novelraw Chapter 564: Defying Heaven to Change Fate
Chapter 564: Defying Heaven to Change Fate
Zhao the Scholar’s real name is Zhao Yixuan. Last year, he went to the Celestial Sword Sect seeking immortality but was turned away. Everyone in town watched as he knelt outside the mountain gate for three days and three nights, only to be driven down the mountain in the end.
Many others had similar experiences, but after being rejected, none stayed, all leaving in anger and disappointment. Only Zhao the Scholar, frail and wearing tattered clothes, remained silently, setting up a stall to copy books in town.
No one knew where this scholar, who made a living by writing letters and copying books for others, came from; or why he took a chance at the Celestial Sword Sect; or why, after being rejected, he neither left nor begged persistently at the mountain gate but only gazed silently at Mirror Mountain in a daze.
Over time, everyone came to know him as a genuinely learned and talented scholar with beautiful handwriting. Yet they couldn’t understand why such a promising talent would give up the prospect of officialdom to seek immortality.
But Zhao the Scholar was good-natured. When mischievous children bullied him as an outsider and made fun of him, he didn’t get angry or upset.
Gradually, because of this good nature, shopkeepers and assistants would occasionally tease him as well, but he usually ignored them, focused only on his work.
"Yes, the Wilderness is dangerous." Zhao Yixuan was setting out his writing tools. Upon hearing this, he looked up at Mirror Mountain and remarked softly, "But with the Celestial Sword Sect guarding this place, it’s much safer in comparison, so the villagers around here are bolder."
It was rare for him to respond, and someone chuckled, "So you stayed in town because of this? Ha! I thought you were still hoping to cultivate immortality."
The tavern owner quickly asked, "Why didn’t you go see the Immortal Ascension Conference earlier on the mountain?"
"If watching the event could lead to cultivation, there would be no mortals left in this town." Zhao Yixuan didn’t look up as he continued to handle his old but well-kept writing tools.
Adding some water to the inkstone, he slowly ground the ink, and the faint fragrance of ink spread out.
"Even so, maybe by going up there, you could catch the eye of an Immortal Master and follow them to cultivate!"
"Cultivation is about correcting one’s behavior; you can cultivate just as well in the mundane world." He continued to grind the ink calmly, his voice gentle as he replied, "If destiny with immortality exists, it’s unnecessary to seek it out; if it does not, even if one bangs their head, it’s useless.
In the past, an Immortal Master pointed out that without a Spirit Root, cultivation was impossible. Instead of being anxious and yearning for immortality, one might as well calm down and correct oneself. Who knows, by accumulating virtues in this life, one might encounter an immortal fate in the next life."
The shop owner nearby whispered, "He can’t figure things out in this life, who knows where he’ll be in the next!"
"Exactly, even if accumulating virtues now means cultivating immortality in the next life, that’s for the next life. Right now, isn’t he still living in poverty? I’d say it’s better to enjoy the moment!"
The warmth from the wonton stall, mixed with the aroma of scallions and flour, wafted over. Zhao Yixuan, who had only had a bowl of porridge for sustenance, took a deep breath and ignored the noisy banter, earnestly continuing to copy books accompanied by the aroma of the wontons.
Jiang Yuan observed a large green checkmark above his head, thinking: Correcting one’s behavior is indeed cultivation. This one has some depth, so it’s no surprise he was selected by the system as a candidate for Spirit Root implantation.
[Zhao Yixuan, known as Zhao the Scholar, is from Taiping Village in Taiping Cave, Central Province. Last year, he left home for the capital to take the imperial exam but was disturbed by disastrous news from his hometown and failed the exam. He hurried back to find the entire village had been trampled by demon beasts, with no trace left of his family.
Determined to cultivate, he sought to slay demons and bring peace, wandering and living on the road only to be turned away by the Celestial Sword Sect for having no Spirit Root. With nowhere to go, Zhao Yixuan settled in town, earning a living by copying books and writing letters. Honest, strong, and steady by nature, he can be implanted with a Spirit Root and pass down a cultivation technique, enabling him to rewrite his fate and step onto the path of cultivation.]
"How pitiful, studying hard for years aiming for honors, only to be upset by his emotions and fail the exam. That’s hard enough, but losing his entire family, truly tragic." Reading these details, Jiang Yuan sighed.
It seems the system wants to select a batch of individuals with good character to cultivate fresh blood, but it’s uncertain how far a lower-class Fire Spirit Root can take him.
Looking at the Fire Spirit Root in his storage bag, he thought it’s better to have it than not. It’s not possible to get anything better for the moment, so this will do!
Zhao Yixuan was engrossed in copying books to earn a meager living, only to feel his view suddenly blocked. Looking up, he saw someone in fine silk clothing, obviously a wealthy young man, and asked, "Sir, is there any copying work for me?"
Already, Jiang Yuan had been wanting to conduct an experiment, and now, with this rare opportunity, he shook his head and took out the Heaven-Burning Scripture from his storage bag, opened it, and handed it over. "I want you to take a look at this book. Can you understand it?"
"This is..." Zhao Yixuan looked at the page filled with extremely crude lines, puzzled as he examined it, "It seems like a child’s doodle. It’s a pity such good paper was wasted."
He understood now; even Zhao couldn’t make sense of it!
Jiang Yuan felt much relieved, recalling how when he first entered the Wilderness World, he had mistakenly thought it was a game. The system could read the script even though he couldn’t, so he hadn’t worried much about it.
Upon realizing the Wilderness was a real world, he became frustrated as he repeatedly tried to decipher it. Failing to understand, it gave him headaches at times when he stared for too long.
Now Zhao Yixuan also couldn’t understand it, seeming to be in a similar condition to him.
