Chapter 1

The Kuanglu Mountains stretch for a thousand miles, majestic and towering, with few human traces. Amidst the swirling clouds and mist, several temples and Taoist observatories are hidden.

"Tomorrow is the day of the enlightenment ceremony and the master-disciple initiation; we've finally waited for this day!"

About seven or eight teenagers, around fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing loose Taoist robes, walked out of an observatory, their faces beaming with the confidence of success. Their laughter broke the silence, the echoes reverberating among the peaks.

One could say that the young do not know the taste of sorrow; just a glance at them would make one feel uplifted and full of hope!

"After the enlightenment ceremony, we will be true cultivators!" said a slender boy excitedly, his face filled with anticipation and excitement, but also a hint of worry: "I'm just afraid I won't be able to draw a good enlightenment talisman."

"Yeah, although we have three talisman papers, I'm not sure if I can draw a high-quality enlightenment talisman! If I had Senior Brother Zhao's skills, there would be no problem!" said a fair-skinned, chubby boy at the back, his face full of envy.

"Hey, it's all your fault for being lazy all the time. Why don't you work as hard as Senior Brother Zhao?"

"Right, Senior Brother Zhao, what kind of enlightenment talisman do you plan to draw? I want to try a mid-level fire attribute enlightenment talisman, I wonder if I can succeed."

"Hey, you're really full of yourself. Can you really draw a mid-level enlightenment talisman? Senior Brother Zhao might be able to!"

"Not necessarily, we have three chances! Of course, we should give it a shot, Senior Brother Zhao, don't you think?"

The boys chattered incessantly, but the handsome young man named Zhao, who was surrounded by them, remained silent with a smile, his brows revealing a maturity beyond his years.

...

At the midpoint between the eyebrows, there is a hidden point called the Ancestral Point, which is the lock of the soul.

For ordinary people, the Ancestral Point is blocked by mundane impurities, making it impossible to sense the existence of the elemental energy of heaven and earth, and thus they cannot cultivate to become immortals.

"Enlightening the Ancestral Point and opening the divine light," or simply "enlightenment," is the process of opening the Ancestral Point and enlightening the mind, which is the first step in cultivation.

In the vast world, there are all kinds of wonders. Some people are born with an open Ancestral Point and can see the divine light, which is a rare talent for cultivation. However, such people often look no different from ordinary people, and if they are buried among the masses without encountering the opportunity for cultivation, it is a great pity.

There are also those who, though not born with the divine light, have read extensively and traveled widely, gaining rich experiences. One day, they suddenly have a great enlightenment and mysteriously open their Ancestral Point, which is called the light of great wisdom. Such people, if they enter the path of cultivation, will make rapid progress with extraordinary insight. However, they often miss the best age for cultivation and find it difficult to encounter the opportunity for immortality.

Of course, the above situations are extremely rare and hard to come by!

For the vast majority of people who aspire to cultivation, enlightenment has specific methods and means.

The group of young people belonged to the Yuanshu Sect, a Taoist cultivation sect that primarily focuses on talisman making and driving. The disciples of the sect undergo enlightenment through the form of an "enlightenment talisman."

The enlightenment talisman is very special and must be drawn personally by the disciple. Ordinary pens and ink cannot be used; instead, the fingers serve as the talisman brush, and the disciple's own essence and blood as the talisman ink, to draw a talisman that will influence their entire life.

That night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the New Talent Peak was particularly quiet. The future disciples of the Yuanshu Sect all bathed and changed their clothes, calming their minds and focusing their spirits, preparing to draw the enlightenment talisman. The more impatient boys had already taken out the talisman paper, eager to try.

Zhao Wuming, the young man surnamed Zhao, walked out of the wooden house alone.

He looked up at the bright moonlight and smiled slightly, "The weather is nice, all the preparations were not in vain!"

Zhao Wuming quickly climbed the mountain and soon arrived at a rocky area at the peak. Among the乱石, there were two adjacent rocks, one high and one low, which he had already smoothed out to be relatively flat, like a natural stone table and bench.

Tonight, Zhao Wuming would draw his first talisman here.

The enlightenment talisman is meant to clear the mundane and open the Ancestral Point, connecting the human soul with the elemental energy of heaven and earth. It emphasizes "heaven, earth, human, and harmony," so it must be drawn with one's own body, and it is best to complete it in an environment closest to the elemental energy of heaven and earth.

According to ancient methods: Dao follows nature; so drawing a talisman under the moonlight on the mountain top is better than drawing it by lamplight in a wooden house. This view was found by Zhao Wuming in a dusty, old book in the study. Perhaps because this point was too trivial and lacked substantial evidence, it did not receive much attention from the Yuanshu Sect.

But Zhao Wuming did not think so. He had a characteristic: either not doing it at all, or doing it to the best of his ability! If it really helped, the effort was worth it; even if it had no effect, it would just be a wasted effort.

Zhao Wuming sat on the mountain rock, gazing at the night sky, and suddenly sighed softly.

