lcionline Chapter 1620
Chapter 1620
Chen Xuan had already noticed this. He nodded and said, "Let's go and see what these formal disciples are going to do."
After saying that, Chen Xuan and Bai Li transformed into a gentle breeze and followed silently.
High in the clouds thousands of miles away, three men and one woman, dressed in the standard robes of the Gu God Sect, flew swiftly, hands behind their backs, controlling their magical artifacts, their eyes fixed on the mortal settlements below.
"Finally, it's our turn to go down the mountain and choose our flesh and blood vessels! May the Ancestral Master bless me and help me find the perfect vessel for my natal Gu!" A sunny-faced young man said with a hopeful smile.
"Junior Brother Gu Xin, this is your first time coming down the mountain, so don't have too high expectations." The man holding a black gourd beside him joked, "We've come down the mountain several times and selected hundreds of young men and women, but we still haven't been able to find a suitable natal Gu vessel. You'll get your wish on your first try?"
“That is true,” another disciple chimed in, “but more than ten years have passed since the last selection. Surely, among these ant-like mortal beings, a few decent vessels should have been born.”
The group was led by a woman whose face was veiled in black gauze, with a strange pattern between her brows, and she exuded the aura of the Myriad Manifestations Realm. Hearing the whispers of her junior brothers and sisters behind her, she frowned and solemnly reminded them, "Recently, the sect has been in turmoil. Our senior brother, Gu Ying, betrayed the sect because of an affair with his Gu puppet and was suppressed and tortured by the elders. You must remember to strictly abide by the rules and not be careless."
Upon hearing this, a sneer of disdain flashed across the faces of the three junior brothers.
"Alas, how could our once high and mighty senior brother have fallen to such a state?"
"It's utterly ridiculous. Those flesh and blood vessels are merely materials for us to seek immortality. How could anyone be so attached to materials that they would even betray their sect and seek revenge for such a thing?"
"Yes, back when I went through three calamities to become a formal disciple, it was my senior brother who led me into the sect. How long has it been? He who was once highly regarded and expected to succeed the sect leader has become a prisoner and is despised by all the disciples of the sect."
The woman in black veil listened to their sentiments, nodded slightly, and said nothing more.
As the group approached the horizon, she raised her hand and waved: "Split up and each choose a vessel of flesh and blood. We will meet here again in ten days."
"Yes, Senior Sister Suying!"
"Hehe, senior brothers and sisters, I'll be going now!"
The four streaks of light immediately scattered and flew towards the different mortal cities and tribes below.
Chen Xuan had already used his divine sense to lock onto their tracks. Seeing Su Ying leave alone, he followed her silently with Bai Li, and in an instant, they landed in a tribal city with a population of over 100,000.
With Chen Xuan's cultivation level, even if he appeared out of thin air in the city at this moment, no one would be able to detect him in the slightest.
"A vessel of flesh and blood?" Chen Xuan's eyes narrowed slightly. Although he couldn't see Su Ying with his naked eye, his divine sense had already covered the entire city, clearly detecting the woman's presence as she infiltrated the city lord's mansion. "I see, how interesting."
Under the influence of divine sense, all concealment formations within the city were exposed. Chen Xuan listened to the surrounding sounds as he strolled along the city streets with Bai Li in his arms.
The scenery here is completely different from the mortal cities of the Xuanxiao World. The fruit trees on both sides of the street are rare and exotic, and occasionally the phantoms of rare beasts flash by. Even the spiritual herbs growing in the earth veins carry spiritual energy fluctuations that have never been seen before.
Along the way, Bai Li bought some local liquor, while Chen Xuan's gaze was more focused on the spiritual state of the local people—the numbness in their eyes was exactly the same as that of the ordinary people of the Qushan tribe.
"The Heavenly Dao Gu God Sect is indeed ruthless. They have poisoned mortals to such an extent, yet they can still use cruel pressure to cover up the truth of raising Gu with mortals," Chen Xuan thought to himself.
