Peng An was rather annoyed at the boy’s slowness. He should have been ready and waiting for him. Not the other way around. Still, he let it slide. After all, he was going to be his junior and will be fetching him some rewards and maybe even bring him some face.
As they were about to leave, he had a brilliant idea present itself. Regardless of the potential, the boy was just a naive mortal, a baby bird. Then, couldn’t he imprint himself as his master now and secure rewards for the future? Not only wealth but he would also earn a powerful subordinate.
‘Wait, what’s the point of me worrying over a mortal. His life and death are in my hands already. I should just do it in a straightforward manner.’
Deciding on a course of action, he asked the boy to straight away take him as master. Unexpectedly, the boy just stood there dumbfoundedly. Peng An wasn’t happy with his silence. He had to push him.
“What? You’re not satisfied with my offer?”
“Mister Immortal, it’s not that. I- I mean- I just don’t know what that means.”
‘What? Is something wrong with this boy’s head? What’s there to not understand about accepting a master?’
In the next few moments, Peng An had to curse his crow’s mouth (Idiom for having an unlucky mouth). The boy had been an idiot for real. He had been an idiot all along. He thought the boy had good temperament when he conducted the silence test but he didn’t account for the boy being born stupid. The only time he heard him speak with any amount of eloquence was when he was selling his wares and that could have just been a practised line.
He was wavering now. Forcibly accepting him as an apprentice will have its consequences but originally, his high value meant that it was still worth it but not anymore. It was still possible for the stupidity or any other disabilities excluding limbs, to be cured once one started practising Qi.
But if the problems were from birth, they would need special treasures to be cured.
After wavering for a bit longer, Peng An came to a decision.
‘It doesn’t matter. Clearly this is a heaven's blessing no matter how I look at it. In that case, I might as well go all out.’
Unexpectedly, it didn’t go as smoothly. The boy seemed too dumb to even do what was asked of him. He was sure he wasn’t playing dumb on purpose but just in case, he had to curb any overly smart thoughts.
He delivered a veiled threat, one way or the other, he will have his way.
But who would have thought that Heaven itself wills his fortune but a tiny little village twerp, not an inch taller above his knees, tries to take it away? He was truly pissed at the interruption, at the little ant and his incompetent elders who did not teach him how to behave around his betters. He was about to reprimand the little baffoon who squaked at the wrong time and teach him a life lesson, before he heard something absurd from the twerp’s mouth.
Peng An had heard all sorts of unbecoming accusations about immortals created from mortal gossip but this one had to take the crown. To insinuate that he, a mighty and respectable, venerable cultivator, would turn mortals into one of the most disgusting foods ever created and consume said vile thing?! What audacity to create such rumours?? The accusation had to be to turn kids into chicken feel of all things?!
Peng An had always hated Chicken feet even from his life as a mortal. Even as an Immortal, he couldn’t wash away that feeling of disgust whenever he came across it. Now hearing such an absurd rumour left him speechless from fury.
“Mi– mister immortal, Little Lingyun was wrong please don’t eat his feet. I- I will a- ask *Wuuu* Mom- *Wuu* Mommy to make some *Sob* fried chicken feet. I swear sh- *Wuu* makes them really tas-”
Before he could recover from the absurdity of it all, the little twerp had started to cry as he offered more fried chicken feet, as an apology for his transgression. He would have to teach this uncultured piglet a lesson for letting him feel this wa-
Peng An stopped his rage from building. As a venerable cultivator, it is unbecoming of him to lose his sense of reason. The mortals are watching his actions and he had already failed in presenting himself as an esteemed Immortal. That won’t do. He would resolve this matter properly. But he didn’t forget to cast a sharp gaze at Finlay not knowing whether he was quick witted or truly slow in his head.
‘Let’s see why he even dared to be this brave in the first place. Maybe I can earn back the respect this way.’
Fortunately, the boy intervened at the right time.
“Look here little brother. No need to cry so much, this Immortal is much nicer. He even took this big brother flying. If you're nice, maybe he might take you as well. So, stop crying and be good now.”
Even if it was unpromted and unintended, he couldn’t help having a slightly favourable impression towards the for dealing with the messy situation calmly.
“*Sniffle* Weally?? Okaaay “
“Now why don’t you tell him again about what you were saying earlier? You can tell what sort of danger your father is in and we’ll see if the mighty Immortal is able to help you.”
