Great Red Immortal Sect

Chapter 1: Choosing a Disciple
Dali, Chiyun County, Baigang Village at the foot of Changming Mountain.

The autumn air was chilly and the road was deserted. Looking from the village head, the setting sun was dim and a skinny horse was slowly approaching.

Xu Xuan sat upright on his horse, wearing a black Taoist robe. He looked no more than thirty years old, but his eyes and brows looked a little old. Hanging around his waist was a green-skinned gourd with purple lightning painted on it. It was filled with strong liquor and kept shaking.

Leading the way in front of the horse was an old man named Liu Shengshui. His skin was dark and red, like a shriveled sweet potato. At the moment, he looked a little restrained, with his back drooping.

"Uncle Shengshui, are we there yet?"

Xu Xuan looked at the distant mountains. He had not been back to this place for decades. At that time, he was still an orphan. He was noticed by his master and went into the mountains to practice and became a disciple of Dachi Temple.

Now that his master has passed away, the sect has scattered like birds and beasts, and even things like collecting rent and recruiting disciples have to be done by him personally.

I'm so worried. I hope I can find a few more good seedlings this time. Thinking of this, Xu Xuan took another gulp of liquor and shook the gourd.

Is it a lot? Not much.

"It's right in front, right in front. Master Xu, you've been cultivating in the mountains for so many years that you can't even remember the way."

The old man spoke with great respect. After careful consideration, he still did not dare to call Xu Xuan's name directly. He only secretly glanced at the young man who looked like a drunkard on the horse.

"Although this kid has always been a tough kid, now that he's an immortal, who knows his emotions? When he left, I gave him some money and food. Maybe he can benefit from his return this time."

Thinking of this, Liu Shengshui's steps became much lighter, as if he couldn't wait to tell his family the good news.

The old horse under Xu Xuan's seat was extremely thin and looked like it had been hungry for some time. Its fur was blue-gray and it walked slowly. It took a long time for it to enter the village.

Water flows around the paddy fields, dogs bark and chickens crow, and there are mud houses and stone roads. The open space in front of the village is already filled with villagers who bring their children, waiting for Xu Xuan to come and weigh their roots.

After ten years of hard study, getting a name on the list of successful candidates is like a dream; once you become an immortal, you can live off the worldly affairs by eating clouds and breathing in the air.

If one has spiritual roots and is noticed by immortals, then one will ascend to heaven in one step and no longer be an ordinary person. Not to mention family and relatives, their whole family will also ascend to heaven. Therefore, everyone's face is filled with excitement and nervousness that cannot be concealed.

"Master Xu Xuan, Master Xu Xuan, please take a seat. Uncle Shengshui, why are you so slow?"

A wealthy man in a brocade robe walked out from the crowd. He was in his thirties and looked a little tired. He wore a gold and jade ring. He was Liu Fanhe, the wealthy man and village chief of Baigang Village.

Liu Shengshui responded with a "OK", then hurried into the village to look for his grandson, fearing that he would be a step behind others.

Two yellow pear wood armchairs had already been placed in front of the crowd, and in front of them was an ebony table, on which tea and the spiritual grain that Baigang Village had to hand over were prepared.

Xu Xuan dismounted calmly, said hello to Liu Fanhe, and the two sat down together.

"Back then, this kid was just a peasant, about my age, without even a parent, and could only work as a helper in my house to make a living. Now, looking at him again, he's truly a god-like being. I'm so happy."

Thinking of this, Liu Fanhe supported his waist secretly. He was old and could not handle the new concubine at home. He wondered if Xu Xuan's sect had any precious medicine that could make both dragon and tiger work together. However, it was really difficult to ask, so he would secretly go to the doctor to ask.

"Don't worry, everyone line up and bring your children over eight years old. If they have spiritual roots, I will naturally not miss them."

As soon as Xu Xuan gave the order, the bustling villagers lined up immediately and dared not fight over the food anymore.

Nowadays, the emperor of Dali basically doesn't care about anything anymore. He is just a figurehead. All places are governed by immortals, and there are no laws to enforce.

If you anger these immortals, the consequences will be the same as offending the government, or even worse, your soul will be burned to death.

