Chapter Five: The Way Is Merciless

The High Priestess kept her word and returned gracefully after about a quarter of an hour.

“Is Sparrow Robe alright?” Feng Liqian took the initiative to show goodwill, respectfully clasping her hands in salute. “High Priestess, please take the seat of honor.”

The High Priestess did not stand on ceremony, returning the salute and settling cross-legged at the lower seat. “Thank you for your concern, Saintess. Sparrow Robe took a Spirit-Nurturing Pill and after a brief rest, she is fine.”

Feng Liqian had already made up her mind. Since her identity had been revealed, it was best to lay everything out openly and speak plainly. She poured a bowl of water for the High Priestess, pushed it in front of her, and, digging up the archaic phrases from her memory, mimicked their semi-formal speech with a pleasing tone. “High Priestess, please judge wisely. I truly am not your Saintess. As a newcomer, I am ignorant of the ways here and may have caused offense. I beg your magnanimity.”

“You are too polite, Saintess.” The High Priestess still wore her calm and slightly aloof expression, but her eyes were much clearer now. “My surname is Gong, given name Qingzhi. Since you are the disciple favored by an Immortal Lord of Azure Cloud Sect, your path is boundless. By custom, you may simply call me Qingzhi.”

Ah, selective deafness! Well played! The words sounded humble, but actually revealed some background information. Of course, Feng Liqian understood the implication. But this bit of context was hardly enough!

“Rites must not be abandoned. You are a high master; it’s only proper that I respect you.” Feng Liqian rose, clasped her hands, and bowed deeply with utmost sincerity. “To be frank, I truly am from another world and do not understand the ways of cultivation. I hope you will not hesitate to enlighten me. Three days from now, the Immortal Lady from Azure Cloud Sect will arrive. I do not wish to implicate you or your clan.” The Phoenix Jade Token, the three glowing black beings, and this High Priestess capable of exerting pressure—all that happened today left her with no choice but to admit: supernatural things truly exist. Well, let’s call this whole affair “cultivation.”

The old director, in his lifetime, had watched “The Deer and the Cauldron” with her. He greatly admired Lord Wei, and enthusiastically commented: “In front of high masters, one must act humble. Flattery never fails. But one must not always be servile. Lord Wei knew how to strike the right balance, which is why he succeeded in everything, married eight wives, and lived a splendid life. Admirable, truly admirable.”

“Cultivators” are still human, born of mothers like everyone else! No one is immune to Lord Wei’s tactics.

Seeing Gong Qingzhi’s expression, as stern as Master Miejue’s, Feng Liqian considered, but ultimately refrained from quoting Lord Wei’s lines, swallowing phrases like “as endless as the waters of the Yellow River.”

Gong Qingzhi was a little surprised, uttered a soft “oh,” and looked up at her.

Immediately, the weight of a hundred pounds pressed down again.

Feng Liqian exaggeratedly fell back into her seat, pleading repeatedly, “High Priestess, forgive me…”

Gong Qingzhi withdrew her gaze, her lips barely twitching. “Saintess, you exaggerate. You have spoken only truth; what offense is there?”

The oppressive aura vanished.

Truly, it was the Miejue style. Feng Liqian, dejected, sniffled and showed weakness. “I know—I was too quick-tongued just now and offended you.” She paused, then looked up earnestly. “But honest advice, though unpleasant, is beneficial. I hope you will consider my suggestion carefully.” This concerned her sister’s life—her bottom line, with no room for retreat!

“What a fine saying, ‘honest advice, though unpleasant, is beneficial’!” The High Priestess nodded with pleasure. “Do not worry, Saintess. I came here specifically to tell you a tale of my clan.”

In short, there was no way she could avoid getting involved in this mess. Feng Liqian clasped her hands and smiled helplessly. “I await your instruction, High Priestess.”

The High Priestess smiled gently and began her story.

It turned out that the Feng Clan had a remarkable history. Over ten thousand years ago, they were the foremost family ruling the Divine Realm.

But ten thousand years ago, the clan’s Saintess descended to the mortal realm for tribulation and unfortunately perished. Shortly after, the clan leader and several elders were gravely wounded in a Divine Realm competition and died in succession. From then on, the Feng Clan lost its inheritance, talent dwindled, and they quickly lost their status as the top clan. Eventually, they could not remain in the Divine Realm and had to relocate to the Spirit Realm.

