Slow Fairy Road (Fairy Spirit Realm)

  Meng Jia sat on the white jade steps of the Reception Hall, gazing at the Lingxian Pavilion below, his eyes fixed intently. At this moment, Meng Yi standing beside him handed over one of the two jugs of spiritual wine in his hand and said with a smile: "Brother, you've been staring at the Lingxian Pavilion for three days, the stone jade below is almost worn out by your gaze."

  Men Jia didn't bother to respond to his joking words, took the wine and drank a mouthful, then said: "It's already been three whole years, during which not one person has been brought to this Lingxian Tai. If things continue like this, you and I will become nominal officials with nothing to do as 'Guides'."

  "What's wrong with that?" Meng Yimeng said carelessly, "I'm happy to be idle, it's just that this place is too remote, all around are only clouds and sea, even if you want to go to the nearest floating island, you have to take a three to five day flight on an airship, there's really not much fun to be found."

  Men Wu remained silent, continuing to drink his wine and gazing downwards. Men Yi understood what was on his mind and said: "Brother, you're being too serious about this. It's not uncommon for cultivators in the lower realm to fail to ascend, and it's not as if you were derelict in your duties. The Transcendent will not hold you responsible. Besides, there have been times when no one ascended for several years, only for many talented individuals to emerge after a period of emptiness. We just need to be patient and wait."

  He glanced at the door panel, and the other party still stared down at the ground without speaking, somewhat displeased. "I said..."

  "Shh, someone's coming." The gatekeeper made a silencing gesture, dropped the wine bottle in his hand and walked quickly down the stairs.

  At this time, a bright white light column appeared on the Spirit Immortal Platform. As the light dissipated, a young man with a clear and handsome face, with cold and stern eyebrows and eyes, walked out of the light column.

  Transcendent cultivator! The eyes of the gate lit up, and he thought to himself: What Gate B said is indeed true. If the Spirit Immortal Platform has been dormant for a long time, the cultivators who are brought here must be extraordinary.

  In the past, cultivators who had ascended to the Realm of Transcendence were not unheard of, but in today's Lower Realm where resources are increasingly scarce, they can be said to be extremely rare, with a probability of only one in tens of millions. Those who succeeded were undoubtedly the crème de la crème of the Lower Realm.

  "In the lower yuan zhen dao ren," the male cultivator reported his dao number first, and then politely but not humbly asked for guidance: "May I ask the two fellow daoists, where is this place?"

  "This is the Dongji Xianling Realm, also known as the Dongji Realm. Below this small platform for inviting immortals," said Men Jia with a smile, "Congratulations, Yuan Chen fellow Daoist, you have successfully ascended through the guiding light and are now half a spirit ruler of my Dongji Realm."

  "This..." Yuanchen's eyes had just reached the upper realm, and there were still many doubts to be asked. Just as he was about to open his mouth, the light pillar in the Lingxian platform lit up again.

  "It seems there is still an ascender," said the gatekeeper with a slight smile: "Don't worry, Yuan Chen fellow Daoist, wait for this fellow to come out and I will explain it to both of you at once."

  As the light faded, a young and beautiful female cultivator emerged from the guiding light. Her cultivation was also in the Huan Shen stage. She wore a water-blue robe, with a pink bellyband half-covering her plump breasts, making her look elegant and refined. With a pair of sparkling almond-shaped eyes, she had an enchanting aura that seemed to come naturally. Unfortunately, although this woman was born with a charming appearance, she had a serious expression on her face, standing up straight with her back, which somewhat discounted her charm.

  That door B took a look at the newcomer, who was a beautiful young woman. His eyes lit up and he stepped forward to greet her before door A could react. "I am Yin Xiantai, the messenger of door B," he said. "May I ask how you should be addressed?"

  "Jing Tian Xiu Shi, Hai Tang, may I ask this Taoist friend, is this the Xian Ling Realm?" The female cultivator pursed her lips, seemingly smiling, and spoke in a soft, melodious voice that was very pleasant to hear.

  Faced with the beauty's soft words, Men Yihun almost lost his soul, and he raised a smile that he thought was elegant: "So it's Hai Tang Xian Zi, this is exactly the Dong Ji Xian Ling realm, congratulations to the fairy for flying up to become a member of my Dong Ji realm."

