Chapter 3

"Thief, young one, friend—these different titles symbolize Peng Wanli's three different states of mind. But even he was surprised that as soon as he finished speaking, his heart filled with gratitude and relief, and the situation suddenly changed. A vague celestial sound echoed in his ears, and his soul was mysteriously drawn, almost ready to leave his body. This was usually a sign of a spiritual breakdown, but at this moment... the feeling was incredibly serene and peaceful, not at all like going astray..."

"Could this... be the final test for ascending to immortality?"

Celestial music drifted from afar, striking his spirit. Peng Wanli's divine soul responded to the call, about to leave his body and fly to an unknown place, transcending the mortal world. But he forcibly stopped it with his supreme divine will, using his remaining arm to seal his spiritual orifices, briefly preventing his soul from leaving.

"You... what are you doing?"

The young man was truly frightened by the half-dead corpse's actions. The bloodied figure, who had been on the brink of death, suddenly had a divine light in his eyes, his long hair floating upward without wind, and his aura was intimidating—something he had never encountered in his career of collecting corpses.

"My time is short, and I need to quickly explain some things. Friend, what is your name?"

"Me? Meng Yan, my surname is Meng, and my given name is Yan. Got it?"

"Nightmare?"

One word left the true immortal in a daze. If not for this, he would have almost forgotten the prophecy he received before ascending.

"Nightmare, Meng Yan, human Meng Yan, I will open the path for human... Meng Yan... fate plays with humans... and even gods. Even if one ascends to immortality and becomes a god, they are still within the six realms. The mysterious cause and effect... will eventually have a path."

Peng Wanli sighed, "I stayed a moment longer, and it was not in vain. If I didn't resolve this karmic connection with you, even if I ascended, it would become a thousand-year heart obstacle..."

"Why don't I understand? Stranger, can you speak more simply? If you need me to do something, just say it."

"Indeed, I have a task for you, but not for anyone else, only for yourself... as a cultivator, your talent is not outstanding, but this is not my world, and the great Dao principles are different. You don't need to follow the same path as we did."

As he spoke, the celestial music in Peng Wanli's ears grew louder, eventually becoming like thunder, urging him to leave. There was even a subtle hint of restraint, a warning from the Heavenly Dao, which still governed even those who had ascended to immortality...

"Even if your talent is not excellent, the fact that you are in this position is the greatest opportunity. I believe this is not a coincidence. As long as you can make good use of the resources at your disposal, you will surely achieve something... you already have the Phoenix Rebirth Sword, but you lack a main cultivation technique. I have a jade pendant with the Zhu Huang Technique inscribed on it. Follow it to cultivate... also, I never used weapons, but the old ancestor Wu Neng had a supreme immortal weapon that disappeared with him. It is likely here. Find this immortal weapon, and you will..."

By this point, he could no longer hold on. The sealed spiritual orifices were breached, and Peng Wanli could only say, "After you succeed, leave this place. Use your supreme abilities to see this world," before his soul uncontrollably left his body.

As soon as his soul left his body, the flesh became a corpse, collapsing softly. Peng Wanli looked at his own body from a distance, sighing. This journey to a different world had given him insights, perhaps it was fate that arranged for this young man to achieve his own path to immortality...

Suddenly, the half-dead corpse emitted a golden light, a brilliant and dazzling glow like a fire. Peng Wanli was genuinely startled. Even with his knowledge, he could not think of any reason why his body would undergo such a strange transformation after his ascension.

The brilliant golden light from the corpse, as if drawn by something, suddenly shot up and circled around the young man. His disheveled appearance was instantly transformed, emitting a golden glow, and a phoenix-like phenomenon appeared. The light and flames flowed, like a phoenix about to take flight, absorbing all the death energy from the corpse in an instant. This scene greatly shook Peng Wanli. Although he had never seen it before, he was certain it was the legendary heaven-defying divine technique.

...It turns out he had already started cultivating the Phoenix Rebirth Sword!

This exclamation echoed in Peng Wanli's heart. Before disappearing, he had a thought.

When the cloud and the dragon meet, who becomes the cloud, and who becomes the dragon? This was something impossible to know at the time. Who achieved whom in my encounter with this young man? Was it fate that I specifically came to this point in destiny to enlighten myself? Or... did I cultivate for thousands of years just to meet him for a moment and enlighten him?

The true immortal, the ultimate goal of countless cultivators, might... just be the starting point for this young man?