Previously, Fuxue Mountain was in charge of Baigang Village. This demon sect had to sacrifice young boys and girls every year. It was the old immortal from Dachiguan who took action and beheaded the demon leader with one sword. Now life is much better.

Xu Xuan is not arrogant. He knows almost all the older generation of villagers here.

The people of Baigang Village are simple and honest. The village rules and regulations are engraved on a large bluestone stele in front of the village. Although he was an orphan when he was young, according to custom, every family would take turns to support him until he could support himself.

Although he had been looked down upon, Xu Xuan was already very grateful. It was a good thing that he didn't starve to death.

When he first came through, he lived in a thatched hut. He was only eight years old and was freezing cold. He almost died. He hid in the cowshed of Liu Shengshui's house, huddled together with the calves. Later, Liu Shengshui, who was feeding the cows, found him, took him home, and fed him hot soup, which saved his life.

Until he was twelve years old, Chongyangzi of Dachi Temple killed the demon sect with his sword, and Xu Xuan was accepted as his apprentice. It has been twenty years since then.

Six years ago, a demon disaster swept through Chiyun County. His master died while slaying the demon. Xu Xuan became the leader of Dachi Temple, but he was only at the fourth level of Qi training. The sect had lost a lot of territory, and only had three mountains left.

Baigang Village has nearly a thousand people and is not far from the gate of Dachiguan Mountain. It is also Xu Xuan's hometown. Naturally, he is more concerned about it, but his face is still serious, like an iron sculpture.

The Xu family in the village even wrote his name on the first page of their family tree, alongside the founding general to whom they were related from some unknown source.

But if he gets closer, there's no guarantee that some foolish people will take advantage of his position to climb up the ladder and use his name to bully the people in the village, which would be troublesome.

He would secretly take care of the people. Last year, when there was a severe drought, he sent his disciples to make the clouds and rain, and the villagers thought it was the Dragon King appearing.

One by one, the children were pulled forward.

Most of the parents were farmers, wearing coarse linen clothes and with dark skin. It was the autumn harvest season, and they were all busy with the harvest, but now they all put aside their farm work to work on finding a future for their children.

Xu Xuan produced a bronze mirror painted with a black bird pattern. It was a [Xuan Cong Zhao Gu Jing] handed down from his sect. It wasn't particularly useful, just a small gadget of fetal breathing quality, capable of directly seeing through the spirit platform and examining spiritual roots.

"No." "No."

"No."

There are nearly hundreds of children between the ages of eight and twelve in the village. Most of them have been examined by Xu Xuan and found to have mortal destinies and no chance of becoming an immortal.

However, Xu Xuan looked normal, without showing any sign of misbehavior. He silently looked inward, and in his Qi Sea, an ancient white jade stele was floating up and down, and a red flame transformed into the four characters "Yang Sui Jiang Huo" was swaying, faintly pointing to the village.

"Today, I should be able to find someone with a destiny to become an immortal, to fill the gap in our sect's successors."

On Xu Xuanlingtai, the eight characters of ancient seal script [The sword rises from the abyss, the black dragon strikes with thunder] flashed with clear light in his sea of consciousness, and then turned into a green dragon, disappearing in the sea of clouds formed by the sword energy, striking thunder and lightning.

The reason why Xu Xuan was noticed by Chongyangzi back then was all because of this ancient white jade stele. Chongyangzi used his sword to conquer the Blood Demon Mountain and killed the foundation-building demon. The ancient white jade stele transformed a stream of clear energy into eight ancient characters. Xu Xuan was then able to become close to the way of the sword, became a true disciple of Dachiguan, and cultivated sword energy.

Now, twenty years have passed, and the ancient stele has finally condensed a much more vague clear air. Xu Xuan initially wanted to use it for himself, but the spiritual platform of the Qi training realm was too small to be occupied by the green dragon. The clear air has not yet manifested into ancient characters, so it is really useless.

Until eight years ago, on the Bingwu day of May, his sea of qi vibrated, and the clear energy turned into red flames, with a faint tendency to form words. The jade slip in the Taoist temple that recorded the fourth-grade martial arts method "Heavenly Fire Eternal Light Sutra" vibrated even more.

