Chapter 486

"Oh? Why?"

Although Lin Jue considered himself to have a connection with him, he still asked.

"Because, because I want to become powerful, I want to be immortal, I want to, I want to be like an immortal, able to fly in the sky, able to eliminate demons and ghosts!"

This was a common thought for people these days, and also a common answer.

If you went to the streets of the capital or the villages at the foot of the mountain and asked anyone if they wanted to cultivate and attain immortality, eight or nine out of ten would say yes. If you asked them why, eight or nine out of ten would be these reasons.

At most, it was missing "unrestrained and carefree."

Perhaps a boy of this age didn't know what unrestrained and carefree was.

But as Xu Yi spoke, he lowered his head and added another sentence:

"Also, there is no food left at home, no wild vegetables either, nothing to eat at all. I, I might freeze to death and starve to death. My uncle told me to let my cousin come and live with me, and my aunt told me that he wanted to drive me out and grab my family's house. I want to learn magic. Once I learn magic, I won't freeze to death or starve to death no matter where I go."

A very ordinary "I might freeze to death and starve to death" was a predicament faced by many in these troubled times.

That's right—

Although the boy didn't have as many worries or attachments as an adult, and thus didn't know what unrestrained and carefree was, he was being plagued by hunger and cold, facing the most basic, greatest, and most direct predicament. His desire to transcend it was incomparably strong. In comparison, the worries that scholars wanted to cast off and the attachments they wanted to get rid of after being well-fed and well-watered seemed soft and powerless.

The former sentence was not surprising.

The latter sentence was very unusual.

It seemed extremely sincere and simple, but in fact, it was not something an ordinary ten-year-old boy could think of, nor was it something an ordinary ten-year-old boy could say. Yet he both thought of it and said it.

Although he lowered his head, his face was red, and he was full of embarrassment and inferiority.

Sincerity always triumphs over everything.

Just like the junior sister some time ago.

When you are not in that perspective, you might feel it is unreasonable why a divine being would be willing to exchange a thousand-year snow lotus with you just because your character is good and you are sincere enough. But after changing positions, you can fully understand the divine beings on Tianshan; immortals really would do this.

Otherwise, what else would an immortal want from you?

At this moment, the boy buried his head and dared not lift it, terrified of being rejected and not knowing how to face such a rejection.

The others in the snow also held their breath, not daring to speak, looking at True Man Lin and also at this boy.

They all seemed to have seen something.

True Man Lin is an immortal.

If True Man Lin agreed to take him as a disciple, he would become True Man Lin's first disciple, a disciple under the immortal's seat, and the eldest disciple of this immortal cave dwelling.

This moment was not simple.

And this would also be the first time in their lives witnessing an immortal taking a disciple.

Yet they heard a gentle voice ring out:

"Meeting you in the mountains is fate. We have met many times, and the connection is not shallow. It just so happens that I see you have the talent for cultivation, and I am willing to form a connection with you."

Just hearing this, Wan Wan Xinrong and the others secretly took a breath, looked at each other, and then looked at the boy.

The boy stiffened all over.

Then he heard the Daoist's voice ring out: "However, it is not so easy for me to take a disciple."

The boy with his head lowered trembled again.

That's right—

This is an immortal in the capital!

If he wanted to take a disciple, in the county town at the foot of the mountain or in the distant capital, no matter how smart the student, no matter how high the official or how rich the family, who knew how long the line would be? Why should he be the one?

There are many legendary stories in the world. Whenever an immortal takes a disciple in the stories, besides fate, there are often unusual tests. How could he manage?

"Why are you so nervous? Haven't we been getting along quite easily in the past?" Lin Jue smiled and shook his head, continuing, "I am a person who loves flowers. I just moved here and feel that everything here is good, but there are few colors in the mountains, making it look too monotonous. If you want to be my disciple, you must first go everywhere in these mountains, go to the villages in the distance, or buy them at the market. In short, find tree seedlings. Whether you plant them or cut them, you must fill the nearby green mountains with them. From the top of the mountain to the bottom, in the river gullies and forests, when the flowering season comes, everything must be colorful."

