Beyond the Sky Above Chapter 2

As an outlier among outliers, Ethan was the first demon cultivator who could cultivate to the God Transformation Stage since there were clear records on the Taichu Continent. Although he ultimately failed to pass the tribulation, after him, no other demon cultivator could break through the God Transformation Stage. Even in the five thousand years after Ethan's death, the number of demon cultivators on the continent decreased sharply, and their power was greatly weakened.

Because of this, even though he failed to reach the realm of ascension, Ethan still became a monument in the eyes of the magic practitioners. He was the goal that every one of them hoped to achieve in their lifetime. He was revered as a master by the magic practitioners and worshiped. Even the Taoist sects could not help but shudder when the name Ethan was mentioned.

However, a great master of magic cultivation is now trapped in the body of an ordinary child. Not only that, Ethan had already explored the spiritual energy in his body and discovered that this body only has extremely thin water-attributed spiritual roots.

In other words, he is not suitable for the path of cultivating immortals.

In his previous life, Ethan was a fire-type spiritual root. From the most basic Qi Refining Stage to the later Spiritualization Stage, he practiced fire-attributed techniques. Fire is extremely strong and fierce, and it is incompatible with water. Who would have thought that he would have to start from the field he is least good at in his life again, and his body was not doing well. If any master were to take his pulse, the conclusion he would draw would only be: his aptitude is mediocre and it is difficult for him to make progress.

He is certainly not someone who gives up easily.

Therefore, since his rebirth, Ethan has been meditating by the water every day, and even ran to the middle of a waterfall to meditate, in order to find a path that suits him.

In his opinion, so-called aptitude is only an innate foundation. If one can work hard on it, coupled with the experience of thousands of years of cultivation in the previous life, one may be able to find another way and create a new world.

As a result, just when they had finally made some progress, Brian Zhou showed up and interrupted their good fortune.

Brian Zhou's voice continued to be heard in his ears, as if countless flies were flying around his ears, making his face more and more tense.

Brian Zhou's body is a rare ice spiritual root with abundant spiritual energy, making it a good material for cultivation. Why didn't I choose the right body at the beginning? If he were not my brother in this life, it would be a good fertilizer for alchemy. Maybe I could get out of the predicament earlier and officially start practicing.

Ethan's thoughts turned around, and Brian Zhou behind him felt cold all over and couldn't help sneezing.

Ella had been waiting at the gate of the yard early in the morning, looking forward to it. When he saw two figures, one big and one small, one in front and one behind, he smiled and walked over to pick up the child. However, Ethan dodged and refused to let him be held. His little mouth, which had been soaked in the cold river water, was tightly pursed. His fair face showed a solemn and mature look that was completely inconsistent with his appearance, but it was not intimidating and made people want to laugh.

Ella Shi burst out laughing, and then looked at the two men who were soaking wet, and then frowned: "Da Lang, you took your brother to play in the water again?"

Brian Zhou scratched his head. It was not easy to say that Baoer ran to the center of the waterfall by himself, otherwise it would scare Ella. But he could not make up a lie, so he could only stammer. Instead, Ethan said, "I'm going to catch fish for dinner."

Ella saw the carp in Brian Zhou's hand, and then looked at the water drops on her youngest son's face. She felt even more distressed. Without saying anything, she took his hand and walked back: "Go back with your mother and change your clothes. Dalang, come in too!"

Ethan couldn't break free, so he had to let her go. There was inevitably a hint of helplessness in his calm eyes.

He was an orphan in his previous life, and later by chance he embarked on the path of cultivating immortals and became a demon cultivator. Since then, his emotions have become even more indifferent. Thousands of years may seem long, but for an immortal cultivator, he has to travel all over the mountains and rivers, find a magic weapon that suits him, fight with his fellow disciples, deal with provocations and conspiracies from Taoist practitioners, and most importantly, he has to go into seclusion from time to time to meditate. Once he closes his eyes, there is nothing outside of his body, and it is often dozens or even hundreds of years before he opens his eyes again.

Therefore, in Ethan's view, let alone love between men and women, even family affection and friendship are extremely unnecessary things. They are of no benefit to oneself and will hinder cultivation. This is because not everyone in this world has the qualifications to cultivate immortality. Immortal cultivators are one in a million. Once they decide to embark on the road to immortality, they must give up everything in the secular world.

A hundred years pass in a flash, and when you are still young, your relatives are already gray-haired. Therefore, unless they are a dual cultivation partner, ordinary cultivators will not invest too much emotion in others.

Ethan is no exception.

But he never expected that one day he would have his parents and relatives again.

One day, the woman holding my hand will slowly grow old, her black hair will turn gray, and eventually she will turn into a handful of earth.

The mother and her two sons entered the house. Frank Zhou, the head of the Zhou family, came out cheerfully to greet them. He didn't care that Ethan was soaking wet. He picked him up and gave him a K!ss. He looked at his son's face which turned black in an instant and laughed.

"Did Xiaobao go to the river to play in the water again?"

Ella said angrily, "Put them down quickly and let them change their clothes. If they hold you again, you will get wet."

Frank Zhou said with a smile, "What are you afraid of? I'm in good health and won't get sick!" Then he put Ethan down and touched his head, "Da Lang, take Baoer in to change clothes."

Brian Zhou responded and walked into the inner room with Ethan.

Ella stopped smiling and frowned slightly: "Have you decided where Dalang Baoer will go?"

