Chapter 100: A Million Forerunners
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
After the Primal Chaos Altar was completed, logically, the dirty old man and the others would stay at the Wang Family Village. The chosen address was the former residence of Wang Lu’s family—of course, this address was personally picked by Wang Lu.
Actually, according to the initial plan, Wang Lu wanted to occupy the dwelling of Wang Dafu. That second wealthiest man in the village was indeed quite troublesome in these past two years, especially since that little brat Wang Xiaohu colluded with the swindler. The scourge that they brought upon the village was not light, thus, levying their property was right and proper.
However, when the spiritual energy tide appeared, a piece of fragment from his former house narrowly ruined the enterprise, which made Wang Lu interested in that old home.
Right now, his memory was still unclear; perhaps there were still trails that he overlooked. Moreover, if he didn’t search it carefully, it would not come out. When he first came to the village, the house was occupied by a certain with-eyes-but-unable-to-see Public Envoy. At that first visit, Wang Lu nearly executed him on the spot, but, in the entire course of events, despite Wang Lu’s keen Heavenly Spirit Root, he was unable to sense that buried fragment! That being the case, god knows how many more secrets were buried there!
Unfortunately, when Wang Lu led the others to move to his old house, regardless of what, he didn’t find any more clue.
However, he didn’t expect too much from it in the first place, so he was far from being disappointed. Moreover, after they moved into the house, there were still more works to be done.
Preaching at the altar.
Without preaching, how were they going to convert? Without converting, how were they going to collect the intelligence tax? However, Wang Lu should not go preaching by his own initiative. It was best if the villagers asked him to do it.
The villagers, of course, have a similar plan. After they finally had some Daoist Immortals to temporarily stay at their village, how could they let this opportunity to slip away? On the same day they moved into the house, the Village Head Wang Qinian, along with other villagers, hastened to visit them. They delivered many local products for them, including sufficient amount of wine and meat. Moreover, this senior Village Head fully displayed his wisdom, and from the beginning to the end, he never mentioned anything about Immortality.
The next day, he also delivered another pile of local products. The dirty old man didn’t refuse, which made Wang Qinian excited.
On the third day, Wang Qinian paid a visit once more. This time, the dirty old man finally asked, “Village Head, do you have any request?”
The Village Head did not hesitate. “Please bestow us the path to Immortality!”
The dirty old man was inwardly overjoyed, but outwardly, he pretended to hesitate. “This…”
The old Village Head immediately prostrated in front of him. “Please bestow us this favor!”
“Alas, according to the etiquette, we should not take your village’s several days of hospitality for granted, however, I can’t call the shot for this path to Immortality thing…”
Before he finished, a young man’s voice faintly floated in. “Since the altar was established here, there’s no harm in bestowing them the path to immortality.”
The dirty old man tactfully fell on his knees. “Pay respect to Sect Leader!”
“No need to be overly courteous, I have yet to descend to the mortal world and just transmit my voice there… In three days, I will preach at the altar about it. How much you people comprehend would depend on your good luck.”
After that, there was no more sound. Wang Qinian looked all around him in surprise. “Was that… the Sect Leader just now?”
The dirty old man got up and nodded. “Yes. Sect Leader transmitted his voice down here from the Immortal World. Village Head, you guys are really lucky, the Sect Leader unexpectedly wanted to preach here! Alas, even our Sect Elders, within a year, can only have this chance on a few occasions! This is mostly because of that altar. Although the Sect Leader is a Daoist Immortal, in the mortal world, he actually walks among mortals, pursuing the principle of equal exchange. Since we have taken your village’s surrounding spiritual energy, it is our duty to preach the Immortal path here.”
Wang Qinian trembled with joy, and for a time, he could not form a word! Living in the village for dozens of years, he felt that the mysterious surrounding spiritual energy was anything but special, however, the Immortal Path was real!
Even that good for nothing Wang Xiaohu who trained two years in Seven Stars Sect, that swindler sect, was able to produce fire and draw talisman. If this real Daoist Immortal could hand them the Immortal Law… the future was limitless! The real future was limitless!
——
Three days later, the small square in the Wang Family Village had been crowded by people. More than a hundred villagers had gathered here, waiting for the Daoist Immortal to pass down the doctrine.
Amongst them, there was even Wang Fugui. Wang Lu, this Wisdom Sect's founder, didn’t inform his parents at all about the recent things he did. After all, this matter was an absolutely important secret, thus, even though he was close to his parents, they were but ordinary people who would inevitably reveal the secret.
Thus, a couple of days ago, after restoring his original appearance, he sneaked into his house at night and confessed a few things with his parents, and then pretended that he had to go back to the sect, thus, reluctantly parted with them.