"I hear that you, Brother Zhao, have a deep grievance and desire to embark on the path of cultivation yet have no Spirit Root." He closed the book and earnestly said, "I have a method that can provide you a Spirit Root to allow cultivation. As a condition, Brother Zhao must swear by Daoxin: keep a pure heart when stepping onto the path of cultivation. Do you agree?"
Zhao Yixuan looked up to carefully scrutinize him.
The morning sun behind him burst with radiant light, causing Zhao to squint slightly and smile, "Brother, behind you is the Celestial Sword Sect."
Jiang Yuan: ???
"I know, I just came down from the mountain. What’s up?"
Seeing the other’s puzzled appearance, Zhao Yixuan’s smile became even more gentle, "Yesterday, the Celestial Sword Sect put up a notice advising mortals without spiritual roots not to entertain delusions, to avoid being led astray by demons and wicked influences.
When the time comes, being enticed to become neither man nor ghost, it would harm both oneself and others.
Sure enough, today there is a broth inviting you with the temptation of cultivation, it seems the Celestial Sword Sect wisely anticipated and guarded against people like you.
I see you, sir, look dignified and do not seem evil, though I don’t know where you heard that I bear a deep-seated grudge, still, I advise: do more good deeds and accumulate virtue, so as not to waste a life as a human. Even if you can’t gather too much merit, as long as you don’t commit evil, even if you die and go to the Underworld, there will be benefits."
Jiang Yuan: Meow meow meow?
Well, the promotional effect of the Celestial Sword Sect is really immediate!
But on second thought, it makes sense. A stranger on a bright sunny day without any relation, suddenly says they want to give you a spirit root so you can cultivate, does sound fishy, somewhat like... a scam.
"Hahaha, what you say makes sense!" Jiang Yuan thought, anyway I just need to click and use to implant, no need for more words, just do it directly!
He laughed heartily twice, and conveniently patted the other’s right shoulder, clicking to use and implant the spirit root.
Then, a light spot flickering with a faint red glow flew into his body, after five seconds the progress bar completed, the Fire Spirit Root took root in the Dantian.
"You, what evil technique did you just use?" Zhao Yixuan got patted lightly on the shoulder twice, still wanted to persuade the other to turn back from their wrong ways, suddenly felt something was not right!
It seemed suddenly there was something warm, and then the warmth vanished, he could vaguely feel the breath was slightly different from usual.
"Brother Zhao, the Celestial Sword Sect is just behind me, there are sect disciples shopping there, what evil technique could I possibly use on you?" Jiang Yuan smiled slightly and took out the "Heaven-Burning Scripture" again, flipping open the pages for him to see, "Look, can you understand it now?"
When saying this, he replaced his usual Mountain God title with "Role Model".
Last time took a disciple to the Lin Mansion to recognize kin, to boost his presence, he had specially used Faith Value to upgrade the title, now after replacement, his sense of authority immediately rose up.
For a moment, Zhao Yixuan felt a bit fuzzy, as if standing before him was the teacher he most respected and admired yet was in awe of, the previous suspicion of his evil cultivator identity vanished, very compliantly lowered his head to seriously look at the book.
"Understood! Sir, I understood!" In less than a minute, he explained with a slightly flushed excited face: "I don’t know why, just now looking at this book I felt it was all scribbled, the more I looked the more irritated.
But now, I, I see the people on the book seem alive, staring at a particular line, and there is a corresponding line in the body also becoming hot, as if a strong power is flowing into the body along the line..."
It’s really easier to communicate with educated people, Jiang Yuan carefully asked about the differences before and after, confirming that whether one can understand the "Heaven-Burning Scripture" is closely related to having a spirit root.
He pondered, probably with a spirit root one can open a certain threshold, thus absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy guided by the book.
Of course, now it’s not long after the Wilderness Ascension time, there are still some traces of spiritual energy in the air. If wait until the spiritual energy drops to the lowest almost none, even with a spirit root probably one still can’t understand.
At this point, Zhao Yixuan also understood he had encountered a mysterious encounter, but whether it was good or bad, he was somewhat unsure.
"Since we are fated, I will teach you a simplified Cultivation Technique." Still had a task pending, Jiang Yuan put away the "Heaven-Burning Scripture" and took out the small jade slab loading the "Demon Suppression Scripture", sticking it on his forehead.
Zhao Yixuan didn’t know why he was so obedient to this stranger, but when a chill stuck to his forehead, it was as if there was a sound of solemn chords echoing in his mind.
Making the scholar who had prayed earnestly for countless nights hoping to become a cultivator, instantly realized he truly acquired a spirit root, capable of comprehending such a profound scripture!
After the progress bar completed, Jiang Yuan looked at the side quest changed to (1/50) thinking he needs to hurry and find people to impart the technique, completing the task could get two acceleration cards.
"Let’s go, to help thoroughly, I will introduce you to the Celestial Sword Sect to become an apprentice." Anyhow, this was the first person he personally implanted a spirit root into, changing their fate, it’s a little effort but needs to be taken care of.
Zhao Yixuan was utterly stunned, didn’t know how he packed his brush, ink, paper and books, just followed the other up the mountain in shock and bewilderment.
"Isn’t this Zhao the Scholar?" Fang Shouye heard Mr. Jiang introducing a disciple, dared not neglect, hurried to greet and was a bit stunned at first sight.
Last year this young man knelt outside the sect gate for three days and nights, but he was without a spiritual root unable to cultivate, he personally persuaded him for a long time to get him to leave, why is he brought back by Mr. Jiang?
A spirit root is something you either have or don’t have, can’t just grow out of thin air.
He couldn’t understand Mr. Jiang’s intention, if giving hope out of thin air only to disappoint, how could Zhao the Scholar stand multiple disappointments?