Chapter 1

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The night was as dark as ink, enveloping the entire space. In the darkness, a vast mountain loomed, towering into the clouds, faintly visible. From the window, it looked like an unknown prehistoric beast, silently standing between heaven and earth, its sinister appearance highlighted by the occasional flash of lightning.

At the foot of the mountain, dozens of small courtyards with green-tiled roofs were scattered in an orderly manner. Faint glimmers of light seeped out from these courtyards, quickly swallowed by the dense night.

“Sss!”

A sharp, piercing sound accompanied a tree-like lightning bolt that streaked across the sky, casting a dazzling light that vanished in an instant.

In the next moment, a thunderclap shook the heavens, like the furious roar of the heavens, making people's ears ring.

“Clang!”

In a small house, a little girl, about ten years old, was startled by the thunder. She dropped the blue porcelain teacup she was holding, shattering it on the ground. The little girl trembled with fright, her beautiful big eyes instantly filled with tears.

“Big Brother Chuchen, when will you wake up...”

On the bed lay a young boy, around fourteen or fifteen years old. He had a delicate face, and even in his deep sleep, a look of pain occasionally flashed across his youthful features. His skin was an abnormal red, causing great concern.

The little girl gently touched the boy’s face, immediately pulling back as if she had been electrocuted. The boy’s body was scorching hot, but the sweat that dripped from him was icy cold, a bizarre and unsettling phenomenon.

“Big Brother Chuchen, please don’t be in trouble...”

Seeing the pain on the boy’s face, the little girl felt both heartache and sorrow. After crying for a while, she wiped away her tears, sat cross-legged by the bed, and extended her hands forward, closing her eyes in concentration. Her pretty face, like a porcelain doll, showed a rare determination.

In the next moment, a faint, clear light emerged from the palms of the young girl, threading through the air toward the boy on the bed.

The faint, clear light seemed to have a life of its own, like flexible little snakes, entering the boy’s body through his mouth and nose.

As the clear light entered his body, the boy’s expression of pain eased, and his tightly furrowed brows relaxed.

The clear light grew more intense, gradually becoming more concentrated. A fine layer of sweat appeared on the girl’s smooth forehead.

She quickly made several hand seals in front of her, and the clear light became even stronger, almost solidifying. In her palms, six bright, warm, and water-like light orbs appeared, emitting a dense, cool aura.

If anyone else had seen this, they would have been amazed. This young girl, only about ten years old, had already reached the second major realm of cultivation, the “Spirit Water” stage, at the sixth level!

This meant that this young girl could truly harness the spiritual energy of the world and had condensed six drops of “spirit water.” In any sect, this would be enough to make her an inner disciple!

A ten-year-old inner disciple would be considered a prodigy anywhere!

The little girl, however, was unaware of the extraordinary nature of her actions. With all her strength, she channeled the vast spiritual energy into the boy’s body, significantly reducing his pain. Spiritual energy is the foundation of life; no matter how severe the injury, as long as there is sufficient spiritual energy, the life force will be unceasing.

However, this full exertion of spiritual energy was extremely draining. After a short half-incense stick of time, the girl was drenched in sweat.

Spiritual energy is the foundation of a cultivator. Every bit of it is extremely precious. Few cultivators would be willing to expend so much spiritual energy to heal someone unless they were very close, as it is a luxurious and wasteful act.

Finally, after half an incense stick of time, the girl reached her limit. The six translucent spirit water orbs dimmed and retracted into her body. The girl looked exhausted and wiped the sweat from her face.

“It’s a pity. If Big Brother Chuchen had condensed ‘spirit water,’ my spiritual energy wouldn’t have been wasted, and he could have recovered sooner.”

Thinking this, the girl felt a sudden darkness before her eyes, unable to support her fatigue any longer, and softly collapsed onto the boy’s chest.

Boom!

With a thunderclap, the dense night sky, covered by dark clouds, finally unleashed a torrential downpour, enveloping the entire world in a misty, rising vapor.

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Chuchen felt as if he was in a dream, surrounded by darkness, unable to see a single ray of light.

His last memory was falling from the high Dragon Burial Ridge while gathering herbs. If it weren’t for the cursed “example herbs,” he wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.

In the “Biquan Immortal Sect” where Chuchen was, all outer disciples were required to gather three pounds, three taels, and three fen of first-grade spiritual herbs each month to supply the sect. In return, they would receive a portion of the “Spirit Attraction Technique” and the month’s cultivation pills. These spiritual herbs were called “example herbs.”

