"Is it this way? We mustn't go to the wrong place; it would be a disaster if we missed the appointed time..."
"Rest easy. Don't you see how many carriages are rushing toward Qulan City?"
Two middle-aged men, each cradling a young son, conversed atop a jolting carriage. After several decades, masters from the cultivation world had finally returned to the mortal realm to search for promising young talents. These men had traveled from distant small towns, sparing no expense for the several taels of silver required for the journey, all for the sake of seeing if their children possessed such fortune.
"I heard of such an event once when I was very young, but my parents didn't let me go. If they had sent me then, perhaps I would be one of those immortals now," the man holding his child mused, a dazed expression crossing his face. The man opposite him wasn't quite so prone to flights of fancy; though he harbored a glimmer of hope, he didn't entertain the remark.
As they drew closer to Qulan City, the number of carriages and horses on the road increased. People from small villages, having never seen such a grand spectacle, looked around with cautious, reserved gazes.
The great sects of the cultivation world maintained some degree of contact with the prestigious families of the mortal realm. If a child was found to have a spiritual root or showed signs of talent, these families would recommend them to the sects. However, mortals lacked the means to test aptitude themselves. Thus, every few decades, representatives from the major sects would personally visit the mortal realm, and smaller sects would occasionally follow along to pick up any overlooked talents.
Although most of those taken away were children of wealthy families, rumors persisted of children from poor villages being chosen in the past. It was said that if a child was selected, the cultivators would provide a massive sum of silver as compensation—enough for an entire family to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.
"Father, how will the immortals appear? Will they descend from the sky in a flash of golden light?" A child, woken by the carriage's jolting, rubbed his eyes sleepily.
"Well... I heard they arrive at the docks on an immortal ship and then fly here in a 'whoosh'."
"Wow! Then why don't they just fly directly from the cultivation world?"
The questioned man wiped sweat from his brow. He had never seen them himself, so how could he know? Unwilling to lose face before his young son, he could only offer a vague excuse. He had heard rumors of the immortal ships, though; apparently, a single trip cost five hundred taels of silver. Such a figure was beyond his wildest imagination.
The carriage swayed as it entered the city.
***
"This, this, and this—one of each, please. And this one too..."
In a private room of Qulan City’s largest tavern, a waiter watched as an elegant, poised youth single-handedly ordered his way through the menu with an insatiable appetite. Despite being well-traveled and experienced, the waiter’s professional mask nearly slipped. He wanted to tell him, *“You’re just one person; you can’t possibly eat all this, and it won't even fit on the table.”*
Fortunately, the waiter was well-trained. He wouldn't stop someone from spending money, so he accepted the order with a face full of smiles.
"Is this the young master's first time in Qulan City?"
"Yes. It's for that... aptitude evaluation, right?"
"As I thought. One look at you and it's clear you're different from ordinary folk..."
"Naturally," the youth nodded, speaking with perfect composure.
*He certainly isn't modest,* the waiter thought, stealing a few more glances at the boy in silk robes. He looked to be about ten years old, with features as exquisitely carved as fine jade and hair as black and lustrous as silk. Had the waiter been a young maiden waiting to be wed, his heart would surely be fluttering by now.
He surmised this was likely a young master from some noble family in the capital out on his first trip; otherwise, he wouldn't do something as lacking in common sense as ordering half the menu for himself.
Determined to leave a good impression, the waiter was exceptionally diligent, frequently bringing tea, water, and side dishes. Even if the boy failed the cultivation aptitude test, he was clearly a person of high status!
"Oh, right. Bring two more servings of herbal tea. Others will be joining me shortly."
"Coming right up! Please wait a moment!" The waiter felt a secret sense of relief. Although it was still far too much food for three people, it was at least more plausible than one person eating it all.
***
The sweltering heat of the mortal realm was not something ordinary people could easily endure. The prestigious family tasked with hosting the guests from the cultivation world was fraught with anxiety, having prepared the finest guest rooms and ice for cooling long in advance. The courtyard outside the windows was landscaped with such elegance that it nearly rivaled the imperial palace.
In truth, their panic was unnecessary. The cultivators wore garments made of cold silk, and upon settling in, they used portable array flags to cool their quarters, rendering the ice entirely redundant.
Although Nie Shiyun had been treated with reverence everywhere he went since reaching the Nascent Soul stage, this was the first time he felt such a stark, heaven-and-earth class difference, akin to that between an emperor and a slave.
