Without a heroic spirit, I can only end it myself.

Jiang He followed the old housekeeper's guidance and walked along the mountain road towards Ningzhou.

The distance between Qingzhou and Ningzhou is not that far, only a few thousand miles away.

Jiang He walked extremely slowly, as if he had walked a hundred thousand miles——

He helped the mountain people clear roads and rebuild houses; and when the villagers cried out, he went into the mountains with his sword and wiped out the evil bandits.

The money in the luggage was squandered in a short time, and even the horses bought for transportation were ruthlessly slaughtered and used as emergency rations to fill the bellies of the hungry people.

Dining and sleeping in the open became a daily routine. When the rations were exhausted, they had to look for food.

Fortunately, he learned the method of entraining qi from Qingcheng Temple.

Although it is only the most basic method and has no further path, it still allows him to absorb spiritual energy, temper his body, and become half a fairy.

Only then did he persevere and not fall down halfway.

Even so, when he arrived in Ningzhou, five full years had passed.

He has changed from the young boy he was back then to a dark-skinned, travel-stained young man with a weathered face.

"Five years..."

"Those who practice quickly have already reached the late first level."

"But you are still introducing Qi into your body..."

Lu Rong turned his attention to Jiang He.

The Jishi Sect in Ningzhou was also a famous sect in the Yun Dynasty in the past, and represented the path chosen by some people.

They believe that becoming an immortal is an illusion, and they do not want to indulge in false dreams.

What's more, he doesn't want to, because his life span is limited, after thousands of years, he will turn into a handful of loess like a mortal, and his soul will fly away.

So they took another path.

【Yin Shen】

Since there is no liberation, it is also difficult to live forever.

Then pursue the path after death, become an immortal god in the underworld, receive incense and worship, and live forever.

It is also an alternative method of immortality, and it is reflected by the path of the predecessors, which is extremely realistic.

They help the world and save people, protect mortals from the intrusion of heretics and evil spirits, and protect them from natural disasters...

Use this method to gain the respect of mortals and obtain incense and offerings.

For example, this time's major earthquake caused many chain disasters, causing turmoil in the world and making people's lives miserable.

The people of the Immortal Sect ignored everything and did not intervene, causing the chaos to intensify.

On the other hand, the Yin Gods took action decisively to calm down the disaster, restore peace to Ningzhou, and protect countless people.

Those refugees who fled to Ningzhou also received proper relief, and seemed to have arrived in a fairyland on earth.

"Because Taoists ignore the mortal world, you abandon immortality and stop cultivating."

"The Immortal Sect helps the world and saves all living beings..."

"This should suit your preferences, right?"

However, what surprised Lu Rong.

Throughout his journey, Jiang He has witnessed countless hells on earth caused by natural disasters, and has been angry because of evil more than once.

However, when he came to Ningzhou, he saw a prosperous scene.

There was no joy or relief on his weather-beaten face.

To say it was calm was more like indifference.

He did not go to Ji Shizong according to Lu Rong's guess.

Instead, he exchanged the materials he collected when killing monsters into money, and traveled around the land of Ningzhou, passing through cities, towns, and villages.

It seems like tasting delicious food, browsing beautiful scenery, and recuperating.

After half a month passed, his complexion recovered a lot. He found a craftsman to repair the sword, and then left Ningzhou on the road.

From beginning to end, he had not even come into contact with a disciple of Ji Shi Sect.

"... After spending five whole years on the road, when you get to the door, you have to go home again?"

"what happened again?"

Lu Rong was a little confused.

He simply turned into an old man again and came to Ningzhou.

…

At the Inn Teahouse, Jiang He poured a cup of tea and took a short rest.

An old man came over and sat next to him.

"Young hero has come a long way, why do you have to leave in such a hurry?"

"Are you not satisfied with this prosperous scene?"

Jiang He drank the scalding tea in one gulp and his expression remained as usual.

"A prosperous scene? Why did I say this?"

The old man looked around.

In the tea house of the post station, many pedestrians rest here, all dressed neatly, chatting and laughing. There are often cars, horses and caravans rushing past outside the house, and people are in a hurry.

This is in stark contrast to the chaos in other states.

"After the great disaster, the world is in chaos."

"The immortals don't care about worldly affairs and just take care of themselves."

"Only the sect of Jishi takes action to save the world and build this land of Ningzhou into a pure land outside the world..."

"Now that these people can live in peace and stay away from chaos, isn't it considered a great sight?"

The old man paused and spoke in confusion.

"Is the young hero blaming Ji Shizong for only saving Ningzhou and not the world?"