Anyone who failed to meet the quota for three consecutive months would be expelled from the sect!

The sect was not a charitable organization. It had extremely strict requirements for its disciples.

Disciples with good roots, aptitude, insight, and talent were treated like treasures and admitted as inner disciples. They received superior cultivation techniques, pills, and were cultivated with great effort in other aspects.

Most disciples with poor aptitude could only become outer disciples. Although they still bore the title of disciple, they were essentially no different from servants or laborers. To remain in the sect, they had to make corresponding contributions. The monthly “example herbs” were part of this.

Unfortunately, Chuchen had not met the quota for two months. If it weren’t for the help of his young junior sister, who secretly shared some of the spiritual herbs she had gathered, he would have been expelled by the stern outer disciple elder long ago.

Spiritual herbs are herbs that naturally contain spiritual energy.

Most spiritual herbs look no different from ordinary weeds, but they emit a faint spiritual energy fluctuation.

Any outer disciple who has made some progress in the “Spirit Attraction Technique” can sense the spiritual energy fluctuation of spiritual herbs after their body has been cleansed by spiritual energy.

Therefore, the “example herbs” rule is also a way for the sect to screen outer disciples. Those with good talent can easily sense the spiritual energy fluctuation and make rapid progress in cultivation, while those with poor talent and dull aptitude, who cannot sense the spiritual energy fluctuation, will have limited achievements no matter how much they are cultivated.

Chuchen was one of those disciples with extremely poor aptitude. Since he entered the outer sect of Biquan Immortal Sect three years ago, no matter how hard he practiced the “Spirit Attraction Technique,” he could not truly sense the existence of “spiritual energy,” causing his cultivation to remain stagnant for three years.

Most other disciples had already advanced beyond the first realm, the “Spiritual Energy Realm,” and many of those with good talent had even entered the second realm, the “Spirit Water Realm,” while Chuchen remained at the second level of the “Spiritual Energy Realm.”

No matter how hard he practiced, as soon as he entered a meditative state and activated the Spirit Attraction Technique, he felt as if a tsunami of chaotic energy was surging toward him. He was like a small boat in a storm, always on the verge of capsizing, making it impossible for him to cultivate.

Although Chuchen had countless times doubted whether he was suitable for cultivation, he never gave up. He continued to practice with determination, working harder and more desperately than anyone else.

Even for the seemingly insignificant “second level of the Spiritual Energy Realm,” he had put in a hundred or a thousand times more effort than others.

Because he could not use spiritual energy to search for spiritual herbs, he had to spend a lot of time every day searching for them, often sleeping outdoors.

If it weren’t for his hard work, he would not have been able to barely gather the required three pounds, three taels, and three fen of “example herbs” each month and would have lost his place in the sect long ago.

As the spiritual herbs in the surrounding mountains and fields were gradually depleted, or the fertile lands with high-yield spiritual herbs were monopolized by higher-level outer disciples, Chuchen’s life became increasingly difficult. Each time he gathered herbs, he had to go further and further, and the herbs he found became fewer and fewer.

This time, due to failing to meet the quota for two consecutive months, Chuchen had no choice but to take a risk and enter the forbidden area, the Dragon Burial Ridge, to gather herbs.

The Dragon Burial Ridge is a vast cemetery area where Biquan Immortal Sect disciples are strictly forbidden to enter, as it is adjacent to the deadly Black Mist Valley.

The Black Mist Valley, as its name suggests, is a valley on the edge of the Dragon Burial Ridge, whose size is unknown.

Due to the frequent terrifying sounds and the ink-like black mist that rises from it, even the most powerful cultivators would immediately wither or explode upon entering.

It is said that the founding ancestor of the Biquan Immortal Sect, after reaching an unparalleled level of power, decided to explore the Black Mist Valley. He died from an explosion after entering the valley for less than a hundred meters, and since then, the entire sect has strictly adhered to the ancestral teachings to stay away from this place.

Ordinary disciples who accidentally touch the black mist that drifts out of the valley will die quickly.

After entering the Dragon Burial Ridge, Chuchen unexpectedly found a withered tree on the top of a high tomb near the valley entrance, with a few green spiritual herbs growing at its roots.

Excited, Chuchen used all his strength to climb the high tomb, but he lost his grip and fell just before reaching the top.

Worse still, he was exposed to the black mist that drifted out of the valley during his fall, causing him to lose consciousness.

If it weren’t for his young junior sister insisting on finding him and leading a search team into the Dragon Burial Ridge, his body would never have been returned to the sect.

When he first returned to the sect, he still had some consciousness, but now he was completely enveloped in darkness, seemingly doomed to die.

While in the darkness, Chuchen suddenly saw a ray of unusual light. He struggled and flew toward the light.

This...

The intense light made Chuchen squint, and as his vision gradually cleared, he was shocked!

This is outside the Black Mist Valley!

Chuchen was very familiar with this place; it was where he had fallen while gathering herbs.

Chuchen realized that his soul seemed to be suspended high above the Black Mist Valley!

Could it be that he had already died, and the first place he saw after death was here!

Chuchen was slightly startled and looked down, indeed seeing the bald tomb, with a dead tree on top and a nest of eagles above it. At the base of the tree, a cluster of green spiritual herbs swayed gently in the breeze, their spiritual energy so dense that it was visible to the naked eye.

At that time, it was for these spiritual herbs that he had been “fallen to his death”!

This place, which constantly emits black mist, is so dangerous that no living creature dares to approach, as touching it means certain death. How could there be an eagle’s nest here?

Chuchen shook his head and instinctively looked up, his gaze passing through the majestic Dragon Burial Ridge and toward the misty black fog, which seemed to conceal endless secrets.

A surge of uncontrollable curiosity and impulse welled up in Chuchen’s heart.

What secrets does this forbidden area hold, that it could cause the founding ancestor, who had reached an unparalleled level of cultivation, to die? Since he was already dead, he might as well explore this place he could never approach in life!

With this thought, Chuchen felt his consciousness transform into a large bird, soaring toward the misty black fog.

As he flew into the sky above the Black Mist Valley, he saw scattered white bones on the ground below, emitting a creepy white light in the dim light.

These must be the remains of those who died after entering the Black Mist Valley. The green-glowing ring next to one of the skeletons is the founding ancestor’s storage ring, the “Creation Green Emperor Ring.” How could he die so far from the center?

Why is the Black Mist Valley so dangerous that even the founding ancestor and others dared to enter?

Oddly, there are spiritual herbs growing in many places in the Black Mist Valley!

Shocked, Chuchen continued to fly upward. When he broke through the thick black fog, he saw a massive mountain.

A completely black, towering mountain stood in the mist, its grandeur and height reaching the clouds. The Black Mist Valley actually concealed such a magnificent ancient mountain!

The mountain was covered in corpses, layer upon layer, most of which had been torn apart, their deaths extremely brutal, as if a great ancient war had taken place.

This... isn’t that a blood kirin? A huge blood kirin’s head stands out among the pile of corpses. Could an ancient divine beast have been killed in this battlefield?

Chuchen soon realized that he was shocked too early. The higher he flew, the more ancient divine beasts and primordial demons he saw.

He quickly became numb, but when he reached the middle of the mountain, he saw a familiar face among the corpses, a huge, incomplete Taiji diagram, merged with the earth, with distinct black and white colors.

At the edge of the incomplete diagram, corpses tried to break through, but none could step past the diagram. In the center of the Taiji diagram was an old man with a clear and ethereal appearance, unmistakably the Laozi, the Supreme Elder, venerated in every household!

How could he die here?

Laozi was pinned to his “Supreme Taiji Diagram” by a golden arrow through his heart, and a broken, silver-haired “fly whisk” lay beside him.

The Supreme Taiji Diagram, the Heavenly Fly Whisk, these are all supreme treasures!

The bodies of legendary immortals lay scattered, their magical treasures and weapons either dim or still glowing.

Chuchen vaguely understood why so many powerful beings wanted to enter the Black Mist Valley. The treasures, even if only remnants, would make anyone a dominant force.

For him, just finding the founding ancestor’s relic, the “Creation Green Emperor Ring,” at the valley entrance would be enough.

When Chuchen reached the peak of the massive mountain, he faintly saw a corpse sitting in the darkness, dead for countless years, still radiating an aura that suppressed the heavens and controlled the entire space.

A lightning bolt suddenly illuminated the world, and he clearly saw the immortal who had transcended, leaving only half a body, was none other than the legendary Hongjun Daoist, the Supreme Elder!!!

Thunder rumbled in the sky, and Chuchen’s consciousness suddenly plunged back into darkness.

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