He told them that this Wisdom Sect was worthy of their reputation. Although not as good as the Spirit Sword Sect, since their Daoist Immortal was willing to walk amongst mortals, it was a rare opportunity to be blessed with Immortal affinity. However, they shouldn’t excessively demand this Immortal affinity… In short, he didn’t wish his parents to be too close to the Wisdom Sect, nor did he want them to be too aloof to it.
Fortunately, his parents’ perception wasn’t too bad. Even Wang Fugui’s new concubine was more clever than ordinary villagers. All of them quickly understood Wang Lu’s intention, which was to treat the sect neither cold nor hot. When Wang Qinian came to apologize, they accepted it and then went outside to receive the preaching from the Wisdom Sect. Wang Fugui had also called out his family members to come with him. Of course, he didn’t put too much hope for this so-called Immortal Affinity. He treated it as if he was watching a play, which was a stark contrast to those villagers whose eyes shone with anticipation.
After all of the villagers had gathered, not a long time after the agreed time, He Yun, Wu Feihua, and Wen Bao have already stood at the temporary makeshift platform, ready to perform. After a moment, the-already-late Miss Holy Maiden finally came and stood on her predetermined position. Then, a figure burst forth at the middle of the stage. It was the Sect Leader Wang Lu who had just descend from the Immortal World—lifting off the invisibility spell.
As the director and the main star of the play, Wang Lu demonstrated his extremely professional attainment. As soon as he appeared, he immediately sent out a formidable aura to cow the villagers’ heart that they involuntarily wanted to bow.
Then, Wang Lu slowly opened his mouth, “Today, I am going to talk about matters in heaven.”
“Matters in heaven?”
Not only the villagers, even the dirty old man and the rest that were standing on the platform were also curious.
They actually didn’t know what Wang Lu wanted to talk about. Holy Maiden Feng Ling was not interested, while He Yun and Wu Feihua didn’t dare to ask about it. However, Wen Bao, who had the gut to inquire, actually got the answer, which was a spoiler...
Thus, when Wang Lu said the words matters in heaven, these several people were also interested, wanting to hear what was really the matters in heaven.
“In the heaven, there are Immortals, so the so-called matters in heaven are actually the matters in the Immortal World, or the matters of Immortals, to be exact.”
Below the platform, there were already several people who forcefully nodded. They gathered here wanting to listen to the matters of Immortal World as well as the matters of Daoist Immortals. As for the clouds and the moon in the heaven, even if there were many mysterious things about them, they have nothing to do with them!
Seeing that the audience appetite had been raised, with a slight smile, Wang Lu began to describe the exciting scene in the Immortal World.
The Immortal World was a boundless expanse world. If the Nine Regions were to put into it, it would be like a drop in the bucket. In this boundless Immortal World, naturally, there were many Daoist Immortals. Daoist Immortals were beings of enormous power that could move the mountain and overturn the land. The Daoist Immortals in the Immortal World didn’t have the endless dispute that characterized the mortal world. They live in harmony, helping one another. Although the Immortal World was boundless, it was actually calm.
The reason for that lied in the enormous products and natural resources in the Immortal World. No matter what the interest was, the Immortal World could satisfy it. The seemingly priceless treasures in the mortal world were but ordinary rocks in the Immortal World; it was chocked full of them. Thus, in this situation, naturally, it would be hard for a dispute to appear. Moreover, the state of mind of a Daoist Immortal was different; since they basically live forever, what would they care about temporary dispute?
In these few words, Wang Lu had sketched out some of the magnificent and breathtaking scenes of the Immortal World, which mesmerized those villagers.
Prior to this, their understanding of Immortal World was limited to the human imagination and what the Seven Stars Sect’s Publicity Envoy said about it. That Publicity Envoy actually possessed a silver tongue, but his depiction of Immortal World was nothing more than mountains of gold and silver. It was worlds apart from the scene that Wang Lu described.
However, the sheer momentum of imagination alone was not enough to completely convert these villagers. Therefore, Wang Lu changed the subject. To cater the taste of the audience, he spoke about the life of a Daoist Immortal.
It was naturally fascinating, as well as exciting.
Those millions and millions of year giants in the Immortal World aside, anyone who had just soared to become a new Daoist Immortal, when they set foot in the Immortal World, there would be seventy-two absolutely out of the world beautiful fairies who greeted them, served them and attended to all their needs, and henceforth became that Daoist Immortal’s private property. And then, there would be a magnificent palace to be that Daoist Immortal’s residence in the Immortal World. In that vast expanse of territory, any mortal monarch’s power would never be on par even against even the weakest Daoist Immortal. As long as any Daoist Immortal willed it, millions and millions of territory in the Immortal World could transform.
