Chapter 70: Ascension (Part 3) With his long, endless...
(seventy)
According to rumors, one needs to survive the tribulation in the place where one was born in order to ascend.
Although they didn't know who spread the rumor, Shen Changyi and Li Shanglu took the two children back to Fangcao City to be on the safe side.
The familiar long street now has many more children and pedestrians, as well as vendors selling candy figures. It is as lively as when I was a child.
The sugar figurine master drew two sugar paintings in the shape of little kids. The two sugar children were holding persimmons and oranges. They were lifelike and adorable. The sugar figurines of Li Shanglu and Shen Changyi were also very similar. When put together, they fit each other's body shapes perfectly, which was very clever.
Li Shanglu pinched the candy figurine of Shen Changyi and took a bite without mercy, a little surprised, "It tastes the same as when I was a child."
"Right? I've been making this for years. Back when the demonic cultivators weren't so rampant, I used to set up a stall around here." The owner was very proud of his sugar figures. His eyes fell on Li Shanglu and Shen Changyi, and he scratched his head. "Were you originally from Fangcao City? Why do you look so familiar?"
Li Shanglu's expression shifted slightly, and he whispered, "I used to live in the Li family in the north of the city. My parents sold medicinal herbs."
"The Li family..." The boss pondered for a moment, then said, as if suddenly realizing something. "I remember now. That's right. There used to be a very kind master of the Li family who often came to me to buy candy figurines for his daughter. I heard he started out selling medicinal herbs. So you're that daughter. How's the master doing?"
Li Shanglu's eyes were slightly red, and he lowered his eyes. "Very good, thank you for your concern."
"That's good. It's good to live an ordinary life these days." The boss turned his eyes and looked at Shen Changyi, "Hey, this guy looks familiar too."
"Him..." Li Shanglu followed his gaze and saw that Shen Changyi was still staring at the sugar man with a troubled expression. She nudged him twice with her arm, "What are you daydreaming about again?"
Shen Changyi pinched the sugar figure that looked exactly like Li Shanglu and whispered, "I want to learn."
“…”
Li Shanglu felt that if he was not allowed to practice, this man would learn all 360 professions.
"I remember now!" the boss said in surprise, "Isn't this Chang Yi?"
Shen Changyi looked up blankly.
Seeing that he didn't seem to recognize him, the boss said with a smile, "You were so small back then, and now you've grown so tall, it's amazing. Have you forgotten? You often bought candy figurines from me to give to your neighbor girl."
After the words fell, Shen Changyi vaguely remembered the other party, his eyes lit up slightly, "Yes."
In the past, after school, whenever he passed by the candy figurine stall, he would buy one for Shanglu and take it back.
Suddenly, the boss glanced at Li Shanglu, then at Shen Changyi, as if he understood something. He winked at Shen Changyi and said, "God will not let down those who work hard. This must be the girl next door, right?"
Shen Changyi's face turned even redder, and his voice became lower, "Yes."
"He married the person he loved most in his childhood, and even gave birth to such adorable twins, a boy and a girl. How enviable!"
The boss made Shen Changyi feel so elated, as if he could become an immortal without going through any tribulations. Before leaving, he even bought five more sugar figures.
Li Shanglu laughed angrily and told him to finish his meal by himself.
The two of them strolled down the street, watching the kids chasing and playing, and vaguely seemed to see their past selves.
Seeing little Persimmon climbing up the old locust tree, Li Shanglu couldn't help but admire himself. Such a small person actually dared to climb such a high tree. Persimmon would probably become a devil in the future. Not bad.
When they reached the door of their home, the two kids couldn't wait to run inside to see what was going on, while Li Shanglu stared at the plaque on the roof in a daze.
She always felt that Li Hanye would open the door and call her for dinner the next moment. In the blink of an eye, her child was five years old, although she was not there for those five years.
The locust flowers on the treetops are in full bloom, perfect for making pastries or pinching them into pancakes.
Shen Changyi saw her standing quietly in front of the door and said gently.
"Come in."
Li Shanglu smiled and said, "You go in first. I'll go pick some locust flowers so I can make pancakes for dinner."
Hearing this, Shen Changyi looked up at the locust tree and said softly, "I'll do it."
He is no longer the Shen Changyi who couldn't climb trees.
Li Shanglu was happy to have some free time, so he stood by the street and watched him pick locust flowers.
"Li Shanglu?"
Suddenly, a strange voice came from behind her. She frowned and looked back.
A completely unfamiliar face, dressed in extravagant and luxurious silk clothes, one could tell at a glance which family this prodigal son was from.
A trace of barely perceptible disgust flashed across her eyes, and she said calmly, "Do you know me?"