Suddenly, a commotion arose from ahead: "Fellow villagers, hurry! The city lord has said that today is an auspicious day for the immortal sect to select disciples. All children aged six to twelve can go to the city lord's mansion to have their immortal roots tested!"
"That's wonderful! My eldest son was selected to join the immortal sect ten years ago, and when he came back last year, he could even fly! This time, we must make sure that our youngest son is also selected by the immortals!"
"Your Da Niu has almost gone crazy from cultivating immortality. He finally came back for a visit, but he can't speak. All he can do when he sees his clansmen is cry."
"What do you know!" the parent retorted, his face flushed. "He's been away at the Immortal Sect for ten years, he must have suffered a lot. It's only natural for him to cry when he sees us!"
"Sigh, your family is lucky," a woman beside her said, wiping away tears. "My daughter was taken away by a fairy sixteen years ago, and I've never heard from her since. I'll be forty in three years, and I don't know if I'll be able to see her one last time before I die..."
Large groups of ordinary men and women, pulling, carrying, and carrying their children, surged toward the city lord's mansion like a tide. These children had grown up listening to stories of "so-and-so becoming an immortal by joining the immortal sect," and they were filled with an almost fanatical desire for the immortal sect to select disciples—once chosen, their parents could move into the city, and they and their families could even break free from the shackles of the mortal world and live past forty.
Looking at their eager and competitive manner, each of them had dark circles under their eyes, clearly indicating that they had been preparing for this "Immortal Sect Selection" for a long time.
Chen Xuan's divine sense swept further into the distance, revealing the mortals from the impoverished tribes. They had traveled arduously for half a month to ensure their children could be selected as apprentices, many having been attacked by powerful lake monsters along the way and perished. The murmurs and resolute words of the survivors reached his ears clearly.
"The barriers of social class, coupled with the lies of the rulers, make ordinary people think that sending their children into the immortal realm is a great blessing, but little do they know..." Chen Xuan's eyes gradually turned cold.
"Master, they are so pitiful." Bai Li looked at the mortals carrying infants and rushing towards the city lord's mansion, seeing the pure longing and expectation in their eyes, and sighed softly, "If they knew that they had personally sent their children into an endless hell, I wonder how desperate they would be?"
She murmured, then suddenly frowned and said, "Wait, Master, have you noticed?"
"What did you find?" Chen Xuan looked down at her.
Bai Li scanned his surroundings. Whether it was parents rushing to take their children to exams or vendors setting up stalls on the street, everyone was young and middle-aged. "As far as I could see, there wasn't a single elderly person!"
Chen Xuan was taken aback upon hearing this, and immediately extended his divine sense, which covered a radius of ten thousand miles. Sure enough, he noticed this strange anomaly. He had not noticed it before because there were several "old people" in the city lord's mansion, but those were all cultivators disguised as mortals.
"Interesting." A cold smile curled at the corner of Chen Xuan's lips, and he already understood why the old man was not seen in the mortal world.
He led Bai Li slowly toward the City Lord's Mansion, saying as they walked, "I was wondering why such terrifying resentment, malevolence, and evil energy gathered above the Gu God Star. It turns out that over the past two hundred thousand years, all the mortal beings on this star have been flesh and blood vessels raised by them."
Chen Xuan never considered himself a savior; his actions were simply in accordance with his conscience.
As the two entered the city lord's mansion square, they saw an elderly man dressed in magnificent robes floating in mid-air, speaking with great emotion. His tone was sometimes impassioned, sometimes feigned emotion, and his words were earnest:
"Our ancestors migrated here millions of years ago to escape war, only to be pursued by their enemies. To protect their bloodline, they had no choice but to lure the enemy away, ultimately dying in the wilderness. But who would have thought that this world is not only surrounded by many powerful demons, but also bound by a fate that we mortals cannot escape—without embarking on the path of immortality, none of us will live past forty!"