The border of Zhao Country.
Tiger Head Stronghold.
Chen Er Zhu and the others, who were imprisoned in the cell, heard the sounds of shouting and killing from outside.
Each of them was as quiet as a cicada in winter, extremely nervous.
They were originally villagers from Wangjia Village, thirty li outside Tiger Head Stronghold.
Three days ago, they were kidnapped here by the bandits from Tiger Head Stronghold.
These bandits only gave them one meal a day, and it was just leftovers.
A moment later.
The sounds of shouting and killing outside suddenly stopped.
Just as Chen Er Zhu and the others were wondering what had happened outside.
A woman, dressed in a plain gauze jacket and skirt, with her hair styled in a flying Immortal bun, and wearing cloud-treading boots, gracefully walked towards them.
Chen Er Zhu and the others were all country bumpkins; how could they have ever seen such a sacred, dignified, ethereal, unworldly woman, like a Fairy?
Before they could react.
The other party raised her right hand and gently waved it, and the chains on their cell door broke with a clang.
Seeing this, the crowd, led by someone, suddenly fell to their knees with a 'thud' and shouted loudly.
"Thank you, Fairy, for saving our lives."
...
The villager who led the kneeling had once seen an Immortal come to their village to recruit Disciples.
Among the Immortals, there were Fairies like the woman before them, whose every gesture carried a trace of Immortal Qi, and who could kill with a wave of their hand as easily as picking something from a pocket.
Everyone in the cell, including Chen Er Zhu, knelt down, expressing their gratitude to the Fairy before them, constantly prostrating themselves.
Just as the Fairy turned to leave.
Chen Er Zhu quickly shouted loudly, "Fairy, please wait! This junior, Chen Er Zhu, is willing to serve you as a beast of burden, to repay your life-saving grace!"
Upon hearing Chen Er Zhu's words, everyone around him looked at him in surprise.
To serve a Fairy, even as a beast of burden by her side, was not something just anyone could do.
Chen Er Zhu understood this point as well.
When he was six, his parents were killed by bandits. Chen Er Zhu, who had eaten from a hundred different families for six years, deeply understood that in this chaotic and famine-stricken era, simply surviving was what mattered most.
In Wangjia Village, Chen Er Zhu had heard about Immortals taking Disciples.
Only then did he realize that Immortals truly existed in the world.
He did not believe he could be accepted as a Disciple by an Immortal.
However, to be able to work for an Immortal, even as a beast of burden, would absolutely be a thousand, even ten thousand times better than living alone.
At least he wouldn't have to worry about three meals a day, nor about his own safety.
If he could, one day, also become an Immortal.
That would be the best outcome.
Chen Er Zhu fantasized in his heart.
Upon hearing Chen Er Zhu's voice, the Fairy subconsciously stopped, turned around, and her Phoenix eyes landed on Chen Er Zhu.
Having already reached the Foundation Establishment Stage in her Cultivation, she already possessed her own Immortal Cave and indeed needed servants to handle some miscellaneous tasks.
However, even for some miscellaneous tasks, Mortals would find it difficult to be competent.
Therefore, even when recruiting servants, one needed to possess a Spiritual Root.
The Fairy before Chen Er Zhu had massacred the bandits of Tiger Head Stronghold because she was born in Wangjia Village.
This time, passing through Wangjia Village, she learned that Wangjia Village had been plundered by the Tiger Head Stronghold bandits, so she lent a hand, which could be considered eliminating harm for the people.
As far as she knew, in a hundred years, only she had emerged from Wangjia Village as a Cultivator with a Spiritual Root.
After a brief moment of thought.
The Fairy flipped her right hand, and an egg-sized, crystal-clear bead appeared out of thin air in her right palm.
"You, come here and hold this in your hand," the Fairy said to Chen Er Zhu.
Seeing this, Chen Er Zhu excitedly stood up, carefully walked to the Fairy's side, took the bead from the Fairy's right hand, and, as the Fairy instructed, tightly clutched the bead in his palm.
At the same time, Chen Er Zhu curiously examined the bead in his hand.
Aside from being crystal clear, this bead had no other special features.
However, this was no ordinary bead.
It was an Innate Spiritual Pearl used to test for Spiritual Roots.
If the tester possessed a Spiritual Root, the Innate Spiritual Pearl would emit a corresponding light.
After more than ten breaths, just as the Fairy thought Chen Er Zhu was a Mortal without a Spiritual Root.
Golden light suddenly appeared inside the Innate Spiritual Pearl.
Chen Er Zhu, having never seen such a sight, was startled when the bead suddenly emitted golden light.
However, he remembered the Fairy's words, and even though he was startled, he still held onto the Innate Spiritual Pearl tightly, not letting go.
Immediately after, green light appeared inside the Innate Spiritual Pearl.
Subsequently, blue, red, and yellow lights appeared in succession within the Innate Spiritual Pearl.
After the yellow light disappeared.
The Fairy looked at Chen Er Zhu and murmured to herself, "Although he possesses a Spiritual Root, he is merely a Five Elements Spiritual Root waste."
Only those with a Spiritual Root can become Cultivators.