  The female cultivator named Haitang lowered her eyes and thought for a moment before saying, "The Eastern Extreme Immortal Realm? I'm not sure if you could elaborate further."

  "Of course!" Door B patted his chest, "Here..."

  "Wait!" Seeing him ignore himself and Yuanchen, and directly chat with the female cultivator, Mén Jiā hastily interrupted him, "Yuán Chén Dào Yǒu is also a newcomer, let's explain everything together after entering the reception hall!"

  Men Yi finally came back to himself, looking a bit embarrassed as he smiled at Yuan Chen, "I'm usually quite impatient, please don't mind me, Fellow Daoist Yuan."

  Yuanchen didn't say much more, but when his gaze fell on the Haitang fairy, a hint of disdain was added.

  Between the Lingxian Pavilion and the Jiying Hall, there is a lotus pond. To reach the Jiying Hall, one must pass through the nine-turn corridor over the pond and then climb up the thousand-step white jade staircase.

  Four people stepped onto the Nine Bends Corridor, and at this moment, a spatial distortion suddenly occurred in the center of the pond, and a faint light column appeared. Before the four could react, they heard a "splash" sound, and something heavy fell into the pond.

  When she came to herself, she saw a female cultivator with a pale face, trembling and crawling out of the pond.

  At that moment, the faces of Men A and B changed greatly, and they walked towards the person. Haitang and Yuanchen only slightly furrowed their brows and followed them. Haitang even asked in confusion: "Why can this guiding light fall anywhere?"

  Men Jia looked at the woman who had fallen into the water and climbed up, and immediately let out a loud cough. The pond water she spat out was mixed with thick blood, her clothes were tattered and wet, covered in bloodstains, and her hair was stuck to her face, covering most of her features. She looked like a drowned ghost, pitiful and miserable to the extreme. Men Jia couldn't help but ask: "Fellow Taoist, are you alright?"

  The woman coughed for half a day, until she no longer spat out pond water. She then lifted her head and waved at him: "It's all right now, may I ask if this is the Xianling Realm?"

  "Yes."

  It was just one word, but when the female cultivator heard it, she felt as if she had heard a heavenly music, and her lips curled up. Afterwards, she heavily fell to the ground and let out a long sigh, "Finally! It's about time!"

  Men Jia and Men Yi stared at each other, until finally Men Jia asked: "Fellow Taoist, what's going on here?"

  The nun climbed up, bitterly smiling: "During the ascension process, I encountered a void storm, fortunately it's over now."

  "Void Storm?!" Door A and Door B exclaimed in unison, then looked at it with eyes as if they were looking at a monster. After a while, they retracted their gaze, but the curiosity and inquiry in their eyes remained evident.

  "It's no wonder that fellow daoist is so worn out. This void storm would be fatal even to a nascent soul stage cultivator, let alone a foundation establishment stage cultivator. To have flown through that nightmarish storm and ascended here safely, I wonder what secret did you use to save your life?"

  "Heh heh, I'm just a Qi Refining stage cultivator, facing such a catastrophic disaster can only wait for death. Fortunately, the light of the guide protected me, and the storm stopped after a short while, it was just good luck." The woman dryly laughed twice, but due to her hair, no one saw the slight twitch at the corner of her eyes.

  She said that, and the two of them also remembered that the guiding light did have a certain protective effect. However, how strong this protection was, no one knew. After all, encountering a void storm during ascension was even more unlikely than becoming an immortal. It's hard to say whether this woman was lucky or not. At this point, they didn't ask any further questions. The gatekeeper, Mén Jiǎ, said at the end: "Good fortune is also a kind of strength, fellow Daoist doesn't need to be humble. Now that fellow Daoist's body is weak, it's better to first go to the Guiding Hall and make some adjustments. Afterwards, I and Gate B will inform you about some situations related to the Xian Ling Realm." He paused, "Oh right, we haven't asked how to address you yet. I am Mén Jiǎ," he said, pointing to Gate B and the two people behind him, "this is Gate B. We two are the ferrying envoys of the Eastern Extreme Xian Ling Realm. The two behind us are also new ascenders from the lower realm, just like fellow Daoist: Haí Táng Xiān Zǐ and Yuán Chén Dào Yǒu."

