Immortality begins with inheriting the myriad arts of cultivation.

Chapter 123 Gene Lottery, Opening the Cave

The next morning, after leaving Xiantao Mountain, Bai Qing returned to his small courtyard.

He immediately spotted the girl standing at the gate, cautiously peering out. Upon seeing Bai Qing return, the little girl quickly opened the door and timidly called out, "Brother."

Seeing her like this, Bai Qing felt a headache coming on but also a pang of pity. He walked to the door and patted her head: "You waited for me all night?"

The little girl nodded, then quickly shook her head: "Not one night. I cultivated until midnight yesterday. I was going to continue cultivating, but I missed my mother and the others at home, so I couldn't continue."

Bai Qing patted her head before walking into the courtyard and closing the door.

This little girl is actually his half-sister, who is only sixteen years old this year and has the aptitude of five spiritual roots.

Before the New Year, she suddenly appeared in the Immortal City and found Bai Qing.

Bai Qing learned from her that since Bai Mingyu's death, without a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator to oversee things, his branch of the family was in a much worse position than before.

His younger sister was sent by their elders to invite Bai Qing back to the clan to take charge.

Bai Qing, of course, refused to agree.

Although his younger sister was somewhat timid, she was also very stubborn. Since Bai Qing refused to return to the family, she stayed in the Immortal City and refused to go back.

If it were anyone else, Bai Qing might have kicked them out.

However, Bai Qing couldn't get angry at his younger sister and could only let her be.

But he had made up his mind that he would not return to his family now.

Even if he does return to his family one day, he will definitely do so as a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Go back to being the revered patriarch of the family, instead of being a hardworking and obedient beast of burden!

……

Not long after the New Year, Bailin also returned from the High Ridge Mountain.

Seeing her beaming smile, Li Ping couldn't help but ask her what had happened.

Then, Bai Lin excitedly told him that one of her younger brothers had recently been diagnosed by the elders of the family as having two spiritual roots and had already embarked on the path of cultivation.

"Oh?" Li Ping was also somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

Although both are true spiritual roots, cultivators with two spiritual roots not only cultivate much faster than those with three spiritual roots, but also find it easier to break through bottlenecks.

With the aid of Foundation Establishment Pills, the success rate of Foundation Establishment for cultivators with two spiritual roots can reach more than 50%.

With such a success rate, barring any major misfortune, success in foundation building is practically guaranteed.

It's no wonder that Bai Lin was overjoyed with her younger brother's talent.

"This is the gene lottery!" Li Ping couldn't help but exclaim in his heart.

Bai Lin's younger brother is only a second-level spiritual root cultivator. If a cultivation family is lucky enough to have a first-level spiritual root cultivator among its descendants, then that would truly be a case of "even the chickens and dogs ascend to heaven."

Actually, if you don't have any cheat codes...

After Li Ping successfully establishes his foundation, he will probably choose to marry many wives, gambling on the probability of winning a big prize in the gene lottery, rather than going out to take risks.

After all, if one is lucky enough to have a descendant with a Heavenly Spiritual Root or a Different Spiritual Root, that would be far better than any top-tier immortal destiny.

Moreover, establishing a cultivation family is extremely low-risk and highly feasible.

They could just lie around and coast along, waiting for the birth of their precious child to take the ancestor with them.

Most importantly, if you enjoy life so much, even if you don't win the grand prize in the end, you won't have any regrets in this life.

Isn't that much better than risking your life and going on adventures to find opportunities?

Not to mention the possibility of dying young, even if one is lucky enough to live to a ripe old age, if one's luck is average and one does not seize any opportunities.

When you get old, you'll see other people surrounded by children and grandchildren, living a carefree and peaceful life.

You'll regret that.

Of course, this kind of cultivation method, which relies on lying down and waiting for a windfall, not only requires high kidney function but also a high level of luck.

The probability of a cultivator with a Heavenly Spiritual Root or a Different Spiritual Root being born is extremely low.

Most cultivators in cultivation families still have pseudo-spiritual roots, and those with two or three spiritual roots are very rare.

……

Shortly after the New Year, something happened that made Li Ping extremely happy.

After failing to pay rent for five consecutive years and remaining completely out of contact, the Meng family finally prepared to open Master Hu's cave to see what had happened.

Early that morning, a Qi Refining cultivator from the Meng family came to pay his respects to Li Ping, who, puzzled, received him.

Upon seeing Li Ping, the Qi Refining cultivator from the Meng family respectfully greeted him, saying, "Greetings, Senior."

Li Ping nodded calmly: "What brings you to see me?"

"It's like this," Meng Jialian said respectfully. "Senior Hu, who lives in the cave next door, has not been heard from for five years, and has not paid rent during this time. My ancestor is worried that there might be some problem with his cultivation, so he wants to open the formation of Senior Hu's cave to find out."

While secretly delighted, Li Ping remained outwardly calm and nodded to signal him to continue.

Meng Jialian quickly explained, "However, my Meng family has great respect for all the seniors living on the mountain, and we also respect their privacy. Opening Senior Hu's cave formation this time was truly a last resort. To avoid any damage to Senior Hu's belongings, my ancestor would like to ask the seniors on the mountain to be our witnesses."