And Spiritual Roots are divided into the Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
A single Spiritual Root, for example, only a Metal Spiritual Root or a Wood Spiritual Root, has much stronger Cultivation talent than a double or triple Spiritual Root.
A Spiritual Root with all Five Elements is called a pseudo-Spiritual Root, or even a Waste Spiritual Root.
Although one can Cultivate with it.
However, Cultivation becomes much more difficult and yields half the results for double the effort.
Chen Er Zhu cautiously looked at the Fairy, his heart filled with extreme nervousness.
Whether he could change his future destiny depended on the Fairy's answer.
"Since you possess a Spiritual Root, then it is fate between you and me. Come with me."
After the Fairy finished speaking, she tossed her right hand.
A black object appeared in mid-air.
Then, this black object gradually grew larger.
Until it became a spiritual boat about two zhang long and six chi wide.
After the Fairy boarded the spiritual boat, she beckoned to Chen Er Zhu with her right hand.
Chen Er Zhu felt as if he was grabbed by a large hand, and then he landed inside the spiritual boat.
"Sit tight, don't move around, and don't look around," the Fairy instructed Chen Er Zhu.
After she finished speaking.
The spiritual boat lifted off the ground and then sped away.
As the spiritual boat took flight.
Chen Er Zhu was so frightened that he tightly closed his eyes, his right hand gripping the spiritual boat, and his left hand pressed against his chest.
Around his chest hung a half-palm-sized, rusty bronze mirror.
...
It was unknown how much time had passed.
Chen Er Zhu felt the spiritual boat land on the ground.
Only then did he slowly open his eyes.
Upon seeing, Chen Er Zhu found himself on the mountainside of a peak, surrounded by swirling mist, like a fairyland on earth.
"Are you Chen Er Zhu?" the Fairy suddenly asked.
Seeing the Fairy again, Chen Er Zhu was stunned, because he didn't know when, but her plain gauze jacket and skirt had been replaced by a black Daoist robe.
After realizing, he quickly nodded and said, "Yes."
The Fairy continued, "My name is Luo Ling. From now on, you can call me Lord Luo or Immortal Aunt Luo. I am a Disciple of the Lingding Immortal Sect, and this is Purple Cloud Peak of the Lingding Immortal Sect."
After saying this.
Luo Ling patted the Storage Pouch tied at her waist, then tossed something towards Chen Er Zhu.
A palm-sized, booklet-like object slowly flew in front of Chen Er Zhu.
"This is the Lingding Immortal Sect's rules. Although you are not an official Disciple of the Lingding Immortal Sect, you must still know the Lingding Immortal Sect's rules."
Chen Er Zhu quickly picked up the Lingding Immortal Sect's rules in front of him and replied, "Please, Immortal... Please rest assured, Lord Luo, this junior will definitely thoroughly study the Lingding Immortal Sect's rules."
Immediately.
Luo Ling took out another item from her Storage Pouch and handed it to Chen Er Zhu, saying, "This is the first volume of the Lingding Immortal Sect's most basic Qi Cultivation Technique, the Azure Origin Qi Cultivation Scripture. Since you have a Spiritual Root, you can Cultivate it. As for when you can achieve getting Started, that will depend on your fortune."
The Azure Origin Qi Cultivation Scripture is the most basic Qi Cultivation method. Any Immortal Sect will have it within its gates.
For ordinary people, the Azure Origin Qi Cultivation Scripture is a rare treasure.
But for Cultivators like Luo Ling, the Azure Origin Qi Cultivation Scripture was a common, widely available Qi Cultivation method.
After Chen Er Zhu received the Azure Origin Qi Cultivation Scripture, he quickly knelt before Luo Ling and loudly expressed his gratitude, "Thank you, Lord Luo, for bestowing this Cultivation Technique."
After Luo Ling nodded at Chen Er Zhu with satisfaction.
She softly called out, "Qian Shuangshuang."
"Master, what are your orders?"
Suddenly, Chen Er Zhu heard a woman's voice from behind him.
He turned to look.
A woman in her twenties, dressed in a gray Daoist robe like a Daoist nun, had appeared behind him at some unknown point.
"His name is Chen Er Zhu. From now on, he will be the odd-job laborer of Purple Cloud Peak. If you and your two Junior Brothers have anything that needs doing in the future, you can call upon him."
"Take him down and settle him in."
After saying this, Luo Ling entered her Immortal Cave.
Seeing her Master leave.
Qian Shuangshuang smiled at Chen Er Zhu and said, "Is Junior Apprentice-brother Chen a Five Elements Spiritual Root?"
Chen Er Zhu asked curiously, "How did you know?"
Qian Shuangshuang chuckled and said, "If you were a four-element Spiritual Root, Master would have also accepted you as a Disciple. There's even less to say about a three-element or two-element Spiritual Root. Only those with a complete Five Elements pseudo-Spiritual Root start out as odd-job laborers in our Lingding Immortal Sect."
"But you don't have to worry. Even with a Five Elements Spiritual Root, there's still a chance to become an official Disciple of the Lingding Immortal Sect."
Chen Er Zhu didn't understand the meaning of Five Elements Spiritual Root or single Spiritual Root.
However, hearing that he also had a chance to become an official Disciple of the Lingding Immortal Sect, he was immediately filled with longing for the future.