The servants sent by the noble family to wait on them looked as though they might drop to their knees after every sentence.
After finally convincing them that he truly didn't need anything, the maidservants departed tremulously. Nie Shiyun let out a long breath and sat down.
"If I'd known, I should have followed Xuan Yang's lead and slipped away the moment we arrived," Nie Shiyun complained.
"Weren't you the one who insisted on coming?" Zhai Bairong sat down beside him, picking up a teacup and taking a sip.
"Originally, my cousin was supposed to come too. I didn't expect him to have a last-minute emergency..." Nie Shiyun had to admit he had miscalculated. He had heard that Yunqing Pavilion intended to recruit some young outer disciples from the mortal realm, a task originally assigned to Nie Xing'an. At the time, Zhai Bairong "just happened" to be staying at Yunqing Pavilion after slipping away from the Moon-Reflecting Sect, so Nie Shiyun had enthusiastically dragged him along to see the mortal realm.
Unexpectedly, Nie Xing'an couldn't make it, leaving Nie Shiyun as the one in charge for Yunqing Pavilion. His plan to ditch everything and wander off with Zhai Bairong the moment they hit the mortal realm had gone up in smoke.
"I know you don't like dealing with these formalities," Zhai Bairong said with a smile. Nie Shiyun was generally very approachable, lacking the typical haughty air of a Nascent Soul senior. However, when it came to matters involving Yunqing Pavilion, he would still put on the facade of a great master. Anyone who didn't know him well would be fooled.
Zhai Bairong, on the other hand, didn't feel too constrained. When he lived in the mortal realm, he had been born into a wealthy family. Though he was the son of a concubine, he had been surrounded by servants.
"Were your living conditions as a child similar to this?" Nie Shiyun asked, looking around curiously. Although he had transmigrated into a book, he had always stayed within the cultivation world; this was his first time in the mortal realm. He imagined it was likely similar to the ancient times of his previous world.
"Not quite. These conditions are likely better than what even the head of a prestigious family would have. They probably renovated this place specifically after hearing we were coming," Zhai Bairong observed, glancing around. "The people of the mortal realm truly value this opportunity."
"I understand," Nie Shiyun nodded. Despite his complaints, he still intended to oversee the entire evaluation the following day. This aptitude test was primarily organized by Pinyin Pavilion, but since they only accepted women, they invited other sects along every time to ensure no talent went to waste.
The other three major sects had no plans to recruit new disciples in recent years, so many small and medium-sized sects had come instead.
Qi Miaohan, however, had not come to join the excitement. Normally, Nie Shiyun would have questioned her sanity, but this time there was a valid reason.
Nearly twenty years had passed since Qi Xuan'er and Du Zhi were married. And just last year, Qi Xuan'er had actually become pregnant.
Qi Xuan'er had been on the verge of the Golden Core stage for a long time, frustrated by her inability to break through. While Foundation Establishment cultivators indeed had a much higher chance of conceiving than Golden Core cultivators, neither she nor Du Zhi had expected this, and they were overjoyed.
A few months ago, Qi Xuan'er had successfully given birth to a baby girl, and the entire Yunqing Pavilion doted on her. Qi Miaohan had rushed over from Pinyin Pavilion to accompany her sister; upon seeing her niece, she was so smitten she couldn't bear to leave, deciding on the spot to stay at Yunqing Pavilion for the next year.
Zhai Bairong had used this as an excuse to visit Yunqing Pavilion early to offer his congratulations. He was now at the middle stage of the Nascent Soul realm, just like Nie Shiyun, and the Moon-Reflecting Sect found it increasingly difficult to restrain him. Over the years, aside from periods of secluded cultivation, Zhai Bairong likely spent more time at Yunqing Pavilion than at his own sect. Everyone had stopped bothering to scrutinize his increasingly perfunctory excuses—did Nie Shiyun’s junior sister having a baby have even half a spirit stone's worth of a connection to Zhai Bairong visiting Yunqing Pavilion six months in advance?
Zhai Bairong hadn't reported this trip to the mortal realm to his sect either. He was simply visiting as Nie Shiyun’s Dao companion, having nothing to do with the Moon-Reflecting Sect's affairs.
After resting for a while, Nie Shiyun remembered that Xuan Yang had said earlier he was going to look around. Since they had been occupied for nearly an hour, it was time to find him.
