Chapter 1

Holding a five-pound jar of flower-carved wine in his hand, a young man stood in front of a grave on White Cloud Mountain. In front of him was a beggar's chicken wrapped in lotus leaves and two porcelain bowls. As he poured the wine into the bowls, he muttered to himself, "Master, I’m going to the county town tomorrow to prepare for school. I won’t be able to visit you every day from now on. This is your favorite flower-carved wine, aged for ten years, and the beggar's chicken you like. Today, we will drink and eat to our heart's content."

The young man's name was Ge Dongxu, a villager from Gejiayang Village at the foot of White Cloud Mountain. The grave contained his master, Ren Yao.

Ge Dongxu had followed Ren Yao in his practice since he was eight years old, until Ren Yao passed away when he was fourteen. Now, two years after Ren Yao’s death, Ge Dongxu was a sixteen-year-old youth. He had been accepted into the county high school and was about to leave for the county town the next day, so he had come to bid his master farewell.

Speaking of Master Ren Yao, although Ge Dongxu had practiced with him for six years, he knew very little about his life. He only learned his name just before Ren Yao passed away. From the time Ge Dongxu knew him, Ren Yao was a mentally unstable old man.

Ren Yao did not often appear in the village; most of the time, he lived in an abandoned small Taoist temple deep in White Cloud Mountain. When he occasionally visited the village, he was mostly in a state of madness. The children in the mountain village, being mischievous, would laugh and throw rotten fruit and mud at him.

Ge Dongxu, with his kind and simple heart, unlike the other children, would always step forward to protect Ren Yao when he saw his playmates throwing things at the old man. In the end, he would be the one covered in dirt.

One day, when Ge Dongxu was protecting Ren Yao and got covered in dirt again, Ren Yao suddenly regained his senses, scolded the children, and then looked at Ge Dongxu for a long time. He suddenly asked, "Would you like to be my disciple and practice with me?"

Ge Dongxu initially wanted to shake his head, but seeing Ren Yao’s white hair and tattered clothes, he felt pity and, as if possessed, nodded in agreement.

Ren Yao was overjoyed and immediately took Ge Dongxu to meet his parents to formally take him as a disciple.

Ge Dongxu’s parents, of course, did not want their son to be a disciple of a mad old man, even though he seemed normal at the time.

Perhaps it was the refusal of Ge Dongxu’s parents that triggered Ren Yao’s mental instability. He started mumbling and walked away.

From then on, he would visit Ge Dongxu every few days.

Seeing Ren Yao’s madness and his persistent visits, Ge Dongxu’s parents feared he might harm their son and tried to drive him away after a few visits.

No matter how they tried to drive him away, Ren Yao would still come every few days, and Ge Dongxu’s parents would still try to keep him away from their son.

One day, Ge Dongxu suddenly developed a high fever that wouldn’t subside, and the doctors were at a loss. His parents, in tears, were about to take him to the county town to find a doctor when Ren Yao suddenly appeared, picked up Ge Dongxu, and ran away.

Ge Dongxu’s parents, of course, were frantic and chased after him. Strangely, the white-haired old man, despite his age, ran faster than Ge Dongxu’s father and quickly disappeared into the forest.

At the time, Ge Dongxu’s parents, seeing their son being carried into the forest by a mad old man, were in tears, thinking their son was in grave danger.

To their surprise, while they were frantically searching the mountains and calling out their son’s name, Ge Dongxu suddenly ran out from a small path, looking energetic and agile, nothing like his previous feverish state. He was no longer dazed and heavy-headed, unable to stand.

From that day on, Ge Dongxu’s parents made a significant decision to allow their son to be a disciple of Ren Yao, the sometimes mad, sometimes clear-headed old man.

Strangely, after Ge Dongxu’s parents agreed, Ren Yao became mostly clear-headed. However, he mostly forgot his past and didn’t even remember his name. Later, Ge Dongxu’s parents discovered a scar on the back of Ren Yao’s head and guessed that he might have suffered a head injury, which caused his condition. They wanted to take Ren Yao to the county hospital, but he was stubborn and refused, so they had no choice.

Fortunately, Ren Yao, despite his memory loss and occasional mental instability, remembered the practice. He taught Ge Dongxu how to draw talismans, recognize various herbs, locate acupuncture points, and practice breathing and energy circulation. He always took Ge Dongxu to the abandoned Taoist temple on the mountain to teach him, not allowing his parents to watch.

