Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  The room quickly fell silent, with the father and son facing each other without a word. Shen Tai looked somewhat better, but Shen Shi, still just a boy of twelve, although more mature and calm than his peers, couldn't help but feel some agitation at what might be their final farewell.

  Looking at his son's slightly trembling lips and eyes full of worry with a hint of tears, Shen Tai felt that there were thousands of words in his heart, but when he tried to speak, he didn't know what to say. His mouth opened and closed again, and finally, he let out a soft sigh, pulled his only flesh and blood close, and hugged him tightly.

  As soon as he thought of today's farewell, perhaps it would be a lifelong separation. The memories of relying on his father from childhood to adulthood suddenly emerged in his mind. Shen Shi clenched his teeth and held back tears, but his whole body started trembling slightly due to the turmoil in his heart. Shen Tai felt his son's agitation in his arms, silently patted his back gently, then stroked his head with his hand, saying softly:

  "Little boy, you're a boy, and boys can never cry."

  Shen Shi clenched his teeth and stared at his father, his eyes unblinking, his face somewhat pale.

  Shen Tai was silent for a moment, as if he had also calmed down his emotions. His face turned serious and he looked at his son in a low voice: "Shi Tou, I have never hidden anything from you since the beginning of this matter. Today's situation is something you should be aware of. Since things have come to this point, there is no turning back. As we are about to part ways, it's hard to say whether we will meet again in the future... There are some words I want to tell you, and you must remember them firmly in your heart."

  Shen Shi slightly lowered his head and stood beside his father, softly saying: "Yes."

  Shen Tai took a deep breath and said, "If things don't work out, then we'll just forget about it. But if this succeeds and the Divine Sect keeps its promise, then your father will be arranged to change his name and surname, and go to some remote small state to do tasks for the Divine Sect at the risk of his life. And as our most important reward for risking our lives, you will be arranged to get a spot in one of the four major immortal sects under Heaven, the Ling Xiao Sect."

  Shen Shi quietly clenched his fists and nodded slightly.

  Shen Tai Dao said, "Ling Xiao Sect's prestige is renowned, its name shaking the heavens and moving the earth. It is one of the most illustrious 'Four Orthodox' sects, so I don't need to elaborate on it for you. As your father, my innate talent is mediocre, and I have no experience in cultivation that can guide you. Now, all I can say to you is a bit of wisdom about being human that I've come to understand through living half a lifetime."

  Shen Shi raised his head, looking at his father. Shen Tai's face was solemn and serious as he said, "Firstly, no matter what achievements you have made or what opportunities you have obtained, do not be arrogant or complacent. Just remember one thing: in this world, there are countless talented and outstanding individuals, and those who gather on the path of cultivation are the crème de la crème. There will always be someone smarter and stronger than you."

  Shen Shi's mouth corners slightly twitched, and he said in a low voice: "Yes, child has taken note."

  Shen Tai's eyes slightly lifted, looking at the door that was still open in front of him. Gu Lingyun and Tu Fu had already left this place, and their figures could not be seen in the sky well either. They must have gone to the back hall, leaving some space for this pair of father and son who were about to part ways.

  Looking at the empty doorway, Shen Tai calmly said: "You saw Gu Lingyun just now, what do you think of her?"

  Shen Shi gritted his teeth and said with hatred: "She's a ruthless and venomous shrew."

  Shen Tai smiled and suddenly said, "You underestimate her."

  Shen Shi furrowed his brow, looking at his father with some confusion. Shen Tai remained silent for a moment before speaking: "Five years ago, in this Xilu City, the branch of Tiānxiāo Huì was already on the verge of collapse under my pressure, its business plummeting. But after she arrived here, she quietly turned things around, although still unable to surpass our Tianyi Building, she managed to stabilize the situation. Now, the situation is rapidly deteriorating for us father and son, but she has already gained a lot, she must be the biggest winner."

  "What did you say?"

