Chapter 2, Immortal

As the celestial masters continued to approach, the infinite red light reflected from the red sand under the sunlight highlighted these celestial beings in the sky. Suddenly, Xiao Yao trembled, and a thought that filled her with immense excitement emerged in her mind: if she could also fly like this, then crossing this expanse of red sand would be an effortless task. Moreover, she could escape from the isolated Xiao family village and no longer be a slave, soaring freely between heaven and earth, unbound to explore this marvelous world.

She waited until the sun rose, yet Xiao Yao had not seen a single trace of the immortal masters. However, it was time to get to work, so she had no choice but to start her tasks. As usual, she delivered water and firewood, but her mind was not fully focused on helping her grandmother. Instead, she was preoccupied with thoughts of when those immortal masters would arrive.

Suddenly, a white light shone brightly from Xiao Yuhe's body, and then she was enveloped by the white light. In the blink of an eye, the white light vanished without a trace

After a simple grooming, she arrived at the old well where she fetched water daily, resting her chin on her hand, gazing intently at the still dark night sky.

Grandma

As Xiao Jianzheng hesitated on how to speak, it was the middle-aged man with the surname Lü who spoke up, "Senior brother, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Just now, I saw quite a few children in this village from above. Since we are already here, we need not worry about taking a little more time. Let's see if there are any other children in the village with spiritual roots, so as not to miss out on any promising talents."

The grandmother beside m.hetushu.com had long seen through Xiao Yao's thoughts and shook her head helplessly. This girl was good in every way, but she had read too many chaotic books and her curiosity was overly旺盛. Well, let her take a look; this way she would understand that neither the nobles nor the immortal masters existed in the same world as those of their kind. If she realized the cruelty of this world earlier, she would likely give up. With this in mind, the grandmother said to Xiao Yao: "You go take a look, I can manage here by myself."

Do not dawdle, just go if I ask you to, go quickly and return quickly. It is better to come to terms with those who are not from our world sooner rather than later.

Several rays of rainbow light flashed in the air, and then all of them descended above the main courtyard of the Xiao family, looking down from a height at the already respectful Xiao patriarch and several members of the Xiao family, including ladies and young masters. Upon seeing the individuals hovering in mid-air, the Xiao patriarch hurriedly approached and respectfully bowed, saying: "Xiao Jian is here to welcome all esteemed masters."

Noticing her hesitation, the grandmother impatiently waved her hand, signaling her to leave quickly

The elder, who had intended to leave, paused and then burst into hearty laughter: "Hehe, look at me, having received such a talented disciple, I almost forgot myself and wanted to rush back to the sect. It is still thoughtful of Junior Brother; let us watch a little longer."

However, Xiao Jian did not find these immortal masters unreasonable; rather, he felt a mix of fear and joy. He bowed and nodded, pulling over a girl about eleven or twelve years old and presenting her respectfully to the old man, saying: "I am indeed the one in charge here, esteemed immortal. This is my daughter, Yu He."

Xiao Yao was captivated; these celestial masters were so graceful and ethereal, even more so than described in the books

He then said to Xiao Jian: "Let’s call all the children under the age of fifteen in the village to have a look. If we can find any children with spiritual roots, even if their quality is not good, they can follow us back to the sect to do some chores or become outer disciples."

Upon seeing Xiao Jian bow, the elder at the forefront, dressed in a brown Daoist robe, with hair and beard partially white yet a rosy complexion and spirited demeanor, nodded slightly and spoke in a calm voice: "Hmm, are you the one in charge of the Xiao family? Where is Xiao Yuhe?"

Xiao Yao had long wanted to go out and take another look, but she was still somewhat hesitant, after all, her grandmother was getting older and could not handle heavy physical work very well

Xiao Yao arrived again at the old well, continuing to lift her small head to gaze at the azure sky. She always had a premonition that the celestial masters were about to appear.

This time, she was not disappointed. After about half an hour, from a distance, it seemed that there were several bright spots shimmering in the sky. As the bright spots drew closer, Xiao Yao could clearly see that those bright spots gradually transformed into beams of rainbow light, with one or two figures resembling celestial beings in long robes adorned with crowns standing on each beam of light.

The old man stroked his beard and waved his sleeve, saying, "This woman is beautiful, her eyes are quite spirited, very well, let me take a look."

