Chapter 6 (1/2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Changshou, do you still remember the mantra I taught you yesterday? Recite it for me once.”
“Li Changshou! How can you be so afraid of death while pursuing Qi Refinement? If you don’t go all out, how can you obtain your chance?!”
‘Pui, why is Master always changing his att.i.tude so quickly?’
‘These two memories are only tens of years apart. When I just entered, Master was so warm and affectionate. Tens of years later, Master is now—extremely fierce!’
Li Changshou could not hold in his laugh. A while later, he discovered that his Dao Body seemed to still be in a deep sleep. The exhaustion that developed because of his continuous training could still be felt.
‘Is this a dream?’
He had not dreamt in a long time. The higher one’s cultivation, the less they would sleep. Each time they slept, it would feel like this. Since they spent more time training harder, they would acc.u.mulate more exhaustion. Their Dharmic powers might still be full, but they would still require a good sleep to recover and alleviate the acc.u.mulated stress in their souls.
“Old Tian, Old Tian, don’t act like you’re freaking sleeping! Wake up, Old Tian!”
Once again, he heard that fellow shouting with all his might. The wailing sounded far away, but it was still crystal clear.
Li Changshou smiled bitterly. He seemed to turn around in the dark, to face the mess of memories.
As the memories came, he felt as if he was appreciating flowers while riding a horse—it was like he was watching another person’s life story.
In this story, no cultivators were flying around, nor were any spirits in the sky. Perhaps there were spirits, but they were not known to man.
The main lead of the story was Tian Zuguang, and the story took place on an azure planet called Earth.
One could tell from Tian Zuguang’s name that the person who named him had high hopes for him. They hoped that he would obtain honor and glory for his ancestors.
He had tried his best already. Before he turned 28, his life was quite smooth-sailing. However, once he turned 28, he was diagnosed with an incurable disease.
Just before he died, he was seated in a wheelchair, breathing gently. He felt as if the last bit of energy was being plucked out of his body. In his subconscious mind, he was falling into a bottomless abyss.
From the bottom of his heart, he felt an intense indignance. It was like the fire he felt for life had erupted all of a sudden. He held onto the arms of his wheelchair and used all the energy left in his body to stand up. However, before he could take a single step, he fell face-first onto the ground.
That was the origins of this saying, which his best friend in his previous life was now shouting, “Old Tian, Old Tian, don’t act like you’re freaking sleeping! Wake up, Old Tian!”
The memories stopped. What followed was a little break. That break lasted for about three years. The image that came after that became even clearer.
It was of a little boy dressed in open-crotch pants. His hair was braided, and he ran across the field. Very quickly, he matured. When he was seven or eight years old, he b.u.mped into an old immortal. The old immortal took him in as his disciple—that was probably ill-fate!
Ill-fate!
Li Changshou sighed softly. He sealed this memory and kept it in the deepest recesses of his mind.
No matter what, these were the memories he treasured the most—that was true even though the memories were slowly being rubbed away by time.
He could not slack or relax. The environment around him was not as peaceful and stable as it looked.
That was all Li Changshou could think. He turned around in the dark and felt the exhaustion slowly leave his body. He expanded his spiritual awareness from his body and found that there was nothing out of the ordinary. At that moment, he did not want to wake up.
The inertia, which he had not felt in a long time, finally appeared.
It was good that he had gotten another chance to live. He was also extremely grateful to the person who had opened the backdoor for him. He did not know if he was a real ‘great G.o.d’, but…
Couldn’t he have given Li Changshou the entirety of modern life?
Although he could not return to modern life now, he could at least have had a good, stable life if he had been sent back to the prosperous Tang Dynasty or the strong Ming Dynasty. He could have lived his life happily and married three or four women in the process.
In a split second, he discovered he had been sent to a world of cultivation and immortals. What’s more, this world seemed to be the most ruthless, emotionless, and ridiculous of its kind—the Ancient Primordial Times!
Fifteen years after his Master took him in, Li Changshou relied on the cla.s.sics in the Immortal Du Sect as well as the various little stories from his Master to understand the environment he was in.
From that day onward, he lit the green ‘self-isolation’ b.u.t.ton.
That’s right. He came to the ancient world of the afterlife. It was the legendary Primordial Times—the short period between two calamities of the Primordial Times.
Looking down the path of the Primordial Times, the effects of the Great Mage-Demon War were still continuing. The humans were celebrating, but the remaining power that the demons held was still immense. What’s more, with the mother of all mankind—one of the six saints, Nuwa—as their security, the demons remained in the various parts of the world. They continued to dream of their resurgence while they fought against the Qi-refining human warriors.
The six saints had already taken their places. What’s more, they schemed against one another and caused countless lives to be lost for their little pride.
The two elders of the Western School had taken over and practically controlled the West Continent, where there were few spirit meridians. They spread their Western teachings all over, trying to undermine the foundation of Dao Sect non-stop.
The three schools in Dao Sect—Ren, Chan, and Jie—had already risen. The twelve Gold Celestials of the Chan School had just made a name for themselves. They were now the hot topic of discussion in the recent thousands of years among cultivators.
The 10,000 Celestials of the Jie School were gaining momentum as well. From various paths, strong men were rising up and gathering under the seat of Grandmaster of Heaven. They quarreled with those of Chan School daily, but they did not start any fights.
These were the Dao Sect’s best years. The three schools were rising, and bringing the human race up together with them. There were Dao sects all around the Middle Continent. The footsteps of disciples of the three schools could be found all around the Trichiliocosm. As Dao Sect’s Dao heritage spread throughout the Three Realms, Essence Soul Dao and the human race’s cultivators became the mainstream of the Primordial Times.
This was also when ordinary cultivators were at their worst. The compet.i.tion on the path to ascension was extremely fierce. The Heavenly Courts had only just been established a while ago. They acted only in ways that would please the immortals of the three schools. There was no order at all in the five continents and in the entire Trichiliocosm. Cultivators who wanted to grow had to depend on their own hard work and pure luck.
Luck played a much bigger part, too!
The only thing Li Changshou could celebrate was that while his own Master was not strong—more accurately, he was not strong at all—he had some background in the Ren School.
Still, Li Changshou strongly suspected that the Immortal Du Sect’s true founder was just Perfected Du’e’s disciple in name.
As for West Kun Lun’s Perfected Du’e, the only thing Li Changshou could recall was that this immortal had nurtured disciples during the Great G.o.d-Conferment War. He was then named General Heng of the Heng-Ha Generals. The rest were just irrelevant rumors.
Li Changshou was also 80% sure that Perfected Du’e was just Grand Pure One’s disciple in name. Among all the celestials, he did not rank highly at all.
As for Li Changshou, he had no background, no mystical abilities, and no luck. How could he make a name for himself in this age?