Frank Zhou stopped smiling, sat down, and nodded heavily: "I heard from the village chief that an immortal will come here in a few days to recruit disciples. I want Dalang and Baoer to go and see. If they can be accepted as disciples, it will be a blessing for three lifetimes!"

There are generally several ways for mortals to embark on the path of spiritual cultivation.

First, there are many people with outstanding qualifications in the family, which have been passed down from generation to generation to form a family of cultivation. Naturally, the children in the family have more opportunities to come into contact with the world of cultivation that others may never see in their lifetime. However, such families are extremely rare after all, and there are only two or three of them in the entire continent.

The second is that as a mortal, he encounters some kind of opportunity and begins to get a glimpse of the secrets. This was the case with Ethan back then. He had no master, but he accidentally got a secret scroll of a senior magic cultivator, and with his own outstanding talents, he gradually achieved the legend that followed.

Third, the immortal sects would come to the secular world to select disciples every once in a while, and then classify them according to their qualifications. Those with good qualifications would be accepted as inner disciples by important elders, while those with average qualifications might be arranged to be observed in the outer sect first, and so on. For mortals, these cultivators were the gods in their minds, so from ordinary people to royal nobles, everyone felt honored to be chosen by a famous sect.

The third way is what Frank Zhou just mentioned.

Ella hesitated: "But didn't you say before that you would send Dalang to study? I heard that there is a distant cousin in my mother's family who was accepted as a disciple by the immortal of Jinghaimen many years ago and never came back since then. If Dalang and Baoer also... then, then..." She couldn't continue and lowered her head to wipe her tears.

Frank Zhou sighed: "I really want them to learn the teachings of the sages. In the future, maybe the Zhou family will produce two more scholars. But the world is in such a mess now. I heard that Dongyue's soldiers have already reached Anyang..."

Ella was horrified: "When did this happen? When I returned home a while ago, didn't my brothers tell me that the emperor didn't want to fight and wanted to negotiate peace?"

Ella's family lived in the county town. They had been doing business for generations and had some extra wealth. All the children before her were boys, so she was loved and pampered by her parents and brothers since she was a child. This was so much so that when she later married into the Zhou family, there was quite a stir. However, after a few years, the Ella family saw that the couple was very affectionate and they dispelled their doubts.

"We country folks can't understand the thoughts of the court officials. We are afraid that if a war breaks out, we won't be able to take care of the children in the county government and we will have to worry about them. It would be better to send them to learn Taoism. Maybe they can become immortals..."

Ella shed tears and said, "That's what I said, but how can I bear to let my children go so far away? Bao'er is still young, and Dalang is not even fifteen yet!"

"You are reluctant to do so, but how can I be willing to do so? Don't cry, it will be bad if the children come out and see you..." Frank Zhou persuaded her in a low voice.

The couple spoke in a low voice, but the room was not soundproofed, and Brian Zhou and Ethan in the inner room could hear everything clearly.

Zhou Daban didn't understand what his parents were talking about, but he could tell that they were discussing something important, something that concerned their fate and future.

"Dalang, Baoer, change your clothes and come out!" Frank Zhou's voice came from outside.

The two walked out of the inner room. Frank Zhou thought for a while and briefly told them the result of their discussion. Ella Shi hurriedly got up to cook, but in fact she was using this as an excuse to secretly wipe away her tears.

Frank Zhou looked at the confused Brian Zhou and his cold-faced youngest son, and sighed, "Father originally wanted to send you to school, but now it seems that it is impossible. However, if you can be chosen by the immortal, you will be a very blessed person. I hope you don't blame father."

Ethan thought that with his own qualifications, if the person who came was someone from a first-rate sect, he would definitely not be chosen. On the contrary, Brian Zhou would have a good chance of being selected.

Frank Zhou added, "In the past, there weren't so many rules in the village. Now, if we are to send you out, we can't call you Da Lang Bao Er anymore. We should give you proper names."

As soon as the words fell, Ethan said, "Seal."

"What?" Frank Zhou was stunned.

"Zhou Yin, the Yin of seal." Ethan no longer had any hope in Frank Zhou's ability to name people. It would be better for him to just use his previous life's name than to ask him to go around with a name like Jacob Zhou or Zhou Beier.

Ethan's full name is Ethan Yin, but few people know this name, and no one called him that throughout his life. People only knew that he was Ethan, and some even thought that his last name was Ethan.

Frank Zhou knew that his youngest son was born intelligent and had inherited all of Ella's good looks: he was handsome and cute, with calm manners, unlike an ordinary country boy. But he didn't expect that he could even give himself a name.

"Baoer, why do you call yourself this?"

Ethan kept silent again.

Frank Zhou had never been able to deal with him, so he patted his head and stopped asking questions: "Okay, then let's call you Zhou Yin."

Then he turned to Brian Zhou and said, "Da Lang, then you should be called Zhou Zhang."

Ethan: ...

He suddenly became curious about what name this "father" originally wanted to give the two of them.

Three days later, the village chief really asked all the villagers to bring their children to gather at the village entrance. When Zhou Yin, Zhou Zhang and Frank Zhou went there, they saw a dozen people wearing green clothes, with jade hairpins in their hair and long swords on their backs standing there. The village chief was standing beside them with a respectful look on his face.

Among those people, the oldest was the Taoist in the middle, who had a beard and looked to be in his thirties. The men and women behind him were about ten years old. However, once a cultivator has formed a golden elixir, his appearance will remain as it was before and he will remain forever young.