  The woman bowed and said: "I am Chong Rouyin. I have met the four of you."

  A group of five people walked into the reception hall, and after the female repairer made some adjustments in the back hall, they all gathered in the main hall.

  The four of them finally got a clear look at the female cultivator's appearance, and she was slender and elegant, with a gentle brow and a warm demeanor that made her seem approachable. However, due to her injuries, her face was deathly pale.

  "Firstly, congratulations to the three who have ascended to my Eastern Extreme Immortal Realm." Men Jia stood in the center of the grand hall and said with a clear voice. Today, he didn't know what wind had blown, but the three people who had ascended were all at the Nascent Soul stage, which was a great harvest. Then, his tone changed as he continued, "However, although the three are already standing on the Eastern Extreme Immortal Land, they still can't be considered true Immortal Realm cultivators in the classical sense. They must wait for me to verify their identities and obtain the token before becoming members of the Immortal Realm."

  "Excuse me, fellow Daoist," said Yuan Chen, his two sword-like eyebrows slightly furrowed. "I can understand the token, but in this mortal world of countless millions, we come from different realms, how do you plan to verify our identities?"

  Men Jia smiled and replied, "Yuan Chen Daoyou is right. In the mortal world, there are countless people, and it's impossible to verify your origins. But this verification is different from that verification. What I want to verify is whether you have offended any of our sect's cultivators, do you have a 'previous criminal record'?"

  They are just minor cultivators in the mortal realm, how could they possibly offend the powerful beings of the upper realm? Haitang and Yuanchen looked at each other with confusion, only the female cultivator's eyes seemed to flash with a sharp glint, but she quickly covered it up and waited calmly for him to continue.

  "Rest assured, I've just checked and none of you are on my Dongji's wanted list. As long as you obtain the token, you'll be considered a disciple of mine."

  As soon as the words were spoken, a servant walked up to the three men with a tray in his hand. On the tray lay three identical jade tokens, pure white in color and about half the size of a palm.

  Men Wai hinted that one of them picked up a piece, and the three of them played with the jade plate in their hands. On the back of the jade plate was engraved an Eastern character, but on the front there were no engravings at all.

  Seeing the three of them receive the jade tokens, Men Jia continued: "Originally, this was supposed to be given after you've ingested the 'Huan Yuan Dan' and converted your spiritual energy into yuan energy within your bodies. However, since all three of you are already in the Hua Shen stage, I suppose you've already successfully converted it through your own powers, so the dan medicine isn't necessary anymore. You can take these tokens and infuse them with your maximum yuan energy."

  Men Yi saw that Hai Tang and Yuan Chen had already done so, but the female cultivator called Chong Rou was pale-faced. He immediately said: "Fellow Daoist Chong Rou can go to the back hall to recover some physical strength before trying again."

  Chong Rou also nodded slightly, then walked alone to the back hall. Looking around and seeing no one, she quickly summoned Xue Zi Bao out. "Bao, although this place is already in the Xian Ling realm, I don't know how to convert Xian Qi into Yuan Qi. Is there any trick to it?"

  The leopard slanted her eyes and said impatiently, "There's no trick to this thing, just try a few more times."

  But Xiao Yao had her concerns, "This is the realm of the Immortal Spirits, if I don't grasp my measurements properly and accidentally leak out immortal energy during the trial, causing a spatial distortion, wouldn't that invite big trouble?"

  "It's just a token, why are you so timid about such a small thing!" The leopard snatched the token from her hand, "Let me do it!"

  As soon as the words were spoken, a paw slapped onto the jade symbol. The jade symbol suddenly changed from dark to bright, its color shifting from original white to red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple in sequence, and the light grew brighter and brighter until it reached an extreme intensity. Just when Xiao Yao thought the symbol was about to dazzle their eyes, the light quickly dissipated like it had lost energy, and the color shifted back from purple to indigo, blue, green, yellow, until it finally stabilized at yellow. The jade symbol no longer changed, and on its front surface, a large "dog" character appeared.

  Xiao Yao: "Are you sure what you're infusing is yuanqi?"