"No."

Jiang He shook his head.

"Not to mention a state, in this troubled time, being willing to save people, even if it's just one person, is admirable."

The old man said confused.

"Then why did the young hero turn a blind eye to this magnificent scene?"

"Shengjing?"

Jiang He smiled and looked out the door.

A caravan passed by the inn, seemingly loaded with valuable cargo.

The escorts accompanying the car were quite large and their momentum was extraordinary.

"May I ask my husband, where did this caravan come from and where is it going?"

"Come from outside Ningzhou and head towards the city."

Without using authority, the movement of the convoy can be judged by the direction of travel - it is not difficult to guess.

Moreover, the old man also understood what Jiang He meant.

The caravan is doing business, so it is natural to consider profits.

In the era of great chaos, the surrounding states were in great chaos and the people were in dire straits. Only Ningzhou was able to survive alone. With the help of Ji Shizong, it enjoyed a prosperous age.

So, it goes without saying what kind of business is the most profitable for caravans running business inside and outside Ningzhou.

【food】

Low cost and high profit.

As long as you suppress it, half of the people outside will starve to death, and the profits can be increased a lot...

In other words, Ningzhou's bustling scene with numerous caravans and busy traffic was undoubtedly built on numerous skeletons.

Jiang He poured a cup of hot tea and drank it in one gulp.

"Old man, does the sect who helps the world know about running a business?"

"..."

The old man sighed.

Don't say you know.

Without the approval of the Immortal Sect, how could a mortal dare to traffic in Ningzhou's grain?

Behind ten percent of the caravan, there are disciples of Ji Shi Zong.

They use this method to earn money for themselves - resources are also essential for walking on the road of incense.

The old man spoke again.

"Even if it's just to make money, according to what you said, in the process of running a business, I still saved many people..."

"Then let's put this aside and talk about something else."

Jiang He picked up the teapot and spoke.

"I heard that Jishi Xianzong is compassionate and loves mortals."

"As long as mortals make enough offerings, they can expect good weather and everything will be safe."

"Whenever there is a disaster, we will help people to tide over the difficulties..."

"For example, the earth dragon turned over this time, the dragon came out of the water thirty years ago, and the severe drought even longer ago..."

"I also often help people in Ningzhou to resist demons and evil cultivators..."

"Left behind countless legends and good names, worshiped by thousands of families, and countless incense."

When the old man heard this, he already knew what Jiang He was going to say.

He reached out to take the tea cup and blew the hot air away gently.

As expected, Jiang He spoke calmly.

"Old man, I was born in Qingzhou. Although the Taoists in Qingcheng Temple did not care about worldly affairs, they caused great disasters and chaos for many years..."

"However, this is also the only major disaster in Qingzhou in hundreds of years. As for evil cultivators causing chaos, it is even rarer to hear of it."

"It seems to me that peace is rare in Ningzhou."

The old man took a sip of tea and cleared his throat.

Only then did Jiang He start talking.

"Without disaster and suffering, what use are gods and Buddhas?"

"Yes, only by experiencing suffering can one's faith become more pious."

Jiang He sighed.

The richness of his experiences in these five years far exceeded those of the previous ten years of his life.

He also realized this truth in a ruined temple.

A person who did not respect ghosts and gods in the past, knelt before the statue of gods at the time of life and death, and became the most devout believer...

The idol did not respond to him.

Only Ega gave him half of the hare.

His belief in the idols actually became more pious.

The Jishi Immortal Sect follows the path of Yinshen. The more devout the incense is, the more precious it is to them.

Therefore, they help the world, but often give them suffering, so that they always remember to worship the gods and maintain the most pious faith.

If anyone can understand all this.

Then, they tell each other.

These hardships are to temper them and make them grow faster...

Jiang He looked outside the inn.

He didn't see any prosperity.

He only saw a group of ghosts pursuing immortality after death, using disaster as a whip and shelter as food, trapping mortals and harvesting incense.

"This is not Jishi."

"This is...evil!"

"well."

The old man felt a little headache.

The Taoist who seeks immortality has a different path from him, so they don't want to conspire with each other.

The Great Dream Immortal Sect was indulging in illusions, and was regarded as useless by him.

Today's Jishi Immortal Sect is even regarded as a heretic and evil demon.

Why is it so troublesome to get this guy to become an immortal?

However, he did not want to leave it alone——

He wanted to see what path this guy wanted to take.

"In the land of Cangzhou, there is also the Immortal Sect..."

"Want to go?"

"Thank you, father-in-law, for your advice."