"Ah?"

The boy looked up in surprise, not expecting it to be so simple.

"Don't be surprised, and don't think it's easy. This mountain is not small, and the flowers I want to plant are not few. Wintersweet, camellia, peach, plum, apricot, pear, magnolia, rhododendron, fringe tree, chinaberry, cherry blossom, magnolia, locust, goldenrain tree—they must be planted in the nearby mountains in a scattered way." Lin Jue said to him, "You don't have to choose big trees; small trees are fine, and tree seedlings are also fine. You don't have to plant them too densely, and you must not cut down the original trees to make room. Just plant one in the empty spaces where no trees grew before. But you must not be lazy, you must not be careless, and you must not be perfunctory."

"I... I definitely will!"

"Since you have agreed, there is an empty room here, and you can live here for the time being." Lin Jue pointed to Wan Wan Xinrong and the others beside him, "These are the people who protected the Dharma for me when I attained the Dao. You must be very respectful to them. They will cook meals every day, and you can eat with them. When you have time, go find trees."

"Okay!"

Although the boy was a little unbelievable, he agreed.

This was actually about the same as his woodcutting job.

The boy turned his head to look.

This mountain is indeed very high, and the forest at the foot of the mountain is also vast, but as long as you don't think about this mountain or this vast land, and only think about those trees, you will always be able to fill it.

Just like the mountain outside, such a big mountain, wasn't it also cut clean of its side branches and small trees by him?

"You must know that plants also have life, and all things have spirituality. Cutting trees and planting trees are diametrically opposed. It is easy to cut them down, but difficult to plant them alive. You must be careful and attentive." Lin Jue said, "Otherwise, as long as one tree is not planted alive, it will take a long time to discover it, wasting a lot of time. At worst, you will innocently harm the life of a tree. Since you are no longer a woodcutter and don't make a living by this, you should respect them a bit more."

"I will remember."

"Since you have read books and know characters, I will give you another book." Lin Jue said to him, taking out a book, "Read it once every day. After you can recite it, change it to copying it once every day. No matter how proficient you are, you must not be perfunctory every time you recite or copy it."

The boy took it and saw three big characters on the book—"Yin Yang Jing."

The voices of several people rang out in succession beside him: "My surname is Tao. If you don't have paper and pen, you can come to me to get them."

"My surname is Wan, given name Wan Xinrong. It's my turn to cook today. If you like to eat anything, just tell me."

"My name is Cai Cai Lingyu. Did you bring a quilt?"

"Little young master, here, a hoe."

Several people had already seen that although the True Man wanted him to plant flowers, in fact, as long as there were no accidents, this person in front of them was already True Man Lin's disciple.

Only the boy didn't know. He answered them one by one, took the hoe, and walked into the mountains while thinking, muttering to himself.

Want all kinds of flowers?

Want to plant them in a scattered way, meaning mixed together?

So you must distinguish what tree is what tree, what flower is what flower, and you can't plant them together.

This is a bit difficult...

But these were things for later.

What's urgent now is to find flowering trees.

There must be many wild fruits and wild trees in the mountains, and there is no lack of mountain flowers. But it is freezing cold right now, and there are few flowers blooming in the mountains. Those trees are either bare or covered in snow and ice crystals. As a little woodcutter, he can at most distinguish between dead trees and living trees. How can he distinguish whether it is a flower, and what kind of flower it is?

Only on the way here did he see a wintersweet.

He remembered that kind of flower.

He decided to go find it first.

Before long, the boy had walked far away.

Unknowingly, another person appeared behind Lin Jue, a female Daoist wearing a Daoist robe:

"This child is not bad."

"Hmm."

"Third Third Shixiong, you tell me, will my Zhang Ziyun build the road here first, or will your disciple plant a mountain of flowers here first?"

