Chapter 8: An Unexpected Blessing from the Heavens

It was not that the Seven Great Sects had never come to the Northern Wilderness to recruit disciples, but rather that each major sect maintained its own traditions in taking on new students. Typically, the Seven Great Sects would open their gates once every ten years in the Central Province, admitting children between the ages of five and fifteen who possessed spiritual roots. In spiritually barren places such as the Northern Wilderness, however, they would only come once every thirty years. If one missed that chance, it might as well be a common person's entire lifetime.

Thus, the recent news was that, in two years, the Seven Great Sects would send disciples to the largest city in the Northern Wilderness—Guangqiong City—to recruit new disciples. For Ji Yao, this news was like a pillow offered to the dozing. It had only been thirteen years since the last time the Seven Sects had opened their gates in the Northern Wilderness, and now, astonishingly, the event would arrive fifteen years ahead of schedule.

Ji Yao had originally planned to travel to the Central Province. She had no idea how long it would take her, with her slight frame, to reach that distant land—but it would certainly be longer than two years. Although this world boasted flying boats and teleportation arrays, she was destitute! To date, she did not possess a single spirit stone, and in the world of cultivation, one could not travel without them.

So, if she wanted to go to the Central Province, she would first have to earn enough spirit stones. With this news, Ji Yao was overjoyed.

"Young friend Ji," said Daoist Yanhe, "this opportunity to be recruited by the Seven Great Sects is an excellent chance for you. With your talent, entering one of their ranks should be no difficulty." His words radiated goodwill.

Ji Yao replied modestly, "Senior Yanhe flatters me. I have only managed to embark on the path of cultivation due to the favor of my elders."

Daoist Yanhe smiled, stroking his beard and nodding. Then he drew a storage pouch from his sleeve and handed it to Ji Yao. "Since you will soon need to travel to Guangqiong City, please accept this small token of my regard."

Ji Yao was taken aback. With no ties of blood or friendship between them, being given such a gift felt improper. "I cannot possibly accept! It is not right to receive reward without merit."

"Do not refuse so quickly," Daoist Yanhe replied gently. "This is merely to settle an old matter of my own."

Ji Yao did not take the pouch, but gazed at Daoist Yanhe in puzzlement.

"To be candid," he began, "I possess only a four-spirit pseudo-root. If not for a stroke of great fortune, I would never have achieved Foundation Establishment. In my youth, I formed a bond of goodwill with someone. Before they died, they aided me, granting me the chance to succeed. I promised to return their belongings to their descendants after their passing. Yet, I wasted my life, unable to progress further, and eventually left my sect to seek out that person's family."

"Alas, by the time I found them, the couple had already died. Their only daughter, after marrying, died in childbirth, and the premature child did not survive."

Daoist Yanhe looked deeply regretful, but Ji Yao could find no words to comfort him. Attachment, when unfulfilled, can drive one to madness. Unless one chooses to let go, it will ultimately bring harm to both self and others.

"Although that person anticipated I might never find their family and permitted me to deal with their belongings as I saw fit, I have always felt guilty and have never touched their possessions."

"No cultivator has come here for many years. Meeting you today is a kind of fated encounter. I am alone in the world, my lifespan nearly spent. I do not wish to take those belongings to the grave. Giving them to you, I shall have no further regrets."

With these words, Daoist Yanhe once again offered Ji Yao the storage pouch. She still hesitated and did not reach out.

"You have not yet reached Foundation Establishment and cannot fly on a magical implement. The journey to Guangqiong City is long; on foot, two years might not be enough."

He smiled knowingly at her. "Even the nearest city, Northpeace, is half a year's journey away. Only there can you find a flying boat to Guangqiong City. This pouch contains some of my savings, talismans, and a map I have personally redrawn."

At this, Ji Yao knew she could not refuse—if only for the map, she could not say no.

"In that case, I thank you, Senior Yanhe."

Ji Yao finally accepted the storage pouch. Inside were five hundred low-grade spirit stones, a single jade slip, nearly a hundred talismans—mostly first and second-tier offensive talismans for the Qi Refining stage. There were also ten third-tier talismans, which could only be crafted by a Foundation Establishment cultivator: three Thick Earth Talismans, three Sharp Metal Talismans, three Fire Spirit Talismans, and, unexpectedly, a single Earth Escape Talisman.

Aside from these was a long, narrow wooden box, which must have been the relic Daoist Yanhe mentioned.

Back in her room, Ji Yao first took out the jade slip. With a touch of spiritual energy, the map sprang to life before her eyes, as vivid as a three-dimensional painting.

Carefully studying the map, Ji Yao saw that Guangqiong City lay at the southernmost tip of the Northern Wilderness, near the Central Province, while her own Songshan Town was at the northernmost edge. She would have to cross the entire Northern Wilderness.

Northpeace City was the largest city in the northern part of the wasteland, home to both cultivators and mortals, with shops and markets dedicated to cultivation goods.

Remembering the spiritual herbs she carried, Ji Yao decided to set out for Northpeace City at dawn.

She did not think to open the wooden box from the pouch, but leaving it there seemed unsafe. So, she placed it in her Sumeru Space and thought no more of it.

The next morning, Ji Yao bade farewell to Daoist Yanhe, who gave her another storage pouch. Fortunately, it contained nothing especially valuable, just some ordinary clothing, supplies, and a bottle of fasting pills.

Ji Yao considered a moment, then produced a cloth bag and handed it to Daoist Yanhe.

"This is... Purple Ginseng! Five hundred years old!"

The moment it touched his hands, he knew what it was—the rich spiritual energy seeped through the plain fabric, making his heart ache for its wasted potency.

"I found this ginseng by chance in the mountains. I cannot preserve it properly, and with my cultivation, who knows when I’ll use it. Rather than let it go to waste, I give it to you, Senior."

Daoist Yanhe was no fool; he instantly understood her meaning. Besides, it pained him to see such a treasure stored in a cloth bag, squandering its medicinal essence.

Ji Yao needed say no more; Daoist Yanhe accepted it without protest.

She had no choice—she could hardly go flaunting a jade box made of top-grade spirit jade, after all. She had only dug the ginseng from her Sumeru Space the night before, and it had not lost much of its potency.

Bidding Daoist Yanhe farewell, Ji Yao set out for Northpeace City, heading south.

The Northern Wilderness was mostly wasteland, and it was easy to lose one's way. After passing a few villages in the beginning, Ji Yao traveled for over two months without seeing another soul.

The endless yellow earth stretched into the sky, with hardly a touch of green, let alone any tall trees. At times, Ji Yao wondered if she might step into the desert at any moment.

One morning, after preparing two water skins from her storage, she slung them over her back and was just about to set off when, in the distance ahead and to the right, a faint, blurry figure appeared on the horizon.