The young master snorted lightly, and Li Shanglu then realized that there was a woman following him. He reached out his big hands and held the woman in his arms.
"Of course. Shortly after your parents were buried, our Zhao family came to your house to propose marriage. You really have a terrible memory."
Li Shanglu thought about it for a moment, but still couldn't remember.
Who is this person? He speaks in such a rude way.
The young master of the Zhao family looked Li Shanglu up and down nonchalantly, and his gaze finally fell on her face.
She still looks so charming, but judging by the bun on her head, she must be married.
"Why, you've been married to that Shen Changyi and haven't divorced him yet, or have you remarried?" He stared at Li Shanglu's face, already imagining things. "I told you long ago that marrying into the Zhao family is a blessing for you. Look at what you're wearing now. It can't even be described as simple, it's completely shabby!"
Especially the broken hairpin on her head, it's obvious that it's not a good thing.
The young master of the Zhao family led the woman beside him to her and said with a smile, "Look, this is my new concubine. She is wearing the finest soft silk."
Li Shanglu looked at him indifferently without saying a word.
She remembered that there was a matchmaker who brought people to propose marriage. She probably thought that she became an orphan overnight and was easy to bully, so she wanted to take away her family's money and herbal medicine shop.
She was too sad at the time and didn't pay much attention to these people. She was probably stopped and driven away by Shen Kangnian and the others.
"Ignoring me?" The young master of the Zhao family sneered. "Pretending to be noble, if you kneel down and beg me today, I can take you into my mansion. However, if you give birth to a child, that bastard will not be allowed to enter my Zhao family."
Li Shanglu slowly raised the corners of his lips, smiled, and rolled up his sleeves.
"Shanglu, what's wrong?"
Shen Changyi had just come back from picking locust flowers, holding them in his sleeves. He glanced at the people around her and his brows suddenly darkened.
He remembered this person, the young master of the Zhao family.
My father said that this man is very fickle and the Zhao family is a group of sinister villains. Shang Lu must never be entrusted to such a man.
The young master of the Zhao family stared at him for a while, then suddenly laughed out loud, "I was wondering who it was, it turned out to be Shen Changyi."
Back in school, this loser always looked down on him and always had an arrogant expression on his face, which was disgusting.
He looked at the locust flowers in Shen Changyi's sleeves and tutted his tongue twice, "You're still such a loser, letting your wife eat this kind of rubbish? You're so poor, do you need me to give you some money?"
Shen Changyi clenched his fists and was about to step forward, but was stopped by Li Shanglu.
She folded her arms and looked at the young master of the Zhao family, smiling and said, "Go on."
When the other party heard her words, he really got excited. He put his hand on Shen Changyi's shoulder and said with a smile, "How about this, you send your wife to me for one night, and I'll give you some money?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Changyi punched him in the face and sent him flying.
He reduced his strength, otherwise he would have died.
"You dare to hit me?" The Zhao family's young master's face was twisted by the blow, and his words were unclear. He looked at him in disbelief, "You are looking for death!"
It’s not that Shen Changyi won’t attack mortals, but he will never let anyone who bullies his family off easily.
Just when he was about to teach this bastard a lesson again, Li Shanglu raised his hand to stop him.
"Watch over it. Don't let blood splash on the freshly washed clothes." Her voice was deep, but Chen Changyi strangely heard a hint of excitement.
not good.
Shen Changyi sensed something was wrong.
Shang Lu hasn't seen any bad guys in Ming Zhou Sect for a long time. He feels bored every day and it's time to fight. He won't beat him to death, right?
Before he could say anything to dissuade him, Li Shanglu had already taken action.
She grabbed the bastard by the throat, threw him to the ground, and slapped him twice, making him see stars.
Half an incense stick of time had passed, and the entire long street was still echoing with the Zhao family's young master's screams.
"Shanglu, Shanglu, he is too fragile, he will really be beaten to death." Shen Changyi watched with fear in his heart, holding Huaihua, and from time to time he would go forward to check the breath of the young master of the Zhao family.
Mortals have no power to fight back against immortal cultivators. Even if Li Shanglu is only in the Qi Refining Stage today, beating him is as easy as beating a stray dog on the roadside. What's more, Li Shanglu is now in the Spirit Transformation Stage, and he can easily kill someone if he is not careful.
Li Shanglu scoffed lightly and kicked the young master of the Zhao family who was blocking his way away like a dead dog. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands slowly, then walked into the house. "Don't worry, I'll beat him to death and there will be no more beatings next time. People like this need to be dealt with slowly."
The concubine had already run away, leaving the young master of the Zhao family with a bruised face and a face that looked like a human being, lying unconscious on the street.
