Chapter 49

"Who do you think you are, demanding to see Senior Brother Han just like that?" The plump young man was full of anger. "Get lost, or don't blame me for being impolite!"

Qin Sang stood her ground, showing no fear, and said coldly, "I am the savior of Immortal Master Han. He once said that if I had any requests, I could see him. You insist on blocking me—what are your intentions? Do you want Immortal Master Han to lose his credibility?"

"Your savior?"

The plump young man was taken aback. "You saved Senior Brother Han's life?"

Qin Sang recounted the events at Gu Ling Mountain.

The plump young man's arrogance dissipated, his expression fluctuating. Finally, he glared at Qin Sang, took out a palm-sized scroll, and with a wave of his hand, an ancient painting unfolded before them.

In the painting, mist shrouded the sky, layers of clouds stretching endlessly, as if depicting the thirty-three heavens, exuding a mysterious aura.

Amidst the clouds, a group of cranes soared freely, vivid and lifelike, as if they were alive.

Then, Qin Sang felt a surge of spiritual energy. The plump young man infused the scroll with spiritual energy, and a cloud of mist flew out of the scroll, swirling and emitting the cries of a crane, which echoed continuously.

The crane from the painting landed in the plump young man's palm. He whispered a few words into the crane's ear, and it spread its wings, growing larger in the wind, before disappearing into the horizon.

Moments later, the mist on the ancient painting began to swirl, eventually forming a figure—the young man from Gu Ling Mountain who had nearly lost his life.

"Junior Brother Zhen Ming," the mist-formed young man, whose voice was somewhat ethereal, said, "What urgent matter brings you to call me so anxiously?"

The young man then noticed Qin Sang standing beside him, immediately recognizing her, and smiled. "General Qin, it's been a while. How have you been?"

Just as Qin Sang was about to speak, Zhen Ming stepped forward, complaining, "Senior Brother Han, it's not that I wanted to disturb you. This young man surnamed Qin insisted on seeing you, and I had no choice. I followed your instructions, asking him if he was determined to cultivate, and after he decided, I tested his spiritual roots. I warned him that having spiritual roots is one in ten thousand, and as expected, he is just an ordinary human without any spiritual roots. I advised him to live a normal life, but he didn't appreciate my good intentions, thinking I was trying to harm him. He kept saying he is your savior and insisted on seeing you."

After speaking, Zhen Ming glared at Qin Sang, looking very aggrieved.

The young man looked at Zhen Ming, then at Qin Sang, and smiled. "General Qin, Junior Brother Zhen Ming is right. Among ordinary humans, those with spiritual roots are one in ten thousand, and I am not lying to you. The path of cultivation is as difficult as ascending to the heavens. Even if you could cultivate, the world of cultivators is fraught with dangers, and you might meet an untimely end at any moment. Being an ordinary human might not be so bad. Let Junior Brother Zhen Ming ask the Palace Master of Chao Sheng Palace to take care of you. Even if the dynasty changes, you will be guaranteed a life without worries."

"But..."

Hearing the young man say this, Qin Sang felt helpless, wanting to ask why she could cultivate the "Yin Ming Scripture" if she had no spiritual roots.

But thinking of the two encounters with immortals, where the righteous and the demonic paths always fought to the death, and how she had used the Yama Banner to kill many ordinary humans, she felt ashamed to call herself anything but a demon.

"Immortal Master Han, is it really impossible to become a cultivator without spiritual roots?" Qin Sang asked, her face full of reluctance. Could there be such an absolute rule in the world?

Could it be because she was not a native of this world, or because of the abilities given to her by the jade Buddha?

The young man's expression changed, and Zhen Ming was also taken aback, stopping his incessant complaints and looking at Qin Sang, his head lowered in silence.

The young man hesitated for a long time before saying, "General Qin, to the best of my knowledge, in the righteous path, there are no precedents of someone without spiritual roots becoming a cultivator. Even in the major sects, cultivation techniques require one to have spiritual roots. As for..."

Seeing the young man's hesitant expression, Qin Sang's eyes suddenly brightened. "Immortal Master Han, is there another way?"

The young man smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Without spiritual roots, no method will work. How can one cultivate without sensing spiritual energy? What I was thinking is that our Han family only knows about the righteous cultivators. We know very little about the demonic path. The cultivation techniques of the demonic path are bizarre and numerous, and whether there is a way to break this constraint, I do not know."

"The demonic path?"

Qin Sang was somewhat surprised. Was the young man suggesting she join the demonic path?

The young man then formed a circular jade disk from a cloud in his palm and said seriously, "Since I made a promise, I will not go back on my word. This jade disk is a token from a cultivation market in the northern region, which I obtained from a demon's storage bag. If you insist on trying your luck, I will have Crane Shadow deliver it to you. However, if you truly join the demonic path, we will be enemies in the future, and I will not show mercy."

Qin Sang, without hesitation, clasped her hands and said, "Qin Sang thanks Immortal Master Han!"

The young man looked deeply at Qin Sang, nodded, and the cloud dissipated.

Qin Sang and Zhen Ming waited for a while, and Crane Shadow returned, holding a jade disk and a scroll.

Zhen Ming handed them to Qin Sang, bowed to him, and rode Crane Shadow away.

Qin Sang unfolded the scroll and found a large-scale geomancy map. This was the first time he had seen such a large and detailed map, and he quickly found the location of the Great Sui, which was very small on the map.

The northern Heng Kingdom was dozens of times larger than the Great Sui, and north of Heng, there were even larger countries.

Crossing Heng and several other countries, Qin Sang finally saw the young man's marking, which was in a country called Bi Yun. The young man had left a message saying that as long as Qin Sang brought the jade disk to the vicinity, it would automatically sense the cultivation market and guide him there.

The young man briefly introduced the cultivation market and reminded him that the demonic cultivators were very dangerous, especially to ordinary humans. If things went wrong, he should escape as soon as possible, which was the best he could do.

Qin Sang estimated the distance. If he rode a horse, traveling day and night, it would take him several years to reach the destination. Fortunately, he noticed a large river called Tian Lu River to the west of the Great Sui, which connected the north and south, and the Wu Ling River was just one of its tributaries.

Traveling by boat on this river would be much faster.

After putting away the scroll and playing with the jade disk, Qin Sang resisted the urge to test it with spiritual energy, nodded to the Palace Master of Chao Sheng Palace waiting beside him, and walked down the mountain.

The night enveloped the Chao Sheng Mountain, offering a view of the entire capital. The Jade Palace was brightly lit, indicating that the new emperor had just ascended the throne, and the officials were still in session, discussing the revival of the state.

(Just a few words.

The release of the "Ordinary People" anime has stirred up my old memories. With some free time, I decided to start writing.

Upon reflection, what left the deepest impression on me about "Ordinary People" was not the intricate and beautiful plot, not the magical spells and treasures of the old demon, but a sentence by Mo Cai Huan.

The first fifty chapters, nearly ten thousand words, were all to lead to this sentence from the protagonist's mouth.

A tribute to "Ordinary People," to Wang Yu, and to the memories of my past reading days.

Fortunately, the plot has not deviated much from what I initially envisioned, and the sentence was smoothly delivered, which I consider a small achievement.

However, this has made the early plot rather bland, and I wonder if many readers no longer enjoy secular plots.

After ten thousand words, I have not signed a contract, and my collection has barely reached a hundred, a rather sad state.

I wonder how many of these hundred collectors are truly following the story.

A few readers have consistently voted for me, and I have noticed and remembered their support. Thank you for your support.

As always, if you find my writing acceptable, please consider adding it to your collection, voting, and helping to promote it. Thank you!)