From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 483 The Showdown at the Forum

The bluestone slabs of the forum were still covered with morning dew. I clutched the basket of candied kumquats that Wen Chen had given me, my knuckles aching from the bamboo strips.

This morning, Ziling specially styled my hair into a pine-wind bun. The jade hairpin in my hair was carved by her overnight from warm jade. It was pressed against the back of my neck, cool and refreshing like a reassuring pill.

"Yaoyao." Wen Chen's voice came from behind, tinged with suppressed laughter, "You've dug the basket rope into your flesh."

I looked down and saw red marks on my wrist, so I quickly let go.

He handed me a handkerchief, and as I took it, I felt the thin calluses on his palm—the result of years of wielding a sword, yet now they were warm to the touch. "I'm not nervous." Just as I finished speaking, three gongs rang out in the distance, the sound of the trial ceremony beginning making my eardrums vibrate.

The steps of the forum were already crowded with people.

The outer disciples crowded in the front row, the young girls with their hair tied in double buns and still covered in bits of grass, leaning on the railing and standing on tiptoe to look; the inner disciples stood more properly, but their eyes were filled with longing—after all, the last time a cultivator had publicly demonstrated a new cultivation technique was three hundred years ago.

Suddenly, a burst of sneer erupted from the crowd: "Just because of a Core Formation stage cultivator with mixed spiritual roots?"

Perhaps they're trying to use the Immortal Venerable's name to gain attention.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was a male cultivator wearing a black Taoist robe, with a nine-section skull whip hanging at his waist—that was the mark of Blood Fiend Peak.

Wen Chen followed my gaze, his fingertips twitching slightly within his sleeve. I knew he was pressing his sword, but he ultimately lowered his hand and whispered, "His name is Xue Ying. He failed to break through to the Nascent Soul stage three years ago and hates anyone else who tries to do so."

Zi Ling squeezed next to me at some point and stuffed a kumquat into my hand: "Eat something sweet, so your throat will be sore when you talk later." Her cloud-patterned notebook was still clutched in her other hand, the edges crumpled from being crumpled—she had spent the entire night at Medicine Peak searching for trial participants.

Fairy Lin came around from the other side and handed me a communication jade talisman: "The junior brother who is undergoing the trial is backstage. If you need him to demonstrate the growth of spiritual herbs, crush this." Her sleeve was stained with medicinal juice, which she had rubbed off when she was adjusting the spiritual meridians of that disciple with three spiritual roots.

The gong rang again.

I took a deep breath, and the aroma of fruit mixed with the morning mist filled my nostrils.

Wen Chen straightened my sleeves, his fingertips pausing on the plum blossom mark on my wrist—a newly grown spiritual pattern from my breakthrough, now glowing a pale pink. "I'm on the viewing platform." He took a half step back, his wide black sleeves sweeping across the bluestone slabs like a cloud submerged in a deep pool.

As I walked up the steps toward the center of the square, I could hear whispers with every step: "What can a mixed spiritual root possibly achieve? This time, Immortal Wen is probably overprotecting his own..." But when I stood on the jade platform, I suddenly saw the little girl with her hair in double buns in the front row—she was squatting in the training ground crying yesterday, saying that she had four spiritual roots and her master scolded her for "wasting spiritual herbs."

At that moment, she was looking up, her eyes shining as if they were filled with stars.

"Everyone," my voice shattered the murmur of conversation, "I'm not standing here today to prove how powerful I, Xiao Yao, am." I pulled out the "Thousand Transformations" from my robes, its pages softened by my body heat, "but to show you all that a spiritual root condemned to death by the old rules can still blossom."

The audience was so quiet that you could hear the sound of the copper bells ringing in the wind from the eaves.

Someone sneered: "Anyone can talk big."

If you're so capable, take three of my moves!

It is Blood Shadow.

He had somehow leaped onto the jade platform, the nine-section whip swirling in his palm with a dark red arc of light, the skull eyes at the tip of the whip glowing with eerie green: "I heard that your broken technique can transform impure spirits into pure essence."

I'd like to see whether your fancy facade is stronger, or my deadly whip is tougher!

I gripped the jade talisman in my sleeve tightly.

Wen Chen once said that Blood Shadow's Bone Whip is specifically designed to destroy spiritual veins and is extremely insidious.

However, it is clearly written in "The Thousand Transformations" that the advantage of mixed spiritual roots is that they are inclusive and tolerant.

When he lashed out with his whip for the first time, I didn't dodge. Instead, I guided my spiritual energy towards the tip of the whip.

The moment that malevolent aura surged into my meridians, it was simultaneously seized by my five elemental roots, like a tangled mess of knotted hemp.

Blood Shadow's expression changed.

The second whip was even faster, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound as it cut through the wind.

I spun around following his force, my fingertips drawing a spiral mark in the air—this was the "Spirit Transformation Technique" from the new cultivation method, which allowed me to draw upon the opponent's spiritual energy for my own use.

The murderous aura on his whip transformed into a warm current flowing into his dantian. I could even hear the gasps of the young girls in the audience: "That...that aura was pink!"