Shen Changyi followed Li Shanglu into the house, stepped over the threshold, and then came out and kicked the young master of the Zhao family with a look of dissatisfaction, then went in and closed the door with the locust flowers in his hands.
The next day, the young master of the Zhao family went to a big city and spent a large sum of money to hire a cultivator to deal with Li Shanglu.
The two cultivators in the foundation-building stage held their swords and looked at Shen Changyi who came to open the door for them. Their hands trembled and the swords fell to the ground. Their legs softened and their knees stuck to the ground.
Shen Changyi cast a faint glance down from above. He had just failed in cooking again, and his face was dark and oppressive.
"Who are you looking for?"
"Master Sword Immortal, what a coincidence! I, I met you at the last sect competition, and you even gave me guidance."
"We knocked on the wrong door, we knocked on the wrong door!"
The two monks turned around and beat up the young master of the Zhao family again.
"You're crazy. You asked us to fight the Sword Immortal. I think you're just looking for trouble!"
Shen Changyi is actually a sword immortal.
Just him?
The young master of the Zhao family was beaten so badly that he was completely unrecognizable and thought blankly.
Li Shanglu clearly fought much harder than him. Could it be that Li Shanglu was even more powerful than the Sword Immortal?
Oh my God, this time I’m in big trouble!
He limped back home, and was so scared that he moved his family out of Fangcao City overnight and never dared to come back in his life.
*
Shen Changyi cleaned up his hometown, and they would live here for the next few days waiting for ascension.
The kids loved their hometown very much and also liked listening to Shen Changyi and Li Shanglu tell stories about their childhood, especially the stories about their parents.
"Did Grandpa and Grandma live here before?" Little Orange munched on a piece of corn. "Why don't they live here anymore?"
Li Shanglu thought for a moment and said, "They are dead."
"Dead?" Persimmon and Orange opened their eyes wide in shock, and the corn in Orange's hand rolled to the ground.
They knew what death meant, because when Li Shanglu didn't come back, many people said she was dead.
Death means that you can never come back and you can never see each other again.
Orange burst into tears, "I don't want my grandparents to die."
Persimmon also started crying, "I haven't seen them yet."
Li Shanglu felt inexplicably guilty and quickly wiped the cubs' tears. "Okay, I haven't cried yet, but you two are crying."
Persimmon tugged at the corner of Li Shanglu's clothes reluctantly, "Mother, will I die too? Will I be able to see them after I die?"
Li Shanglu: "...Don't talk nonsense."
She slapped the cub lightly on the butt and said, "Live well. Grandma and Grandpa are always blessing us in the underground."
"Underground?"
The two cubs looked at each other, then knelt on the ground and knocked as if they had telepathy.
"Grandma, did you hear me? I will take good care of mother."
"Grandpa, could you please bless Daddy so that he doesn't fail to cook again tonight? I really don't want to eat shredded pork noodles anymore."
Li Shanglu picked them up from the ground, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He took off his coat and stuffed them into the quilt. "Okay, go to sleep. Maybe you'll dream about them tonight."
After hearing this, the little ones who were originally reluctant to go to sleep immediately lay down obediently.
Looking at the sleeping faces of the cubs, Li Shanglu's eyes showed a hint of tenderness. Those childish words made her feel the atmosphere of home for the first time in a long time.
It’s as if my parents are still around.
After a while, Shen Changyi walked in from outside and tiptoed to their side.
"The young master of the Zhao family has moved away." He whispered.
Li Shanglu responded without raising his head and continued to pat the two cubs to sleep.
"This person is so bad." Shen Changyi said again.
She finally looked up at him, wanting to laugh, "What do you want to say?"
Shen Changyi moved the cub away and got into her arms.
"Fortunately, Shanglu didn't marry a man like that."
Otherwise, he didn't know what he would do.
Li Shanglu sneered in understanding, "So you're praising yourself in a roundabout way?"
"No," Shen Changyi pursed his lips and said softly, "I'm just scared."
If he had not been brave enough and had not realized that Shang Lu actually needed him, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
A little bitterness welled up in his heart, and he whispered, "I'm sorry, I wasn't nice to you."
Seeing him apologize again, Li Shanglu said calmly, "If you want to practice dual cultivation, just say so."
"No!" Shen Changyi was angry, "I'm saying this seriously."
Li Shanglu looked away from his face, a slight smile on his lips, "You're sensible."
Hearing this, Shen Changyi hugged her tighter little by little, feeling each other's beating hearts.
He was lucky that Shanglu gave him the opportunity.
Moreover, there is still a long time to make up for his mistakes, in his long life that will never come to an end.
