Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 120: Gold Coins Released

What is an immortal?

In the square, Zhang Chengdao sat behind a simple table in the center of the distance and asked.

Tang Xiaoyu grabbed at the air blankly, as if searching for the Ice Crystal Banshee who had just vanished.

She is now 321 years old.

Hair can be dyed black, voice can be faked, and the signs of aging on the face can be covered with a mask, but the years lived are real.

This is an age that no one can imagine, and an age that no one can believe.

She was unknown; almost no one in the martial arts world had ever heard of her. Only a few grandmasters, great grandmasters, or inner disciples of prestigious sects might know of her existence, but even then, they were unaware of her true identity.

The gravedigger.

She is the sixth-generation tomb keeper, guarding the legendary Qin King's tomb.

For the sake of a promise, and for the sake of the world, the tomb keepers have passed down their duties from generation to generation.

They have a lifespan far exceeding that of ordinary people, and they also bear responsibilities that ordinary people cannot imagine.

Tang Xiaoyu came here with the intention of dying—if the immortal technique practiced by the legendary White Stone Immortal was indeed the Blood Demon Art.

But to her surprise, everything turned out to be completely different from what she had imagined.

At least the Blood Demon Technique could never create such a realistic "illusion" as before. She could even feel the faint pain in her chest after being attacked by the snake demon, and she also remembered the touch of the ice crystal demon's hand that she had just touched.

It's icy cold and slippery, like a piece of glass or ceramic smeared with sesame oil.

Moreover, this "trial" was far too strange.

"Immortality? Freedom? Or... power?"

The resounding sound echoed between heaven and earth, and struck the hearts of everyone present.

"Both are, and neither are."

"The path to immortality is about seeking truth and eliminating falsehood. Even if you pursue the desires of food and drink, as long as you are sincere and follow the right path, you can still become an immortal. Therefore, to cultivate immortality, one must first cultivate the Dao; to refine the body, one must first refine the mind. That's all there is to it."

"This trial is precisely to test your understanding of the Way, refine your hearts, and examine your sincerity."

As Zhang Chengdao spoke, he secretly opened the character panel and looked through the dozens of character cards that had suddenly appeared.

"And the fact that you all managed to pass through two levels of the trial realm proves your strength. So, then—wait!?"

Zhang Chengdao, who was dressed in a formal manner, almost exclaimed "Holy crap!" when he saw a character card with a golden name. He only managed to restrain himself by relying on his heavy burden of being a sect leader and a god.

He couldn't help but exclaim "Holy crap!" because he suddenly saw that the cultivation level on the gold card named "Tang Xiaoyu" was actually "Foundation Establishment"!
However, when Zhang Chengdao looked more closely, he noticed a parenthesis after "Foundation Building Stage" with two words inside: "Equipment".

What the heck is this "Foundation Establishment Stage (Equipment)" thing?!
Without a second thought, seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces in the distance, Zhang Chengdao realized he had paused for too long and quickly coughed a few times before adding to his sentence: "Uh, cough cough, now it's time for the final round of trials."

In reality, this so-called final round of trials was just a formality, where Zhang Chengdao, as a good Samaritan, would score the cards, eliminating some gray and green cards and keeping only blue, purple, and gold ones.

Like these people in front of me, although they have quite a few blue cards, and even one gold card and one purple card, most of them are still gray, so there's no need to collect them.

After speaking, Zhang Chengdao waved his hand, and another entrance to the secret realm appeared before them, just like the one on the stone bridge before. It was pitch black inside, and nothing could be seen clearly. "Let's go one by one!"

Zhang Chengdao pointed at Tang Xiaoyu and added.

Tang Xiaoyu hesitated for a moment, but still stepped into the secret realm.

She had to join this White Stone Immortal Sect, or at least find a way to figure out what this so-called "cultivation of immortality" was all about!

Upon entering the secret realm, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed, transforming into a dark underground palace.

An eternal lamp burned every few feet, its faint light illuminating the underground palace, yet making the surroundings appear even more eerie and terrifying.

"You came……"

An aged voice drifted out from the darkness.

Tang Xiaoyu was startled and tried hard to look in the direction of the voice to identify the speaker, but she couldn't see clearly no matter what she did.

"It's no use keeping me trapped here. I've already spread the Blood Demon Technique. The day the Blood Demon Technique is revealed will be the day I leave..."

Tang Xiaoyu felt a surge of panic and retorted loudly, "Impossible! You're clearly dead!"

“I am not dead. Which of you saw me die with your own eyes? You ants have only trapped me here. My lifespan is as long as heaven and earth. I can wait... Unless you kill yourself and shatter the Blood Demon Pearl... Are you willing to do that? You tomb guardians, generation after generation, are you willing to do that?”

The aged voice relentlessly tempted Tang Xiaoyu: "Or, you can eat it yourself, use it up... I've said it before, as long as you have enough cultivation to forge a golden core, you can break into the Qin King's Tomb, truly become an immortal, and live forever... Why don't you believe me? Look, now you know, there really are gods and monsters in this world. Even if it's just to guard the Qin King's Tomb, you should use the Blood Demon Pearl, right..."

Listening to the other person's whisper, Tang Xiaoyu couldn't help but take out a blood-colored bead, no bigger than a thumb, from her bosom, and stroke it, hesitating.

Her appearance grew increasingly aged, her back became more hunched, and her eyes became increasingly cloudy, as if she were already very old and frail, seemingly unable to even see the Blood Demon Pearl in her hand clearly.

"Do not……"

Tang Xiaoyu gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and put the bead back into her bosom. She muttered to herself, "Cultivating immortality begins with cultivating the Dao, refining the body begins with refining the mind... Your demonic arts are definitely not the path of immortality... We, the guardians of the tomb, swear to guard the tomb for life, and must not harbor any greed..."

The moment Tang Xiaoyu put the bead back into her arms, her hair turned black again, her back straightened, and even the wrinkles on her face became less pronounced.

It was at this moment that Tang Xiaoyu realized that what she was surrounded by was not an underground palace or tomb at all, but a pitch-black void.

Everything that just happened was an illusion!

Upon realizing this, the surrounding darkness shattered instantly, and she returned to the plaza of the White Stone Immortal Sect. The White Stone Immortal was standing in front of her, smiling at her.

"Tang Xiaoyu, if you are interested in the path of immortality, you will become my fourth personal disciple."

Tang Xiaoyu glanced at Zhang Chengdao's white hair, then at his face that looked like that of a young man in his twenties, and couldn't help but feel jealous.

Cultivating immortality... could it really grant eternal youth?
"This disciple wishes to become a disciple of the White Stone Immortal Sect!"

As Tang Xiaoyu spoke, she was about to kneel down, but was stopped by an invisible force.

"Our sect does not have a kneeling ceremony. Whether facing internal or external audiences, a bow is sufficient."

Zhang Chengdao casually explained, and looked with satisfaction at the new gold card in the character section, where the relationship had changed to "Master-Disciple Relationship".

I got the gold item after only a few dozen pulls, not a bad deal!
(End of this chapter)