Chapter 1: Siblings

  Miao Yu Mountain is one of the many mountains and ridges within the Great Zhou Territory on the Xianling Continent. Atop it stands a single Immortal's Gate, named Qianyu. The mountain is majestic and is considered the best in the Great Zhou. It is shrouded in purple mist all year round, with waves of smoke surging forward, making it an excellent place for cultivation.

  Wangduan Peak is one of the four main peaks of the Mia Cuo Mountains. At this time, on the waist of Wangduan Peak, a young man about 28 years old, wearing a green long shirt, with half of his sleeves rolled up, revealing his dark bronze skin, was holding three small bowls and constantly changing their positions while squatting on the ground. In front of him were a group of young men who were dressed similarly to him and were roughly the same age, staring intently at the young man's increasingly fast hands with an expression as if they were watching a naked beauty.

  After a while, the young man stopped and said calmly, "Come on, one last game, winner takes all."

  Those young men heard this and first calmly thought for a while, then the scene became lively.

  "A piece of Ling Stone, I'll take the middle one."

  "I pressed on the left side, a piece of Ling Stone."

  ……

  "Grandma's, I'm going all out! Two pieces of spirit stones, on the right side!" A loud shout, a chubby young man pressed two stone-sized spirit stones onto the right side.

  The young man who was fiddling with the small bowl frowned and scolded in a low voice, "Chen Hu, keep your voice down, if someone finds out, no one can escape a round of punishment."

  A group of young people nodded in unison.

  Fat boy Chen Hu ignored him and continued to shout loudly: "Lu Chen, stop your damn nonsense, hurry up and start, I don't believe we can't win this time."

  The boy known as Lu Chen helplessly shook his head, pulled open the three small bowls, and the result was clear: "See for yourself, there's nothing on the left, nothing on the right, it's in the middle."

  "Lost again, damn it!" Chen Hu saw the situation and slapped himself in the mouth, bursting out a foul language.

  Lu Chen didn't bother to explain, except for giving two spirit stones to a young man who was pressed in the middle, all the other dozen or so spirit stones were taken into his pocket. After tidying up, Lu Chen patted his hand and said: "That's it for today, same place in a month, let's go."

  After the words fell, a group of young people either left with joy, holding their own low-grade spirit stones, or were disheartened and reluctant to leave, only departing after Lu Chen's figure disappeared.

  Looking at the back of Lu Chen leaving, Chen Hu couldn't help but clench his fists in silent anger. Two pieces of Ling Stone, which were essential for him as a registered disciple of Qian Yu Men's Twelve Heaven Cultivation, had been given to Lu Chen for nothing, how could Chen Hu not be resentful.

  "You stinky little brat, don't let me catch you in the act, or I'll make sure you can't get away with it." Another string of curses trailed behind Chen Hu as he reluctantly turned back and headed up the mountain.

  Walking slowly on the winding mountain path, Lu Chen hummed a little tune, his eyes occasionally glancing at the abundant harvest in his hand, and he couldn't help but feel delighted: "This month I've got nine more low-grade spirit stones, Hua'er should be able to reach the fourth layer of Qi training by now."

  The "Wan Er" in Lu Chen's mouth was a girl he met in a small town at the foot of Lingshi Mountain when he was eight years old. Her real name is Zuo Qing Wan, two years younger than Lu Chen. Both were orphans without parents, and Zuo Qing Wan was even younger, so Lu Chen took pity on her and recognized her as his adopted sister. From then on, they relied on each other for survival and lived a life of drifting and homelessness. Until last June, the two were discovered by Lan Yu Zhenren of Qianyu Gate and taken up the mountain.

  Two people climbed the mountain at the same time and cultivated the Taoist way together, but the treatment they received was vastly different.

  Zuo Qinghua was born with exceptional talent, and as soon as he entered the sect, he was taken in by Lian Yu Zhenren as a disciple, skipping ranks. In just half a year, he reached the second layer of Qi refinement, his cultivation speed was incredibly fast.

  As for Lu Chen, unfortunately, he was defined as a congenital stone pulse and could not cultivate true energy.

  Congenital stone pulse, solid name thinking, is the pulse like iron as stone, fundamentally cannot pass through the pulse to cultivate true yuan.

  Lu Chen did not originally have the physique to practice Taoism, but Zuo Qingwan cried and made a scene, insisting that her master take Lu Chen as a disciple. If not, she would refuse to enter the Qianyu Gate and vowed to advance or retreat together with Lu Chen. Lan Yu Zhenren was helpless against Zuo Qingwan's tantrum and did not want to give up on such a good seedling for cultivation. He had no choice but to agree to let Lu Chen enter the mountain.

  Finally, Lu Chen was extremely fortunate to be "broken through" and defined as a nominal disciple.

  Of course, Qianyu Men doesn't keep useless people, and this time's exceptional recruitment also has a deadline.

  If Lu Chen can cultivate true energy within a year, he can naturally continue to stay. Otherwise, he can only be sent out of the mountain gate and return to the mortal world.