*
Even though Heaven had given Li Shanglu a new body, and Shen Changyi had helped to channel spiritual energy, it still took her a full half month to advance from the Spirit Transformation Stage to the Tribulation Crossing Stage.
Fortunately, the ascension was smoother than expected. Li Shanglu didn't suffer from many thunder tribulations at all, and almost all of them struck Shen Changyi.
Come to think of it, the spiritual energy that is enough for two people to ascend comes from him, so the way of heaven naturally adds some difficulties to him.
Li Shanglu was in a daze after ascending to heaven so smoothly.
Looking at the rolling sea of clouds and mountains in front of her, she tentatively stepped out of her boots, but found that there was no figure of Shen Changyi beside her.
Her pupils shrank slightly, and she subconsciously looked around, only to see the towering peach tree behind her that almost blocked out the sun.
Petals fluttered down, and Li Shanglu reached out to catch one of them as if he had sensed something. Soon, a calm and distant voice came to his ears.
"Don't worry, Zhu Xuan will go pick up your child. You have just become an immortal and still need to adapt to the immortal bones."
It is the way of heaven.
His mood calmed down involuntarily, but Li Shanglu was still thinking about the five-year revenge, so he kicked the peach tree in front of him. In an instant, all the peach blossoms on the tree fell, as if it was raining heavily.
"I have no form. The peach tree is just an image." Tiandao seemed to be smiling slightly, not minding her offense at all. "Follow the direction of the peach blossoms and you will find the cave where you and Zhou Xuan live. All immortals in the celestial realm have their responsibilities. Rest in the cave for a few days. During these days, you must think carefully about what you can do for the mortal world. Then I will confer the title of immortal upon you."
It turns out that immortals don’t just sit around and eat.
Li Shanglu looked at the peach tree in confusion. He thought he could just eat and live a carefree life, but he didn't expect that he still had to do a job after ascending to heaven.
She agreed casually and followed the petals away. Halfway through the walk, Li Shanglu suddenly thought of a question.
What was Zhou Xuan doing in heaven? Would Shen Changyi continue to do the same work?
Shen Changyi is a sword immortal who is sought after in the mortal world, but in heaven he will probably be just a small follower doing chores for the Heavenly Dao, so she still has to be a little cautious.
She turned back, wanting to ask the heavens for help, but the peach tree she had come from had disappeared among the clouds at some point, leaving only the petals floating around her.
It's really unreliable to walk so fast.
Li Shanglu muttered inwardly and followed the petals to find his own cave.
Along the way, we saw many beautiful palaces and buildings, but we didn't see many people.
The immortal really lived in seclusion as Zhou Xuan had said.
The words that Elder Teng had said that day, warning her about the deep scheming of the immortals in heaven, seemed to ring in her ears again. Although Li Shanglu had not felt how powerful the heaven was before she ascended, when she really arrived there, she really felt some indescribable discomfort.
She always felt like someone was watching her in the dark.
Li Shanglu frowned and turned around. Behind him was an empty road paved with clouds and mist.
Maybe she was overthinking it. How could the immortals in heaven care about a newly ascended immortal like her?
"Fairy, wait a minute."
She suddenly stopped and looked in the direction of the sound. Beside her, a gigantic white dragon was lying. Its scales sparkled in the sunlight, reflecting the water, sky, and clouds, and even Li Shanglu's figure.
The white dragon exhaled a cold breath, and its golden eyes regarded her with a hint of amusement. "You look unfamiliar. Could it be that you are the one who just ascended from the lower realm today?"
Every time a new person from the lower world ascends to become an immortal, the heavenly realm will be shrouded in a purple light invisible to the naked eye, and spiritual energy will be extremely abundant.
Every time it inhaled and exhaled, Li Shanglu trembled uncontrollably. He could clearly not feel the cold after becoming an immortal, but the dragon's breath seemed to penetrate into his bones, making his soul tremble.
There shouldn't be any demonic cultivators in the heavens, so even if an immortal is evil, they can't be that bad. Li Shanglu asked him, "I did ascend today. Who are you?"
The white dragon slowly stood up and hovered in front of her, almost blocking her vision completely. It was like a mountain. She was even shrouded in the shadow of the dragon's body and could not see the sky.
"Who am I?" Bai Long seemed to find it interesting. He lowered his voice and came closer. "Do you really want to know?"
"..." Li Shanglu wanted to throw him some nonsense, but because she was new here and didn't know who she could mess with, she had to swallow it back and said, "If you don't want to talk, forget it. I'm still busy looking for the cave. See you later."
After saying that, she turned around and was about to leave.
"My name is Zhu Xuan."
Li Shanglu froze and turned around in disbelief. "What?"
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