The sect's true martial arts skills are partially incomplete, and require people with special destiny to practice them. Now, we have finally found that person.

The red flame gradually took shape into words, and after eight years, it became the four words [Yang Sui Jiang Huo]. Xu Xuan sensed that there was a child in Baigang Village who resonated with the words, so he came here to choose a disciple.

'Still no?'

Xu Xuan had almost finished the investigation, but still no one was found. He could only vaguely sense that the person who responded to [Yang Sui Jiang Huo] was here.

“Fanhe, are all the children around eight years old in the village here?”

After looking at the last person, Xu Xuan still had no spiritual roots. He was a little confused and could only ask Liu Fanhe.

"Logically, they're all here. Since the immortals are selecting disciples, they're all here, afraid that they'll be left behind."

Liu Fanhe was in a complicated mood at the moment. His two children had no spiritual roots and could not become immortals, but the other poor families in the village did not leave, so he did not embarrass himself too much.

Otherwise, as a wealthy family in the local area, his Liu family would be criticized for not even having produced any immortal seeds.

The Xu family is also a big family in the village, but they are from outside and are far behind his Liu family. With the emergence of Xu Xuan, they are implicitly superior to him. I wonder if he can still hold on to the position of village chief.

Just as Liu Fanhe was about to ask Xu Xuan if he had any elixir to strengthen his body, he was interrupted by the crying of a child.

"I'm not going, I'm not going, Grandpa, please don't pull me."

Xu Xuan looked towards the village entrance and saw a little boy with pigtails being dragged by Liu Shengshui. His eyes were bright and although he was young, he was full of energy and looked extraordinary, like a nimble young tiger.

The four characters in ancient seal script [Yang Sui Jiang Huo] vibrated continuously, and red flames burned fiercely, emitting bright light.

'It's him.'

Xu Xuan stood up, and [Xuan Cong Zhaogu Realm] rose with the wind and floated beside him.

Liu Shengshui was just worrying about how to convince his stubborn grandson. Seeing Xu Xuan coming over, he immediately spanked his grandson's buttocks. However, the child still refused to give in and kept muttering:

"I'm not going to become an immortal. I still need to take care of my old ox. Grandpa, your waist is almost broken, and you still need me to take care of it."

Liu Shengshui felt helpless. His son was eaten by a big tiger, and his daughter-in-law died in childbirth, leaving behind only one grandson. Although he was sensible, Liu Shengshui still hoped that he would go far away.

"Why don't you kowtow to the Immortal Lord? Where's the etiquette?"

Liu Shengshui hurriedly apologized with a smile, fearing that he would anger Xu Xuan. To this old man, no matter whether the immortal was good or evil, a single thought was enough to overturn the lives of his family, so he really didn't dare to neglect him.

Xu Xuan respected him very much and regarded himself as a junior, but the old man always addressed him as the immortal.

"No need. It won't be too late to kowtow after we enter the ancestral hall and burn incense."

Xu Xuan helped up the child who was about to bow, with a smile on his face.

"This is?"

Liu Shengshui was very surprised, but Xu Xuan gestured for him to look at the bronze mirror. Inside his grandson's spiritual platform in the mirror, a fairy light flickered. It was the spiritual root, about seven inches long, very extraordinary.

The length of spiritual roots is closely related to the aptitude for cultivation. The longer the spiritual roots, the faster the spiritual energy can be exhaled. Xu Xuan only had a six-inch spiritual root, but the eight-character ancient seal script actually raised it by another four inches, reaching an astonishing one foot, which was enough for him to build a foundation.

Liu Fanhe was quick to act and had already led Liu Shengshui to thank the immortal master. At the same time, he turned around and whispered a few words to the child. Liu Shengshui's grandson stopped making trouble and walked forward obediently to salute Xu Xuan. The people around him were jealous, envious, congratulated, and even planned to become relatives.

"What's your name?" Xu Xuan asked softly.

"Liu Xiaowen, this is the name given to me by the old fortune-teller."

The child chuckled, with some mountain spirit, which reminded Xu Xuan of a time many years ago when someone had asked him his name in the same way.

(End of this chapter)