This description was obviously too vulgar, yet the audience down below tweaked their ears and scratched their cheeks in delight; they were unable to contain their joy.
Indeed, to them, this was what Immortal World should be; this was the treatment befitting of a Daoist Immortal! That gold mountain and mountain of silver thing was too low taste! How could it be compared to the seventy-two fairies...
Before long, Wang Lu’s description on matters of Immortal World temporarily came to an end. However, under the stage, some people were already impatient. “May I ask, Daoist Immortal, how to ascend to the world of the Immortals?”
“Can everyone cultivate to become Immortal?”
“Daoist Immortal, do you think I have the qualification to be a cultivator?”
“Daoist Immortal…”
Pandemonium broke out, and everyone rushed to talk at once. Wang Lu onstage made an appreciating-a-flower smile, he neither stopped them, nor he answered. After a moment, the old Village Head Wang Qinian forcefully stamped his crutch and yelled, “Be quiet!”
The Village Head’s authority was still effective, and soon, the villager’s noise subsided. The Village Head Wang Qinian respectfully bowed in respect to Wang Lu, and then, with a sinking voice, asked, “Dare I ask Daoist Immortal, can us, mortals… have the possibility to become Immortals?”
Wang Lu revealed a faint smile. “Yes.”
Wang Qinian’s heart wildly thumped, thinking, “Sure enough! Although that devil Seven Stars Sect cruel and evil, their theory of everyone can become Immortal is not wrong!”
Excited, this old Village Head tremblingly asked, “Then, can-can I become… Immortal too?”
Behold, Wang Lu actually shook his head. “No, you can’t.”
Wang Qinian was stunned. “I-I can’t?”
The audience down the stage also began to talk among themselves. Just now, they were told that everyone could become Immortals, but why Wang Qinian can’t? Was it because Wang Qinian was not a mortal?
Wang Lu therefore sighed. “Just now I talked about the matters of heaven, do you guys know how many layers of heaven there are?”
The audience looked at each other; how could they know the answer?
“So far, above the mortal world, there is a total of Nine Heavens. These Nine Heavens didn’t exist at all when the universe is created, but rather they were transformed one by one after that.”
“Transformed?”
“Yes, it was transformed from the mortal world. The last three layers of heaven came from the mortal world’s transformation, one in each previous era.”
“What!?”
This time, not only the villagers down the stage were surprised, even the Wisdom Sect’s Elders on the stage could not help but gawk, thinking, “Sect Leader, isn’t this too much!?”
Wang Lu said, “The mortal world, after thousands upon thousands of years of change, may soar upward into the heavens. Naturally, the entire world would ascend, at that time, everyone would become Immortals, and henceforth, forever enjoy the bliss...That’s why I said that everyone could become an Immortal.”
“Then, we need to wait for thousands of years?”
“The number of years is not fixed; the world’s ascension need not the passage of times, but rather the great effort of thousands upon thousands of cultivators.”
“The great effort of thousands upon thousands of cultivators, what… does this mean?”
Wang Lu sighed. “An ancient legend in the Immortal World says that when a world has a million of ascenders, it will trigger the entire world’s ascension, integrating with the other Immortal Worlds, and at that time, the other mortals will ‘ride the coat of those soaring cultivators’… But, it will at least need a million forerunners.”
“Then, how many are our world’s forerunners?”
“So far, it’s less than a hundred people.”
“Oh…” The crowd was greatly disappointed and discouraged.
Wang Lu was silent for a while until that depressed mood gradually spread, before he said, “Are you giving up?”
Wang Qinian wryly smiled. “We do not dare to deceive you, Daoist Immortal, this soaring to become Immortals thing, we all want that. However, I’m afraid it would be hundreds of thousands of years later before there are a million forerunners and thus the rest of the people become Immortals. At which time, we have long turned into a pile of rotten bones!”
Wang Lu laughed. “Why aren’t you willing to become the forerunners?”
“What?”
“This a million of forerunners, someone has to do it. Otherwise, if we let the years goes by, there would be no world’s ascension. And if we’re not careful, we might fall prey to the devil and forever sink into oblivion. Since you’re bent on becoming Immortals, why don’t you be the forerunners?”
“C-Can we?”
“If you never give your effort, never practice, you will never be. For any world’s ascension, there are steps upon steps effort of hundreds of millions of mortals. The most precious thing in life is life itself, because life is only once, therefore, people should spend their lives in this way: when they look back to their past, they don’t lament because they have wasted their years, nor ashamed of their mediocrity. So, when one dies, one will be able to say that one has dedicated one’s whole life and all of one’s energies to the most precious cause—striving for the world’s ascension.”