Chapter 61: Chapter 46: The Many States of Lower Cultivators, the Hardship of Cultivation

An Ancestral Sect’s Dharma Lineage appearing in Beimang Ridge was an incredibly rare event!

After all, in this region, the two great powers that single-handedly overshadowed the lands and stood at the very peak of all cultivators were only “Branch Sects.”

When had anyone ever seen a titan of an “Ancestral Sect” here?

There was still the thousand-year-old estate of a “Grand Sect” separating them in the hierarchy!

The second-class carriage erupted as if a giant boulder had been dropped into a calm lake, causing a massive uproar.

Everyone craned their necks to look, a cacophony of discussions and gasps rising from all around.

“The Taifu Sect! Good heavens… That’s a titanic Dharma Lineage that has lorded over the Mingcang Marsh for ten thousand years!” a middle-aged cultivator’s voice trembled, his eyes filled with disbelief.

“There’s no mistaking it. That must be the legendary ’Exquisite Magic Tower’! It can fly thousands of feet high and teleport over thirty miles in an instant. It is the personal transport of a Foundation Establishment True Master!” a knowledgeable old man next to him stroked his beard, his tone certain.

“I wonder which True Master has personally graced us with their presence? I heard the Taifu Sect has the Ten Great True Inheritance disciples, every one of them a peerless Dao Material prodigy who has completed the Gathering of the Five Elements. Could it be…” someone guessed in a low voice.

The carriage was not short of knowledgeable and worldly Dharma Lineage Cultivators, and they chatted excitedly, each adding their own comments.

「Not long after.」

The Exquisite Magic Tower’s pure glow retracted, and it immediately transformed into a dazzling streak of light that tore through the sky and vanished.

All that remained was a rumbling thunder that echoed out, sweeping the layered clouds from the sky.

It had arrived abruptly and left even more swiftly!

After a good while, the commotion inside the carriage gradually subsided.

Jiang Yi retracted his gaze and turned to look at Yang Xun beside him.

The latter was still lost in a daze, seemingly unable to forget the sight.

’For a Lower Cultivator determined to walk the path of the Dao,’ he thought, ’a Foundation Establishment True Master is like a divine dragon circling in the clouds—something to be looked up to but never reached. To encounter one even once is a remarkable tale to tell.’

“Sorry to have made a fool of myself.”

Yang Xun came back to his senses and shook his head with a bitter smile. A rare trace of loneliness surfaced on his fierce-looking, long face with its sparse eyebrows.

“Ever since I first encountered cultivation as a youth, I, this old man, have hoped to one day reach the peak of the Twelfth Layer Floors, to establish a firm foothold in this Beimang Ridge like the Fu and Kang, the two great Dao Races of the Zhao You Sect… Alas, time waits for no man.”

Jiang Yi gave a bashful smile.

“To be honest, Grandpa, from the very first day I set foot on the path of cultivation, I’ve been dreaming that my talent would be so world-shocking that all the great Grand Sects and Ancestral Sects would fight over who gets to take me as a disciple! And it’d be best if I could snag a title like Daoist or Holy Son!”

His innocent and cheerful words dispelled the heavy atmosphere from before, making Yang Xun laugh heartily and clearing away much of the gloom in his heart.

As the two of them chatted idly, the Land Ship had already begun to slowly approach Sanhe District.

“Watch your feet! Esteemed Daoists, need some Spiritual Food or good medicine to fill your bellies? Top-quality Spirit Grain, ground into flour and made into springy noodles! Fifty talisman coins a bowl!”

“I’ve got Eight-Treasure Spirit Porridge over here! Top-shelf liquor! And sweet mountain spring dew!”

“We’re here, Longhua Mountain’s Sanhe District! Everyone getting off, hurry up…”

Jiang Yi could feel the Land Ship’s speed decreasing, the long, dragon-like body that clung to the earth veins gradually slowing down.

Yang Xun pointed to the cluster of buildings nestled among the snowy mountain ranges.

