Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

However——

Zhang Jing was utterly powerless to fulfil the old man's dying wish.

Because the little boy was already dead.

As for why the elder cultivator was incognizant of this,

Zhang Jing speculated that perhaps he was too close to death to sense it, or maybe he already knew but was unwilling to accept reality.

Sigh——

Zhang Jing let out a faint sigh.

And then couldn't wait to start a perennially popular activity in the world of the Immortal Way.

"Though this magic artifact of flying sword is a bit tattered, it's still in good shape. I'd best collect it."

"Silver? Does a cultivator still need to carry silver? I'll take it away."

"These two knives don't seem to be magic artifacts, but they are quite sharp. I might as well collect them for now."

"Hm? This is..." Zhang Jing's movement suddenly halted, his gaze fixed tightly on a light grey beast hide bag at the black-clothed man's waist. He hesitated slightly, "A storage bag?!"

He had seen this object quite a few times.

Zhang Jing grabbed the beast hide bag from the man's waist, his Spiritual Sense immediately delving into it.

No resistance as he had expected.

A space about five feet on each side instantly appeared in his sense.

There wasn't much inside, just some clothing, a small cloth bag, a very exquisite-looking jade box, and some gold and silver. Altogether they occupied about a third of the storage bag's space.

"It really is a storage bag!"

Zhang Jing couldn't help but reveal an excited expression.

As the Spiritual Sense touching the items inside, a special sensation appeared in Zhang Jing's mind, as if just with a thought from himself, he could take them out from the storage bag.

So that's how it is!

Enlightenment flashed in Zhang Jing's eyes.

The next moment, the clothes from the storage bag magically appeared in his hand.

At this moment, however,

A sound of tearing through the air suddenly rang out, growing closer by the second.

Zhang Jing's face changed slightly. Swiftly, he stuffed the spoils he had just gathered into the storage bag, stood up, and looked in the direction of the sound.

It was a magic artifact flying boat!

There were two cyan-robed cultivators on it, rapidly approaching him.

"From their attire, it seems like they are Dao Institute Seniors. Could they be law enforcement cultivators of the market?"

A thought ran through Zhang Jing's mind.

Before he had a chance to react, in less than three breaths of time, the flying boat had stopped in front of Zhang Jing.

The two cyan-robed men descended from the sky.

The shorter of the two first glanced at the six corpses on the ground, then turned his cold gaze towards Zhang Jing, speaking curtly: "Did you kill these people? Don't you know it's prohibited to fight within the market area?"

Meanwhile,

The taller of the two cyan-robed men stepped in front of Zhang Jing, as if he had noticed something, and asked with a smile:

"You must be a Junior Brother who has just entered the Dao Institute this year, right?"

"Correct, greetings, Senior Brother."

Zhang Jing nodded, replying.

"Since you are a Junior Brother, there's no problem. However, Brother, could you explain what happened with these bodies? If you know anything, please let us know."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jing pondered for a moment before responding.

"Senior Brother, it's like this. As I was passing by this place on my way back to the Dao Institute, I happened to come across these four black-clothed men attacking this old man and a boy. When they noticed me, they attacked me without asking any questions."

Zhang Jing shrugged, casually remarking:

"So to defend myself, I had to fight back."

"So that's how it happened!" The taller cyan-robed man nodded knowingly upon hearing this. With a smile, he moved aside, addressing Zhang Jing directly: "In that case, you may return to the Dao Institute, Junior Brother. We can take care of things here."

"Thank you, Senior Brother."

Zhang Jing clasped his hands, replying with a smile.

"Not at all, it's just our duty." The tall cyan-robed man replied, waving his hand.

With his last words,

Zhang Jing looked over his shoulder, making sure he hadn't left anything behind, then hurried off in the direction of the Dao Institute.

At the spot,

Only after Zhang Jing's figure had disappeared from view,

The shorter man couldn't help but ask curiously: "Senior Brother, you just let him leave like that? That's not following procedure, right? And how can you be so sure he was telling the truth?"

"I'm not sure." The taller cyan-robed man answered.

"Then why——"

The short man hesitated to speak.

