In the Zhengyang Hall, hundreds of powerful cultivators expressed their admiration.

“The Demon Emperor is really extraordinary. He is forward thinking and broad-minded for a nine-year-old.”

“Indeed, once you become a servant, it takes forever to free oneself. Besides, this Shen Quan fella is obviously up to no good.”

“Fate is a fickle mistress. Fairy Nangong originally intended to lighten the burden of the Demon Emperor, but unexpectedly she ended up making the Demon Emperor suffer a severe beating instead…”

Nangong Rou, who was standing not far away, had an unsightly expression on her face. Her memory of that time had long been blurred. Now, she suddenly was made to recall that she still owed Jiang Zhige so much.

Jiang Zhige already once rescued her from the freezing snow. Without Jiang Zhige’s help and care, she would have frozen to death in the snow.

Now, it’s another time. If it wasn’t for Jiang Zhige, she was afraid that a mere mortal family would toy her to death by turning her into a prostitute.

Noticing her reaction, Qu Yun immediately felt a sense of crisis. He knew that although Nangong Rou still resented Jiang Zhige, she could not deny that she owed Jiang Zhige a lot.

“Xiaorou, you don’t have to feel like you are indebted to the Demon Emperor. He was a complete show-off back when he was just a beggar. If no one was there to save him halfway, the outcome wouldn’t have changed at all.”

Nangong Rou was startled for a moment before nodding in approval.

Qu Yun was right. The one whom she should be grateful to was the white robed old man who rescued them.

If Nangong Rou remembers correctly, that old man in white robe was master Yao Qianji who later led her and Jiang Zhige to the path of cultivation.

Nangong Rou was still grateful to the master. Unfortunately, she was later retrieved by her family. When she returned from her successful cultivation, the master had already passed away of old age.

….

“Good! What a good man! Rather remain a beggar than to be a slave!”

The old man in the white robe nodded and smiled as he looked at Jiang Zhige with appreciation.

Just now, he didn’t immediately come out of the crowd in order to see what Jiang Zhige would do next. Unexpectedly, even after being severely beaten, Jiang Zhige did not scream in pain.

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed that such a boy who was less than ten years old would be so resolute and firm in his convictions.

Shen Quan, who was not far away, couldn’t bear it any longer. He suppressed his anger and snarled, “The rat (Jiang Zhige) who only speaks half-truths, how dare you ignore me again?!”

What’s happening today? First Jiang Zhige, and now an old man in white robes dared to ignore him.

If it weren’t for fear that the old man in white robe may be some big shot, he would have already ordered his guards to beat him together with Jiang Zhige.

“Rats?”

The old man in the white robe snorted softly. He flicked his fingers, causing a blue light to shoot at Shen Quan.

Pfft!

The blue light pierced Shen Quan’s lower leg in an instant, making him cry in pain.

“An Immortal, a Daoist immortal…”

The two guards and the steward of the Shen Family were stunned. The only one who could use such means was the legendary immortal cultivators.

In the secular world, immortal cultivators were extremely rare, and each of them was an existence that could easily change the situation between the two countries.

Even if the king of the Great Lin Country was here today, he must respectfully address that old man as “Daoist immortal”.

“Immortal, please spare my life! Please forgive me!”

“It’s all Shen Quan’s doing. He ordered it. We were forced to follow his orders!”

After regaining their senses, the two guards hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy, as did the steward of the Shen Family. Although he had no bad intentions from the beginning, he was a member of the Shen family after all.

The people who were watching from far were excited. They all knelt down to pay their respect to the immortal cultivator.

“Immortal…”

Jiang Zhige was in a trance. He glanced at Shen Quan who was crying loudly in pain while gripping his bloodied calf, and then looked around at the people who kowtowed and paid respects even in the distance.

At this moment, he felt a strong urge to strive to become an Immortal.

Jiang Zhige had always believed that he would not be a beggar all his life, and now, the one chance to forever change his life was right in front of him.

Jiang Zhige resisted the pain and stood up, walking towards the old man in white robe. He kowtowed in front of him and said in a trembling voice, “I, Jiang Zhige, beg the immortal to accept me as a disciple!”

The people in the distance were full of ridicule. How dare a beggar ask the immortal to take him as his disciple?

If he wanted to recruit disciples, he would have first recruited them.

