day they only gave me cold, hard bran cakes, only two per day. Sometimes they didn't even give me that."
"They only gave me tattered and holey clothes."
"They made me live in a drafty small wooden house, like a dog kennel."
"They didn't let me go to school to learn to read and write. Every day they made me get up before dawn, fill a large water Cylinder, and also go to the mountains to collect firewood every day, and feed pigs, and chop wood."
"If I did anything slightly wrong, they would beat me."
"Immortal Brother, I don't want to give them this money."
"You... you..." Wang Shitou's Aunt trembled with anger, pointing at Wang Shitou, almost speechless.
She suddenly snatched at the money pouch in the man's hand, shouting, "The money is mine!"