"Thinking about it, I've been in this world for exactly three years!"

Perhaps because the enlightenment ceremony was the next day and he was about to officially embark on the path of immortality, he had many feelings at this moment, and past events gradually surfaced in his mind.

He was originally named Li Moran, a scholar from a family of scholars, with a fairly wealthy background, so he did not need to worry about daily necessities.

Although Li Moran was from a wealthy family, he was not like other spoiled rich kids who were arrogant, extravagant, and constantly causing trouble. He was known for his extensive knowledge and remarkable intelligence from a young age, but he remained humble and unbothered by worldly fame and profit. His greatest hobby was to hide in the study and read the countless books accumulated by his family, often staying there for days and nights without leaving.

Three years ago, on a quiet night, Li Moran was reading a newly purchased ancient book in the study as usual. Suddenly, he felt a flash of light in the study, and a beam of light emerged from a corner.

Following the light, he found an old bronze mirror in a miscellaneous box. This bronze mirror did not look particularly special but emitted a milky white glow, which was very beautiful.

Li Moran had seen this bronze mirror before; it was probably acquired by one of his ancestors along with some ancient books and antiques and had been forgotten in a corner of the study.

Now that the bronze mirror was glowing on its own, Li Moran was greatly surprised. He played with the mirror and examined it carefully. Suddenly, the mirror burst into a strong light, blinding him. Li Moran instinctively closed his eyes and felt a sharp pain and dizziness in his head, losing consciousness.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself a "reborn" twelve or thirteen-year-old young Taoist, called "Zhao Wuming."

Not only had his identity changed, but the land he was on and the sky above were also vastly different from before. Everything from before was untraceable, like an intangible dream.

"Only this bronze mirror has made me feel that it wasn't a dream!" Li Moran muttered to himself, taking out a palm-sized bronze mirror from his pocket.

The surface of the bronze mirror was not very smooth and had some green rust, clearly very old. Three years ago, Li Moran and this bronze mirror came to this world together. For three years, Li Moran had always carried the mirror with him, occasionally taking it out to admire, but the mirror never glowed on its own again.

"Since I am here, I must make the best of it. Since I have become Zhao Wuming and entered the Daoist path, I must seize this opportunity to seek immortality and enlightenment!"

Li Moran said, placing the bronze mirror on a nearby rock, then taking out his identity tag, a few pieces of silver, and other items, placing them aside.

Without any distractions, one can focus on drawing the talisman.

Li Moran carefully laid out the three green talisman papers, his keen eyes allowing him to see the fine wood grain even in the dim moonlight.

These high-quality talisman papers were made from the wood of a thousand-year-old spirit tree, finely ground into pulp, and then purified through nine steaming and filtering processes. Each paper was six inches and six-tenths long and three inches and three-tenths wide, all identical.

Li Moran placed his hand on the talisman paper, closed his eyes, and carefully reviewed the process of making the enlightenment talisman in his mind.

To make the talisman, he had endured many hardships over the years, laying a solid foundation.

Making a talisman requires concentration, quick eyes, and steady hands, with the entire process flowing smoothly and seamlessly, so it demands high standards for hand strength, eyesight, and mental state.

To train his eyes, Li Moran, regardless of the weather, climbed to a high place every morning at dawn to look into the distance, using the purple qi of the east to train his eyes. This method, if interrupted for even one day, would be in vain, but Li Moran persisted for a thousand days, achieving some success. This level of perseverance was rare.

To train his hands, he held two buckets of water in both hands, standing still in the courtyard for one or two hours every day. Over the years, he not only developed great arm strength but also a very steady hand, with no trembling or deviation.

As for training his mind, the method was even more tedious, often meditating and sitting in silence for days and nights. For those active young people, this was undoubtedly the most painful, but Li Moran could persist.

A solid foundation gave Li Moran many advantages in making talismans, which was why his fellow disciples were very optimistic about him.

"Three talisman papers, three chances!" Li Moran thought to himself, "I'll give it a shot!"

He had more than a 60% chance of successfully making a mid-level enlightenment talisman on the first try, but he had higher expectations for himself.

"The quality of the enlightenment talisman is closely related to future cultivation. If I can make a high-level enlightenment talisman, that would be best!"

Li Moran deliberated repeatedly. The techniques required for a high-level enlightenment talisman were very complex, demanding high standards for eyes, hands, and mind. Even with his diligent efforts and solid foundation, he had only a slim chance of making a high-level enlightenment talisman.

The talisman paper for making the enlightenment talisman was very precious, and each disciple only had three sheets, giving him only three chances.

"Either not doing it at all, or doing it to the best of my ability!"

Li Moran made up his mind to try making a high-level enlightenment talisman.

Under the moonlight, on the mountain rock, he sat alone, calm and focused.

What Li Moran did not notice was that the bronze mirror he had placed aside was gradually emitting a faint glow under the moonlight.

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End of the page.