Immortal destiny was easy to understand – it was fate’s connection with the Immortal Path, or you could say it was luck.

Some cultivators had decent aptitude but poor fortune. Their immortal path was twisted and full of setbacks. One careless mistake and they’d suffer qi deviation, or they’d be killed right after starting out. There were even embarrassing cases of Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivators being bitten to death by poisonous insects during Golden Core formation.

But on the flip side, some cultivators had mediocre aptitude yet exceptional immortal destiny. They’d kick a spirit treasure walking down the street, pick up an ancient secret manual in the outhouse, or fall off a cliff and encounter a heaven-shaking divine weapon. These things had all happened before.

In fact, many of the Nascent Soul old monsters currently on Cangnan Continent had unremarkable aptitude. Without exception, they’d all obtained considerable immortal destiny, so what Ye Kong said really made a lot of sense.

This time Wanxuan True Man actually smiled as he stroked his beard, and his gaze reevaluated the youth. However, he didn’t understand what the hell “bitter spiritual roots” were supposed to be.

Seeing the True Man smiling at his son, Ye Haoran felt greatly comforted. Who would’ve thought – idiots and geniuses really could transform into each other. This kid had somehow learned these principles and actually made an immortal laugh.

“Immortal destiny I can understand, but would dear nephew explain what bitter spiritual roots are about?” Wanxuan True Man’s tone had become much warmer.

Ye Kong hastily replied, “Actually, bitter spiritual roots are what I mentioned earlier about being able to endure hardship. The Immortal Path is incomparably treacherous. One must have the determination to cast aside distracting thoughts and cultivate diligently. Even if you have the best spiritual roots and the greatest immortal destiny, if you don’t work hard and slack off playing around or doing other things, in the end you’ll accomplish nothing.”

“Haha, well said! General Ye, you have a fine son!” Wanxuan True Man clapped his hands and laughed, his gaze appreciating the twelve-year-old youth before him.

“My unworthy son is used to being boldly presumptuous. I ask that the True Man please don’t take offense.” Though Ye Haoran said this, inside he was giving a thumbs up. Kid, well done – this thing has a chance.

Ye Kong also grinned foolishly, already fantasizing about flying around on a sword himself. But who knew the next sentence from Wanxuan True Man would knock him back to reality.

“Though what you say makes sense, this old man still cannot take you as a disciple.”

Ye Kong, who’d just been soaring through the clouds, felt like he’d crashed into a valley. He stared wide-eyed. “Why not?”

“Because your personality is unsuitable for immortal cultivation! You’re straightforward and impulsive, your character is unbending rather than flexible, and you like to stand out and show off. Your words are sharp, and you’re boldly reckless! Am I right?”

Ye Kong froze for a moment, then replied, “That’s right, all correct.”

“So I cannot take you. Cultivators need calm and peace, to be without desire or ambition. To mix in the cultivation world requires hiding your abilities and being patient, going with the flow in all matters. A personality like yours is extremely unsuitable for immortal cultivation.”

Wanxuan True Man’s words struck Ye Kong dead. Desperate, Ye Kong couldn’t help but argue back. “The immortal is wrong again! Cultivators are without desire or ambition? No! Cultivators pursue the Heavenly Way and pursue longevity – that’s their desire! Every time their realm increases, every time their power grows, aren’t cultivators excited? When they obtain powerful magic treasures, aren’t they thrilled? Isn’t the immortal himself like this? So how can you say there’s no desire or ambition?”

These words actually left Wanxuan True Man speechless. Ye Haoran, afraid of angering the True Man, quickly stolen content shouted, “Presumptuous! You little bastard, how can you question an Immortal Master like this!”

But Ye Haoran’s shouting backfired – the more he yelled, the more Ye Kong couldn’t hold back. He continued loudly, “Though immortal cultivation is mystical, in my view it follows the same principle as martial arts training. Eat bitterness among bitterness to become a person above people. The immortal world is truly treacherous. Hiding abilities and being patient is because you lack sufficient power. But if a cultivator has already reached the peak of the Immortal Path, why would they still need to be patient?”

