Chapter Thirteen: First Hearing the Immortal's Message

  "News from the Jade Cauldron Sect, could it be that the immortal elder of the Jade Cauldron Sect is going to recruit new disciples again?" Luo Xiu Ying's heart couldn't help but beat rapidly, although she and her husband were just mountain hunters, her father had relied on his excellent martial arts skills to travel the world, seeing a lot of big scenes, and even the legendary mysterious immortal had been seen with their own eyes. As the largest cultivation sect in the Tai Yue Mountains, Luo Xiu Ying naturally knew about the Jade Cauldron Sect.

  Wang Lao Fu Zi nodded and said slowly, "Xiu Ying's guess is correct. Three years later, on July 13th, it will be the day when Yu Ding Men opens its mountain gate to select disciples once every sixty years. Unlike the internal recommendation that happens every ten years, this time anyone with a spiritual connection and wisdom can try their luck at Yu Ding Men. At that time, General Tie Yi will select thirty children under the age of fifteen and send them to Yu Ding Mountain to seek a spiritual connection. Of course, what's most important is that if there are indeed exceptionally talented individuals among these children, Yu Ding Men might just agree to General Tie Yi's request and send someone to inquire about the safety of Long Yang City when the Di tribe attacks. Even immortals wouldn't want to see the families of their disciples perish at the hands of the Di people, right? If Yu Ding Men intervenes, Long Yang City might actually have a chance to survive this disaster."

  Upon hearing this, Luo Xiuying's heart skipped a beat. If her own children truly had a predestined fate and could gain the favor of Qing Yuantong, the immortal from Yuding Gate, and be accepted as disciples, it would be a wonderful thing. Even if her father could come back to life, he would be overjoyed and applaud with both hands. But thinking about how Longyang City, as the capital of Nanyang Commandery, governed nearly a million people, yet only had thirty spots available, she felt a chill in her heart again.

  "Grandfather Wang, can the immortals of Yuding Gate fly?" Having heard that they could cultivate immortality, the three siblings had been itching with impatience, and Big Cow couldn't help but ask.

  Mentioning the Jade Ding Gate, Wang Lao's mood suddenly improved, stroking his long beard and laughing loudly, saying: "Foolish child, of course immortals can fly, but becoming an immortal isn't easy. According to ancient records, not only do you need a spiritual foundation and talent, but also endure all sorts of hardships, suffer countless bitter experiences, before you can become an immortal. Are you willing to give it a try?"

  The big guy's blood was boiling at this moment, his small face flushed red, he patted his chest hard and said: "What am I not dare to do? What hardship am I afraid of?"

  Xiao Juan asked timidly, "Grandfather Wang, what if the fairy accidentally falls from the sky? It's so high, will she die from the fall? Will her wings break?"

  "I didn't know that, and I've never had any dealings with immortals either. But as an immortal, even if you don't die from the fall, it's probably still embarrassing to talk about it with others. What's wrong, does Little Juan also want to become an immortal?"

  Xiao Juan's face turned red as she said, "I don't know if they want a female immortal or not. If they do, I'll go." As if going to Yuding Mountain would automatically make her an immortal.

  With a loud slap on the tea table in front of him, he said: "Good, even if I die from bitterness and exhaustion, I still want to become an immortal. If I become an immortal, I will turn all the wolves in Funiu Mountain into cripples, so they can no longer come down the mountain to eat people."

  Lu Xiangying was also excited, but she said: "You three little guys are just daydreaming here. Don't you think that in Longyang City, there are thousands and millions of children like you, why should they let you become immortals?"

  Upon hearing this, Da Niu and Xiao Juan immediately became like eggplants that had been struck by frost, wilting down. Shui Sheng, however, refused to give up and said: "Why can't we go?" He ran to Wang Lao's side, grabbed his sleeve, and gently shook it, saying: "Grandpa Wang, Grandpa Wang, I know you must have a way, right?"

  Wang Lao Fu Zi reached out and touched Sheng's forehead, smiled slightly, and said: "Children, I came here today to let you touch the immortal fate. Who knows if one of you has a wise root and becomes an immortal? Don't forget to burn incense in front of my grave at that time."

  "Really?" the three children asked in unison, their faces filled with uncontrollable excitement. Even Luo Xiuying's heart suddenly felt a surge of heat, her eyes fixed intently on Wang Lao Fuzi.

  Wang Lao Fu Zi nodded to Luo Xiu Ying and said, "Relying on the old friendship between me and General Tie Yi, it's not difficult for the three siblings to get an opportunity. The difficulty lies in that if they really want to go, they must learn to read and write, exercise their bodies, and surpass most children within these three years, so that they can smoothly enter the top thirty in the preliminary selection of Longyang City two years later and qualify to enter the Jade Cauldron Gate."

  As soon as this was said, the emotions of the three little children were suddenly lifted up. Xiaojuan stretched out her hand and hugged Lu Xiuying's neck, saying: "Mother, mother, I also want to become an immortal, I also want to become an immortal!"

  Lu Xiuying was overjoyed and stood up to bow to Wang Lao, saying: "Thank you, Uncle Wang. If Jin Peng finds out about this later, he will definitely not object." Then she turned to the three children and instructed them: "Don't you dare thank Grandpa Wang quickly?"

