Chapter: 5809

Ye Chen was astonished and asked, "Your meaning is that she has some way to save herself after failing to transcend calamity?"

Lin Wan'er nodded and asked Ye Chen, "Have you ever heard of Sān Xiān?"

Ye Chen shook his head subconsciously, indicating he hadn't.

Lin Wan'er said, "In the legends about cultivation, there's a saying that if one successfully transcends calamity, they'll become an immortal. If they fail, they'll be reduced to ashes. However, aside from these two possibilities, there's actually another way: during the moment of failure, they can break free and become Sān Xiān, thus regaining their physical form and cultivation. However, this would mean that they wouldn't have a chance to transcend calamity again in this lifetime."

Ye Chen was astonished and asked, "That's so powerful? That means that as long as one cultivates to the level of transcending calamity, it's like having a safety net – becoming an immortal if successful, and breaking free if not. This is just like when we were young, where getting into university meant a guaranteed job, and failing meant going back to working at the state-owned enterprise."

Lin Wan'er smiled and said, "What are you thinking about? Even if the legend of Sān Xiān is true, it's noted that only a few people can successfully break free during the moment of calamity. The success rate is even lower than transcending calamity itself. In other words, out of 102 people who transcend calamity, only two succeed, and the remaining 100 are struck by lightning and reduced to ashes – except for one person who manages to break free."

Saying that, Lin Wan'er added, "Since you've taken university entrance exams as an example, I'll compare all cultivators who transcend calamity to students taking this year's college entrance exams. Those who become immortal are like those who get accepted into Peking University or Tsinghua University or Harvard and Cambridge - only a small fraction can achieve this. As for those who don't make it, they're basically eliminated and expelled from the school to enter society, with no chance to step foot in campus again;"

"Becoming scattered immortals is like students who are just 0.1 points away from getting accepted into these top universities during their high school exams - after they become scattered immortals, although they lose the opportunity to attend university, they're allowed to continue studying."

"However, they must start all over again in freshman year and keep studying until high school graduation; after that, they'll have to stay at the same level forever, growing old with their studies. They'll be stuck as a high school student for the rest of their life."

"You can imagine it like this - if someone fails their college entrance exams at 18, then starts all over again and keeps studying until high school graduation, only to remain stuck in that year forever, surrounded by friends who are still 18 years old. They'll either get accepted into university and leave or be expelled directly into society, never to be seen again - except for him, who's stuck here like a tree struck by lightning, feeling like a scattered immortal."

Ye Chen's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Lin Wan'er, then gestured with his thumb in admiration, sighing, "You're indeed very clever, Ms. Lin. Just chatting with you has helped me understand what being a scattered immortal is all about."

As Ye Chen spoke, he gazed at the sapling again and asked her, "Ms. Lin, are you certain this is the mother of tea?"

Lin Wan'er nodded heavily, saying, "Certain! Her aura matches that of the tea tree's mother, plus all these coincidences - I can conclude with certainty that this is indeed the tea tree's mother."

Ye Chen nodded slightly and muttered to himself, "If it's really like that, doesn't that mean the tea tree's mother has become a scattered immortal?"

Lin Wan'er didn't hesitate, saying, "More or less, yes. However, being a scattered immortal is just what I've heard about before - there's no way to verify it, so everything else is just my own inference."

Ye Chen nodded and squatted down beside Lin Wan'er, gazing at the sapling with a look of absorption, murmuring to himself, "This sapling looks ordinary, nothing special, just a bit more fragrant than usual... but I can't sense any spiritual energy."

Lin Wan'er noticed his uncertainty and said firmly, "Prince, everything I've said is true. I'm convinced that she must be the mother of the tea tree!"

"Hmph..." Ye Chen clicked his tongue and nodded thoughtfully, muttering to himself, "There are just so many incredible things... truly unheard-of."

As he spoke, he curiously asked Lin Wan'er, "You said it grew very quickly just now. Why isn't it growing anymore?"

Lin Wan'er also looked puzzled: "I don't know, Prince..."

Ye Chen rested his chin on his hand, gazing at the sapling wistfully: "There's a bit of a point to this... truly a bit."

As he finished speaking, he sniffed the tea-scented aroma and unconsciously plucked off a tender leaf from the sapling, putting it in his mouth while muttering, "Let me take a look. What kind of taste will this incredible tea tree have?"

Lin Wan'er saw him pluck off a tender leaf and suddenly shouted loudly: "Prince, please don't!"

The tail-end of Lin Wan'er's "ah" was still echoing when Ye Chen quickly stretched out his hand again, plucking another leaf from the sapling and holding it out to her, saying seriously, "One person's pleasure is not as great as many people's. You've drunk so many tea cakes, you must be very familiar with its taste. Go ahead and take a look, see if it tastes the same."

Lin Wan'er was almost crying, her eyes red: "Even if you were to eat me, Prince, I'd rather you didn't pluck off her leaves! She's waited over 300 years for this moment today, and she only has so many tender leaves. And then you plucked off two of them... it's too pitiful..." JrNovels.com