"Why guess these?"

"Then let's guess something else." The junior sister walked to his side, "Will my Zhang Ziyun cultivate the 'Stone-Producing Method' to great success first, or will this child learn 'Flowers Blooming in an Instant' first?"

"Hahaha! Xiao Xiao Shimei is very good at teaching disciples!"

"Isn't Third Third Shixiong also using planting trees as cultivation?"

"Hahaha..."

"What does Third Third Shixiong think?"

"A disciple has a disciple's fate."

Lin Jue sat cross-legged and said with a smile.

After chatting for a few more sentences, he stopped talking and continued to explain magic to everyone.

Magic is an extension of the Dao. While teaching the Dharma, Lin Jue also cited many examples and explained the great truths of the Dao behind it.

The sound drifted far away in the heavy snow, possessing a certain mystery. Some monsters in the mountains heard it, and although they didn't dare to get close, they appeared from afar and listened carefully. Birds and small animals were also attracted, and they were much simpler, actually boldly coming to this side, stopping at the edge of the snow, landing on tree branches, and listening attentively.

?

Xu Yi was steady and focused.

The immortal told him to read the scriptures every day, so he read the scriptures every day. The immortal told him to find trees and plant flowers, so he went to the mountains to find flowers every day, even if he couldn't find them, he went, rain or shine.

To him, there was a small house here for him to live in, which, although small, was not drafty, and was already warmer than at home. There was food to eat when he got up in the morning. Not only did he not have to worry about being hungry, but there was meat and rice for every meal. Such days were already what he could only get by dreaming and fantasizing before. Now it came so easily, sometimes really making him feel whether he was dreaming, or as the stories said, he accidentally encountered monsters and wonders while cutting wood in the mountains, was bewitched, and had hallucinations.

Even if he went to the mountains every day to find trees, dig trees, and transplant them, it was no more tiring than cutting wood; it just required more effort.

Fortunately, he did one thing at a time, with single-minded devotion.

Inside and outside Fengshan, in every mountain village, he searched everywhere.

After searching for plum blossoms, he looked for camellias.

He often accidentally stepped into the air and fell, accidentally rolled down from the snow slope, often bumped into fierce beasts in the mountains, looked at fierce birds face to face, and sometimes even encountered monsters, scaring him into running back, panting heavily.

Sometimes he stopped in front of village houses, bowed his head, and listened quietly to the village elders talking about the trees in front of them, how to distinguish them, what characteristics they had, how to plant them, what they liked in terms of soil, temperature, and moisture, and what insects they would grow. Sometimes he also sat on a meditation cushion in the snow, listening to Wan Wan Xinrong and others telling him where there were what kind of trees in the mountains, and what certain trees looked like in winter, listening carefully.

He slowly felt that this was completely different from his woodcutting job.

Lin Jue often watched him from the pavilion.

He was increasingly satisfied with this disciple.

And this actually had nothing to do with talent.

In his spare time, he would meditate and cultivate, drink tea and refine treasures, take a nap, sit blankly without thinking about anything, or ride the clouds to visit other immortals, feeling very carefree.

Suddenly one day, Daoist Daoist Qingxia, who lived on Nanshan, came to visit and invited him to watch the fun together:

"Fellow Daoist Lin! Northern Lord Master Fuchi is fighting three True Lords alone above Qingyuan. Quick! Quick, follow me to see!"

Once he became idle, Lin Jue fully understood the feelings of these immortals.

Being idle and bored, one naturally wants to join in the fun. Cultivating in seclusion without getting involved in disputes, one naturally has no scruples. No matter which side is fighting or who is hitting whom, one can watch without any burden.

And he was truly interested in that Lord Master Fuchi.

"I was just thinking of going out! Let me tidy up!"

Lin Jue almost didn't think much, changed into a Daoist robe, and rode the clouds away with True Man Daoist Qingxia.