Lingyuan Immortal

Chapter 2: In the Water and Clouds
After the Chen family returned to the Chen residence, they held a three-day banquet. Prominent figures from the entire Qingxi Town came to congratulate them, hoping to establish a good relationship with Chen Jia Dalang, who was about to become an immortal.

The three days of noise passed in a flash.

The night before leaving, little Chen Bai seemed to know that his elder brother would be leaving for a long journey early the next morning. The smile on his chubby little face disappeared, and his faintly visible eyebrows drooped.

"Mu'er, I don't know when we will see each other again. Your father and I can't help you in any way. You should practice well with the immortal master outside. You don't have to worry about the family. Don't we still have your brother? He is here to take care of us." Mother Chen said after tying up the bundle containing gold, silver and valuables.

Chen Mu listened to his mother's chatter while his father sat beside him, nodding constantly. His eyes reddened as he forced a smile. "Mom, I heard from the immortals that the Immortal Gate is not far from our Qingxi Town. I will come back often." He turned around and patted little Chen Bai on the head. "Xiaobao, listen to your parents at home. When your big brother comes back, he will bring you some delicious food you haven't tasted before, okay?"

Little Chen Bai raised his eyebrows and grinned: "Okay, big brother, you have to keep your word."

Mother Chen watched the two brothers laughing and joking, which diluted some of her reluctance to part. She turned around and picked up an amber strung with a red string from the side. "Mu'er, this is a gift from your father a few years ago. I don't like wearing these things. You can wear it as a souvenir."

Chen Mu took the amber and looked at it carefully. He found that the lake blue bead-shaped amber was faintly sealed with a drop of water under the light of the candle. Without looking at it for a moment, he held it tightly in his hand and said, "I will carry it with me."

...............

The east is about to dawn and the morning light is beginning to appear.

The Chen family and their group arrived at the place agreed upon by Master Liu and waited.

Not long after, a black dot appeared on the horizon, accompanied by the cry of a crane. Master Liu, who had not been seen for several days, looked a little tired. He saw that there was not only Master Liu on the back of the crane, but also three children of the same age as Chen Mu, two boys and one girl, who were looking at Chen Mu curiously.

"Are you still not coming up?" Immortal Master Liu smiled comfortably, "You are the last one."

Chen Mu hurriedly took two steps forward and climbed onto the crane's back. A child wearing a short cotton shirt and with a simple look next to him stretched out his hand, trying to help him.

"Thank you." Chen Mu stood still and bowed to express his gratitude.

This little adult look made the other two children stand up straighter.

Immortal Master Liu made a hand gesture with his left hand, and the crane under his feet seemed to understand his intention and flapped its wings to fly away.

Chen Mu didn't have time to say anything more, so he turned around and waved goodbye to the Chen family.

In a blink of an eye, the crane had flown as high as the sky, and the clouds beside it passed by like flowing water.

Miraculously, the four children standing on the crane's back did not feel any shaking or cold wind.

Just as Chen Mu was secretly amazed, Immortal Master Liu seemed to see through his inner thoughts and said loudly: "This is the wind shield, a small trick."

"Spell..."

Chen Mu couldn't help but feel excited when he thought that he would be able to learn such mysterious techniques in the future.

"My name is Niu Dali, and I live in Heishi Town. What about you?" The honest child before asked quietly, turning his head.

In Chen Mu's memory, Heishi Town is nearly a month's walk away from Qingxi Town, but with this crane, Master Liu can make the round trip in just three days at most.

"My name is Chen Mu, and I live in the Qingxi Town just now..." Chen Mu was excited and couldn't help but be talkative. He asked Niu Dali about his age in a low voice.

Seeing Chen Mu and Niu Dali chatting enthusiastically, the other two children also joined in.

After a conversation, Chen Mu had a general understanding of everyone's situation.

Niu Dali's family was a tenant farmer who cultivated land for a wealthy family in Heishi Town. In the entire Heishi Town, only the child of this tenant farmer passed the test of the immortal master, and afterward, he was adopted as an adopted son by the master family on the spot.

The handsome child next to him, wearing a light blue cloth shirt, is named Du Xiaokui, the young master of the Du family pharmacy in Baizhi Town.

The only little girl was also from Baizhi Town. She had no name and was picked up by the shopkeeper of the Du family while he was escorting medicine. Just because she had her hair tied in two buns at the time, she was always called Xiaoshuang Xiaoshuang.

She said that after passing the test, she was engaged to Du Xiaokui by the head of the Du family.

Among the four children, Niu Dali is the oldest, exactly twelve years old, Chen Mu is the second oldest, almost twelve years old, Du Xiaokui is ten years old, and Xiaoshuang originally did not know his own age, but was later told by Master Liu that he was nine years old.

There was no more words to say all the way.

.........

Two days later.

"We're here." This was the second sentence Master Liu said along the way.

Chen Mu opened his eyes and looked around, only to see vague clouds in the sky, not even a bird.

Is this the Immortal Gate?
Before Chen Mu and the others could speak, Master Liu slapped the dark yellow cloth bag tied around his waist, and a token-shaped object appeared in his hand. He tossed it, and the token magically hovered in the air, shimmering with green light. Within two or three breaths, the clouds in the sky seemed to be driven away, dispersing in all directions, revealing the two mountain peaks that had been obscured by the clouds.