The boy cheerfully replied to the now calm twerp who was furiously nodding his head in understanding.
Peng An couldn’t help but burst a vein at the implication that he might not be able to help. He quickly shut him up before he inadvertently poured more oil at the fire.
“Brat! Shut your mouth!.... Little kid, tell me about your situation clearly. I promise to help deal with any monsters near the village. It is my duty anyway.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
At this point, some brave man from the watching crowd came forward instead, to explain in place of the little mannerless piglet.
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The Village Chief had hastily put together a team of fighters and hunters even though it was getting dark. He did not want the Immortal dissatisfied with his accommodations. If they couldn’t procure any decent meat, he would be in trouble.
Unsurprisingly, a hunt in low light did not go without a hitch. While they managed to find their quarry, one of the hunters got lost but it was dark, so they returned and sent another tracker early the next day to find the lost one. Unexpectedly, they found the tracks of a massive Tiger beast and they didn’t dare to provoke it or breach its territory as they had no Cultivator guards.
Once the Cultivator heard the story, the man who explained the situation and Finlay were taken along on the flying tool. They soon reached the site within minutes. The man, a tracker, was set on the ground and was to lead them to the missing person.
It didn’t take long for them to find him as they saw a plume of smoke going up in the distance. As they got closer, a massive, ferocious looking Tiger was seen to be staring at the top of a very tall tree with little to no branches. It occasionally swiped and shaked the tree, trying to get the man to fall. There was a large bonfire, a hasty gathering of wood which had spread the fires to a part of the forest.
Unexpectedly, the tiger seemed undeterred by the fires and was waiting for the man to, inevitably, fall down. Finlay had never seen such a large Tiger, clearly it was supernatural in origin. He glanced at the cultivator to see his reaction but the man had an unamused look.
“Hmp! It’s only a tier 1 beast but its strength might barely reach tier 2. I can see why a mortal would struggle. Boy, watch closely. Today, I will demonstrate the difference between a mortal and a cultivator.”
Finlay watched with rapt attention. Even the winds seem to calm down, as if to pay attention to the powerful cultivator's actions.
The cultivator took out a simple looking spear out of his tiny storage bag, took a moment to aim and hurled it like a javelin. The Tiger’s senses were surprisingly quick and tried to dodge, but the spear curved, ever so slightly, to strike it true. Clearly, the attack was simple enough for the beast to notice it immediately but the difference in strength was so big that it couldn’t react fast enough to dodge out of the way. And just like that, the incredible momentum of the ferocious tiger was curbed with a single strike. Finlay’s gaze at the cultivator couldn’t help but change.
That is when Finlay finally woke up and realised the error he’d been making from the beginning.
‘Regardless of if he was considered weak relative to others, I’m nothing before him right now. I need to keep it in mind till I actually join the sect and obtain some protection.’
His attitude towards the man also couldn’t help but change subtly.
The cultivator wasn’t done yet. He glanced at the now spreading forest fire and couldn’t help but frown. He made some impossibly fast hand
signs and muttered some words as he waved his hands in the air.
A large ball of blue light formed above them at some point and once he made a swinging gesture, it spread out over the fires and quickly condensed clouds. It poured over those areas and either put off the fires or reduced them to small embers. He then released some more moves that produced violent gusts of wind that put out the remaining embers.
Like that, the matter was resolved even before the tracker was able to reach the location. The terrified and injured man upon the tree was handed over to the tracker on the ground as they returned to the village.
The cultivator rested for a little while and soon after, the injured hunter was bought back. The villagers cheered and praised the immortal for his benevolence. The chief even presented some gifts for the cultivator as they left the village. The little kid from earlier even seemed like he was now a fanatical supporter of all cultivators. Finlay felt complicated looking at the back of the man before him.
The cultivator once again resumed his silence throughout the journey and did not bring up the matter of forcibly taking him as a master anymore. No matter why, Finlay secretly let out a sigh of relief for escaping his predicament. They rested at some more villages in the next few days as they travelled. But nothing major happened at those places and from the second time onwards, Finlay always made sure he was woken up a bit earlier to not cause any more delays.
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On the 5th day of their journey, a medium sized town, much bigger than the Yellow rock came into view. They rested there even though it was still only afternoon when they reached it. There was a banquet hosted by the City lord and some nobles.