  Shen Tai sneered and said, "Firstly, Tianyi Building is my own creation, and the people under me are not ordinary materials. I know them well in my heart. After I leave, Tianyi Building will inevitably fall into the hands of the Immortal Society. Secondly, when I discussed this matter with her that day, in order to avoid being pursued by the Xuan Yin Gate, I was forced to agree to do it after the event, and then I would have to work for the Immortal Society. This is why she brought me back as a great general to help them defeat their enemies in Xi Lu City; Thirdly, this time we are secretly calculating Li Lao Guai, who is a Yuan Dan realm grandmaster and a great true man, with Taoist magic that reaches the sky. Whoever dares to be an enemy of such a person and can also make the Immortal Society's branch office set up for him must not be an ordinary person, but a great and extraordinary figure. Once the matter is successful, Gu Lingyun will have a good relationship with such a great character, which will greatly benefit her future prospects."

  Shen Shi pursed his lips, clearly still not thinking that this seemingly simple matter would have so many aftertastes. At the same time, he only heard Shen Tai continue to say: "But most importantly, secretly plotting against a Yuan Dan realm great true person is such a dangerous thing, yet from start to finish, Gu Lingyun has almost no risk at all. If things go well, everything will be fine, if things fail, there won't be much trouble either, just as she said, at most it would be handing me over to the Xuan Yin Gate for torture and soul extraction. And because you are in their hands, I also can't reveal that the Immortal Conference is involved in this matter."

  At this point, his voice involuntarily paused for a moment. Shen Shi's face changed drastically beside him, while Shen Tai took a deep breath and sighed with a bitter smile, saying, "Such calculations, I also only managed to think it through just a short while ago."

  Shen Shi's face turned even paler, but Shen Tai seemed to relax a bit more than before and said: "Stone, the words I've told you are meant to make you understand that there are too many clever people in this world. All sorts of schemes and tactics won't allow you to be arrogant and complacent. If you really can join the Ling Xiao Sect in the future, you must remember this point."

  Shen Shi nodded slowly and said, "Yes, child, remember."

  Shen Tai nodded, and after a moment of contemplation, he continued: "Apart from this, there's another point you must remember. In the world of cultivation, there are many prodigies with extraordinary talents, but you're not one of them. However, if someone were to see you now, at the age of twelve, yet able to fluently write and paint the complex symbols of yin-yang and the five elements without any mistakes, they would surely be astonished and praise your exceptional talent. Can you understand the reasoning behind this?"

  Shen Shi furrowed his brow, a thoughtful expression on his face. Shen Tai gently patted his shoulder and said, "That's just a drop of water, but with persistence, it can pierce through stone. Since you were five years old, I've been forcing you to practice calligraphy and drawing, and for seven years now, you haven't stopped. Day by day, month by month, you've made some progress. Although the art of talismans is a minor path that's not in the mainstream, as your father, my abilities are limited, and I couldn't teach you anything else, but the principles behind it, I think they're all the same."

  Shen Shi nodded and said, "Yes, I understand."

  Shen Tai looked at his son in front of him, suddenly smiled and said: "Son, this father of yours is really not capable of anything. Other people's families give their children a lot of wealth, but when it comes to me, I only have a few light words. Don't blame your father."

  Shen Shi shook his head heavily.

  Shen Tai chuckled and rubbed the corners of his eyes, then fell silent for a moment before speaking: "You'll be leaving soon, probably with that butcher. Although my son and I have some connection with him, life and death are important matters, don't trust people easily. Cultivators, especially loose cultivators, place great importance on spirit crystals. To be cautious...". Shen Tai hesitated for a moment, reached into his pocket and searched for a while before pulling out three sparkling spirit crystals, handing them to Shen Shi, saying softly: "You can't have too many spirit crystals on you, or it will attract trouble."

  Shen Shi silently put away the Ling Crystal, looked up at his father, and felt a inexplicable tremble in his heart. Listening to his father's tone, it seemed as if Shen Tai was making arrangements for after he was gone. In this situation, Shen Shi could only nod silently in response, but he had no other solution.

