Living a peaceful life in the world of cultivation

The Ascension Ceremony, in its early days, was a ceremony for immortal sects to select new disciples, allowing mortals to embark on cultivation and inquire about immortality.

As time goes by, the world of cultivation changes.

The current Ascension Ceremony prioritizes the examination of one's spiritual roots.

If one possesses spiritual roots, one has the ability to inquire about cultivation. If one's spiritual roots are exceptional, one may even ascend to the heavens in one step.

However, if one does not possess spiritual roots, there is no possibility of sensing and absorbing spiritual energy to cleanse one's mortal body. One can only remain a mortal for the rest of one's life, looking up at the cultivators who come and go in the cultivation world.

As for Lü Ping, he had personally participated in two ascension ceremonies.

Once, at the age of six, he was tested by the masters of the mortal Taoist academy and found to have spiritual roots, thus gaining entry into the mortal Taoist academy; another time, at the age of twelve, with the help of the guiding immortal master of the upper sect, he went to Huayang Sect to participate in the Ascension Conference, which could also be called the sect entrance examination. Unfortunately, he was eliminated at the spiritual root aptitude test.

Even those with mixed spiritual roots of the five elements are so talented that they have to fight for a spot to stay in the Huayang Sect as a menial disciple.

The Li family of Yunzhu held the Ascension Ceremony in Yunzhu Market for one purpose only.

The test examines whether children of appropriate age in the market town, the Lingnong area, and the surrounding mortal towns possess spiritual roots.

If a child is found to have good spiritual root aptitude, they will be absorbed into the Yunzhu Li family, given a surname and a new name, and become a cultivator of the Li family.

These children, who were absorbed into the Li family as cultivators, were nurtured and cultivated from a young age. When they grew up, they were similar to ordinary Li family children, with a strong sense of family.

This approach ensures that the Yunzhu Li family can guarantee a continuous flow of new blood among its younger generation of cultivators, with each generation possessing considerable cultivation level.

Secondly, they would absorb children with good spiritual roots and, once they grew up, marry them to women from the Li family.

Spiritual roots are predetermined by heaven and cannot be forced.

Even highly skilled cultivators cannot guarantee that every one of their descendants will possess spiritual roots.

However, through the verification and exploration over the years, it has been found that the probability of offspring born from unions between cultivators with spiritual roots is greater than that between ordinary people, and greater than that between cultivators and ordinary people.

In fact, his spiritual root aptitude is not bad compared to that of ordinary cultivators.

This explains why the Yunzhu Li family had taken such good care of protecting the mortal towns.

Because, for a Foundation Establishment family like the Li family, mortals are also a kind of cultivation resource.

"However, this method is merely imitating the Huayang Sect."

"The Yunzhu Li family only controls one market town and two or three ordinary towns."

"The Huayang Sect controls three major states of the Yue Kingdom, and the number of mortals under its control is unknown."

As an outsider, Lü Ping saw things clearly.

The Ascension Ceremony is extremely beneficial to mortals.

Under the rule of the Huayang Sect in Yue Kingdom, there is no distinction between immortals and mortals, so ordinary people have a great longing for the world of cultivation.

The Ascension Ceremony exists not only to satisfy the Huayang Sect's need for fresh cultivation blood, but also to fulfill the desires of ordinary people for cultivation.

Furthermore, in order to protect the stability of the three mortal continents, so that mortals can reproduce without pressure.

Whenever mortals encounter disasters, such as insect infestations, droughts, floods, or cold waves, the Huayang Sect will dispatch Foundation Establishment cultivators from within the sect to resolve the natural disasters.

When Lü Ping was still at the mortal Taoist academy, he participated in disaster relief under the guidance of his academy's masters.

We must prevent natural disasters, but we must also prevent man-made disasters.

The Huayang Sect keeps extremely strict control over cultivators who travel to the mortal realm.

Those who are not trained in a Taoist academy or who are not cultivators who have accepted missions from a sect, all need a Foundation Establishment Talisman to go to the mortal world. Entering the mortal world without a Foundation Establishment Talisman is a serious crime.