Seeing his junior brother acting this way, the tall man couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment and counter-questioned:

"Didn't you say that the novitiate who just entered the Dao Institute this year was the one we just encountered?"

"He who is at the first level of Qi Refinement, who possesses such a rich spiritual power, cultivates the middle-grade dharma door, given his age, he certainly is a new disciple of the Dao Institute this year."

"With that in mind, does it matter whether his statement is true or false?"

The tall man said it with profound implications.

"What are you insinuating, senior brother?" Even though the short man still seemed a bit confused.

"You fool! Unbelievable!" the tall man scolded, "Junior brother, don't forget, it has been less than half a month since they started taking part in the assessment."

He pointed to the corpse on the ground and sighed:

"Just half a month into his cultivation, he was able to fight against four others single-handedly, and kill four second layer Qi Refinement cultivators ... this requires such high talent! If he lied, wouldn't it be more terrifying?"

"Why would you offend someone who is almost certain to enter the inner court?"

"Thank you for your guidance, senior brother. I understand."

"Alright junior brother, clean up the scene."

...

...

"Phew~ Finally sorted out!"

In the room, Zhang Jing took a long sigh of relief, looking at the spoils of the battle neatly arranged on the table, he couldn't help but laugh.

First is the two magic artifacts: the Flying Sword and the Flying Needles.

After a detailed inspection, he was delighted to find that the ban inside the Flying Sword was perfectly intact, the spiritual power circuit was not damaged at all. This is equivalent to him getting a magic artifact flying sword for free.

The magic artifact flying needle, unfortunately, was damaged and couldn't be used.

Zhang Jing simply tossed it directly into the storage bag.

Besides, he found some spirit stones from the storage bags and bodies of those men, the combined total was forty-seven, which refilled his small spirit stone reserve.

The object placed ceremoniously in a jade box by the man in black turned out to be three lower-grade talismans.

He decided to sell it off after the assessment.

As for why he didn't keep it for himself - mainly because Zhang Jing found it less reliable than his Five Element Spirit River.

After a round of checks.

Zhang Jing was surprised to find that the rewards received from being forced to fight, including the storage bag and the magic artifact flying sword, were probably worth more than two hundred spirit stones.

He became rich overnight.

All of this was credited to the generous contribution of those four men in black.

After taking a brief break.

Zhang Jing then went into the cultivation room.

As the deadline for this test was approaching, it meant that the way to determine the final ranking would soon be unveiled.

He felt an inexplicable sense of urgency and could only seize every moment to cultivate.

...

...

Time quietly flows.

As those awarded Grade-C and Grade-D one after another arrived, the Legacy Pavilion and the surrounding areas gradually became lively.

One morning.

Two bright escape lights suddenly sparked from the Legacy Pavilion.

The escape lights halted in the air above the large square in front of the Legacy Pavilion, instantly transforming into two men dressed in purple robes. They exuded a fairy-like aura, hovering in the air, and presented an extremely frightening aura.

"Here they come, it seems that the way to determine the ranking of the new apprentices this time is set."

Seeing this scene, a few green-robed disciples from the Outer Academy excitedly spoke.

"It's interesting this year, they say there are twenty-nine grade B talents, and two grade A geniuses. Even some of the Grade C talents are not bad, they certainly have the drive to strive for the top."

"Who can deny that? The top ten each month receive fifty Tao Merits, do you realize what that means? We work ourselves to the bone on tasks while fighting devils outside, and what do we earn at the end of the year? Those Tao Merits are nothing close to their two-month reward! The Dao Institute is really unfair." Someone said, sounding acidly.

"Why sour? Who asked you not to make it into the top ten."

At this moment.

One of the purple-robed men in the air lightly waved his hand.

Boom boom boom——

The square shook violently.

Gigantic columns started to emerge from the ground, reaching into the clouds.

——

ps: Today's update was a bit rushed, and the chapter was still being read and revised by the author after publishing. So, some readers may notice minor errors, which may disrupt the reading experience. My apologies for any inconvenience!

Also, thank you to [Qian Yuehhj], [Mo Zongwu Hen], [North Youkiss in South] for your rewards, have my heart~