  After finishing speaking, Shen Tai's expression also relaxed a bit, as if he had finally put down the huge stone in his heart. Although there was still a hint of worry between his eyebrows that couldn't be shaken off, after all, father and son had been dependent on each other for many years and it was hard to let go. But thinking about even the best outcome in the future, Shen Shi would eventually have to rely only on himself, even if he was still just a twelve-year-old boy.

  However, he eventually hardened his heart and stood up. Shen Shi's face suddenly turned pale. With their parting imminent, who knew if they would ever meet again after today? Shen Tai's eyes reddened slightly as he struggled to speak, but remained silent for a moment before pulling out an object and stuffing it into Shen Shi's hand.

  It was a small, old and worn-out jade sand timer, but through the white and crystal-clear jade surface, you could still see the fine grains of sand flowing down incessantly.

  "This was a little trinket your mother gave me the first time she sent me off, I've been keeping it all along, and now I'll give it to you. No matter what happens, it's a keepsake..."

  Having said that, he took a last deep look at his son and then walked to the door without any further hesitation, shouting loudly outside:

  "Is the shopkeeper still here?"

  The footsteps faded away, two figures, one big and one small, disappeared into the house. Shen Tai and Gu Lingyun stood at the edge of the courtyard, neither of them looking back again.

  The butcher took Shen Shi and left, but they didn't go out the main gate. Instead, they went straight to a certain place in the backyard where there was a secret passageway leading to another unknown location within Xilu City where the immortals would gather. Once there, they would also have a hidden method to quietly escape from Xilu City.

  At this moment, the two people who were at the top of the spiritual material business in Xiluo City for the past five years, a man and woman who had been fighting like fire and water, stood shoulder to shoulder.

  After a moment, it was Gu Lingyun who spoke first. Her words were somewhat strange, with a hint of rare emotion and a tinge of sarcasm: "To be honest, I'm quite impressed by those vassal families of the Xuan Yin Sect. They're not very good at cultivation or doing things properly, but when it comes to ostracizing people, they're really efficient and decisive."

  A sentence that seemed to come out of nowhere, from a stout and ordinary-looking person like Shen Tai, who somehow naturally understood it, smiled and said: "No need for you to say it, I also know they've been looking at me with disapproval for a long time."

  Gu Lingyun glanced over, gave him a glance, her eyes seemed to have a deep meaning, and lightly responded with a sound: "Oh?"

  "For hundreds of years, the Li family, Wang family, Xu family and Song family, these vassal families of the Xuan Yin Gate, each had their own duties. Some collected spiritual grass for Ling Xiao Sect, some excavated spiritual mines, some concocted medicine and refined elixirs, and some specialized in mining spiritual crystals. In short, it was as if they had divided up their spheres of influence, this piece is mine, that piece is yours, everyone minds their own business, each getting their own benefits, and together sucking the blood from Xuan Yin Gate."

  Gu Lingyun's mouth twitched, seemingly wanting to smile but immediately suppressing it, her expression adding a few points of charm. She glanced at Shen Tai and said, "I didn't expect that even you, Boss Shen, would say such cutting words."

  Shen Tai snorted and said, "Can't anyone with eyes see what's going on? It's just that these aristocratic families have been around for a long time and have deep connections within the sect. Many of the high-ranking elders are from these families, so the Xuan Yin Sect doesn't bother to deal with them. Unfortunately, no one expected someone like me to appear, and I created this freakish Tian Yi Tower in Xi Lu City. All their various tasks, my single thriving business can handle for them, and do it several times better. Every year and month, I submit a larger amount of spiritual materials, not to mention submitting more spiritual crystals to the sect than before, instead of letting the sect pay these families spiritual crystals like they used to. Tell me, isn't this like taking their lives?"

  Gu Lingyun originally had a smile on her face, but as she listened, the smile gradually faded. After Shen Tai finished speaking, she fell silent for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. Then, looking at Shen Tai, she said slowly:

  "It seems that under the mysterious and gloomy gate, it's indeed a waste of your talent."