Within the three major mortal states, each state has at least three Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Huayang Sect stationed there to apprehend cultivators who illegally enter the mortal realm and to capture and kill demonic cultivators.

It can be said that as long as the Huayang Sect stands firm, the common people in the three major states under its rule will always be able to live and work in peace and prosperity, and multiply and thrive.

Lu Ping leaned against the courtyard gate, watching the Li family cultivators constantly moving through the alley. In the past, those who were so busy were the independent cultivators living on the outskirts.

Now, for the sake of the Ascension Ceremony, the roles have been reversed.

Some of these busy Li family cultivators went to inform all eligible children in the market, the Lingnong area, and mortal towns that they must come to participate in the Ascension Conference.

For children born in the Lingnong region and ordinary towns, the Li family would specially dispatch cultivators to escort them.

Some were transporting materials to build the Ascension Platform and Cloud Tower needed for the Ascension Ceremony.

It seemed that Lü Ping was getting tired after a while.

After all, the Ascension Ceremony wasn't really relevant to a seasoned cultivator like him from Yunzhufang City.

The only connection is with Zhao Xiaofan.

But Zhao Xiaofan is only four years old, not yet at the appropriate age.

The Ascension Ceremony is held once every three years, but it's uncertain whether Zhao Dashan and his family of three will still be in Yunzhufang City when the next Ascension Ceremony is held.

"Cultivating spirit plants is still more interesting."

Lu Ping turned around, lay down on the rocking chair in the courtyard, listened to the noise and bustle of the market, and enjoyed the unique tranquility and leisure.

......

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The Ascension Platform and Cloud Tower, which were required for the Ascension Ceremony, have been completed.

"As expected of a cultivator, their speed in civil engineering construction far surpasses that of ordinary people."

Lu Ping secretly made a joke to himself before Zhao Xiaofan pulled him along to watch the Ascension Ceremony.

Whether it was to demonstrate the prestige of the clan's three Foundation Establishment cultivators or to reduce the children's resistance to the Yunzhu Li family at the Ascension Assembly, the Li family provided a full range of spiritual fruits, pastries, and wines at the Ascension Assembly venue.

Therefore, cultivators in the market can enjoy a feast whenever there is an Ascension Ceremony.

Zhao Dashan's family came here to join in the fun, but Lü Ping did not.

He came here to observe whether there were any children with outstanding spiritual roots.

The saying goes, "When one attains enlightenment, even one's chickens and dogs ascend to heaven." In Yunzhufang City, even ordinary people without spiritual roots can rise to prominence overnight because of their children.

These people who have risen to prominence overnight, when facing cultivators who used to look down on them, will take advantage of the fact that their children have been given new names and surnames and act a little more domineeringly. However, they only act arrogantly in the Lingnong area and the outskirts of the market.

Even if they were sent to the inner city of the market, they would still behave themselves with their tails between their legs.

Before long, the Ascension Platform and the Cloud Tower came into Lü Ping's view.

The Ascension Platform is built with cloud-patterned iron ore mixed with a large amount of spiritual sand. Faint clouds and spiritual energy surround the white jade platform. On the white jade platform, six spiritual measuring pillars stand, with ancient and heavy patterns on them, which have a sense of the changes of time.

The Ascension Platform covered a vast area, and its scale was even larger than that night when the team returned from clearing the land.

Behind the six spirit-testing pillars, there are six Cloud Ascension Towers. Inside the Cloud Ascension Towers, clouds rise with every step. Any child with outstanding spiritual root aptitude will be led into the Cloud Ascension Towers by the Li family.

Without much investigation, Lü Ping sensed that the six Cloud Ascension Towers possessed a profound and abyss-like atmosphere.

Furthermore, the spiritual warning indicates that there are quite a few Foundation Establishment cultivators among the cultivators within the Cloud Ascension Tower!

Lu Ping munched on the free spiritual fruit, his face expressionless.

On the contrary, the ordinary couples with children were very uneasy, their hands and feet even going weak, which made the cultivators laugh.

"quiet."

Once the room quieted down, Li Chihuo's deep voice, accompanied by the pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, swept over like a tidal wave.

"Let's begin..."