  "A year?" Lu Chen thought of past events and shook his head with a bitter smile, thinking to himself: "Don't mention a year, even if you give me ten more years it will still be in vain."

  This year, Lu Chen has not been lazy, he doesn't want to relive the days of drifting and begging for food, but unfortunately, no matter how hard he tries, he can't feel the flow of true energy. After a long time, Lu Chen gave up. However, he still misses his sister who depends on him for survival, which led to the scene where he set up a gambling stall earlier.

  Qianyu Gate distributes five lower-grade spirit stones to its disciples every month for cultivation, but Zuo Qinghua's cultivation speed is extremely fast, and the five spirit stones are far from enough. Lu Chen wouldn't use these low-grade spirit stones anyway, and he also knew that he would definitely be sent down from Qianyu Gate after a year, so he thought of this small trick he learned from the streets to help Zuo Qinghua earn more lower-grade spirit stones by opening a jar on the waist of Wangduan Peak every month.

  Of course, this kind of betting method is not for entertainment, and Qian Yu Men would not allow it either. Therefore, Lu Chen can only do it secretly, and each time he only bets on three games at most.

  Although so, Lu Chen's harvest was also quite rich. For this reason, Lu Chen also offended many of his peers who went up the mountain with him, and Chen Hu was one of them.

  Past events are unbearable to recall, Lu Chen thought about it more and more, feeling depressed. At this moment, a beautiful figure floated out of the woods.

  A girl came, wearing a white waist-long dress that outlined her slender figure. Her skin was as white as snow, with fine eyebrows and beautiful eyes like jade. Her lips were lightly opened, revealing a hint of fragrance. It was early summer, and the gentle breeze blew through the willows on the mountain, rustling the girl's long skirt and blowing her three thousand black hairs into the wind, making her look like an ethereal fairy who didn't eat human food. The girl looked young, only fourteen or fifteen years old, but she had all the right curves, a perfect little beauty.

  Lu Xichen glanced over, his warm feelings evident in his eyes, and the playful expression on his face was revealed. He deliberately licked his tongue and smiled: "Not seeing you for a month, my Hua'er is even more beautiful."

  The girl was none other than Zuo Qing Hua mentioned earlier.

  Lu Chen's teasing praise made Zuo Qinghua's small face turn red, and she pouted: "Bad brother, you're making fun of me again. Next time I won't talk to you."

  "Hmm? You're still shy? Heh heh, looks like my little lotus has grown up." Lu Chen said with a chuckle.

  Having been with Lu Chen since childhood, Zuo Qinghua naturally understood Lu Chen and knew that his behavior was completely a temperament cultivated in the city for a long time, without any other meaning. Zuo Qinghua had already seen it as normal.

  Jian Zuo Lü saw Huahua pouting with a small mouth and not saying a word, Lu Chen lightly coughed and said: "Cough, Huahua how did you come here?"

  Zuo Qingwan smiled and said, "It just so happens that we're preparing to conduct an advance test inside the sect this time. I'd like to take Brother along to give it a try."

  "What's the point of trying? Your brother is still the same, born with a flawed spiritual vein, unable to cultivate true energy. Don't waste your effort." Lu Chen suddenly got a headache upon hearing this.

  Knowing that she had touched on Lu Chen's sore spot, Zuo Qingwan's small face showed a hint of apology, and she gently grasped Lu Chen's arm, shaking it as she said: "Brother, try one more time, okay? Maybe when we get there, the elders and masters will be able to see something, and who knows, maybe they'll have a solution. Let's go, just one last time."

  Unable to resist this lovely little girl, Lu Chen helplessly sighed and said, "Sigh, okay."

  He nodded and Lu Chen immediately said seriously: "Alright, this is the last time."

  Lu Xichen agreed, Zuo Qinghua was overjoyed and quickly nodded.

  Lu Chen put the low-grade spirit stone he had just harvested into Xiao Lian's small hand and said, "Here, take it. This month's spirit stone, brother helped you get it. I really don't understand, little girl looks unremarkable, but her cultivation of spirit stones is as fast as eating. It's really frustrating to compare with others." Lu Chen sighed, although he had a jealous heart, but mostly he was proud.

  The entire Qianyu Gate's new disciples, Zuo Qinghua has the highest talent, this is undoubtedly a great honor for Lu Chen.

  She held nine pieces of inferior spiritual stones in her hand, and suddenly felt a surge of gratitude rising from the bottom of her heart.

  Looking at Lu Chen, Zuo Qinghan's eyes were misty, and her voice trembled: "Brother, I know you're doing this for my own good, but if the masters find out, it'll be terrible. Don't do this again next time."

  This life can't bear to see Lü Qinghua cry, seeing this, Lu Chen hurriedly and impatiently waved his hand, saying: "I know, don't cry, isn't it just a test? Hurry up and go."

  PS: New book uploaded, some plots still need careful modification, temporarily don't know what to promise, can only guarantee continuous updates. Brothers who understand Tongban know that Tongban will not easily make promises, but once promised, it will definitely be fulfilled. So, we need everyone's support and understanding. (Really need collection, recommendation and gold bricks.)