As the two left the courtyard, servants immediately approached to ask if they needed anything or if they wished to dine. They had heard that cultivators did not need to eat, but fearing they might neglect their guests, the kitchen had meticulously prepared meals based on the number of visitors. Nie Shiyun told them to leave the food for now and that they would speak further upon their return.
Though they wore the simplest clothes they owned, Nie Shiyun and Zhai Bairong still drew constant stares as they walked down the street side by side. If one only saw Nie Shiyun, they might guess he was a young master from a wealthy family, but upon seeing Zhai Bairong’s appearance, many immediately linked the pair to the next day’s aptitude evaluation.
"I should have taken an Appearance-Altering Pill," Zhai Bairong whispered.
Nie Shiyun also silently cursed his lack of foresight. Having grown accustomed to the cultivation world, where beautiful people were everywhere, he had become desensitized. Now that he was in the mortal realm, he realized that the average level of attractiveness here was about the same as the world he had lived in before.
"Let them talk. We're leaving the day after tomorrow anyway," Nie Shiyun said helplessly.
Qulan City was a fairly prosperous metropolis. Aside from the lack of anything related to spiritual energy, the standard of living was not much different from towns in the cultivation world. Nie Shiyun’s professional habits died hard; he ducked into a jewelry shop to examine the craftsmanship and later wandered into a carpentry shop, finding the sightseeing quite satisfying. Zhai Bairong, having grown up in the mortal realm decades ago, found nothing surprising and quietly accompanied Nie Shiyun, chatting with him from time to time.
The head of the prestigious family who had received them today was likely sixty years old. In the mortal realm, sixty or seventy was considered a long life. Zhai Bairong estimated that if his legitimate elder brother from his original family were still alive, he would look much like that man, while his biological parents had likely passed away by now.
His childhood memories were already very blurred, leaving only a faint, lingering impression of family in his heart. Now that he had been with Nie Shiyun for so long and was treated by Nie Li as his own child, the few remaining attachments Zhai Bairong had were long gone.
"I knew he'd end up here."
Zhai Bairong turned to follow Nie Shiyun’s gaze, seeing the largest tavern in the city.
"Did he send you a message?"
"No. I sensed him through the contract." Nie Shiyun led Zhai Bairong into the tavern. The two exuded an aura entirely different from the common crowd, and people instinctively moved aside to make way for them.
"Welcome, young masters. Would you like a private room or..."
"We're here to find someone," Nie Shiyun said.
The nearby attendant asked eagerly, "May I ask who you are looking for?" Qulan City had seen many distinguished guests lately, with noble families booking private rooms every day. Even with his sharp eyes, the attendant didn't dare make a reckless guess regarding these two unfamiliar nobles.
Nie Shiyun paused, then gestured. "A handsome youth who eats... a lot."
He spoke bluntly, but it was the honest truth. The attendant blinked at the first half of the description, but upon hearing "eats a lot," he immediately understood. Breaking into a sweat, he nodded. "Please follow me upstairs!"
He didn't just eat a lot. He ate far too much!
The waiter responsible for taking the order had initially thought the youth was ordering for a group and had intentionally slowed the pace of the service. To his surprise, the first few appetizers were devoured in the blink of an eye, throwing both him and the kitchen into a frantic scramble.
How could such a slender body hold so much food?
It was a mystery no one could solve.
Nie Shiyun and Zhai Bairong followed the attendant to the private room. As the door opened, they saw the waiter tremulously clearing several empty plates, preparing to head to the kitchen for the next course.
"Are you inviting us to eat empty plates?" Nie Shiyun asked.
Seeing the two arrive and noticing only a dish of peanuts and two cups of tea left on the table, Xuan Yang cried out awkwardly, "There's more! It just hasn't come out yet!"
The flavors of mortal food were actually quite good, and it was incredibly cheap. This entire table of food cost only a few dozen low-grade spirit stones—hardly enough to even notice the expense.
Hearing this, the waiter thought they were complaining about the slow service. Trembling, he hurried to close the door and rushed to the kitchen to urge them on.
***
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
曲兰城 | Qulan City | A major city in the mortal realm.
品音阁 | Pinyin Pavilion | A sect that primarily recruits female disciples; "Pinyin" here refers to "Appreciating Music."
寒丝 | Cold Silk | A special material used for clothing that provides cooling properties.
阵旗 | Array Flags | Portable tools used by cultivators to set up formations or arrays.
庶子 | Son of a concubine | Zhai Bairong's status in his original mortal family.