"I see..." Li Ping finally understood why he had come.

He immediately nodded in agreement: "As a good friend of Fellow Daoist Hu, I am also very concerned about his recent situation. Witnessing this is no problem at all. Please take me there now."

The mission was successfully completed, and Meng Jialian nodded with great joy: "Thank you for your understanding, senior."

Guided by Meng Jialian's energy, Li Ping soon arrived at the square in front of Hu Feng's cave.

At this moment, the Meng family patriarch was already waiting in the square. In addition to the Meng family patriarch, there were several other figures chatting idly on the side.

Li Ping recognized that these figures were all craftsmen living on Immortal Peach Mountain, including Wu Feng, a weapon refiner whom Li Ping knew.

Upon seeing Li Ping's arrival, the Meng family patriarch smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Li, thank you for making this trip. Please wait a moment, as there are a few other fellow Daoists who have not yet arrived."

"Okay." Li Ping nodded with a smile.

He then walked over to the group of cultivators and greeted them.

"Fellow Daoist Li, you are friends with Fellow Daoist Hu Feng, don't you know anything about him?" Wu Feng asked curiously upon seeing Li Ping arrive.

Upon hearing this, Li Ping simply shook his head and said with a wry smile, "I haven't seen him for several years either, and my visits have all ended in failure."

Upon hearing this, the group simply exchanged smiles and didn't take it to heart.

They all guessed that Hu Feng must have already left the Immortal City.

As for not notifying the Meng family to resolve the lease... perhaps Hu Feng was too lazy to say.

It's quite normal for a second-tier high-grade alchemy master to have a bit of an eccentric personality.

Li Ping chuckled and agreed with everyone's guess.

After waiting for a while, two more people arrived in the square.

By this time, most of the artisans from Xiantao Mountain had come over.

Those who didn't come either had something to do at Xiantao Mountain or were too busy to get away.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the Meng family patriarch did not wait any longer. He walked up to them, smiled, and cupped his hands, saying, "I thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to come here."

Li Ping and the others quickly returned the greeting, saying they dared not.

The patriarch of the Meng family was a Foundation Establishment cultivator and also led such a powerful cultivation family as the Meng family. He politely addressed Li Ping and the others as fellow Daoists, so how could Li Ping and the others dare to really act arrogantly?

"I'm sure you all know why I've invited you all here," the Meng family patriarch shook his head and explained. "Fellow Daoist Hu Feng has been out of contact for five years. I'm very worried that he might have encountered some mishap while practicing his cultivation."

"Therefore, I am opening his cave today to take a look, and I ask all of you fellow Daoists to bear witness for me."

The Meng family was in the right to open the cave dwelling, and the Meng family patriarch spoke eloquently, showing great respect to Li Ping and the others. Naturally, they did not raise any objections and readily agreed.

"Fellow Daoist Meng is too kind. It's only right."

"This is only natural, Fellow Daoist Meng, there is no need for further explanation."

……

With the approval of the craftsmen, the Meng family patriarch smiled and beckoned one of his late-stage Qi Refining cultivators to open the cave.

This late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, upon receiving instructions from the ancestor, hurriedly took out a jade tablet from his storage bag and went to the edge of the cave's array to get busy.

A short while later—

"Buzz~"

After a buzzing sound, the protective array shield that enveloped Hu Feng's cave disappeared, revealing the cave beneath and dozens of transmission talismans in the sky.

Many of the dozens of transmission talismans were sent by Li Ping.

But most of the communication talismans came from the Meng family.

As the formation dissipated, Li Ping and the others, at the invitation of the Meng family patriarch, entered Hu Feng's courtyard together.

They waited in the courtyard, while the Qi Refining cultivators from the Meng family dispersed and began searching the various buildings.

Wu Feng and the others exchanged smiles as they looked at the clean and tidy interior of Hu Feng's cave.

As expected, they were right. Hu Feng had indeed left the Immortal City long ago and was probably tens of thousands of miles away now.

Li Ping stood to the side, smiling but saying nothing.

The Meng family patriarch had long guessed what had happened and was not surprised by the current situation. He simply smiled as he watched the Qi Refining cultivators inspect the area.

After the Meng family monks finished their inspections, they returned to the courtyard without a care in the world.

Originally, the Meng family patriarch thought that today's events were just a formality, and that he would leave after the search was completed.

But to his surprise, at this very moment—

A female cultivator at the mid-stage of Qi Refining walked out of Hu Feng's training room, holding a jade slip in her hand. She respectfully approached the ancestor and presented the jade slip: "Ancestor, I found this on the table in the training room."

Upon seeing this, everyone burst into laughter.

Wu Feng shook his head and said, "Fellow Daoist Meng, it seems that Fellow Daoist Hu Feng left on his own. He even left you a letter."

The patriarch of the Meng family nodded with a smile, clearly sharing the same thoughts as everyone else.

However, being a respectable man, he spoke with exceptional grace. He smiled and said, "I was originally worried that Fellow Daoist Hu might have encountered some problems during his practice. Now that Fellow Daoist Hu is alright, I can finally rest assured."

As he spoke, a wisp of his divine sense entered the jade slip in his hand, and he began to read its contents.