The old man in white robe smiled but said nothing. He bypassed Jiang Zhige and walked to the Nangong Rou. He said aloud: “Little girl, you have extraordinary talent and physique. Would you like to join the Heavenly Cloud Pavilion?”

Nangong Rou, with a dull face, pointed to herself and said, “Me? What about my brother?”

She didn’t understand the current situation. It was her brother who asked the old man to be his teacher first.

The white-robed old man looked back at Jiang Zhige, and snorted coldly, “Him? He has an extremely poor Spirit Root and a stubborn temperament. He doesn’t know how to be flexible. Thus, he is not qualified to worship me as a master!”

(T/L: I have used the “Spirit Root” for now. It may be changed in future depending on more context provided by the author.)

Jiang Zhige, who was still kneeling on the ground, had his head buzzing from those words, and he could not comprehend the old man in white robes’s words.

Earlier, the old man in white robe praised him. So why was that same old man now claiming that Jiang Zhige was stubborn and did not know how to be flexible?

“Grandpa, do you mean that only I can worship you as master?”

“You can, but he cannot.”

The old man in the white robe stroked his white beard lightly. He didn’t lie. Nangong Rou’s talent for cultivation was indeed superior to that of Jiang Zhige’s.

Jiang Zhige’s eyes reddened and he clenched his fists tightly. He felt an urge to cry.

The old man in white robe decided his life in just a few words.

If he could not join the immortal sect, Jiang Zhige might remain a beggar all his life, or he might even starve to death in any passing winters.

“Then I won’t become your disciple!”

At this moment, Nangong Rou’s voice woke Jiang Zhige up.

Jiang Zhige got up, looked at Nangong Rou, and spoke anxiously, “Rou’er, do not spout nonsense. Do you know what it means to you to join an immortal sect?”

“I don’t care. I just want to be with brother!”

Nangong pouted softly, while glaring at the white-robed old man with unkind eyes.

Seeing Jiang Zhige’s extremely sad face, whatever gratitude that she harbored towards the old man in white robe for saving them evaporated into thin air.

“Brother, don’t kneel to him! Since this stinky old man refuses to accept you as his disciple, he must not be a good person!”

Now Nangong Rou really didn’t like the white-robed old man at all. Her elder brother already kowtowed to worship him as master, but the old man didn’t even show any reaction.

The people in the distance were astonished. It was already very rare for an immortal to be willing to accept disciples. How could this little girl refuse? She even dared to call the immortal a stinky old man?!

The old man in white robe did not speak, and shook his head with a wry smile.

Jiang Zhige could only pretend to be serious and try to salvage the current situation: “Rou’er! How can you be rude to the immortal when he has just helped us? You should be obedient to your master. When you have achieved some success in your cultivation, brother will come to you.”

Nangong Rou could not bear to part with Jiang Zhige, and he naturally felt the same. However, once she joined an immortal sect, she could be said to have reached heaven in a single bound, so Jiang Zhige did not allow himself to be indecisive (to be in her way).

As he thought before, as long as Nangong Rou could live a good life, anything would be fine for him.

“Liar! Brother is lying! Why is it better to be beggar than a slave? Why should I join a sect? Rou’er doesn’t understand. Rou’er only need brother!”

It was the first time that Jiang Zhige reprimanded Nangong Rou. She felt wronged and burst into tears.

Why was it important for her future? She did not understand and did not want to understand.

As long as she could stop her brother from being beaten, and as long as she could stay with her brother, she was not afraid of any future hardship.

Jiang Zhige couldn’t bear the crying, but he still wanted to say something. However, he was interrupted by the white-robed old man who raised his hand in defeat.

“Forget it. If she refuses, how can I force it?”

The white-robed old man did not seem to be very disappointed. After speaking, he immediately stepped into the void and left.

“Farewell to the immortal!”

The people were shocked when they saw this. They knelt again and again in the direction where the white-robed old man left.

Jiang Zhige’s face turned pale. Although he missed his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it was still acceptable. However, he even failed to get his sister into an immortal sect.

Just when he was feeling discouraged, the voice of the white-robed old man suddenly reverberated in his ears again.

“Little friend, although I haven’t accepted you as my disciple, I’d like to give you a chance because we were brought together by fate.”

“Ten miles to the east outside the city, there is a plum blossom tree, and the opportunity lies under the tree. Remember, both you and your sister must go together.”