“Lord Immortal, this is my 4th son and these other young ones are the promising seeds we have at this humble mortal city. Forgive me for being bold for asking this but could you please grant these lowly servants an opportunity and test them for spiritual aptitude??”
Followed by the passionate words of the City lord, the rest of the nobles also got on their knees and asked for their respective children to be tested.
“Please grant us an opportunity, your lowly servants beg you!”
In Spite of his previous experiences, the scene of everyone grovelling on their knees still rubbed him the wrong way.
They seemed to be asking for their aptitudes to be tested but how can these cunning foxes be willing to leave it up to chance? Almost all of them had already asked the late stage Qi cultivator stationed for the city defence to check and verify the presence of spiritual roots in these children. They were just asking him to take them with him indirectly.
The cultivator maintained an indifferent attitude. How could he not understand what these mortals in power wanted the most? Real power comes from joining a sect and starting on their Immortal path. But at the same time, he had already decided on not taking any low qualified candidates this time and was not about to change his plans at the end.
‘Let’s not be in a hurry to decline them, they did show the appropriate attitude when entertaining an Immortal. I will first check their talent. Perhaps I might get lucky again.’
He truly did seem to have lady luck in his pocket on this trip. He almost immediately discovered a Low grade spiritual root with the second person, the son of the Lord of this small city.
Low grade spiritual root might sound unremarkable but one has to understand that most of the sect’s cultivators are poor grade, the lowest possible talent to utilise Qi. Peng An himself was only Low grade and most low grades will have a 30% chance of forming a foundation in their lives. Not to mention, the incredible luck he encountered, the boy, Little Ming only has a spiritual root reaching the upper reaches of medium grade which allows a 70% of establishing a foundation and even a chance to cultivate to higher realms.
‘Although a low grade might not net me much rewards, with this kid and the boy, nobody will have a right to criticise me for slacking on my duty and not bringing all the poor quality candidates.’
“Haha! Good good! This kid is indeed qualified. This Immortal will give him an opportunity here and take him to the sect as an honorary disciple.”
Hearing this, the remaining children and the older mortals couldn’t help show a hopeful and envious expression. Maybe they might also get lucky and the Immortal might take a fancy to their kids and subjects.
After finding such a good candidate, the cultivator also enthusiastically checked all of the other’s spiritual roots one by one. The result was unsurprising in the end. None of the others had anything beyond poor quality roots. The cultivator wasn’t too disappointed as he had already mostly expected such a result. The remaining adults and children had a dazed, sad, bitter and even some despairing expressions. But it was none of his concern, so he soon left with the boy and stated a time of departure, allowing the newly chosen disciple candidate, another chance to say his goodbyes.
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Finlay was happy to have a fellow disciple and they spent most of their time before departure talking to each other about their circumstances.
He didn’t forget to play the stupid country bumpkin role, but thankfully, the other kid was understanding and did not talk down to him like a young master. Maybe the noticeably colder attitude towards the newcomer by the Cultivator, Peng An, played a part. After finding out that Finlay was a mid grade spiritual root, he even took the initiative to call him big brother. Normally, the difference in age between them was less than a year and it wasn’t necessary, but Finlay had a few decades over him mentally and did not refuse the title.
They didn’t stay for long and set off the next day and continued their journey. Unfortunately, Finlay’s happiness didn’t last long because the new brother was a bit too talkative, especially after he found out about the display of the ‘Immortal’s Might’ along the way.
Normally it would still be fine as long as they didn’t disturb the cultivator along the way, but the kid’s insistence to talk along their flight even when they were forced to almost shout to be audible for the other, meant that the cultivator was clearly irritated, even if he maintained silence for now. Finlay’s subtle indication to shut up didn’t get through and he could only endure through the chatterbox. Thankfully, after almost a week of travel, They were almost 70% of the way there.
‘It seems like I’m doomed to suffer from chatter boxes in this life.’
Amidst such depressing thoughts by Finlay in the following days, a distant piercing mountain loomed over the horizon that was painted in beautiful, shifting shades of orange by the setting sun, with a few smaller, scattered mountains surrounding it and all sorts of colourful buildings and lights could be seen at the foot of the main mountain as they got closer. They had finally arrived at the Sect on the 10th day after starting from the Yellow Rock Town.
To be continued.