I have Immortality In The Cultivation World

Xiao Ran flipped through the Guiyuan Technique, a script of over five thousand words, each sentence accompanied by detailed annotations.

The annotators were not just one person, judging from the names, there were monks, daoists, and laymen; one could say the Guiyuan Technique was explained thoroughly, even the creator of the cultivation technique wouldn't have been as comprehensive.

Born with spiritual eyes, Xiao Ran's talent for cultivation was second only to that of a Heavenly Spiritual Root; after reciting it twice, he tried to practice.

He sensed the faint spiritual energy between heaven and earth, following the meridians to circulate it and refine it into mana that converged in the Dantian.

One cycle of circulation ended, and when he awoke from his cultivation, half an hour had already passed.

Activating the few strands of mana within his Dantian, utterly different from the Qi-Blood of martial arts, Xiao Ran's thoughts churned like turbulent waves.

"Is this cultivating immortality?"

"Indeed, this is cultivating immortality."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, truly, one must not compare between people; no wonder the immortal sects prioritize talent above all.

Temperament could be cultivated, malicious thoughts could be converted, but the only thing that couldn't be changed was the talent granted by the heavens.

In the Cultivation World, those cultivators with low Spirit Roots who managed an uprising either had an extraordinary perception, a demonic-like cleverness, or astounding fortune, which lacks universal applicability.

Xiao Ran worked to calm himself, the chat group he had joined during his rebellious teenage years turned out to include a real immortal.

"True Monarch, why have you taught me Immortal Law?"

"I find you quite pleasing to the eye, and also because you share the surname Xiao."

Find your next adventure on empire

Zhou Yi asked, "Do you know the story of Xuan Xiao Daojun's demon-slaying?"

Xiao Ran nodded, "According to the records of the daoist predecessors, Xuan Xiao Daojun fought to save the world, bravely slaying two world-ending demons, and ultimately ascending on the incense offered by thousands of people!"

"Xuan Xiao also carried the surname Xiao; I hope you can be like the Daojun."

Zhou Yi said, "I have never been much of a good person, but I have always believed, doing good deeds will bring good karma!"

Xiao Ran solemnly bowed in gratitude.

"I shall not disappoint your expectations, True Monarch!"

"You can try to contact Li Chao, the one in the chat group known as King Li."

Zhou Yi reminded, "He specializes in martial arts, has a strong sense of justice and hatred for evil. Recently, after encountering a noble harassing a young girl, he broke the man's three legs and is currently wanted by the patrol forces."

Xiao Ran first nodded, then said with frustration, "Why is it always such things?"

"Probably because it happens too often, anyone would encounter it once or twice, and most turn a blind eye and just let it pass."

Zhou Yi saw Xiao Ran's disbelief, his fingers formed a calculation, which was actually his Divine Sense scanning the area for dozens of miles around.

"In the north, at Yongxing Square, Chen's mansion's back garden, there is a young man who took a drunk girl back, I cut off his kidney essence, you can go and have a look now!"

"Alright."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Xiao Ran browsed through the Guiyuan Technique manual, and from the attached spells at the back, selected one for body transformation.

Mana circulated, his sinews and muscles quickly shrank, turning into a dwarf of five feet tall, his figure leaping and vanishing into the night.

"Sigh..."

Zhou Yi shook his head and sighed, the woman in his Divine Sense had already died, and the people of Chen's mansion were burying her in the back garden.

In the Cultivation World, the higher the level of the cultivator, the easier it was to fall into the demonic path, with Divine Sense being one of the key factors. Having seen too much darkness in the world of mortals, like gazing into the abyss at the same moment, there would come a day when one merges into it.

"No wonder they seclude themselves in deep mountains and ancient forests, the benefits are not just the Spiritual Energy."

Zhou Yi silently recited a purification spell and continued to write and draw on paper, his Divine Sense constantly tracking Xiao Ran's movements.

Half an hour later.

Xiao Ran stormed into the Chen mansion, brutally killing the murderer and carrying the corpse of the woman as he fled through a barrage of gunfire.

Today, the guards' marksmanship of the Chen mansion was a little off, each one turned into a master of outlining!

...

The end of the year arrived in the blink of an eye.

The foot traffic on Top Scholar Street surged, and even the usually quiet pawn shop welcomed a few additional visitors.

Formation and Prohibition could only slightly deviate one's line of sight, and while they are not impossible to twist people's consciousness, being the only one in a busy street devoid of people would make one stand out the most.

Visitors strolled through the pawn shop and found it empty save for the counter and the daoist—an experience less interesting than visiting the antique shop next door.

For instance, the bronze cauldrons from last week, the Sage Emperor's ridden bicycle, Shèlì Relics from high monks, and ornately patterned porcelain vases; even knowing they were fake, people would spend money just for enjoyment.

"We have a visitor today."

Zhou Yi's fingers formed a divination, deciding to go with the public sentiment, and arranged a display rack in front of the counter.

Most items on the rack were Buddhist and Taoist classics, with bronze cauldrons and porcelain vases casually forged and displayed in accordance with profound principles, instantly making the shop appear ancient and elegant.

The hustle and bustle of the day gradually died down.

Night fell.

Zhou Yi's fingertips shone with firelight as he carefully carved a piece of fine iron into the form of a mobile phone, pondering for a moment before refining it into a ring.