But the Spirit Realm was never peaceful, rife with conflicts among factions. The Feng Clan was sabotaged by traitors and suffered another devastating blow. Almost all their cultivators were killed or injured. Afterwards, for ten generations, not a single descendant was born with a spiritual root, making cultivation impossible.

By the rules, if a clan in the Spirit Realm produced no cultivators for ten consecutive generations, they had no right to remain and must relocate to the mortal realm.

Now, the Feng Clan had been in the mortal realm for over two centuries.

Fortunately, during their time in the Spirit Realm, the founding ancestor of Azure Cloud Sect, Immortal Jinshi, had once received a great favor from the Feng Clan. Upon learning they were banished to the mortal realm, Immortal Jinshi instructed his disciples to repay their kindness and protect the Feng Clan.

The Feng Clan never gave up on returning to the cultivation world. Every decade, they asked Azure Cloud Sect to help examine girls under ten for spiritual roots. The one with the best aptitude became the Saintess. Azure Cloud Sect promised that when the Saintess turned fifteen, she could enter the sect to cultivate.

However, spiritual energy was scarce in the mortal realm. This ancient cultivation clan, which had survived for a million years, now faced an awkward predicament: in two centuries, only three girls with spiritual roots had appeared in the clan.

The best among them had all five elemental roots, but she served as Saintess for only a year before dying of illness, never setting foot in Azure Cloud Sect.

Sparrow Robe was the weakest, possessing a pseudo wood root, but still went to Azure Cloud Sect as Saintess. Sadly, her aptitude was so poor that it took her ten years to reach the innate stage, and another twenty just to reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Five years ago, the clan finally discovered another girl with spiritual roots, named Feng Ke’er, with both water and wood roots—not outstanding, but adequate.

The whole clan pinned their hopes on her, offered incense and prayers, established her as Saintess, and recalled Sparrow Robe from Azure Cloud Sect to care for her.

Unexpectedly, half a month ago, the Saintess vanished without a trace.

She was the chosen disciple of Master Huilan of Azure Cloud Sect. For five years, Master Huilan sent her chief disciple, Immortal Lady Mo Xue, annually to instruct her. A month ago, Master Huilan personally sent a message, ordering preparations for the Saintess’s fifteenth birthday, when Mo Xue would come to collect her.

Master Huilan was the beloved youngest daughter of the sect leader, fiery in temperament and famously strict. Now that the girl was missing, who knew how Master Huilan would react? The High Priestess and the clan leader were beside themselves with worry.

After the incident, the High Priestess claimed a female servant had run off to the mountains, mobilizing the entire clan for a thorough search.

Ten days of searching yielded nothing.

Luckily, Mo Xue’s surname was Gong, and she was the High Priestess’s half-sister, making her somewhat part of the clan. With the day of Feng Ke’er’s entrance to the sect approaching, the High Priestess had no choice but to secretly consult her sister.

Mo Xue, upon hearing the story, shrugged and admitted that if not for the sect leader’s gratitude and repeated instructions to her master, her master would never have chosen a girl with three roots—such girls were common in Azure Cloud Sect. If she was lost, so be it; her master wasn’t particularly eager anyway.

So she advised: since no one in Azure Cloud Sect had seen Feng Ke’er except her, the clan could simply select another girl of similar age as a substitute. As for Azure Cloud Sect, being sisters, she would not make things difficult. The High Priestess just had to keep her clan from leaking the truth.

The High Priestess nearly cried, “Snow Sister, don’t look down on dual roots. That’s the best we have! Where am I supposed to find another girl with spiritual roots?”

Mo Xue only laughed, “Fortunately, Feng Ke’er is still at the acquired stage. Until she reaches Foundation Establishment, Master won’t summon her. So just pick a girl of similar age for now. The future can be dealt with later.”

There was no other choice. The High Priestess assured her that the clan would not leak any information. After all, since becoming Saintess, Feng Ke’er lived in the mountains to cultivate, seen only by the High Priestess, Sparrow Robe, and the clan leader—not even her birth mother had met her again.

The High Priestess then sent a message to Sparrow Robe, instructing her to keep the news sealed and continue searching for Feng Ke’er, while secretly seeking a new Saintess. If they could quietly abduct a girl from another clan, that would be best.

