Chapter 3494: Martial Aunt (11)

Ning Shu had not expected the egg to actually be a spirit beast egg. Inside, a creature was slowly taking shape.

She infused a bit of spiritual energy into the shell, and the creature inside stirred. She handed the egg back to Ye Heyu. “Do not eat this. It is a spirit beast. If you can, you should try to hatch it.”

Ye Heyu spoke up immediately. “Since it is a spirit beast, please accept it, Immortal. I am but a commoner, a mere mortal. I am not worthy of making a spirit beast submit to me.”

This little brat’s mind was far too active. He was a clever one. Ning Shu propped her chin in one hand and idly tapped the spirit egg against the table with the other.

Ye Heyu’s heart hammered as he watched her. He was terrified that she might use too much force, crack the shell, and kill the creature inside.

“Where did you find this egg?” Ning Shu asked.

“I found it in the mountains. We had no food at home, so I went there to find something to eat,” Ye Heyu answered honestly.

Ning Shu nodded. “Keep it safe. Your luck is quite good. This should be a Luan bird.”

Ye Heyu took the egg back, looking conflicted. “‘An ordinary man is guiltless, but treasuring a jade ring will become’ his crime. Even though this is a wonderful thing, I have no power to protect it. I offer it to the Immortal to thank you for saving my sister’s life.”

“Are you truly willing to give it to me?” Ning Shu wondered where this Luan bird egg had come from. While there were wild animals in these mountains, there were no spirit beasts. Perhaps there were some deeper in the range.

For a wild animal to become a spirit beast was the same as a human becoming a cultivator. It required both a fated opportunity and the right innate constitution. It was nearly impossible for ordinary wild animals.

“My sister and I are alone in the world. If another immortal decided they wanted this, we would have no way to stop them.”

If someone simply asked for it, that would be one thing. But if they resorted to violence, he and his sister might lose their lives for nothing.

Ye Heyu knelt and held the egg up with both hands. “I… I want to use this to trade for an opportunity. I beg Immortal to lead me onto the Great Dao of cultivation.”

Ning Shu nearly rolled her eyes. The Great Dao? It was not a smooth, flat road. It was a path filled with death and thorns, a struggle against Heaven itself for longevity.

A mortal lived a hundred years at most, while a cultivator could live for centuries or even millennia.

“Cultivation is not something you can do just because you want to,” Ning Shu explained. “First, you need skeletal roots. It is a gift from the heavens. Without them, you can only remain a mortal your entire life.

“Furthermore, once you step onto the path of cultivation, you must bid farewell to the mortal world. You might live much longer than your sister, and you will have to watch your loved ones leave you one by one.”

Ye Heyu replied, “My parents are gone, and I only have my sister left. If I truly walk the path of cultivation, I will ensure her happiness. Life and death are up to fate, but at least I will not have lived this life in vain.”

Ning Shu looked at him. “You are quite open-minded.”

“Please accept me as your disciple!” Ye Heyu kowtowed to her.

This kid was certainly good at seizing opportunities.

“Have you ever considered that you might not have the talent for cultivation, but your sister might?” Ning Shu asked with a smile.

“That would be even better. I could simply ride my sister’s coattails and build a great career for myself in the mortal world,” Ye Heyu said. With a celestial maiden for a sister, he would have a rock-solid backer.

Ning Shu: …

Young man, is it really okay to be this blunt?

“Please allow me to serve at your side, Master.” Ye Heyu kowtowed again. His body was trembling slightly, showing that he was actually quite scared.

Now that she thought about it, Ning Shu did not have any disciples. She was all alone on Lanzhu Peak.

“I cannot accept you as a formal disciple yet. If the test shows you truly have talent, you may stay by my side,” Ning Shu said.

“Thank you, Master!”

“Do not thank me yet. Let us see if you have the talent first. Cultivation begins with having a spirit root, then moves through the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Void Returning, and Great Perfection realms before you can ascend. One’s will must be like a rock, and the heart must be incredibly firm, unmoved by external things.”

“I see. What should I do, Master?” Ye Heyu asked.

Ning Shu took out a magic tool used to test spirit roots. “Place your hand on this.”

“I just put my hand on it?” Ye Heyu asked nervously. Since this concerned his future fate, he could no longer maintain his mature, composed facade.

“Give it a try.” Ning Shu nodded, propping her chin in her hand as she watched the beads of sweat form on the boy’s forehead.

“Master, can I wait a moment before testing?” Ye Heyu wiped his sweaty palms on his clothes.

“Sure.” Ning Shu prepared to put the tool away.

“No, Master, I will test right now!” Ye Heyu was afraid she would change her mind.

Ning Shu watched him silently as he swallowed hard.

She watched as a crimson flame flickered within the device, followed by a faint trace of green.

“You can open your eyes now,” Ning Shu said. Ye Heyu looked at her anxiously. She nodded. “You have a fire spirit root and a wood spirit root. In the future, you will focus primarily on the fire root.”

“Thank you, Master!” Ye Heyu knelt immediately.

Ning Shu gave a small hum of acknowledgment and took out a cultivation jade slip. Knowing that the boy did not know how to project his spiritual consciousness into the slip, she taught him step-by-step how to sit in meditation and how to draw spiritual energy into his body.

Being able to enter a whole new world made Ye Heyu incredibly excited, and he showed Ning Shu great respect.

Ning Shu gave the egg back to him. “Keep this egg with you while you cultivate. You can pulse some spiritual energy into it. Birds have an imprinting instinct. If this Luan bird stays by your side, it can serve as your mount in the future.”

Ye Heyu hurriedly cupped his hands. “Thank you, Master.”

“You seem to know quite a bit about cultivation,” Ning Shu remarked.

“My father had many books. I have read them all,” Ye Heyu explained.

Ning Shu hummed and granted him a sword. “I am out on a journey right now. Once the matter of Jianzhan Peak is resolved, I will take you both back to my sect.”

Ye Heyu pulled out a book and handed it to Ning Shu. “These are materials my father collected. They are about Jianzhan Peak.”

Ning Shu gave him a look. He really was a slippery little brat. Why hadn’t he brought this out earlier? Still, having a brain was better than not having one. Clever people always fared better than fools.

She flipped through the book. It contained information about the peak, such as how the stone walls were invulnerable to blades and spears. It also noted that all living creatures instinctively avoided the area and that ghosts were known to haunt it.

Ning Shu closed the book. “Why was your father investigating this?”

She suddenly felt that the father of this crafty kid might not have been an ordinary man.

“My father was just a normal scholar. My mother passed away early, and he was the village teacher. He simply liked researching mountain spirits, monsters, and immortals. He was planning to write a book,” Ye Heyu said.

Ning Shu suspected the man had probably wanted to write a story about a peerless beauty popping out of a giant rock.

However, the fact that Ye Heyu had a spirit root at all was surprising. Among ordinary people, it was rare for even one in a hundred thousand to have one. Furthermore, his fire spirit root was quite powerful.

Even though he had dual spirit roots—fire mixed with wood—the wood root was clearly overshadowed by the fire root.

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