  The three children thanked Wang Laofuzi one after another with great joy.

  Wang Lao Fu Zi waved his hand, signaling the few people to sit down, and said to Luo Xiu Ying: "Xiu Ying niece is too polite. If Wang Long hadn't been saved by Shui Sheng yesterday, that kid would have already become wolf food. Can't the favor of saving a life be greater than this small matter? I was still hesitant two days ago, wondering whether or not to let Wang Long go seek out his fate with the Xian Yuan. But today, seeing Shui Sheng and Da Niu, I've made up my mind. If these four can truly join the Yu Ding Gate, then our two families will have nothing to worry about in this chaotic world."

  Lu Xiuying understood that Wang Lao's actions were motivated by three reasons: firstly, to repay the favor of Wang Long being saved by Shui Sheng yesterday; secondly, to have his wife and himself teach Wang Long martial arts; thirdly, to have Wang Long accompany Da Niu and Shui Sheng when they go out. As for Xiao Juan, it was merely a convenient coincidence that she was also included, but whether or not she could enter the top thirty in the selection within Longyang City was still uncertain.

  Of course, for such a purpose, Wang Lao did not hide or conceal anything. Moreover, this matter is generally more beneficial to his own family, so he naturally would not have any dissatisfaction in his heart.

  The two of them carefully discussed it again. In the end, they decided that the four children would spend one month studying literature in Wangzhuang and one month practicing martial arts in Hanshui Village, rotating once a month. Mr. Wang Lao and Wang Long's father were both well-read scholars, and there was also a private school teacher in the village who taught the children about books and etiquette, which was naturally an easy task. Luo Xiuying and Zhou Jinping had been practicing martial arts and hunting since childhood, with agile movements, and supervising the four of them to practice martial arts and strengthen their bodies was equally effortless.

  After everything was arranged properly, Wang Lao Fu Zi finally felt at ease and left.

  The siblings who lived in the water heard that they couldn't go out and play from now on, and their hearts were a bit dull. But thinking that if they studied well for these two or three years, they would be able to practice immortality, they immediately threw away this little unhappiness.

  As for Wang Long, after the evil wolf incident, he also didn't have any objection to going to Luo's house to learn martial arts.

  After several days, Zhou Jinping and a few hunters returned from the mountain, heard that their children had the opportunity to practice Taoism at Yudingmen, and were overjoyed. They stopped going out for hunting and stayed at home to teach their children martial arts.

  As for the news of being able to enter Yudingmen to practice immortality, it was deliberately concealed by the Wang and Luo families and not spread outside. The children in Hanshui Village, minus the two brothers Daniu and Shuigen, did not dare to run too far when playing.

  More than two months later, it was the good season when melons and fruits were fragrant. One by one, the little children couldn't resist the temptation of wild fruits in the mountain forest, ran to the mountain forest far away from the village to pick and eat hawthorn, sea buckthorn and other wild fruits. However, they didn't expect that the evil wolf would appear again in broad daylight, and four children from nearby villages died in the wolf's mouth.

  This wolf attack incident seems to have ignited the fuse, and hunters are now chasing after these few wolves. Another pack of over 20 wolves suddenly rushed into a village more than 20 miles away from Hanspring Village in broad daylight, killing dozens of livestock and several children playing at their doorsteps, even injuring many elderly people until young villagers heard the news and drove them away from the fields and mountains.

  Close on the heels of this, wolf howls echoed from a dozen villages at once.

  The wolf pack not only openly entered the small mountain village, but also the towns of Hengshui and Wanan, which were tens of miles away, and even Tianhu Town, which was hundreds of miles away, were not spared. Hundreds of ferocious wolves rushed into the town, biting people at will, and the villagers, who were caught off guard, suffered heavy casualties. It wasn't until 2,000 Black Iron soldiers were dispatched from Longyang City that the thousands of ferocious wolves that had gathered outside the towns were finally annihilated.

  For hundreds of years, nothing so strange has happened in this place. These gray wolves are tall and strong, much more ferocious than the local gray wolves that usually hide in groups of three to five in the mountain streams and dense forests. The Taishan Mountains are high and densely forested, but they are not like the grasslands or deserts, where wolves would not normally form such a large pack. Only in the harsh winter when food is scarce would they enter villages in small groups, harming humans and livestock. Now, in the midst of autumn, the wolves have entered the village in droves, leaving everyone baffled.

  For a time, people were in an uproar, discussing it endlessly. Some said it was the sign of a tyrannical ruler and that the heavens would change. Others said a great disaster was imminent. Some claimed it was a precursor to a great plague that occurs once every thousand years. Others even said that perhaps somewhere there was a landslide or tsunami that had driven these originally foreign wolves to the Taihang Mountains.

  A pack of ferocious wolves roamed the open spaces between dozens of small towns outside Longyang City, day and night, and the howling of wolves could be heard everywhere. The 2,000-strong Black Iron Army had to be divided into ten small teams to hunt down the wolf packs. At the same time, village after village was forced to organize its own hunting parties to protect its people, and over the months, countless wolves and villagers died in the conflicts between them.

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