Immortality

Chapter 3 Mortal Trial
A moment later, inside the carriage.

"Brother, you should eat it too, this candy is so sweet!"

Ah Cai had never eaten crispy candy before, and he was completely intoxicated by its sweetness, with a look of happiness on his thin, dark face.

Fang Sheng held another piece of candy in his hand but did not eat it.

Behind the carriage, the man was still chasing, shouting the name of Ancheng Li.

But gradually I couldn't catch up.

The imperial guards driving the carriage finally increased the speed, and the carriage sped along the empty street.

……

After a while, we arrived at a temple specially built for the immortals to rest.

There are imperial guards everywhere.

Fang Sheng and A Cai were quickly led into the temple.

"Next, please rest in the temple. When the Spirit Testing Conference is over, the Immortal Master will lead you to the Immortal Cultivation World... During this time, all your food and clothing will be provided by the royal family."

After the guard who led the way finished his explanation, he immediately retreated outside the temple.

Fang Sheng observed the interior of the temple.

I found the conditions to be unexpectedly rudimentary.

Apart from the place to relieve oneself, there was not even a spare room.

The dozen or so selected children were scattered throughout the hall, playing chess, studying, sleeping... each busy with their own things.

When they saw the two of them come in, some people nodded, while others didn't even look at them.

Some people also came forward to make friends and asked Fang Sheng and his partner to choose a free place in the hall to rest.

"I heard that the royal family wanted to build a new mansion for us to stay for a while, but the immortal master rejected it and specifically pointed to this small temple..."

A young man in linen clothes named Zhao Miaoyan was quite enthusiastic. He found a few futons and helped to make a place to sleep.

Fang Sheng fed the remaining piece of crispy candy to Ah Cai and said:
"Maybe the Immortal Master wants us to adapt to a life of austerity in advance."

"Yes, you think the same as I do!"

Zhao Miaoyan looked at Fang Sheng for a few times, and finally couldn't help asking: "Why did you come in empty-handed? Didn't anyone give you gold just now?"

Ah Cai, who had a candy in his mouth, was about to open his mouth when he felt his elder brother's hand touching his head.

He smacked his lips and continued to concentrate on eating the candy.

Fang Sheng pretended to be confused.

"What gold?"

As he spoke, his eyes swept over the other immortal seedlings in the temple.

More than half of the people had several wooden boxes around them, which must have contained gold given as gifts by the families along the way.

They had no idea that these mundane things were basically useless in the world of immortal cultivation, so they naturally would not refuse them.

"Ah, didn't you see Brother Li and Uncle Chen? They gave all of us gold..."

Zhao Miaoyan exclaimed in surprise.

Fang Sheng suddenly realized it and looked a little regretful.

"The carriage was moving very fast just now, and those shouting people didn't catch up. I was wondering what they were doing, and it turned out they were delivering gold..."

Zhao Miaoyan felt something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He pinched his chin and speculated:

"Maybe you offended the driver somewhere?"

"But it's okay. When you get to the Immortal Cultivation World, if you need gold flowers, you can come to me to borrow them. I won't charge you interest..."

Chi!
A sneer came from deep within the temple.

He was a young man from a wealthy family dressed in brocade clothes. He was playing chess with a friend and seemed to be very contemptuous of Zhao Miaoyan's words.

Zhao Miaoyan was completely unaware and continued to comfort Fang Sheng.

The conversation came to an end only when the imperial guards outside the door brought in some light meals.

A few days later.

More than a dozen immortals moved in, and the originally empty temple quickly became crowded.

Fang Sheng observed carefully.

Except for a young girl from a wealthy family, all the other new arrivals were holding heavy wooden boxes, their faces filled with joy.

Who would refuse free gold?
What’s more, these people were from small, poor peasant families who were terrified of poverty.

Young Acai, who was working hard every day, looked jealous, but he did not regret his choice.

He has listened to his elder brother since he was young, and his elder brother has never made any mistakes.

Otherwise, I would have died on the way to escape the disaster.

Two days passed like this.

Fang Sheng and other immortal seedlings just received the news.

The Spirit Testing Conference will end today, so let them pack up early and prepare to set off at noon.

Finally, I am heading to the world of immortal cultivation!

When I woke up in the morning, the temple was full of noisy sounds.

Everyone was taking inventory of their belongings.

Even the temples guarded by the imperial guards could not stop the powerful aristocratic families in the capital.

In the past few days, people have been bringing in valuables, which are placed by the door for them to take at will.

Many of these surnames were ones that Fang had heard of in his previous life. They were aristocratic families that were beyond the reach of the Five Immortal Fang family.

"Brother, are we really not going to take a little silver?"

Ah Cai looked at the clanging sounds in the temple and saw people scrambling to stuff gold and silver into their bags. He was extremely envious.