  "......I'm not sure, maybe there's some bias."

  Xiao Yao no longer believed in the leopard, and moved its paws away from the jade symbol. She tried it herself, but no matter what she did, the jade symbol remained as still as if it were dead, without even a hint of change.

  Helpless, she had no choice but to take out this jade token first and prepare to ask those two ferry officials.

  In the main hall, Haitang and Yuanchen had already finished. Xiao Yao glanced at the jade symbols in their hands. The color of Haitang's jade symbol was similar to her own, but with a bit more green. The symbol on it was a "wolf" character. As for Yuanchen, his jade symbol was a deeper blue than theirs, and it had a "tiger" character engraved on it.

  Men Jia looked at the jade tokens of the three, nodded and especially when looking at Yuan Chen, his eyes showed more appreciation and surprise. "From now on, this jade token will be your identity symbol, it is needed in many places in the Eastern Extreme Realm, please keep it safe."

  At this time, Haitang touched the word "wolf" on the jade symbol, and her vermilion lips opened to say: "Since it is an identity token, I wonder what the words and colors on this jade symbol represent?"

  "It seems like you know what I'm going to ask, right?" Mian Jia smiled and said, "This color and word represent the potential of the three of us."

  "What's our potential?" The three of them all looked puzzled.

  "Yes," Men Jia nodded, taking out a jade token from his bosom that was the same size as theirs, but with the character "豺" displayed on it. "I know that in the mortal realm, one's talent and potential are usually judged by the quality of their spiritual root, and it is believed that having a better spiritual root means having more opportunities to achieve great things on the path of cultivation. However, in the Xian Ling realm, wanting to break through to the Refining Spirit stage, or even further to the Merging Dao and Flying Ascension stages, just having a good spiritual root is far from enough. What is valued more in the Xian Ling realm is 'degree' or foundation! Due to the gradual depletion of spiritual energy in the mortal realm, and the intense competition for resources, almost no cultivator does not take medicinal pills to enhance their cultivation. However, medicine has three parts poison, and overindulging in medicinal pills is no different from pulling up seedlings to help them grow - the meridians do not get to expand to their maximum limit, the foundation is unstable, and 'degree' is small. These seemingly minor matters that may not be emphasized in the mortal realm are actually crucial prerequisites for determining whether you are worthy of being nurtured by the major clans, families, and sects in the Xian Ling realm, and even directly affect whether you can progress further on the path of cultivation."

  Xiao Yao had heard these words from Bao Zi before, but Hai Tang and Yuan Chen were hearing them for the first time. They couldn't help but continue to ask, "What is meant by 'degree of measurement'?"

  "Nature refers to whether the foundation is solid, how much yuanqi the dantian can withstand, and it can also be said that 'gas volume'. To put it simply, if you want to cast a powerful spell, if your foundation is solid and your gas volume is sufficient, you only need to use a small part of your yuanqi to activate it. However, for a cultivator with a weak foundation, they may have to exhaust all their yuanqi just to activate one spell or treasure. In the Xianling realm, many high-level techniques and spells require a solid foundation to learn, otherwise, if the foundation is too poor, even exhausting all of one's yuanqi may not be enough to activate a single spell or treasure. How can one stand firm in the Xianling realm where strong cultivators abound?"

  Here is the translation:

  "After finishing his explanation, Men Jia saw that the three of them were silent, seemingly deep in thought. He then explained the specific meaning of the jade symbol's characters and colors: 'This jade symbol is a tool to test your "air capacity". It uses various flying birds, beasts, insects, and ants as characters, distinguished by color. The purple and indigo colors represent the best, usually paired with divine beasts or strange beasts. Blue, green, and yellow are relatively ordinary, usually representing common fierce beasts. Finally, orange and red represent the worst aptitude, often represented by mice, insects, and ants. Now that I have seen your three hidden potentials, I also have a rough idea in my heart. However, this is only temporary; if your potential improves in the future and you infuse your vital energy again, the jade symbol will change accordingly.'"

  Upon hearing this, Xiao Yao looked at the jade token in her hand with the prominent dog character on it, her mouth twitching slightly as she thought to herself: This dead leopard! He actually gave her a dog tag!