"Cultivators don't need to look at mobile phone screens, as they can completely rely on mana and divine sense to replace their eyes, just like using a storage magic artifact—a thought is all it takes to send a text message…"

After more than half a year of enlightenment, Zhou Yi had translated the phone's system one by one, eventually substituting all of it with formation and prohibition patterns, finally crafting the first mobile magic artifact.

At this moment.

An old man with a white beard wearing a long robe came in through the door, his eyes somewhat vacant as he sat opposite Zhou Yi and watched him cast spells.

"Are you an immortal?"

"No."

Zhou Yi said, "But you are indeed a ghost!"

"A ghost? So I'm a ghost!"

The old man looked into Zhou Yi's eyes, which were swirling like vortexes, and the scenes from his life kept reemerging. He saw the surgeries that lasted for two days and nights, ending with him dying in his sleep in a corner of the room.

There was no pain, nor any awareness.

"My name was Liu Hong. Why did I become a ghost, and how did I end up here?"

"There are many reasons why a dead person becomes a ghost, most often due to an obsession, like your concern for your patients."

Zhou Yi explained, "These past few days, I've encountered too much darkness and wanted to talk to someone kind to neutralize the gloominess, to prevent the birth of inner demons. So here you are!"

This was just an excuse. A mere Golden Core practitioner couldn't achieve anything he desired. The true reason was the attraction of spiritual energy.

Zhou Yi cultivated the secret technique of his sect that restrained the mana within him, but as a Golden Elixir True Monarch in the age of scarce mana, the difference in spiritual energy between him and the current world was vast. No matter how he sealed it, some would naturally leak out.

Wherever a True Monarch was present, it naturally became a Spiritual Mountain Blessed Land, the spiritual energy there even denser than today's core of a Spirit Vein.

Liu Hong was silent for a long while, not understanding the sage's words, and simply assumed him to be a peculiar person with strange behaviors.

As a doctor with quite a reputation in his lifetime, and having believed in the natural course of birth, aging, sickness, and death for decades, he suddenly discovered the mysteries of the soul and felt an almost overwhelming urge to dissect himself.

"So what am I supposed to chat with you about?"

"Anything, such as medicine. I am quite proficient in it as well…"

As Zhou Yi spoke, the mobile phone emitted beep-beep-beep sounds. He gestured an apology for the wait, opened the Cloud Chat app, and saw that it was a beautiful female avatar flashing.

Game, 36 Bing, Passionate, 25, Number Nine: "Brother Bai Long, please help me rank up!"

Zhou Yi skimmed the long memo, instantly recognized who it was, and replied without changing his expression, "I have a guest in the shop today, I'll take you to Emperor rank tomorrow."

Number Nine sent a voice message: "But, Brother Bai Long, I want to rank up now."

Image, image, image.

Liu Hong was dumbfounded, watching as the sagely aura and celestial energy of the road before collapsed, plummeting the Daoist into the realm of ordinary mortals. With his fears allayed, he made a meaningful comment.

"Based on my years of medical experience, either those photos are fake, or her looks are not real!"

"Cough cough cough, as long as it makes you happy, there's no need to be so serious."

Zhou Yi's face flushed slightly as he turned the mobile phone face down on the counter, actually switching to using his divine sense to chat idly with Number Nine.

"I understand, I understand."

Liu Hong, ever the old chatterbox, animatedly winked and found the whole thing quite amusing, recalling the strange tales he heard in his lifetime, possibly alluding to existences like this Daoist.

"Let's chat about medicine then!"

Zhou Yi and Liu Hong then discussed medicine, from modern to ancient times, and from the flesh to the soul.

One was a quirky oldtimer who knew about the past and present, and the other was a new ghost with superb medical skills. The simple phrase "studying medicine to save people" could spark a debate that lasted all night, and before they knew it, dawn was approaching.

Tales of ghosts in the night.

"Old Liu, why don't you stay a few more nights?"

Zhou Yi said, not yet satisfied, "I once read an ancient text, written by a famous Da Qian physician, which recorded more than a dozen lost secret prescriptions."

"I think I'll go see my son before the break of dawn and enter the cycle of reincarnation early. Perhaps I'll get to see my wife who passed away two years ago."

Liu Hong shook his head in refusal, his expression serene, "Before death...I mean after death, meeting you, Daoist, is also quite a remarkable encounter!"

With that, he gave a cupped-hand salute and drifted away from the pawnshop.

Zhou Yi formed a spell sign and executed the Buddhist reincarnation secret technique, a trace of profound spiritual light falling into Liu Hong's body, which in the next life might enable him to penetrate the confusion within the womb and inherit his previous wisdom.

The Buddhist secret technique was even more peculiar than the way of the demons, and even Zhou Yi couldn't say for sure what the effects would be.

According to Buddhist texts, morally high monks with countless good deeds in their lifetimes seemed more likely to awaken such wisdom, corresponding mysteriously to the virtues and blessings of their karma.

"The Buddhist texts and cultivation techniques, all enshrouded in the mist of Cloud Mountain, and they're not afraid of people learning them incorrectly and falling into the demonic path!"

Zhou Yi spat fiercely and sensed spiritual energy near the vegetable market entrance. It was so thin it was almost undetectable, yet with no cultivators to refine and consume it, one day it would envelop the entire city.

"Old Liu didn't have deep obsessions, yet he still became a ghost. It won't be many years before we see a parade of a hundred spirits at night…"