“That’s Sanhe District. Let’s get off first.”

Jiang Yi peered through the window, making out various buildings and pavilions scattered about. Their cyan, purple, ochre, and red colors stood out sharply against the snow.

Overall, its scale was quite impressive.

A moment later, the doors of the Land Ship’s carriages opened, and numerous cultivators filed out in an orderly stream.

The second-class carriage where Jiang Yi and Yang Xun were was relatively orderly; it was spacious and not too crowded.

“Brother Yi! I’m over here!”

Just as he stepped off the Land Ship, Jiang Yi heard He the Venerable shouting.

Following the voice, he saw the man waving one hand vigorously while clutching the loose waistband of his pants with the other, staggering toward them with his legs clamped together like a lame duck.

“Brother He, what happened to you?”

Jiang Yi was slightly taken aback. ’What could have happened to He the Venerable?’

“Hah, don’t even ask! When you roam the world, you’re bound to get your shoes wet!”

He the Venerable ground his teeth and huffed angrily as he explained:

“My third-class carriage was packed shoulder-to-shoulder, stuffy as all hell. I was sitting next to three men and a woman. The female cultivator was quite pretty, but who’d have thought she was a crook! I nearly fell for it!”

Jiang Yi was shocked. ’Even an old hand like He the Venerable fell for an Outer Dao scheme?’

Yang Xun’s eyes were sharp, and he sneered.

“It’s nothing more than being bewitched by a pretty face and falling into a trap. It’s always one of two things: either the female cultivator ’wins a prize’ but can’t redeem it in time, so she offers to sell the claim ticket at a low price;”

“or she’s ’going home to visit family’ but all her belongings were stolen, so now she has to sell herself to raise money and is looking for a kind soul to help… which one was it?”

He the Venerable looked embarrassed and answered sheepishly:

“The Servant has eyes like a torch. They ganged up on me and used both tricks at once. I let my guard down.”

After hearing the whole story, Jiang Yi was speechless.

It turned out the female cultivator first pretended to have won a grand prize from Sanhe District but was in urgent need of money, so she was willing to sell the claim ticket at a low price. When she saw He the Venerable wasn’t falling for it, she changed her story, claiming her family had fallen on hard times and she needed money for her trip home.

While He the Venerable was distracted, an accomplice next to him seized the opportunity to cut his waistband, trying to steal the talisman coins hidden in his sash.

“Luckily, I was extra careful and sewed the real goods into my loincloth.”

He the Venerable patted his crotch thankfully.

“It’s uncomfortable as hell, but it sure is safe.”

“You should hurry and change into a new Daoist Robe, Brother He! Half your ass is showing.”

Jiang Yi said, stifling a laugh.

He the Venerable, however, was shameless. He just chuckled and scurried off toward the latrines outside.

After this interlude, the three of them tied on new Armor Horse Talismans and hurried on their way.

In less than half an incense stick’s time, a bustling marketplace appeared before them.

The outskirts, however, were a miserable sight. Low-lying shacks stretched on and on in a messy, disorganized sprawl.

“The proper marketplace is further inside. The outskirts are mostly a place for Lower Cultivators who have no connections and can’t get into a Dharma Lineage to eke out a living.”

It wasn’t Yang Xun’s first time here, so the sight was nothing strange to him. He led the way forward.

Jiang Yi observed his surroundings, noticing cultivators sitting or lying everywhere by the roadside.

Most of them wore old, worn-out clothes, their faces ashen.

Their cultivation levels were naturally not high. Some had only just succeeded in Opening their Meridians, barely counting as Qi Cultivation First Layer.

“These are all ’unregistered’ cultivators with nowhere else to go.”

He the Venerable had been here a couple of times as well and was familiar with the situation. He said in a low voice:

“They’ve pawned their Body Mirror Tokens, so their origins are unknown. A proper Dharma Lineage wouldn’t hire such people as Mortal Servants, so they can only do odd jobs here for daily pay.”