Before the third lash even arrived, Blood Shadow's hand trembled.

His Bone-Slaying Whip, which originally grew stronger by absorbing the spiritual energy of his opponents, now hung limply on the ground like a snake whose soul had been sucked away.

I took a half step back and pressed my fingertip against his acupoint at the center of his chest: "Senior, would you like to continue?"

He abruptly flung his sleeves and stepped back, his dark Daoist robe turning black from the cold sweat: "You cheated!" Before he finished speaking, he turned to leave the stage, but was stopped by a shout from the crowd—it was the junior brother with three spiritual roots, who rushed onto the stage holding a fire spirit grass half a person's height: "Fairy Xiao's cultivation technique can help the spirit grass absorb impurities!"

The grass I grew using my new method is three times more vigorous than grass grown with a single spiritual root!

The petals of the Fire Spirit Grass were glowing with a golden-red light, and dewdrops clung to the tips of its leaves, each drop reflecting the gasps of breath from the audience.

The little girls were the first to react, raising the baskets of spirit fruits I had prepared and cheering, "Fairy Xiao's flowers have really bloomed!" Zi Ling wiped away tears in the crowd, while Fairy Lin smiled and patted her back, the jade hairpin in her hair dazzling everyone's eyes.

I looked toward the viewing platform, where Wen Chen was leaning against the railing, smiling, her eyebrows relaxed like spring mountains.

But when his gaze swept over the back of the crowd, I saw his pupils shrink slightly—there stood several figures in moon-white Taoist robes, the direct disciples of the Grand Elder.

They didn't speak, but simply crossed their arms, the cloud patterns on their sleeves billowing in the wind like a dark cloud pressing down on their heads.

The gong rang out again, signaling the end of the trial ceremony, which drifted into the sky along with the laughter of the little girls.

As I touched the burning plum blossom mark on my wrist, I suddenly understood why Wen Chen always said, "The most dangerous thing on the path to immortality is the human heart."

Blood Shadow's defeat is merely a touchstone; the real challenge will likely only be revealed when the Elders' Council's jade tablet falls next month.

(Zi Ling squeezed through the crowd, holding up a tear-stained note. Wen Chen's figure had already disappeared from the viewing platform—he must have gone to prepare the elders' countermeasures.)

I looked at the crowd below the stage who were still surrounding my junior brother and looking at the spiritual herbs. Suddenly, I heard a muffled voice carried on the wind: "That book 'Thousand Transformations'..." The words that followed were scattered by laughter, but the jade hairpin on the back of my neck suddenly felt chillingly cold.

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When the corner of Zi Ling's journal brushed against the back of my hand, I noticed that her fingertips were still stained with tears. "Yao Yao, look—" she sobbed as she flipped through the journal, the ink still wet and blurred into small clumps, "Just now, the little maids were passing around the baskets of spirit fruits, and a girl with four spiritual roots slipped a wild strawberry into my sleeve, saying, 'When Fairy Xiao's flowers bloom all over the immortal realm, I will also grow the sweetest fruit.'" She suddenly paused, her Adam's apple bobbing, "I used to think... I always thought we were fighting for these things to prove ourselves."

But the way their eyes shone just now seemed...like opening a window for everyone trapped by old rules.

Lin Xianzi appeared behind her at some point, the medicinal juice on her fingertips leaving a pale blue stain on her purple robe, resembling a newly sprouted bamboo shoot. "Purple Fairy, please don't shed any more tears," she said, placing a warm cup of Poria cocos tea into my hand. The aroma of the tea, mixed with the fragrance of dried tangerine peel, wafted up. "Just now, I was collecting data on spiritual herbs for my junior brother, and the spiritual vein trajectory of that Fire Spirit Grass perfectly matched the Spirit Transformation Technique in 'Thousand Transformations'."

"I'll have someone move the spirit-testing disc to the quiet room later, and we'll go over the data tonight." As she spoke, her fingertips unconsciously twisted her sleeve, where there were still burn marks from when she was adjusting the spiritual veins of a disciple with three spiritual roots—it was from the day before yesterday when she took on the backlash from that child's out-of-control wood spiritual root in order to verify the cultivation technique.

"Yao Yao." Wen Chen's voice came from the left.

I turned my head and met the warm light in his eyes.

He had removed the wide sleeves of the viewing platform at some point, and was only wearing a moon-white undergarment, with the jade pendant at his waist making a soft tinkling sound with his movements.

He reached out and smoothed my wind-blown hair, pausing as his fingertips brushed against the jade hairpin at the back of my neck. "I've had Zi Ling's notes and Fairy Lin's spirit-testing disc moved to the Scripture Pavilion." His thumb gently caressed the plum blossom spirit pattern on my wrist, still warm from my exchange with Blood Shadow. "Just now, the Grand Elder's personal disciple went to Pill Cauldron Peak, and I had Qing Wu follow him."

If they want to investigate the 'hidden dangers' of the cultivation method, they need to produce some solid evidence.

