"Dad, don't go to the county town anymore." Xu Erya touched the wound on Xu Qing's forehead and sighed.

"Okay, fine, I won't go." Xu Qing was already insecure, and he would obey any order his wife gave him, regardless of whether it was reasonable or not. Now that she was telling him not to go to the county town, but she hadn't explicitly said whether she would go or not, the sensitive Xu Qing suppressed his grievances and reluctantly agreed to his wife's request.

Why did Xu Qing become like this? Logically speaking, no matter how mismatched a farmer and a farmer's daughter may be in appearance, aren't they still from the same social class?

"Er Ya, thank you for all these years. You've taken care of me, this wounded deserter, and even had children with me. I... I'm so useless. I haven't been able to give you and Chen'er a better life."

"If you really feel guilty, then you should pull yourself together and stop bringing up your deserter identity all the time." Xu Erya wanted to tap Xu Qing's forehead as usual, but her hand stopped a centimeter away from the wound.

Xu Qing nodded, perked up, and began helping with the chores at home. In any era, desertion is a shameful thing, and Xu Erya couldn't help but despise deserters. "Xu Qing's desertion is different," Xu Erya thought to herself, but her feet unconsciously led her outside to find the mischievous Xu Chen.

On Xu Chen's eighth birthday, an auspicious cloud descended upon Xu Family Village. The villagers were filled with awe and fear, and all the men, women, and children in the village knelt and worshipped around the auspicious cloud, including Xu Chen's family. A fairy descended from the auspicious cloud. She was dressed in a long dress, with exquisite features. She floated in the air but was barefoot. She walked in front of the villagers who were kneeling before her and looked at them with a smile. Her senior brother and master had taught her that the Tianquan Sect must never be arrogant and treat mortals as worthless.

"Everyone, please rise. You don't need to bow to me." Her sweet voice melted the hearts of every villager, but they still dared not look up at the fairy.

The fairy was somewhat troubled. How could she complete her task today if everyone was like this? She waved her jade hand forward, and a gentle force lifted the villagers' heads. When the men in the village saw her, their eyes were filled with panic, their faces turned red, and some even had nosebleeds. The fairy slowly said again, "I have come here to recruit disciples for the sect. Everyone, let the children give it a try."

The villagers looked at each other, seemingly unable to process this astonishing news. A celestial being taking on a disciple? A disciple of a celestial being? A disciple of a celestial being... Is he a celestial being? Some were so shocked that they momentarily lost their ability to think.

After a period of commotion, everyone was extremely excited, and every household sent their children to the fairy. Xu Erya recalled the past, hesitated for a moment, but still decided to send Xu Chen to be tested.

"What's your name?" The fairy gently touched Xu Chen's hand and spoke to him. Xu Chen looked into the cultivator's eyes and said, "They're so beautiful."

"Little brother, what's your name?"

"Sister, your eyes hold a galaxy." Xu Chen stared intently at the woman, which made her find the child quite interesting. She had just investigated him but hadn't discovered any spiritual roots. However, his physique was extraordinary, and his appearance was handsome—he was practically perfect material for cultivation. Slightly regretful, she took the initiative to ask about Xu Chen. As for why cultivators need handsome appearances? The simplest reason is that one's appearance reflects one's heart.

"My name is Xu Chen." Little Xu Chen stared intently at the swirling starry river in the woman's eyes, finding it particularly interesting. He had seen a stationary starry river before, on the roof of his own house.

"Aren't your eyes pretty, sister?"

"nice."

Undeterred, the woman took Xu Chen's hand and examined him internally, but found nothing. She looked at Xu Chen's anxious parents and then at the many disappointed villagers of Xu Family Village, shook her head, and wondered if she should cross another country to complete the sect's disciple-recruiting mission.

"Immortal, please take my child in! We beg you!" The people of Xujia Village pleaded again, unwilling to give up. They had already heard this plea once when the woman examined the children. Xu Chen, who was still a child, did not understand why the adults were crying and kneeling beside the woman. To be honest, if the woman had not been protected by spiritual power, the villagers might have clung to her leg and begged to become an immortal. That was something that 99.9% of ordinary mortals dared not even dream of.

The woman left anyway, leaving decisively, as if she were somewhat afraid to face the elders of Xujia Village. As she left the village, she secretly resolved that once she had completed this mission, she would never take on another one. She felt a great sense of guilt about doing a mission that gave others hope only to destroy it with her own hands.

"A Xuan Bird?" She was about to take flight when she spotted what appeared to be a divine bird near a small lake. She had only ever seen such a creature in the sect's records. Out of a cultivator's instinct, she released her divine sense to observe this divine bird.

"If... if it really is a Xuan Bird, then it must be very intelligent. My divine sense might scare it away." The woman withdrew her divine sense, considered for a long time, and then began to approach the suspected Xuan Bird step by step.

Just as she was about to get closer to her target, Xu Chen and his mother caught up with the woman, panting heavily. Xu Erya was excited and her face was flushed. The mother and son who had come to chase after her were preparing to make another effort for Xu Chen to enter the Tianquan Sect.

When the woman saw the newcomers, as her gaze turned to Xu Chen's family, the black bird transformed into a stream of light and entered Xu Chen's body.

"Ah, this, this." The woman wanted to speak to Xu Chen, but found that the divine bird beside her had disappeared. Kind-hearted, she did not blame Xu Chen and his mother. "If it is not meant to be, do not force it." The woman shook her head and prepared to focus on dealing with Xu Chen's matter.

"Why are you doing this? If I could, I would definitely take your child as my apprentice, but the problem is..."

“Immortal, his father and I are honest, simple farmers. Our only concern is our child. As you can see on this journey, there is chaos and death on the roads.”

“We…we want our child to stay with you, even if he doesn’t become an immortal…just serving you tea and water would be much better than having him by our side.”

Xu Erya pulled Xu Chen along, kowtowing repeatedly to the woman. Slowly, blood seeped from Erya's forehead. When little Xu Chen saw his mother bleeding, he panicked, crying out, "Mother, Mother, you're bleeding! Mother!"

"Immortal, I beg you." Xu Erya cried as she held her son's hand and kowtowed repeatedly. The woman felt helpless and thought to herself, "I should take this little guy with me and beg my master to grant him the status of a disciple. The rest is up to fate."

After thinking for a long time, the woman walked over, touched Er Ya's forehead, and helped her up.

“Alright, I will wait for you by this lake all day. Little brother must be here with me by this time tomorrow.”

Xu Erya was overjoyed and dragged Xu Chen home to prepare clothes.

"Being a disciple on a voluntary basis is not easy, little brother. I hope I haven't done anything wrong." The woman looked at Xu Chen and his mother as they walked away, shook her head, and remained silent for a long time.