She did not want to miss the opportunity to see the immortals. It is important to know that once the immortal masters entered the Xiao family, she would absolutely have no chance to glimpse their elegance within the residence. The book mentioned that immortal masters generally rise early to cultivate their spiritual energy and meditate. Therefore, the immortal masters should arrive in the morning. Now, she could only pray in her heart that what was written in the book was true, so that she would have the chance to meet those immortal masters

Xiao Jian originally intended to invite the immortals to sit at his home, hoping to infuse the residence with some celestial aura. However, he did not expect that upon their arrival, the immortals would bring their daughters and leave immediately, without even having the chance to bid farewell or give instructions. His expression inevitably showed some difficulty, yet he dared not voice it, as these were genuine immortals. It is said that immortals are capricious in their emotions; should he inadvertently offend one, a mere gesture could cost him his life. At that point, annihilating the Xiao family would be as effortless as crushing an ant, and certainly, no one would intervene.

After the white light disappeared, the old man revealed a look of great joy and laughed heartily: "Good! Good! It truly was not in vain! This girl indeed possesses a singular water spiritual root. Although the quality of her root has more impurities and cannot compare to the pure root of Junior Brother Lü's beloved disciple, such extraordinary talent is rare, perhaps one in a million. Just having a spiritual root is already one in a hundred thousand. I do not wish for more; this is sufficient. Junior Brother Lü..."

Hearing what Grandma and the book said, Xiao Yao no longer felt troubled. Happily, she said to Grandma: "Thank you, Grandma. I will be leaving now, but I will return soon to help you with your work. Please don't move the heavy things until I come back."

Xiao Yao had never desired anything as much as she did at this moment, and in her mind, a decision emerged, a decision that would change her life: she wanted to pursue immortality

Just after the words were spoken, the echoes lingered, yet the person had long vanished without a trace. Grandmother gazed at the empty door and sighed softly: "Ah, my girl..."

The old man turned his face towards a handsome middle-aged man with shiny black hair and a long beard beside him, saying, "You and Junior Brother Li both have a single spiritual root disciple, while Junior Brother Lü's beloved student possesses the rare and extraordinary mutated wind spiritual root. Now, this girl will be taken as my disciple; do you both have any objections?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jian quickly nodded and instructed his subordinates to take action. If they could produce a few more children who could match the talents of the immortal master, it would be a great honor for Xiao Family Village. How could he not be proactive in this matter

In the kitchen of the Xiao family's backyard, Xiao Yao was somewhat lost in thought as she helped her grandmother with chores. She had yet to recover from the shock of seeing the immortal master earlier. Initially, she had thought that being a servant to an immortal master was still being a lowly servant, something she was unwilling to accept. However, her perspective had completely changed; she now felt that even if she could not become a disciple of the immortal master, being a servant would still be good, as it would at least allow her to be close to the immortal masters. Perhaps one day she might even learn some immortal techniques. But how could she manage to meet the immortal master?

At the moment when Xiao Yao was feeling troubled, she heard someone outside the kitchen and the door to the library shouting excitedly: "Chen family's grandmother, hurry and take your Xiao Yao to the courtyard! A celestial master is recruiting disciples! All children under the age of fifteen in the village should go over."

Before her words had finished, Xiao Yuhe was lifted by a white cloud and brought before the old man

The middle-aged man and the plump cultivator beside the old man both smiled and said: "Naturally, this woman will be taken under the senior brother's wing."

The old man displayed an air of arrogance in both his demeanor and speech, conveying a sense of superiority from beginning to end, revealing his disdain for the mortals below.

I shall faithfully follow the instructions of the esteemed immortal

The old man, seeing the girl was quite nervous, smiled slightly and explained, "There is no need to panic; I am merely examining your spiritual roots for cultivation."

Xiao Yuhe, after all, is just an eleven-year-old girl. Suddenly being lifted into the air, she was naturally terrified, her expression tense and her eyes reddened. Below, Old Master Xiao and the others looked on with immense reverence, their eyes wide open. They had never witnessed a celestial being casting spells before; today was the first time. Their expressions were filled with astonishment and admiration, accompanied by profound awe.

The next day, before dawn, Grandma was still lying in bed, but Xiao Yao had already gotten up

To soar freely in the azure sky, without any restrictions, carefree and at ease, reminds her of what her mother said: is this not the freedom of a bird?

The elder finally nodded in satisfaction, smiling as he placed Xiao Yuhe onto his flying sword. Without even glancing at Xiao Jian, he directly said: "I have taken this girl as my disciple. Now that she is here, we should return to the sect to arrange for these disciples."