Jiang Yi had recruited newcomers for the Qianji Sect before, so he naturally knew that the Body Mirror Token was an important credential.

Without it, you couldn’t even get through the gates of a Dharma Lineage.

After all, anyone in the world could pursue cultivation, so there was never a shortage of disposable manpower. Plenty of people were fighting for the chance.

“Why would they pawn it?”

Jiang Yi asked.

“Lots of reasons. Some were tricked and brought here by human traffickers. Those bastards have no conscience; they specialize in abducting people from poor, remote villages and bringing them to the Marketplace to work as illegal laborers.”

“Some can’t control their spending. They eat, drink, and party until they’re broke, then pawn the token to get by.”

“They pawn it, work a few day-labor jobs, then buy it back… only to pawn it again the next time they’re in a pinch…”

He the Venerable sighed, likely because he had seen it many times before.

“Besides, there are a ton of traps in the marketplace. People who trick you into working the mines, who drag you off to test drugs, who act as loan sharks… the list is endless.”

Jiang Yi frowned slightly. ’To cultivate like this, living in such misery… it would be better to return to the mortal world and live a simple, honest life.’

“Easier said than done.”

Yang Xun, who was walking ahead, stopped and bought Jiang Yi a bowl of milk skin.

“This stuff is fragrant and tastes pretty good. I tried it the first time I came here, and the stall is still open, so I guess it’s an old-timer now.”

Jiang Yi took the porcelain bowl and had a taste. The milky flavor was indeed rich and quite delicious.

Moreover, a faint, cool energy spread through his limbs, producing a very subtle nourishing effect.

Then he heard Yang Xun continue:

“Mortals in the secular world are like weeds. If you’re not born into a Qi Cultivation Clan, you eat coarse grains, drink bitter, salty mortal water, and never get to touch a single Spiritual Object.”

“Mortals get hungry and thirsty. They grow old and are plagued by a hundred illnesses. Only through cultivation can they change their fate and turn their lives around.”

“When this path to the heavens is laid out before you, who can resist walking it? And once you start, you have to endure hardship, bear grievances, and let yourself be driven like a beast.”

“Besides, what would happen even if they went back home? With no skills to their name and no spells learned, they’d still have to be tenant farmers for the local clans, facing the loess soil with their backs to the sky.”

Jiang Yi fell silent.

After finishing the bowl of milk skin, he continued walking.

A clamor arose behind him. A middle-aged man who looked like a steward gathered his breath and bellowed:

“The Fire Cloud Stone Mine Cave! Urgently hiring! Daily pay, thirty-five talisman coins a day! One meal of Spiritual Food included!

“Requirements: Qi Cultivation Second Layer, strong constitution, must be able to withstand extreme heat and endure hardship! Only thirty spots!”

The cultivators who had been sitting or lying by the roadside instantly swarmed forward.

“Me! Pick me! I’m Qi Cultivation Second Layer!”

“Steward, sir! I’m strong! I can work for twelve hours straight without a break!”

“I’ll do it for just thirty talisman coins! Pick me!”

Jiang Yi sighed deeply, not looking back.

So, it turned out that entering a Dharma Lineage to become one of their Mortal Servants, their beasts of burden, wasn’t even the bottom of the barrel.

The various states of the Lower Cultivators in Sanhe District made him feel that the great Daoist Lineages were lofty and distant, like the sun hanging in the sky.

Everyone could see it, but no one could ever hope to touch it.

’Even if it means a thousand hardships and ten thousand struggles, I still must cultivate.’

Jiang Yi steadied his resolve and stopped thinking about it.

Just as Grandpa had said, no matter how rugged this path was, it was ultimately a road to the heavens.

In an age even more ancient than the past, a Mortal could struggle their whole life and never even touch the threshold, let alone have the luxury of uttering the word “cultivation.”

’It is precisely because the Great Dao is difficult to walk that one must be careful with every step, climbing up bit by bit.’

Jiang Yi thought to himself.

Amid their conversation, the three of them finally entered the inner part of the marketplace.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep