"This Immortal Elder, do you mean my son can enter the immortal sect?"
Wang Tiezhu, the honest carpenter, turned his head with an excited expression.
Ma Xianliang calmly nodded. "I am an outer sect deacon of my sect. Our sect has a rule that disciples who make special contributions to the sect can be admitted by exception. If I am not mistaken, the spirit mushroom in young friend's hand is about a hundred years old. If he is willing to hand over this spirit mushroom, I can make the decision to let him join the outer sect of my Hengyue Sword Sect."
"This?"
Wang Tiezhu looked at Wang Ran. The latter gritted his teeth and offered the spirit mushroom with both hands.
"This disciple is willing to hand it over, and I ask Deacon Lord to grant this."
A look of joy appeared on Ma Xianliang's face. He took the spirit mushroom from Wang Ran's hands and nodded with satisfaction.
"Good, the youth is teachable."
With that, he drew a dark black token from his chest.
"This is my identity token. Keep it safe. I give you three days to settle your family affairs, then bring the token to report at the mountain gate. At that time, naturally, there will be disciples to guide you into the sect."
Hearing this, Wang Ran solemnly accepted the jade token and then lowered his head in thanks. Deacon Ma, having obtained the spirit mushroom, had no desire to stay a moment longer and left sword-flying away alongside the sword cultivator.
"Ah, I said Tie Dan has been a clever and blessed child since he was little. Look at that, he really entered the immortal sect smoothly. This is wonderful, our Wang Family is going to produce two immortals."
The Wang Family relatives, who had originally been waiting to watch a good show, instantly changed their tune. At this moment, not a trace of their previous sharp and petty appearance remained.
After all the previous commotion, Wang Tiezhu's family no longer had the heart for a grand celebration. Following some polite parting words from the old father, they took Wang Ran and returned to the old Wang Family residence.
"Brother, you're back! Hug me."
As soon as they arrived home, a little girl with braided buns rushed toward Wang Ran.
"Little sister."
Wang Ran bent down and lifted his sister high into the air. The courtyard, which had just appeared desolate and despairing, instantly grew lively and cheerful.
This scene stirred deep emotion in Mother Wang, who kept wiping away her tears.
"Oh, what are you crying for, old woman? The child is back, why aren't you hurrying to make some food? Who knows how our boy managed to survive these past few days. Sigh."
Hearing this, Mother Wang finally composed herself and hurried into the kitchen to busy herself.
"Third Brother, I heard Tie Dan is back?"
A hearty laugh drifted from outside the courtyard. Wang Ran raised his head and saw his bearded Fourth Uncle looking at him with a smile.
"Fourth Brother, this time we really have to thank you. Otherwise, this child Tie Dan might have—might have..."
With tears in his eyes, Wang Tiezhu welcomed Wang Tianhai into the house and gestured for Wang Ran to kneel and kowtow to him.
Seeing this, Wang Tianhai waved his hands hurriedly, looking at Wang Tiezhu with a reproachful expression.
"Third Brother, what are you doing? We're all family here, could I just stand by and watch something happen to our family's child? But this incident has also served as a wake-up call for us—our family isn't united enough. It's good that Tie Dan is back. As for this immortal sect, if he doesn't enter, he doesn't enter. If worst comes to worst, you and Wang Hao can both join the Sihaicheng, and with your Fourth Uncle protecting you, nobody will bully you."
Hearing this, Wang Tiezhu fell silent. "Fourth Brother, this matter has taken a turn. The boy Tie Dan was lucky enough to find a hundred-year-old spirit mushroom and handed it over to the Hengyue Sword Sect. Because of that, he obtained the status of an outer sect disciple. I haven't had a chance to tell you about this yet."
"Oh? A hundred-year-old spirit mushroom? That's something that can become an immortal medicine! No wonder the Hengyue Sword Sect was tempted."
Wang Tianhai was slightly startled, then burst into a loud laugh.
"This is a good thing! Come on, we must have a drink today. Right, Third Brother, I actually have something to discuss with you as well."
Wang Tiezhu nodded heavily, then invited his Fourth Brother to take a seat.
After three cups of wine, Wang Tianhai looked at Wang Tiezhu and said in a deep voice: "Third Brother, since Tie Dan has joined the immortal sect, his status will naturally be different from now on. With Tie Dan's standing in the future, outsiders won't dare to look down on us anymore. But given how people's hearts are in this world, plenty of them are bound to be jealous. If we want this family to thrive in the future, we can't stay in this old house anymore. I came over today originally intending to discuss this with you. What do you think, Third Brother? Give me your thoughts."
