Chapter 5

Chu Yun straightened his clothes, and in the wind and rain, he struggled to move forward.

Finally, he stopped at a cave, started a fire, and dried his clothes.

In the firelight, Chu Yun finally felt a hint of warmth.

Reflecting on the past few days, Chu Yun felt a chill in his heart, his limbs slightly cold. In just a few days, he had experienced a great change in his life. First, he lost his love, and then he lost his dignity, being surrounded and almost losing his life.

In his previous life, he was a nobody, belonging to the lowest stratum of society; in this life, he was reborn as a miscellaneous disciple. Although there was some hardship, it was not too unbearable. A miscellaneous disciple was also a nobody.

Being a miscellaneous disciple, although somewhat arduous, was not really that bad.

In daily life, sweeping, collecting some spiritual herbs to submit, and completing certain tasks were enough to be considered qualified. When older, one could be assigned to the secular world to manage some miscellaneous affairs, living a simple and peaceful life, not particularly exciting, but comfortable and appropriate.

At least, in his previous life, he worried about finding a job; but as a miscellaneous disciple, food and lodging were provided, and there was a job waiting for him, with retirement benefits, equivalent to a civil servant's treatment.

For a nobody, getting civil servant treatment was already quite good.

One must be realistic; the so-called breaking through the sky, devouring the stars, covering the heavens, and controlling tens of thousands of worlds are just the protagonist's待遇.

Chu Yun never thought of himself as the protagonist, not in his previous life, and certainly not in this life. He was just an extra, one of the masses, neither great nor despicable, extremely ordinary. Having such treatment was not bad, and it was tolerable.

But now, wanting to continue being a miscellaneous disciple was no longer possible.

Offending that Zhou Young Master, returning to Thunder Gate was impossible; going back would only mean being killed again. He was just a minor miscellaneous disciple, like an ant, and no one would care about his life or death.

Returning to Thunder Gate would only lead to death, so he could only flee.

The farther away, the better!

"Where is the path?"

Chu Yun asked himself, feeling somewhat lost, "But my talent is poor, just a four-element mixed spiritual root, at the bottom of the talent scale. If I join another cultivation sect, I would still only be a miscellaneous disciple. Changing from one miscellaneous disciple to another seems meaningless!"

"Although I have obtained the Wheel of Rebirth, received the inheritance of the Wheel, and gained countless treasures and secret manuals, relying on hard practice of one secret manual will never make me a supreme expert; practicing in isolation will never make me strong. Wealth, companions, methods, and territory, none of these can be lacking, and it seems I lack everything!"

Chu Yun recalled the past and the future, with confusion, fear, and various complex emotions flashing through his mind, but his resolve grew firmer.

"I will not be an ant!"

...

Days passed, and a month went by, but Chu Yun still did not return to Thunder Gate.

The head of the miscellaneous disciples at Thunder Gate crossed out Chu Yun's name, considering him dead.

According to the rules of Thunder Gate, if a disciple does not return within a month and has not taken leave from the elder, they are considered expelled or dead. Chu Yun had not returned for a month, and in the eyes of the Thunder Gate elders, he was likely to have perished in the Thunder Gate mountains.

Cultivation is risky, and there is no safe haven in the world.

Every year, some miscellaneous disciples die while collecting herbs, either falling off cliffs, being eaten by beasts, or being killed by others. Such examples are numerous, and no one is surprised anymore.

"A month has passed, and the miscellaneous disciple Chu Yun is dead!"

The head of the miscellaneous disciples at Thunder Gate wrote this, considering it Chu Yun's death report.

The number of miscellaneous disciples at Thunder Gate was too large. When one batch died, another batch would replace them, like a river, continuous and endless, and no one cared.

The miscellaneous disciple Chu Yun thus "died."

A miscellaneous disciple was just the lowest role; if he died, no one cared.

No one cared about the fate of a minor character!

Only one person cared, and that was Ziling.

In a mountain range, with clear water and beautiful scenery, a tomb was set up at the foot of the mountain, with a wooden stele inscribed: "Tomb of Chu Yun."

This was a cenotaph, with no body, only a few simple clothes.

Ziling pinched the earth as incense and silently said in her heart, "An innocent man is not guilty, but one who possesses a treasure is. A weak person is not guilty, but weakness is a sin. Brother Feng, I originally planned to leave you, sever our marriage, to ensure your safety. But I was too naive; this world is too cruel... You are dead... It was I who killed you!"

"Once we were childhood sweethearts, with deep affection. If there was no cultivation, no joining Thunder Gate, I would have become your wife, living a harmonious and happy life, respecting each other. Unfortunately, once I entered the cultivation world, everything changed, and I could no longer be your wife, gradually becoming a stranger. The difference in cultivation is like a chasm, and thus, you became a stranger!"

"Cultivation has its own rules, but cultivators are not free!"

Suddenly, a trace of sorrow flashed in Ziling's heart, as if mourning the past and the lack of freedom of cultivators.

"Junior Sister, you are mourning him again!"

At this moment, a man in white appeared, handsome and graceful, with a fan in hand, exuding a noble aura, clearly a charming young master who could captivate countless young women.

Seeing the man in white approach, Ziling reined in her vulnerability, her face cold and indifferent, and said calmly, "Senior Brother Zhou, he is my fiancé, both in the past and in the future!"

"Junior Sister, his talent is inferior, how can he match you?" Senior Brother Zhou's face was smiling, but deep in his eyes, there was a trace of resentment.

"Whether he is inferior or excellent, he is still my fiancé!" Ziling's face was expressionless, and she said calmly, "Senior Brother, your Dao heart seems unstable!"

Senior Brother Zhou said, "Junior Sister, he is already dead. Besides, your engagement has been dissolved, and he is no longer your fiancé!"

"Dissolved? Do you have a formal letter of dissolution?" Ziling asked.

Senior Brother Zhou was speechless; indeed, there was none!

Because it was a foregone conclusion, there was no formal letter of dissolution.

Ziling smiled, "How can we break our word?"

"Junior Sister, I like you!"

"Senior Brother, I am not a suitable match. My heart is on the path to immortality, and matters of love are not for me!" Ziling said expressionlessly.

After saying this, Ziling turned and left.

"How hateful, why is it like this!" Senior Brother Zhou was full of confusion. In the past, this junior sister was somewhat cold, but she still had some affection for him as a senior brother. Now, even that affection was gone, and she seemed like a stranger.

But thinking of Ziling's constitution, his heart burned with desire.

Ziling was said to have the constitution of Weak Water, the best partner for dual cultivation. If he could win her favor and become her Dao companion, he would gain countless benefits.

"Junior Sister, you are mine!"

Shaking off Senior Brother Zhou's纠缠, Ziling came to the book pavilion, casually flipping through books, looking for cultivation techniques.

Now that Ziling was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she had the right to choose a suitable cultivation technique from the book pavilion.

Suddenly, she opened a scroll and saw the words: "The Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotions is not the absence of emotion, not the severance of emotion, not the destruction of emotion, but the forgetting of loneliness! In life, the seven emotions disturb, the six desires confuse, the Dao heart is impure, and the Dao heart is tainted. Only by forgetting emotions can one remove impurities, the heart becomes like crystal, revealing the true self; only by forgetting emotions can one remain pure, the heart like a child, revealing sincerity..."

Closing the scroll, Ziling decided on the cultivation technique, which was the "Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotions."