Chapter 1: A Mysterious Encounter in the Mountains

"Chu Zifeng, what are you up to? Everyone is waiting for you!"

A classmate's voice echoed from halfway up the mountain, but Chu Zifeng, pale-faced, sat by the waterfall in Wanzhong Mountain in City Z, panting heavily and waving his hand at the classmates and teacher above.

"Kojima, I think we should let him rest for a while. He's been sickly since childhood, and the orphanage where he lived didn't have much money to treat him. It's already great that he could join this graduation activity," a girl said.

"Exactly, let him rest for a bit. We'll wait for him at the top. We still need to take a group photo later."

The classmates wouldn't stop for Chu Zifeng alone, and a group activity couldn't be delayed for one person. They told Chu Zifeng and then all headed for the summit.

Sitting by the waterfall, Chu Zifeng smiled bitterly and washed his face with the rushing water. "I really shouldn't have agreed to come up the mountain with these monkeys. Now I haven't taken my medicine for days!"

Turning to look up the mountain path, Chu Zifeng called out, "Aren't you guys that heartless? You all left without even leaving one or two to keep me company! This is a deep mountain. If a fox spirit appears, how can my frail body, plagued by illness, withstand it?"

Chu Zifeng is eighteen years old, an orphan who was abandoned at the door of the City Z orphanage when he was very young. The orphanage director adopted him, gave him a name, raised him, and provided for his education.

Perhaps it was fate, but Chu Zifeng not only didn't know who his parents were, but his health was also very poor. He had been plagued by various illnesses since childhood and had to take medicine every day. The orphanage didn't have much money to send him to a big hospital for treatment, so he had been relying on medication to survive.

Fortunately, Chu Zifeng's academic performance was excellent, and he was admitted to Yanjing University in this year's college entrance exam, which greatly comforted the orphanage director.

Today was the graduation activity for Chu Zifeng's class. Due to budget constraints, they chose Wanzhong Mountain in City Z. Originally, Chu Zifeng didn't want to come because he knew his body couldn't handle it, but he didn't want to be looked down upon by his classmates, so he reluctantly followed them.

"Ah, Lord, I don't need you to give me any great mission. I can walk my own path and control my own future. Just don't mess with me!"

Chu Zifeng shook his head, took a deep breath, and since he was already here, he couldn't just go down halfway. So, he decided to continue climbing the mountain.

"Hey, what's this crystal doing in the water?"

In the clear, rushing water, Chu Zifeng clearly saw a crystal and walked into the water to pick it up and take it back as a keepsake.

The current grew stronger, pushing the crystal to the edge of the waterfall. Chu Zifeng managed to grab it just before it was swept over, but as he tried to return to the shore, his foot slipped, and he screamed as he fell into the waterfall.

When Chu Zifeng fell into the pool below the waterfall, he felt a suction force pulling him down. A vortex quickly formed around him, gradually swallowing him. His vision went black, and he fainted.

After an unknown amount of time, Chu Zifeng slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurry, and he heard the "drip, drip" of water and felt some water entering his mouth.

Chu Zifeng felt that his body was fine, so he wiped his eyes with his hands.

When his vision cleared, he realized he was in a cave, lying in a small pool. The "drip, drip" sound came from water droplets falling from stalactites above, and the water was milky white. The water that had entered his mouth was also milky white.

"Where am I? How did I get here? Is this water poisonous? Why is it milky white?"

Chu Zifeng slowly stood up, recalling what had happened. He remembered falling into the waterfall while trying to pick up the crystal, but why was he here? Was he dead? Was this the legendary hell?

No, his body still had warmth, and the feeling of being alive didn't seem like death. So, where was he, and how did he get here?

Chu Zifeng didn't want to die in this cave after surviving the fall. As he was looking for an exit, his body suddenly went numb, and he fell to the ground, unable to move!

"Is the water really poisonous? This is bad, I'm really going to die!"

Chu Zifeng was panicked. He hadn't died when he was abandoned as a child, when he was sick all the time, or even when he fell into the waterfall. But now, would he die from the water here?

Sss, sss...

When a person is down on their luck, anything can happen.

Just as he was paralyzed by the water, a fire-red snake crawled toward him. The snake was about half a meter long and very thin, thinner than any snake he had ever seen. Most incredibly, it had a single horn on its head, and its eyes were golden, sparkling with golden light.

"Don't come closer, don't come closer, I don't want to die!"

Chu Zifeng was distressed, but the snake couldn't hear his thoughts, even if it could, it wouldn't understand.

Sss, sss...

The fire-red snake crawled onto Chu Zifeng's body, moving around until it reached his neck, where it bit him viciously.

After biting Chu Zifeng, the snake crawled about a meter away and then froze, as if in a seizure. After three seconds, Chu Zifeng saw the snake wither and turn into a skeleton.

"Impossible, what's going on... Did the poison in my body transfer to the snake and kill it?"

As Chu Zifeng thought this, his hand moved slightly, which surprised him. He suddenly stood up, exclaiming, "What's happening? Why can I move again... Could it be, using poison to counter poison... Yes, that must be it... Wait, why is my body so hot... No, why is it so cold... Why am I feeling cold and hot... Ah... Help, it's so cold... So hot..."

The pallor on Chu Zifeng's face disappeared, and his body alternated between fiery red and icy white. It felt like an unknown force was surging inside him, making him restless. He ran deeper into the cave.

The cave seemed endless. Chu Zifeng ran wildly, colliding with the surrounding rocks. Strangely, he didn't feel any pain when he hit the rocks; instead, the rocks cracked from the impact.

After an hour, when the alternating cold and heat in his body gradually subsided, he stopped. He found himself in a stone chamber made of milky white rock.

The stone chamber emitted a soft white light from the milky white rocks. Chu Zifeng couldn't believe his eyes. The natural wonder was so incredible. Outside was a dangerous cave, but this place was beautiful. In the center of the chamber stood a white jade stele, inscribed with many characters.

Chu Zifeng touched his body, feeling that the pain was gone, and he felt no fatigue, which was much better than his usual sickly state.

But in this situation, Chu Zifeng couldn't focus on his body. Driven by curiosity, he walked to the white jade stele. The stele was two meters tall and half a meter wide, inscribed with traditional characters.

Chu Zifeng widened his eyes, walked around the stele, and wondered, "What is this place? Who would set up a jade stele here? And it seems to be made of high-quality jade, with a flowing water-like appearance inside."

At that moment, Chu Zifeng forgot his peril and stood before the stele, reading the inscriptions.

The stele read: "This cave is the Xuantian Cave, the place where I, Xuantian Emperor, practiced before ascending. Any future person who enters this cave will receive my legacy."

After reading this, Chu Zifeng was shocked. His eyes widened in disbelief. "Xuantian Cave, Xuantian Emperor, ascension... Are these the legendary cultivators? Are there really cultivators and deities in this world?"

Calming himself, Chu Zifeng continued reading the stele.

It continued: "I am a person from the Jiangnan region during the early Tang Dynasty. By chance, I entered the ranks of cultivators and practiced diligently for five hundred years, finally achieving ascension. However, according to the laws of the divine realm, any ascended being must sever all ties with the human world, even with descendants, and the cultivation techniques must be taken to the divine realm to prevent them from becoming a great disaster in the human world, leading to endless conflicts. But I did not want to isolate my powerful cultivation techniques from the human world, so before ascending, I left my legacy in this cave and set up an array to prevent the divine realm from discovering it. Even if the divine realm cannot find it, any future person who receives my legacy must not reveal the location of this cave or any connection to me, and should treat it as a new cultivation technique."

After reading the introduction, Chu Zifeng still couldn't accept that there were really cultivators and a divine realm. But everything here was so magical, and if he hadn't fallen into the waterfall, he would never have come here. This cave must be very deep under the waterfall!

"Since the Xuantian Emperor lived here for five hundred years, there must be a way out."

After saying this, Chu Zifeng didn't want to deal with the stele and wanted to find a way out, but he noticed that the stele mentioned a way to leave the Xuantian Cave. However, the exit was sealed by a massive stone door, and only by mastering the cultivation technique on the stele could one open it.

"Are you kidding me? Lord, what did I do to offend you?"

Sitting before the stele, Chu Zifeng thought that if he didn't cultivate, he would never leave, but if he did, how long would it take?

Chu Zifeng looked at the stele again, but it didn't specify how long it would take to master the "Qingmu Emperor's Technique." It only mentioned seven major realms: Body Refinement, Qi Cultivation, Spirit Gathering, Soul Cultivation, Essence Refinement, Deity Transformation, and Tribulation Transcendence. Each major realm was divided into three minor realms: early, middle, and late. To leave, he needed to reach the Qi Cultivation realm.

"Since there's only one way out, I have no choice. Cultivating gives me a chance to live, while not cultivating means certain death."

Determined, Chu Zifeng memorized the cultivation technique and the "Qingmu Emperor's Technique." He learned that the first realm, Body Refinement, aimed to strengthen the body and change the constitution.

The second realm, Qi Cultivation, involved absorbing the qi of heaven and earth, transforming it into true qi within the body, and strengthening it.

The third realm, Spirit Gathering, focused on cultivating the spirit, the five senses, and developing a sixth sense.

The fourth realm, Soul Cultivation, involved cultivating the three souls, making the body impervious to weapons, water, fire, and toxins.

The fifth realm, Essence Refinement, involved cultivating the seven essences, making the body invulnerable to all demons and spirits.

The sixth realm, Deity Transformation, involved cultivating the yuan shen, allowing the spirit to leave the body and roam the world, making the body immortal.

The seventh realm, Tribulation Transcendence, was the peak of cultivation. In the late stage, one could summon heavenly lightning and ascend in broad daylight.

After reading the seven realms, Chu Zifeng continued: "Since cultivation is a defiance of nature, not everyone who reaches the peak can ascend. When summoning heavenly lightning, it is a test of defiance. The lightning can either help the cultivator ascend or destroy them. If they fail, they will be completely annihilated, with no chance of revival."

Chu Zifeng swallowed hard. Cultivators faced such a test, and failing meant certain death. But even so, he had no choice but to cultivate.

"Alright, life is short. I should try everything. Since I have this opportunity to receive the legacy of the Xuantian Emperor, I shouldn't waste it."