The two peaks are not far apart. The eastern one is slightly higher and looks very strange. It is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, like a giant wall. The western peak has no peak, and there is a lake on the flat top.

There is also a waterfall between the peaks, and the water flows along the gap between the two peaks, as if a river fell from the sky.

The crane began to circle and fly downwards, and then landed in front of a pavilion.

"It's Junior Brother Liu. I guess you have completed your mission." An old Taoist priest in a white Taoist robe walked forward.

Immortal Master Liu waved his sleeve upon seeing this, and the token hanging in the air disappeared. "Brother Wu, I wonder which batch I am returning with?" He pointed at Chen Mu and the others with his right hand and said, "This is the Immortal Seedling of Qinghe Prefecture this time."

The old Taoist stroked his beard and smiled: "To be honest, Junior Brother Liu, you are the last batch, and tomorrow will be the initiation ceremony for this batch of Immortal Seedlings."

Upon hearing this, Immortal Master Liu seemed relieved. "I'm glad I made it back. It's all Brother Zhu's fault for insisting on getting me drinking, which caused me to leave a little late. Fortunately, I didn't delay the sect's work." Then he clasped his hands together, bowed to the old Taoist priest, and said, "Brother Wu, the Immortal Seedling is now in your hands. I'll hurry back to report. We'll meet again someday."

"Go quickly and leave it to me." The old Taoist priest replied.

"Children, follow me." The old Taoist priest led the way and turned back to explain, "Tomorrow, when you enter the sect, you will be my junior brothers. From now on, you can call me Senior Brother Wu. Although I am much older than you, in our world of immortal cultivation, the master's teachings are the most important."

Chen Mu thought that this old Taoist priest was quite amiable.

Walking up along the river, the first thing that comes into view is a stone about two to three feet high with the words "Shuiyunjian" written on it. Going further up, there are pavilions and towers built on both sides of the river.

"Our sect is one of the six major sects in Zhao State, Shuiyunjian! Back then, when our ancestor was still alive, it was not an exaggeration to call it the number one sect in Zhao State... Tomorrow we will hold an initiation ceremony for you, and test your aptitude... This is also related to your whole life..." Having said this, the old Taoist sighed and did not continue.

"Qualifications? Senior Brother Wu, haven't we already passed the test of the Immortal Gate?" Niu Dali couldn't help but wonder in his heart.

Chen Mu understood it. Even studying has different qualifications, so how could cultivating immortality be an exception?

The old Taoist priest laughed heartily. "Haha... that just depends on whether you can cultivate. The speed of cultivation depends on your personal aptitude. Well, no need to ask any more questions. You will know tomorrow."

The old Taoist priest brought Chen Mu and the other three to a group of houses and pointed to one of them: "You four will stay here tonight."

After saying that, he waved to a fat middle-aged man standing next to him and said, "Manager Hu, you are responsible for their food."

Manager Hu, who looked like a wealthy man from the mortal world, nodded quickly and trotted to the old Taoist priest to escort him out of the courtyard.

Chen Mu didn't rush to go in and rest. He looked around the rooms and found that they were full of people, all children of his age.

After returning to his room and lying down, Chen Mu fell into deep thought.

"Qualifications... Seeing Senior Brother Wu's lack of words, it seems he doesn't want to talk about it... Shuiyunjian, the six major sects... Tomorrow..."

I tossed and turned all night long.

.........

boom...boom...boom
Three bells rang out.

Chen Mu and others followed dozens of children into the hall. Looking around, they saw dozens of disciples standing on both sides. Master Liu and Senior Brother Wu, whom they had met before, were also there.

There were also three Taoists sitting above. In the middle was a middle-aged man wearing a white Taoist robe with dark patterns. He had a dignified face and a calm temperament. At this moment, he was looking at the children.

On his left hand is a beautiful woman in a lake blue dress, with a fairy bun on her head, eyebrows like crescent moons, and eyes like stars.

On the right is a middle-aged man wearing short and tight clothes. He doesn't look like an immortal, but more like a warrior.

Chen Mu was about to take a closer look when his eyes suddenly felt a pain, as if they were pricked by a needle. He then lowered his head and stopped looking directly.

"Master Brother, this time there are many more immortal seedlings than before." The beautiful woman smiled as she leaned towards the middle.

"What's the use of having more? What our sect lacks now is not Qi Condensation disciples, but Foundation Establishment cultivators. I just hope that this time the immortal seedlings can produce a few disciples with good qualifications." Before the white-robed Taoist priest could reply, the warrior on the right spoke first.

The Taoist priest in white robe shook his head and laughed, "Junior Brother Shi, this is a bit biased. Once you enter Shuiyunjian, you are a disciple of Shuiyunjian. We are different from the Wenjian Pavilion. We need more disciples."

After saying that, the Taoist priest in white robe stood up, took two steps forward and said: "Today is the disciple-recruiting ceremony held once every ten years in Shuiyunjian. You are all immortal seedlings with immortal fate. After today, you will all be disciples of Shuiyunjian. But your qualifications still need to be tested." After saying that, he nodded to an old Taoist priest with white hair and beard next to him.

The old Taoist priest waved his sleeves, and an ancient bronze mirror the size of a flower basket stopped in mid-air and spun non-stop. He then looked at the dozens of children and said, "Proceed in order."

(End of this chapter)