Especially Zhao Miaoyan, who had been on good terms with them in the past few days, had two baskets filled with gold, silver and jewelry.

The girl from a wealthy family who came in after them couldn't hold back when faced with the gold and silver all over the floor...

"Don't take it."

Fang Sheng calmly shook the new clothes in his hand and said, "If gold and silver were of great use in the world of immortal cultivation, the emperor would not have given us only two wide robes."

The Yue royal family maintained official ties with the world of immortal cultivation.

If worldly wealth and property were really useful, then there would be no reason for the emperor to watch his noble families sending gold and silver while he himself did nothing.

The only explanation is that gold and silver have little use in the world of immortal cultivation.

The two immortal cultivators he met in his previous life did not lie to him.

and……

Fang Sheng glanced towards the inside of the temple.

The few children of wealthy families there also had very little luggage, and they would always sneer inwardly when they saw others scrambling for gold and silver.

……

Noon.

The middle-aged monk came into the temple in a majestic manner and began to count the number of people.

At the same time, he looked at everyone's condition one by one.

The others had bags of all sizes, and baskets of gold and silver piled nearly as high as a person at their feet.

The Fang brothers' bags only contained a few loose clothes and some dry food, which made them quite conspicuous among dozens of people.

Like them, there were several young men from wealthy families who formed a small circle and whispered among themselves.

The middle-aged monk glanced at the rest of the people again, shook his head imperceptibly, turned around and threw an iron-bottomed flying boat towards the long street outside the temple.

The flying boat magic weapon swelled in the wind and expanded to ten feet in length before landing.

Boom!
After landing heavily on the ground, a cloud of dust rose up.

The magical powers of the immortals are suddenly revealed!
Inside and outside the temple, the immortals and the imperial guards looked at the giant flying boat and exclaimed in amazement.

Acai beside him was also screaming.

Fang Sheng also raised his head and looked at the rather old flying boat in front of him.

While he was excited, several blurry figures of old friends seemed to appear beside the flying boat, which made him sigh even more.

"In the previous life, Niu Danzi, Ayun and the other five boarded this flying boat and never came back..."

In this life, it’s finally my turn!
He didn't know how many days and nights he had waited for this moment.

……

"Everyone board the boat and set off in ten breaths."

"No more waiting!"

The middle-aged immortal master's majestic gaze swept over.

As he spoke, a door slowly opened at the bottom of the flying boat, leading to the cabin inside.

Fang Sheng reacted quickly and picked up the skinny Ah Cai with one hand.

Follow those young men from wealthy families onto the boat.

At this time, the screams of other immortal seedlings behind him were heard slowly.

The baskets of gold and silver around them weighed at least dozens or even hundreds of kilograms, and they had to use all their strength to barely drag them.

How is it possible to board the flying boat in ten breaths?

At the critical moment, Zhao Miaoyan looked at Fang Sheng and his brothers who had already boarded the boat, and could only grit his teeth, throw away most of the gold and silver, and rush into the flying boat holding a few gold bricks.

Seeing this, the others adopted the same method.

The time limit has expired.

The middle-aged immortal master immediately controlled the flying boat to take off.

……

In mid-air, the door of the flying boat slowly closed.

The houses on the ground became smaller and smaller, and one could see many people kneeling and praying on the streets.

"Mr. Fang, did you know this a long time ago?"

"So that's why you didn't take the gold before?"

Zhao Miaoyan sat slumped down, gasping for breath, with a painful expression on his face.

He still couldn't let go of the gold and silver.

Fang Sheng put Ah Cai down and shook his head:

"I just didn't want to owe anyone a favor, but when I boarded the boat, I suddenly realized it."

"Ah? What do you understand?"

"I'm afraid the experiences of the past few days have been a test of my character."

"Refining...you said, this is a trial?!"

Zhao Miaoyan's face froze for a moment, then he came to his senses in an instant.

Looking at the gold brick in his hand, how could he still have any greed?

I wish I could throw them all off the flying boat!
Zhao Miaoyan looked anxious.

"Pure your mind and desire nothing, Brother Shuihuo."

Fang Sheng patted his shoulder gently, his mind already drifting somewhere else.

Although I know that gold and silver are useless.

But as he was living in the mortal world in his previous life, many details were simply beyond his reach.

It was not until this life, when he flew high with the immortal boat, that he was truly qualified to see through the fog that shrouded the world.

Fang Sheng walked to the window of the flying boat, facing the wind and looking at the boundless land and endless mountains below.

Suddenly I felt something.

“I cannot see the true face of Mount Lu because I am inside it…”

At the same time, the flying boat adjusted its direction in the air.

Officially set out towards the world of immortal cultivation.

(End of this chapter)