After Ge Dongxu started practicing with Ren Yao, he never fell ill again and became exceptionally smart and quick to learn. He was also much stronger than other children his age. His parents, seeing this, allowed Ren Yao to continue teaching him, though they were sometimes curious about what he was learning. They thought Ren Yao must be a remarkable person with his own rules and didn’t press Ge Dongxu for details.

As parents, as long as their son was healthy, everything else was secondary.

Two years ago, in the summer, Ren Yao finally succumbed to the passage of time and passed away. In his final moments, perhaps in a moment of clarity, he recalled some of his past. Unfortunately, his time was too short, and Ge Dongxu only learned a small part of his story, including his master’s name.

Recalling the moments with his master, Ge Dongxu was lost in thought until the wine overflowed from the porcelain bowl, snapping him back to reality. He wiped the tears from his eyes, poured the flower-carved wine in front of Ren Yao’s grave, and drank a bowl himself, finishing it in one gulp.

A hint of red appeared on his still somewhat childish and simple face but quickly faded.

"Master, after you left, I have been diligent in my practice and have not slacked off. I have not boasted about the skills you taught me or used them for evil. Rest assured, no matter where I go, I will always remember your teachings." As he spoke, Ge Dongxu poured another bowl of flower-carved wine for Ren Yao, drank a bowl himself, and ate some of the beggar's chicken.

"By the way, Master, I have some good news. This morning, I finally broke through to the third level of Qi cultivation. I’m sure you didn’t expect such rapid progress. It’s all thanks to the Bagua furnace pendant you left me. It contains the lifetime cultivation insights of our Danfu School’s ancestor, Ge Hong, and a complete copy of the *Baopu Jiudan Xuanjing*. Unfortunately, I discovered this secret too late. If you had seen this scripture, it might have given you some inspiration, and you wouldn’t have left your disciple so soon." Ge Dongxu reached for a small peachwood sword pendant hanging around his neck. It looked ordinary, but when he touched it, a faint green light flowed over it, emitting a subtle peachwood fragrance.

Actually, there was another ancient Bagua furnace pendant hanging from it, which Ren Yao left him when he passed away. Once, Ge Dongxu accidentally dripped a drop of blood on it, and the Bagua furnace reacted with his blood, merging into his body and disappearing. At the same time, his mind was filled with knowledge related to cultivation, mostly about alchemy.

Originally, after practicing with his master Ren Yao for six years, Ge Dongxu had barely broken through to the second level of Qi cultivation. After obtaining the cultivation knowledge from the Bagua furnace pendant and practicing the complete *Baopu Jiudan Xuanjing*, his cultivation speed increased significantly, and in just two years, he broke through to the third level of Qi cultivation.

As he chatted with his master and ate and drank, he didn’t realize that the five-pound jar of wine was almost empty. At sixteen, Ge Dongxu’s face was slightly red, but he showed no signs of drunkenness.

Seeing the jar was empty, Ge Dongxu finally stopped talking, bowed three times in front of his master’s grave, and then got up and walked down a mountain path.

The path was overgrown with weeds, clearly a rarely used trail.

At the end of the path was Gejiayang Village. Once a poor and isolated mountain village, it had benefited from the county’s tourism development. City dwellers liked to come to the mountains to escape the heat, and Gejiayang Village, located at the foot of White Cloud Mountain, the highest mountain in Changxi County, had also benefited. In recent years, the village had not only gained road access but also saw villagers opening small shops, guesthouses, and farm stays, earning money from home.

To attract tourists, the villagers even claimed that Gejiayang Village was the descendant of Ge Hong, a famous Taoist alchemist and medical expert from the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Ge Dongxu, of course, didn’t believe it before, thinking it was just a story to attract tourists. But after the Bagua furnace pendant merged into his body and his mind was filled with knowledge, he realized he was indeed a descendant of Ge Hong, which explained why his blood reacted with the Bagua furnace pendant.

Ge Dongxu’s mother, Xu Suya, was a teacher at the village primary school, and his father, Ge Shengming, ran a farm stay, serving as both the chef and the owner.

It was late August, still scorching in Jiangnan Province, but the mountains were cool, and with the children on summer break, many city dwellers came to White Cloud Mountain to escape the heat. With more tourists, Ge Shengming’s farm stay business had improved significantly.

Thinking about the good business and the fact that it was mealtime, Ge Dongxu quickened his pace to help his father.

However, before he reached home, he saw a crowd gathered outside his yard, pointing and talking.

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