Is it so? Or not? It turned into a divine light, shooting straight into the sky.

The young man, who had absorbed a large amount of immortal energy, stood up, looking at the divine light shooting into the sky outside the cave, scratching his face in confusion.

"Strange, this time he didn't say anything? Before, he would at least leave a message: 'Friend, we'll meet again in the immortal world...' or something like that..."

For those pursuing the path of immortality, successfully stepping onto the right path was the end of thousands of years of cultivation and the pinnacle of achievement. But for Meng Yan, it was just a small episode in his life... a small episode.

His parents were long gone, and for several years, he had been self-sufficient. If it weren't for the strength he gained from scavenging, the nearby villagers would not have entrusted him with the task of collecting corpses, exchanging it for food. He might have starved to death at the age of eight.

Over the years, the young man had no opportunity to leave San Yue Mountain. The endless stream of strangers kept him busy, and sometimes he couldn't understand why they were so determined. They came and died quickly, like moths drawn to a flame. However, the various strangers, with their lives and deaths, created a series of tragic and comedic scenes. For him, who was responsible for collecting and burying the corpses, this was more exciting than anything else, and it was a kind of reward for his work...

One day, he would leave. His father had instructed him to work here for ten years, and he must complete the ten years before leaving. Counting the years, the time was almost up.

After several years of collecting corpses, Meng Yan felt he had changed a lot. He was stronger, digging graves was easier, and his greatest achievement was opening a small vegetable garden. He planted some water spinach, cabbage, and other vegetables. His planting skills didn't need to be too good because the bottles and jars left by the dead strangers, which he didn't know how to handle, were all poured into the fields. Over time, the plants grew exceptionally well.

One time, he didn't know what was in a bottle, but the pumpkins he planted grew abnormally well, with vines spreading over a hundred meters. The pumpkins were as big as carriages, scaring the nearby villagers. After harvesting, they ate for months. If it weren't for the rats in Xiaojiao Village, which grew as tall as carriage drivers and ate the pumpkins, they might have eaten for even longer.

However, nine months ago, he didn't know what was in a stranger's glass tube. The purple sticky liquid poured into the field didn't affect the vegetables, but the peas grew rapidly, shooting out peas with eyes, ears, mouths, and hands, running out of the ground and biting people. If it weren't for the bone club nearby, which he used to kill it, it might have eaten people... After this terrifying experience, he didn't want to pour anything else into the fields for a while.

Collecting corpses and farming took up most of the young man's time. Cultivating was just a hobby in his spare time. He couldn't be blamed for being lazy. The main reason was that the things given by the strangers were all strange and often had ulterior motives. They would hide needles in the gifts they gave, and even the food they provided had sand in it. Except for the Phoenix Rebirth Sword, which he started practicing out of ignorance, he didn't dare touch the other things, including the Zhu Huang Technique, which he used to pad the bottom of a table.

Not all strangers had ulterior motives, but some, before they died, would grab his hand and give him something, saying it was something they couldn't understand in their lifetime, and that he was a person with great fortune. If this thing fell into his hands, he would surely succeed and重现无敌之威...寄托希望于他人，这行为或许不错，但问题是连当事人自己一辈子都没成功的东西，就这么扔来，说自己一定能成...这种东西谁敢练啊！

不过，那些递来功法，随随便便就要自己练上一百几十年的家伙，其实还不是最疯狂的外来客。自己记忆中，疯得最厉害的一个，像是正处于重病，是一个金发的老爷爷，抓着自己的手，虽然口齿不清，但口气比那些修士更大，说他尝试了六千多种不同的材料，终于把光明带给了全人类...也不知是什么意思，听起来像神一样！

再大的口气，终是难免一死。他逝世前，说自己最后完成的作品，没有能够交付适当的人，实在很可惜，说着拿出了一片指甲大小的金属，说只要把这放到脑袋里，就能让人变成神...自己就当成疯话在听，没想到这位金发老爷爷，趁自己一下没注意，重重打了自己一耳光，将自己掴倒在地，起身时，老爷爷已经不行了。

“...芯片...脑中...真是想不到...那边竟是如此的美丽...”

说完这一句，老人就瞪大眼睛，断了气息。而自己将他收埋的时候，并没有找到那指甲大小的金属片，或许...是掉到什么地方去了吧？

就是这许许多多，又形形色色的外地人，让少年的生活异常精彩。不过，截至目前为止，他还无意改变自己的生活...直到命中注定的那一天到来...

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