Before he could finish speaking, a burst of cold laughter suddenly erupted from the crowd.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw Yun Shu, the most favored disciple under the Grand Elder, standing in the last row in a moon-white Taoist robe.

He leaned against the white marble pillar with his arms crossed, the Nine Luminaries Ring at his waist jingling with each movement: "Xiao Xianzi's technique can indeed draw out evil spirits, but what if she encounters an even more ferocious evil cultivator?"

Forcing a hybrid spiritual root to be compatible would likely burn him to ashes. Several disciples behind him scoffed, one of them touching the Broken Mirror at his waist: "I heard that during the last trial, a disciple with five spiritual roots used a new technique, and his spiritual sea almost collapsed—Is Fairy Xiao only mentioning successful cases?"

My fingers tightened on the teacup, the rim digging painfully into them.

Wen Chen gently pressed his hand on my back, as if pressing a silent talisman.

Zi Ling clenched the note tightly, the ink stains turning a deep blue on her palm: "That's because that disciple altered the circulation route of the Spirit Transformation Technique without authorization!"

We clearly marked it in the journal... "Fairy Lin tugged at her sleeve and winked at me—I knew she was afraid that Zi Ling would blurt out that the new cultivation technique was indeed still in the process of being perfected.

“Brother Yun Shu is right.” When I spoke, I heard my voice was more steady than I had imagined.

The warmth of the teacup seeped through my palm, like a weak, flickering fire. "The new cultivation method does indeed have limitations, so Zi Ling, Fairy Lin, and I have discussed it. Starting tomorrow, we'll set up a trial hall on Medicine Peak." I glanced at the figures behind Yun Shu, arms crossed. "For any disciples willing to participate, we'll personally guard the spiritual veins; for any mishaps, I, Xiao Yao, will take responsibility with my Core Formation cultivation."

Yun Shu's expression changed, and the Nine Luminaries Ring spun rapidly between his fingers.

Wen Chen chuckled softly, tapping the Azure Jade Sword at his waist with his knuckles: "Xiao Xianzi's magnanimity is more genuine than some people who claim to be thinking of the immortal sect." As soon as he finished speaking, a clear bell rang from the direction of the viewing platform—it was time for evening lessons.

The crowd began to disperse, and the little girls skipped and hopped towards the dining hall, clutching their spirit fruits. The girl with the double buns from before ran past me and slipped a wild berry into my palm: "Fairy Xiao, when I've cultivated my spirit herbs as well as my junior brother, can I become your disciple?"

I watched her run away, the tart smell of wild berries spreading around my nose.

Zi Ling suddenly sniffed: "You see, they're not afraid of risks, they're afraid of not even having a chance to try." Fairy Lin tightened the cloth cover of the spirit-testing plate: "Tonight I'll have the medicine boy brew some calming soup. No matter how late we discuss it, we must mark the critical point of spiritual vein compatibility." Wen Chen reached out and smoothed my sleeves, the calluses on his palm brushing against the plum blossom pattern on my wrist: "The Elders' Council's jade token won't arrive until next month. This month is enough for us to polish 'Thousand Transformations' until even the Grand Elder can't find any mistakes."

Before he finished speaking, the communication jade talisman in my sleeve suddenly vibrated.

The vibration was extremely slight, like a snowflake falling on the tip of my heart.

When I took out the jade talisman, Wen Chen's gaze immediately swept over me—he must have noticed the slight tremor in my fingertips.

The jade talisman is black, with a layer of dark patterns on its surface, like an old jade that has been soaked in blood and buried for hundreds of years.

The moment I crushed it, a hoarse female voice pierced my ears: "The Thousand Transformations must not cease... When the undercurrents rise, only it can break through... Be careful... There's... something inside the door..."

The sound suddenly stopped, as if it had been cut off by a sharp weapon.

The jade talisman cracked in my palm, revealing a half-withered leaf wrapped inside—a unique plant from the Netherworld Abyss, the Bidens pilosa, which only grows in extremely yin places.

Wen Chen's fingertips touched my wrist: "Whose message is this?" His voice was a little deeper, and the warm light in his eyes frosted over.

Zi Ling leaned closer to examine the withered leaves, and the scroll fell to the ground with a "thud": "This...this is the talisman paper that Fairy Qingwei, who disappeared three years ago, used frequently!"

She said she was going to investigate evil cultivators in the Netherworld Abyss, and then...

Suddenly, Fairy Lin's spirit-testing compass beeped, and the pointer frantically turned towards the withered leaf in my palm.

Her face turned pale instantly: "The beggar-ticks carry yin energy, and the spirit-testing plate recognizes its master... This communication jade talisman is nourished with the spiritual blood of Fairy Qingwei."

The evening breeze stirred up a few fallen leaves, brushing against the jade hairpin on the back of my neck.

The jade hairpin, which was originally warm jade, was now as cold as ice.

As I gazed at the withered leaf in my palm, I suddenly recalled the phrase "that copy of 'The Twins Effect'" that had been swept away by laughter in the crowd earlier—it turns out that some winds had already arrived, bringing with them dark clouds, in places unseen.