Crossing the Two Realms: From a Trader to an Immortal Emperor - Chapter 20

Chen Le’an’s face changed.

It seemed the explosion had attracted other people.

Without any hesitation, he ran away.

He ran all night, from sunset to sunrise, before he finally stopped to catch his breath.

“This can’t go on,” he thought.

Right now, he was still in the Qi Refining stage and couldn’t fly with a sword.

Even though his “Wind God Legs” technique made him fast, it was still slower than flying.

Running wasn’t enough to escape.

Once Landlord Liu found out his eldest son had also died, he would definitely come after him himself.

Especially since the Liu family had an ancestor in the Golden Core stage—someone whose speed could rival an airplane.

After thinking for a bit, Chen Le’an decided it was safer to join a sect.

With his current level—ninth level of Qi Refining—he could at least become a servant disciple.

He ran toward a small town he remembered.

The town was called Ascension Town.

This town was famous in the nearby cultivation world because many sects came here to recruit talent. Many poor children had changed their lives here and risen to become powerful cultivators.

Chen Le’an remembered that his parents once brought him here, hoping he’d get chosen.

But because his spiritual roots were too poor, no sect accepted him. He had no choice but to become a lowly tenant farmer.

Now, returning to Ascension Town, his heart was full of emotions and hope.

He picked up his pace and walked into the busy streets.

The stone roads were clean and neat. Shops lined both sides, selling all kinds of spiritual herbs, pills, magic tools, and talismans.

The air was filled with gentle spiritual energy, making people feel calm and refreshed.

As he walked through town, Chen Le’an often saw cultivators in long robes, looking calm and powerful.

His heart was filled with longing. This was the world of cultivators he had always dreamed of.

He stepped into a shop and asked about the price of a low-level mortal-grade talisman.

When he learned that just one talisman cost a low-grade spirit stone, he couldn’t help but gasp.

One spirit stone was equal to a thousand pounds of spirit rice—more than what he could earn in a year of hard labor!

And these talismans weren’t even as powerful as the grenades he had in the old world!

He smiled to himself—I’m rich!

But he didn’t dare sell anything yet.

He was still too weak. In the cultivation world, someone like him was no better than an ant. If others found out, they could easily rob or kill him.

He had already learned how cruel and unfair this world was. It was better to wait until he was stronger before selling anything.

After walking around for a while, Chen Le’an reached the place where sects were selecting new disciples.

Each sect had sent people to stay here long-term, holding daily tests to find young people with talent.

People kept coming, all full of dreams of becoming immortal.

Chen Le’an stood in the crowd, carefully watching the selection process.

In the middle of the square stood a shiny testing stone, used to check a person’s spiritual roots.

You only needed to touch it lightly, and its color would show what kind of roots you had.

Chen Le’an watched closely.

Most people had five-element mixed roots, which meant they had almost no future in cultivation. Most of them were rejected.

Some had three- or four-element roots. These weren’t great either, but they at least had some hope. They could become servant disciples, and maybe outer disciples if they worked hard.

A few had dual-element roots. These were much better, allowing faster progress. People like that were accepted as inner disciples right away.

If a dual-root had a mutation or a strong element match, an elder might even take them in as a personal student.

Old Wan had told him that Landlord Liu’s second son had wind and fire dual roots—a mutated and well-matched combination. He was taken as a personal disciple by a sect elder.

Thanks to this, the Liu family rose to another level of power.

That was also why they bullied tenant farmers like Chen Le’an even more.

As for single-element roots, Chen Le’an didn’t see any at all.

Single-element roots were very rare and had the best potential for cultivation.

It was like a tree: if it only had one branch, all nutrients went to that branch, making it grow strong. But if it had many branches, the nutrients would be spread out, and it wouldn’t grow well.

Every time someone with single roots appeared, they were trained to become the sect leader’s heir. It was extremely rare.

Chen Le’an had five-element mixed roots.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t cultivate.

But it meant he needed a huge amount of resources.

A person with one root needed to train in one thing.

He had to train in five.

The gap was too big.

But Chen Le’an didn’t care—he had plenty of resources!

He started looking closely at the different sects.

His eyes moved from one to another until he chose Qingyun Sect.

The reason was simple—he saw the sect’s examiner taking bribes several times.

Without hesitation, Chen Le’an went to sign up.

He secretly gave the examiner a dozen pills he had taken from Liu Tao and the two bodyguards.

The examiner, who had looked cold before, suddenly became warm and friendly.

“Oh! Little brother—no, junior brother—you’re being too polite! ”

“Your talent may be average, but your determination to cultivate it is strong! ”

“Do you know why we are called Qingyun Sect? It’s because even in poverty, we keep our ambition high, like the clouds! ”

Chen Le’an smiled and nodded. “You’re right, senior brother.”

The other people who were rejected and had five-element roots started complaining loudly.

The examiner’s face turned cold.

“Why are you yelling? Do you think you get a say in our sect’s choices? ”

“Do you have the same determination as this junior brother?”

“He gave everything he had just to join our sect! Can you do that?”

“If you can give me ten pills, I’ll check your determination too!”

The crowd instantly fell silent.

Chen Le’an sighed quietly.

It’s the same in every world.

The strong eat the weak.

After some more time passed, Qingyun Sect accepted ten new disciples.

Including Chen Le’an, four of them had gotten in by bribing.

The examiner summoned a flying boat.

He took Chen Le’an and the others, flying toward Qingyun Sect.

But Chen Le’an didn’t know—a storm was coming.

Landlord Liu’s face was dark, his eyes full of burning rage, as if he wanted to destroy the whole world.

The townspeople locked their doors, afraid to be caught in the anger of this Golden Core expert.

Landlord Liu searched the town thoroughly, turning everything upside down, but still couldn’t find a trace of Chen Le’an.

His anger grew even stronger, like a beast that needed to destroy something.

Some unlucky Qi Refining cultivators who had failed the selection became his targets.

After letting out his fury, Landlord Liu finally calmed down a bit.

He stood on a high platform in the center of town, eyes cold as ice, and said,

“Go to Qingyun Sect. Tell the second young master that his eldest and youngest brothers…were both killed by a man named Chen Le’an!”