Sparrow Robe was efficient. Before the High Priestess had even returned home, she received a message: Sparrow Robe had just caught a girl from another clan who could speak the common tongue of the Divine Realm.

And so, the High Priestess hurried back.

After finishing her tale, she took a sip of water and watched Feng Liqian quietly.

Immortal, Master, Lady, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment—Feng Liqian listened and her head spun. She had lived twenty-one years never believing in gods or ghosts. Today, her worldview was thoroughly overturned. And what was this “Divine Realm common tongue”? She spoke Mandarin, for goodness’ sake! This was too absurd.

But hearing that Sparrow Robe’s cultivation was indeed at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, matching the strange words that had flashed through her mind before, she started to believe it.

Sorting through the new information, she asked earnestly, “Sorry, but what kind of people are Immortals, Masters, and Ladies?”

The High Priestess seemed to have anticipated the question and continued calmly: cultivators in the mortal realm begin their training at the acquired stage. Only those who reach the innate stage are considered true cultivators.

The cultivation world divides the innate stage into ten realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Infant Transformation, Void Molding, Ascension, Tribulation, True Immortal, Golden Immortal, and High God.

Qi Refining refers to guiding spiritual energy into the body—barely an entry point to the cultivation path.

Foundation Establishment marks true entry.

Core Formation is initial completion; at this stage, regardless of age, male cultivators are called “virgin boys,” and females “virgin girls.” However, by then, most are already over a hundred years old, so people politely address them as “Immortal Scholars” or “Immortal Ladies.”

Infant Transformation is considered minor mastery; cultivators here are called “Elders.”

Void Molding is a rebirth; at this realm, cultivators are formally called “Masters.”

If one successfully passes the Ascension stage, the Spirit Realm will send down a guiding light, taking the cultivator there. Thus, Ascended cultivators are the highest in the mortal realm and are respectfully called “True Lords.”

Tribulation refers to True Lords returning from the Spirit Realm to undergo trials and accumulate merit. People call them “Immortals,” though they are effectively candidates. When their merit is complete, they become “True Immortals,” meaning they can return to the Spirit Realm for further cultivation and perhaps advance. If not, they cannot return. If time passes, they exceed their lifespan, or suffer an accident, and only death awaits.

True Immortals, as the name suggests, are genuine immortals, called “Great Immortals” regardless of gender. They move freely between the mortal and spirit realms, but cannot yet travel to the Divine Realm at will.

To enter the Divine Realm, a cultivator must reach at least the Golden Immortal stage. To distinguish them, this level is called “High Immortal.”

Within the three realms, the highest level of cultivation is High God. They comprise the ruling classes of the Divine, Spirit, and Mortal Realms, also called “Great Gods.”

With each higher stage, a cultivator’s power and lifespan increase exponentially. Thus, the higher the cultivation, the more extraordinary they become.

In the cultivation world, wealth, connections, and status matter, but above all is strength. Whoever has the highest cultivation has the greatest authority. Thus, strict hierarchy prevails, and few dare defy their superiors.

The Feng Clan once stood at the top of the three realms, mighty and influential. Several past leaders and elders reached the Golden Immortal stage. Their previous Saintess was even more formidable—she became a Golden Immortal at a young age, able to traverse the realms freely. Legend has it she created the mortal realm. She thereby became, after Great God Pangu, the most likely candidate for ascension to Great God. Sadly, she perished before she could achieve divinity.

The Saintess’s glorious deeds sounded so familiar to Feng Liqian. A name popped into her mind, but she suppressed it, only asking in disbelief, “Can even a Golden Immortal die? Isn’t immortality supposed to mean eternal life?”

The High Priestess grew solemn and sighed. “The Great Way is merciless. Cultivation is the pursuit of the Great Way—a path that defies fate. Death is common. Even a Great God’s lifespan is only ten billion years. To mortals, that is immortality. As for agelessness, from the Void Molding stage onward, cultivators can transform their bodies into spirit, making the physical shell irrelevant. So, whether old or not matters little. Even without accidents, Great Gods ultimately reach the end of their lifespan and return to dust. The path of cultivation is paved with countless bones. The world of cultivation is just that harsh.”

Feng Liqian nearly dropped her jaw—ten billion years of life! Was that real? Heaven, could it be true? What imagination! Truly bold!

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The Celestial Manual, Chapter Five, “The Great Way Is Merciless,” is now complete!