This time Wanxuan True Man found the flaw in his words and rebuked him. “You’re not wrong! If I were the world’s number one immortal, naturally I wouldn’t need to be patient. But how many truly stand at the peak of the Immortal Path? What I fear most is kids like you – lacking power yet boldly reckless! You know why I won’t take you? The biggest reason is that I’m afraid your personality that can’t accept any loss would bring calamity and extermination to my Wan family of Huangzhou!”

Wanxuan True Man pointed at Ye Kong and rebuked him further. “Your aptitude is poor. If you don’t change this impulsive and flamboyant temperament, no sect will dare accept you!”

Ye Kong’s temper had also been provoked.

He laughed coldly. “A real man should laugh when he wants to laugh and curse when he wants to curse. When he sees injustice, he should shout out! If you’re afraid of this and that, you’ll never get ahead. Always tucking your tail between your legs – how boring would life be? Necessary patience should exist, and I can do that. But if you have to endure everything – endure when meeting opponents, endure when meeting fellow disciples, be cautious around those with higher cultivation, fear those with lower cultivation might be pigs eating tigers – what’s the point? What’s the fun? Also, endure when meeting fine food, endure when meeting beautiful women – this kind of immortal cultivation is too dull. Even living a thousand years would just make you a thousand-year-old joke!” After Ye Kong finished, he couldn’t help but mischievously ask, “May I ask, Immortal Master, how old are you? You’re still a virgin, right? Does your life have any pleasure to speak of?”

“You’ve gone too far!” Ye Haoran finally couldn’t take it anymore. He hadn’t interfered much with the earlier heated debate, hoping his son could persuade the True Man. But he never imagined this kid would actually ask if the immortal was a virgin.

More importantly, Wanxuan True Man’s face turned red and his neck thick from being asked – looks like the question hit the mark. Meanwhile, Second Wife and Third Wife beside them couldn’t control themselves and let out very piercing laughs.

Ye Haoran had to act. If he really angered the Immortal Master into destroying his entire family in embarrassment and rage, there’d be nowhere to seek justice. This kid’s troublemaking personality had truly been called out by the Immortal Master.

“You’ve gone too far!” With a furious roar, Ye Haoran swung his hand in a big slap. This time he was truly angry – the slap struck Ye Kong so hard the whole person couldn’t stay standing.

Ye Kong grunted dully and was knocked onto the square table beside Wanxuan True Man’s main seat. This blow made half his face rapidly swell up, and he collapsed against the edge of the large table, unable to stand.

But just as he fell forward onto the table, his eyes suddenly brightened. An object before him fiercely captured his attention!

“True Man, this brat is wild and boldly presumptuous, truly detestable. It’s also my fault for not managing the household strictly. Please, True Man, do not take offense and forgive this.” Ye Haoran couldn’t spare time to check on Ye Kong and hastily apologized to Wanxuan True Man.

Unexpectedly, Wanxuan True Man first showed anger, then was stunned, and after Ye Haoran’s apology, he actually laughed again.

“General Ye, you’ve raised a fine son. Though his words were excessive, thinking carefully, every sentence makes sense. The first hundred and fifty years of this old man’s life had no pleasure to speak of. Thinking about it now, it really was dull. When I return, I must take a wife. Haha, it was this lad who enlightened me!” After Wanxuan True Man finished speaking, he patted Ye Kong who was collapsed beside him, stood up, and took his leave. “General Ye, I’ve accomplished my purpose in coming. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Scoundrel, won’t you thank the True Man for his magnanimity?” Ye Haoran kicked Ye Kong in the rear.

“Oh, True Man forgive me, True Man thank you. I just love talking nonsense. Beat my mouth… ow, Dad hit too hard, can’t hit again.”

“Haha.” Wanxuan True Man laughed heartily. Before leaving, he reminded him again, “Though what you said makes sense, in the future whether in the cultivation world or the mortal world, when you lack power, you must still keep a low profile. Remember this – low profile!”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Ye Kong hastily answered, but his eyes remained fixed on the tabletop. It wasn’t that he didn’t respect the True Man, but this thing attracted his gaze too much. [noodles]Once he saw it, he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

What could attract Ye Kong so much? Of course it wasn’t a beautiful woman, but that jade-white scroll on the table.

This Ye family treasure book that Wanxuan True Man had searched everywhere for information about and finally determined to be useless seemed to have sucked away Ye Kong’s soul, like a dirty old man staring at a woman’s chest – once locked on, he couldn’t look away.