"You speak sense, Fourth Brother. I'd love nothing more than to cut ties with this group of ungrateful wolves. It's just that here at home... sigh."
Wang Tiezhu gritted his teeth, but thinking of the meager silver coins left in the house, he couldn't help feeling disheartened, letting out a long sigh.
"Hey, it's no big deal. We'll buy a courtyard in Sihaicheng, and your whole family can just move over there to live. As for the silver, don't I still have you covered?"
Wang Tianhai waved his hand dismissively, appearing completely at ease. Wang Tiezhu, however, shook his head, wanting to refuse.
Meanwhile, Wang Ran, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly raised his head.
"Dad, I think Fourth Uncle is right. We should move to Sihaicheng; it's much closer to the Hengyue Sword Sect there. Since your son is already an immortal sect disciple, earning ordinary silver should be easier for me than for ordinary people. The money to buy a property can be borrowed from Fourth Uncle first, and we can pay it back once we earn it later. This isn't a major issue. On the contrary, moving to Sihaicheng is a truly long-term plan for both of our families. As the saying goes, when one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. With this connection of mine, as our two families branch out and grow, we're bound to produce some individuals with outstanding aptitude. When the time comes, even by brute force, we can pile up a couple of immortal cultivators for the family."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Wang Tiezhu and Wang Tianhai staring at him in utter shock.
"Dad, Fourth Uncle, what's wrong with you?"
"Haha, Tie Dan has grown up. Third Brother, did you see that? Tie Dan is the future hope of our family."
Wang Tianhai slammed the table hard, then began discussing the matter with great enthusiasm.
Wang Ran, however, seemed to sink back into silence. No one knew that he had actually immersed his consciousness into his dantian and started chatting with Lu Ming.
Wang Ran: "Master?"
Lu Ming: "I am here. What is it?"
Receiving Lu Ming's response, Wang Ran suddenly felt a weight lift from his heart.
After the dramatic ups and downs of the past few days, he still had a surreal, dreamlike feeling. Being able to see the smiles on his parents' faces, and even entering an immortal sect to make his parents proud—this should have been what he looked forward to most. Yet when the moment truly arrived, he found himself filled with anxiety and misgivings.
The reason was simple: the experiences of the past few days had been so bizarre that he had come to view Lu Ming as his ultimate backing. He was afraid that once he left that cliff, he would never again be able to contact his mysterious master, the "Xuantian Moral True Immortal."
"Nothing is wrong, disciple simply wishes to thank Master for fulfilling my parents' expectations. Now that this disciple has obtained the opportunity to join the immortal sect, I will surely practice diligently in the future and not let down Master's kind intentions."
Lu Ming hesitated slightly before finally speaking.
"Hmm. From the moment you fell into the abyss, this master already sensed it. Just cultivate properly and feel no pressure. Both success and failure are part of cultivation. Do you know what is truly most important to a cultivator?"
Wang Ran: "This disciple does not know."
Lu Ming: "Freedom—the unconstrained state of the heart. You are not cultivating for me, nor are you cultivating for your parents. Therefore, you need not care about the expectations I or anyone else holds for you. You should cultivate for the sake of freedom. Of course, this is a very high state of mind; you don't need to understand it right now, just remember it."
Hearing this, Wang Ran felt a slight warmth in his heart and thought, "It seems Master truly treats me well, just like a parent. Otherwise, principles like this wouldn't be spoken aloud unless to one's nearest kin."
He hastily replied: "This disciple understands. What should this disciple do next? Does Master have any instructions?"
Lu Ming: "Establish your footing first, then take things slowly. You currently have two paths you can take."
Wang Ran: "Two paths?"
Lu Ming: "That's right. The first path: prioritize wealth, supplemented by the Six Arts, accumulating resources to pave the way for the family. This path focuses your primary energy on cultivation, alchemy, artifact forging, array formations, spiritual planting, spiritual beasts, and talisman-making, rapidly earning resources and accumulating wealth through the Six Arts. This path requires you to have sufficient comprehension ability and longevity. The second path: prioritize cultivation, and master one of the Six Arts. Earn the resources needed for your own cultivation, and then nurture the family. This path requires you to dedicate most of your time to cultivation, while also mastering one of the Six Arts."
Wang Ran: "This disciple chooses the second path. After all, my talent is limited, and I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to handle so many things well."
Lu Ming: "Indeed. You have good self-awareness."
Wang Ran: "This..."