Jiang He stood up without hesitation.

He bowed, left the money on the table, picked up his sword and left.

…

Jiang He traveled for four years and arrived in Cangzhou, where he met the Vast Sea Immortal Sect.

He visited Xianzong, listened for several days, shook his head and left.

This is not the end.

As if there was a tacit understanding, Lu Rong appeared again to guide him to the next sect.

Jiang He had no doubt that as long as it was guided by the unknown old man, no matter how far the distance was or how difficult the journey was.

After a long time, he always reaches his destination.

However……

Time flies like an arrow, and the sun and moon fly like a shuttle.

Forty-seven years later, he traveled all over the world and still found nothing.

"Fifty-six years have passed since I fell asleep."

"The number two with the highest understanding has reached the third level of cultivation, and his life span has extended to two hundred and fifty years. His appearance has not changed at all, and he remains youthful."

"but you……"

"I haven't made any further progress so far. I have been stuck in the realm of introducing Qi into the body. After a hundred years of life, there is not much left."

"There isn't much time left..."

Lu Rong shook his head and sighed.

Jiang He entered the dream at the age of sixteen. He was once a young man full of vigor and vitality.

Now he is seventy-two years old. Even though he has experienced spiritual energy tempering, his hair is gray, his face is wrinkled, and he is no longer as heroic as before.

Even if there are still twenty-eight years left...

To deduct the last twenty years of debilitating illness.

The last time left for him was less than eight years.

For cultivators, eight years is just a blink of an eye.

Even if he started practicing again, it would be too late.

"Is this your reality?"

"I don't accept anyone, I don't cultivate with anyone, I just run around all my life and end with regrets..."

"Pity."

Lu Rong shook his head.

It is true that Jiang He has a natural Taoist heart and a strong will.

The problem was that he was on the wrong track.

Over the past fifty-six years, Lu Rong has clearly seen Jiang He's character - he is based on kindness, does what he wants, is unwilling to settle, and is happy with grudges.

Like a fairy playing in the world of mortals.

However, before he became an immortal, he first had an immortal state of mind.

As long as he lowered his head and joined a sect that he didn't follow his heart, he would not have ended up like this if he had learned the method first and then considered the follow-up matters.

Lu Rong felt regretful and sensed Jiang He's situation.

After he left Wentian Sect, he came to a teahouse, made two cups of tea, and sat down to wait——

For decades, this has almost become a tacit understanding between the two, which can be regarded as a signal of invitation.

Lu Rong closed his eyes.

"This is my last farewell to you."

…

Tianwen City, teahouse.

The gray-haired Jiang He was sitting at the tea table, holding a cup of hot tea with some withered and wrinkled fingers.

The old man pushed open the door and sat across from him.

Fifty-six years have passed, and his face has not changed at all, and time seems to have stopped on him.

Jiang He knew very well that this was a characteristic of those who cultivated immortality.

"Not to your liking?"

the old man asked.

Jiang He spoke.

"It is difficult to reach the level of elegance by asking about heaven and earth without asking about one's own heart."

The old man couldn't help but shake his head.

All the practitioners in the world seem to disagree with him.

Yes, all.

"You have traveled all over the world. Even if you have not visited every sect, you have seen the choices of all those who cultivate immortality."

"The last fairy door was also closed by your own hands."

"I no longer have any Immortal Sect to recommend to you."

"If you want to pursue the path of immortality, you can only choose from the sects of the past."

"Thank you, husband, let's forget it."

"Different road non-phase plan."

Jiang He seemed to have expected this day.

He looked calm and spoke without any disappointment.

"However, there is one thing you said wrong, father-in-law."

"Oh? Am I wrong again?"

The old man laughed for a moment.

But I heard Jiang He say.

"Have you forgotten?"

"I haven't made a choice yet."

"……Um?"

The old man was stunned.

All the immortal cultivators in the world have made their own choices in order to pursue the path of immortality...

Jiang He can only draw Qi into his body, he is not even a cultivator, he is just a stronger mortal.

What are the good options? !

Right now.

The pure sword energy rose up from in front of the old man——

In a daze, he seemed to see a long sword sharpened by pure Taoist heart, slowly unsheathed, blooming with dazzling light, illuminating people's hearts.

It was as if a fairy door had opened, and violent spiritual energy came swarming in and gathered around him.

Jiang He's momentum is rising steadily. Although his hair is gray and he is approaching twilight, his eyes are bright and bright.

The Taoist heart of a young man has never changed.

"Since there is no way in this world that suits me."

"Then I will open a way."