Chapter 33: The Most Intense Look of a Lifetime

Ling Xian witnessed how Chen Ming advanced three stages in a row and now regarded him as a celestial. Someone like him, who was dubbed first in the Southern Border, cultivated for three years yet was still stuck at the beginning while an Archfiend progressed thrice with a snap of his finger.

Ling Xian returned to his courtyard, cooking up a plan to force Chen Ming into making him his disciple.

An aged voice suddenly reached his ears, “You want to take that human-shaped thing as your Master?”

Ling Xian looked next to him to discover a black-clothed old man with half-white and half-black hair. But this old man’s body was see-through as if he was a soul.

Ling Xian saw the man’s appearance and a portrait from his clan flashed in his mind, “You are Ling clan’s founder!”

The old man smiled and nodded, “Correct, I am your ancestor. But my immortal vessel was destroyed and I can only survive inside the ring you are holding by absorbing your spiritual power.”

“It was you who took my spiritual power when I was breaking through to Dao Initiation realm.”

“Correct.”

Ling Xian realized it was his ancestor who harmed him into reaching this state and wailed his suffering, “Ancestor, you ruined me.”

“What do you know? Your previous cultivation method, in this entire land, might be considered good, but in the land of immortals, it doesn’t amount to anything. The right path is the Dao Canon!”

“When I became immortal and ascended, I saw someone with aloof cultivation fighting the immortals. That man cultivated the Dao Canon.”

Ling Xian felt his spirits rise, “Since ancestor wants me to train in Dao Canon, could ancestor guide me?”

The old man showed a confident smile, “Of course, not!”

A black crow landed on the windowsill while the two were absorbed in their discussions.

“Then ancestor still wants me to cultivate the Dao Canon?”

“Heaven’s Will is impartial, if it wanted revenge, then you will pay. With my understanding, I cannot fully grasp the Dao Canon, but it isn’t the same for your perception. All you need is time.”

“Then how long will it take to comprehend the Dao Canon with my perception?”

“Even someone like you, it will still take two-three hundred years.”

Ling Xian felt bitter, “That’s the same as saying I’ll never succeed in cultivating it, that I’ll die of old age…”

The old man waved his hand, “Then as a second option, don’t you already have a better Master?”

Ling Xian recalled Chen Ming’s cultivation on the Dao Canon, “Ancestor, are you talking about that Archfiend?”

The old man smiled, “He isn’t an Archfiend, but a human. No, he should be an immortal, a reincarnated immortal.”

It amazed Ling Xian, “Reincarnated immortal? What realm is that?”

“Immortal are beings that seize control of the world, existing only in legends. In front of a reincarnated immortal an immortal is but an insignificant ant, and only a peak Immortal King could be called a reincarnated immortal. At the end of this realm, everyone else were ants, while the world a mere mayfly, as years passed in the blink of an eye. But they still wanted to become stronger. For that, they needed to rethread the path of cultivation, to become enlightened of the world’s Grand Dao. If I am right, the one you just witnessed should be a reincarnated immortal. In all my immortal life, I have never got the chance to see an immortal or catch hits of them, yet here I am, after my death, meeting with a reincarnated immortal! “

Ling Xian’s mouth was agape. He also found it impossible to believe that that Archfiend was actually an imposing and matchless reincarnated immortal!

“Then how can catch his eye? The disparity between us is beyond measure! And my Dao Palace is shattered, how can I cultivate again?”

The old man patted Ling Xian’s head but failed miserably since he was translucent, so he smiled awkwardly, “Silly child, how are you so foolish. Such a gigantic and outstanding existence doesn’t care about something like talent. The way they choose disciples is based on their hearts, and only their hearts. A reincarnated immortal is someone who walks the path of the world’s Grand Dao, with fluctuating emotions, and if he goes on a journey to see the world, you might have a chance.”

Ling Xian’s eyes hardened, “No matter the anguish, I will take him as my Master and walk the path of cultivation once more!”

Chen Ming spread his wings and returned to his lair, baffled as he was visualizing reincarnated immortals and immortals’ power, What a waste of talent, they would be better of writing novels!

But this ‘grandpa in a ring’ setting isn’t bad either!

The next morning, the weather was gloomy. Chen Ming watched the dense lead clouds, It’s going to snow. I wonder if that little lass Zhuo Qingyao is freezing, if she eats well, how is she sleeping, if she misses my abuse. Sigh, as a parent, I need to deal with these emotions.

Since there’s nothing to do today while waiting for Ling Xian come to pay his respects, I’ll find something to pass the time. Seems there is a card game going on in these recent boring days, becoming an instant hit, so much so that the entire mountain finds it more interesting that dices. All the Great Fiends play it, from big to small.Whit such a happy decision, he went to find Eldest Bear and Second Bear to play Fight the Landlord(1). He opened the door and saw Ling Xian kneeling in front of him; his eyelid twitched, “What are you doing kneeling here?”

Ling Xian’s recalled the ancestor’s warning, it was taboo to expose a reincarnated immortal’s status. He said, “Ling Xian, wants to pay respects to Master! Please make me your disciple, Archfiend!”

As the saying went, ‘what is never obtained causes anguish, and what is easily obtained isn’t cherished’. Chen Ming didn’t agree straight away, wanting to fully look the part of a ‘reincarnated immortal’.

He ran his eyes over Ling Xian, then, “Is kneeling helping? It won’t guarantee it will make you my disciple, but since you like to kneel, kneel.”

Chen Ming called for the two bears, then made quite the commotion in the main hall as the three of them played Fight the Landlord. Chen Ming felt restless these days, not playing this game for such a long time, reminded him of the time from before all this, while having fun with the bears.

From time to time, he peaked on Ling Xian to see if he’s still kneeling. Six hours later, the sky began to darken, the cold wind began to blow, chilling to the bone, and snowflakes drifted down. Eldest Bear and Second Bear glanced at Ling Xian, “Archfiend Sir, is frozen meat good?”

Chen Ming hesitated, “Why do you, simple fools, ask me this?”

Eldest Bear pointed at Ling Xian, and when he looked over his eyes met Ling Xian’s. After making sure his eyes conveyed a reincarnator’s deep and intense look, he said, “He likes kneeling, so let him kneel.”

This time’s Fight the Landlord lasted three days. Chen Ming won some and lost some, but he didn’t lose too much. Playing with so little stakes held didn’t matter to him.

The world was covered in a silver lustrous blanked, then a sudden hill popped out of the snow where the kneeling Ling Xian froze, becoming a snowman. He was just at the 1st stage of Dao Sense realm, not much different from a normal person, and also a youngster. He already lost feeling to his body, I’m dying!

But the way he looked at Chen Ming still held determination, as fire danced in his eyes.

And now, this fire was about to be extinguished, because he could sense as his consciousness was slipping, that he was about to die.

At this moment, black feathers appeared in his eyes, shaping into a black-feathered robe, as indistinct sounds reached his ears, “From now on, you will be my second disciple!”

(1)    Fight the Landlord is a card game in the genre of shedding and gambling. It is one of the most popular card games played in China.