The reason this worthless book could make Ye Kong forget his pain and stare so intently was that the cover was written in Chinese characters… “Five Elements Ascension Scripture.”

My God! It’s actually Chinese characters! I’m not fighting alone! A voice shouted in Ye Kong’s heart. That excitement simply couldn’t be expressed in words.

When Ye Wei had brought him from the study hall, he’d already told him some things, like about this Ye family treasure book and how Wanxuan True Man had determined it was garbage.

This thing was garbage to others, but to Ye Kong it was a supreme treasure. Who told him to also be from Earth, and Chinese at that? If an American had come, even if they recognized it as Chinese characters, they couldn’t read the contents, right?

Most importantly, looking at the book’s title, this was an immortal cultivation manual!

Ye Kong didn’t care about anyone else. While Ye Haoran was seeing Wanxuan True Man off, he quickly grabbed the treasure book from the table. Flipping through it casually, he was even more overjoyed.

This truly was an immortal cultivation technique, written by an Immortal Master who’d transmigrated from Earth several thousand years ago. The opening passage immediately gave one a sense of warm familiarity: “Hey, friend, welcome to Cangnan Continent. Pretty happy to see familiar writing, aren’t you? I’m happy too. But I probably won’t get to see you – I’ve already passed visit our sitethe heavenly tribulation, and I don’t have much time left in this realm. This Five Elements Ascension Scripture is the summary of my thousand-plus years of cultivation. Consider it a meeting gift I’m leaving for you, fellow townsman. But by the time you see this book, perhaps a thousand years or ten thousand years will have passed… who knows? Or maybe no one in this continent will ever recognize Chinese… This world is really fucked up. Remember, don’t trust anyone! If possible, I really want to go back to Earth…”

“You understand these characters!” Somehow, Ye Haoran had already returned to the flower hall. Because after hearing Ye Kong’s words, Wanxuan True Man had rarely been high-profile for once and hadn’t gone out the door – he’d stood at the entrance to the flower hall and departed on his magic tool, so Ye Haoran came back this quickly.

“I…” Ye Kong’s brain rapidly turned. Wanxuan True Man had become high-profile, but Ye Kong became low-profile. Thinking of Wanxuan True Man’s parting reminder and that Earth fellow countryman’s message just now, Ye Kong immediately smiled. “How could I recognize these characters? Really strange characters – each one like little squares.”

“If you don’t recognize them, what are you looking at?” Ye Haoran’s anger still hadn’t subsided. He snatched the treasure book from Ye Kong’s hands and rebuked him. “You rebellious son! Do you know how dangerous today was? Is an Immortal Master someone you can rebuke and mock?”

Ye Kong lowered his head and muttered, “Immortals are reasonable too, right? The True Man himself said I made sense.”

Second Wife, who’d been holding back her frustration, finally had a chance to speak. She snorted. “I said not to let him come, but you insisted. He only brought shame to the Ye family.”

“Nonsense!” Ye Haoran turned and glared at Second Wife, also hating this woman in his heart. If not for her interruption, maybe the True Man would have accepted Ye Kong. But this kid Ye Kong was also detestable – couldn’t you be a bit more polite to the Immortal Master? Maybe Wanxuan True Man would have seen your temper wasn’t so bad and taken you back to the mountain.

In any case, no matter how you looked at it, everything was ruined now.

Ye Haoran looked at his wife, then at Ye Kong. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he felt. He’d prepared for so long, and now it was a complete defeat. He saw these two as the main culprits. The anger in his heart was beyond words.

“BANG!” Ye Haoran suddenly punched the rosewood square table, smashing a huge hole in the table that was as sturdy as an iron lump.

“Ye Kong! Go to the Ye family ancestral hall and reflect before the ancestors! Don’t come out until you fix your bad temper!” Ye Haoran had decided on the punishment – this was making Ye Kong contemplate his mistakes facing the wall. But he couldn’t publicly scold his wife, so after glaring at her twice, he huffed angrily and walked out.

Ye Kong didn’t care about contemplating mistakes facing the wall. What bothered him was – the scripture! Dad, let me see that Five Elements Ascension Scripture!