Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 50 Remedy
Bian Yuanzhi was born in an ordinary farmhouse in Taiping Town and is fourteen years old this year.

As the youngest and most beloved son in the family, Bian Yuanzhi simply couldn't bring himself to do farm work like his older brothers, toiling in the fields from dawn till dusk. Having grown up listening to the legendary tales of the Ling family woman, he greatly admired her. She was the only person in Taiping Town in the past hundred years to have the good fortune to enter the Guangcheng Sect. Legend has it that she was chosen by an immortal when she was just a teenager and taken to Guangcheng Mountain.

Therefore, he also had a dream of cultivating immortality.

However, over the years, only one woman named Ling has emerged in the entire Taiping Town, so he has never spoken his dream aloud.

Until recently, many new faces suddenly appeared in the town.

Among them, there was a very handsome immortal who actually asked me if I would like to become his disciple and go with him to the Taiyin Sect to cultivate immortality.

Bian Yuanzhi was overjoyed. Even his parents and brothers were excited all night when they heard about it. His mother even gave him the new clothes she had made for his brother, telling him to serve the immortal well.

However, the immortal did not appear on the agreed-upon second day.

There was none on the third day either.

Day 4, Day 5...

Seven full days have passed, and the memory of that day feels like a dream.

The mocking looks from his neighbors made it hard for him to breathe.

"That brat from the Bian family dares to dream of cultivating immortality?"

"He might be lying to people and playing a trick on them!"

"How could an immortal possibly want him!"

……

Immortal...why did you break your promise?
Or was it really just a ridiculous dream of mine?
Bian Yuanzhi held a handful of pebbles, unconsciously skipping them across the riverbank, feeling empty inside.

"Brother Dog, it's not that I don't want to make amends, it's just that I've completely forgotten what that kid looks like! I didn't even ask his name! So many days have passed, and I can't find the NPC dialogue records anymore! I only vaguely remember that it was in this area, but I really have no idea if I can find him!"

In the distance, it seemed like someone was talking, and the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

Bian Yuanzhi instinctively hid in the bushes behind the tree, not wanting anyone to see him.

Wang Ergou said anxiously, "Even if I forget, I still have to look for it. At worst, I'll search one NPC at a time. You have to pay for the sins you committed, right? Besides, you're currently the lowest-ranked player in the entire server in terms of combat power! Don't you want to catch up?"

Player Zhen Junzi, who was being dragged along by Wang Ergou, said with tears in his eyes, "There's nothing I can do, Brother Gou! My cultivation speed with five spiritual roots is just slower than others. You guys are all stuck on your cultivation level, but look at me, my level is the same as yours, but my mana bar isn't even half of yours! My cultivation level is even worse! I can't keep up with the level at all!"

"That's why I asked you to fix it! What if there's some setting in this game that allows you to change your spiritual root?"

"But I really don't remember what he looked like!"

"Then let's look for them one by one! Even if you don't remember him, he must remember you, right?"

"That's hard to say!"

Wang Ergou rolled his eyes: "Just tell me if you want to make amends or not!"

This time, Zhen Junzi answered decisively: "Yes!"

"That's it!"

As he spoke, Wang Ergou grabbed Zhen Junzi and started to walk towards Taiping Town.

Bian Yuanzhi, who had been listening from behind the tree for a long time and was getting dizzy from the noise, finally couldn't resist peeking out. When he saw the figure being pulled, his eyes widened in shock. "An immortal... an immortal!?"

The not-too-loud sound immediately caught Wang Ergou and Zhen Junzi's attention—the NPC's chat message was practically right in front of them, it was hard not to notice!

"Um!?"

When Zhen Junzi turned his head, he saw a skinny little boy with yellow, dry hair piled on his head like a bird's nest. His eyes were wide open, filled with shock.

This kid... he looks kind of familiar.
When Bian Yuanzhi saw that the two "immortals" were looking at him at the same time, he was startled. He wanted to run but didn't dare to. He was frozen in place, and his face turned red.

Wang Ergou lowered his voice and whispered in Zhen Junzi's ear, "This isn't the kid you cheated on, is it?"

Zhen Junzi smiled wryly, "I...I really don't remember...I just said it offhand, just kidding, just kidding, you know? I didn't mean anything by it..."

Wang Ergou said sarcastically, "You've managed to turn yourself into a five-elemental being? You did a great job, you did a brilliant job, you did a fantastic job! It's like a kitten climbing a tree—meowing to heaven! Kid, you've even fooled me, aren't you ashamed of yourself!"

Perhaps it was because the two "immortals" didn't look fierce, nor were they as aloof as the immortals of Guangcheng Mountain, that Bian Yuanzhi, as if possessed, blurted out the question that had been buried in his heart for days: "Immortals... why... why didn't you come that day?"

While Wang Ergou was still watching in shock, he skillfully muted his character's voice and turned on his microphone in the team list: "Holy crap! It really is that kid!"

"I, ah, I," Zhen Junzi first scratched his head awkwardly, then, quick-witted, made up a story: "Your teacher... Your teacher broke through the seclusion a few days ago, so I'm a little late, which is why I postponed coming to see you until today..."

Wang Ergou was thoroughly enjoying the gossip when he exclaimed in the game microphone, "Wow, bro, you managed to cover this up!"

Bian Yuanzhi's eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly, "Then, did you come here today to take me to cultivate immortality?!"

"Uh……"

Zhen Junzi was unsure how to answer, while Wang Ergou urged him repeatedly, "Just agree already! Do you want to stay a floor tile for the entire server forever?!"

In a flash, Zhen Junzi typed in the team chat: "But I don't know how to take care of children!"

Wang Ergou got angry: "Enough with the nonsense! You better take him in first!"

"Ah, it's like this," Zhen Junzi said, seeing the boy's increasingly disappointed and desperate expression. He quickly coughed lightly to save face and said, "I was thinking that following me on this journey to cultivate would mostly involve living in the open and enduring hardship. Are you still willing to follow me?"

Wang Ergou quickly gave Bian Yuanzhi a wink, adding, "Your master is calling himself 'Master'! Don't you understand what that means?!"

"I! I do!"

Bian Yuanzhi was immediately moved by the news and knelt down to kowtow, which startled Zhen Junzi.

As the plot unfolded, Zhen Junzi began to savor the feeling of "role-playing." He even got hooked on it, imitating the actors in TV dramas, cosplaying as some kind of immortal lord or deity, striking a pose of otherworldly elegance, and deliberately saying with a serious expression: "Don't rush to kowtow. Let me ask you, on this long road to immortality, you will have no parents, children, sisters, or brothers. If you regret it now, it's not too late!"

"I……"

Bian Yuanzhi subconsciously glanced at Wang Ergou next to Zhen Junzi, then couldn't help but turn his head to look at Taiping Town in the distance—he could even see the roof of his own house in the distance.

Zhen Junzi continued to put on the air of a wise and enlightened person, saying, "If you have any distracting thoughts, you might as well give up now, so that you won't end up with nothing after years of cultivation, and all your efforts will be in vain."

Unexpectedly, these words seemed to open a floodgate of inspiration for the boy before him, who suddenly bowed deeply and kowtowed: "This disciple has no regrets!"

Zhen Junzi nodded in satisfaction, but his defenses crumbled in the chat channel:
"No, I've already said all that, why does he still insist on hanging himself here with me?!"

(End of this chapter)