Chapter 1: Revitalizing the Cultivation World (Progress 1%)
The dense forest was gloomy and shady, with dappled moonlight filtering through the intertwined branches. Thorny vines clung to the towering old trees, swaying in the wind like emerald green venomous snakes waiting for their prey to fall into their nets.
Xiao Tingyuan fled frantically through the dense, overlapping forest, pushing aside branches that blocked his way. He accidentally cut his arm on a thorn, but he dared not slow down and continued running despite the excruciating pain.
He only realized the thorns of the vines were poisonous when he experienced difficulty breathing.
He clutched his chest, gasping for breath, desperately trying to inhale more air to stay awake, but the scene before him grew increasingly blurry.
He tripped and fell to the ground. The mud on his wound splattered on his wound as he fell, and another wave of pain kept him barely conscious. The thought of survival made him grit his teeth and get up, staggering a couple of steps to continue his escape.
Judging from the enormous, gradually spreading shadow on the ground, he knew danger was approaching, but he dared not turn around. Seeing the darkness about to completely engulf him from behind, he closed his eyes in despair.
Is he going to die here? It's pitiful that Xiao Tingyuan, the once-proud genius, has lost power and is truly unwilling to accept it.
"puff!"
It was the sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh.
The expected pain did not come; instead, a loud howl of pain from a demonic beast came from behind.
Xiao Tingyuan opened his eyes, still shaken.
He turned his head in fear and unease, and what came into view was a graceful and elegant figure.
The young man, dressed in green, stepped through the air. His hair was half-up and half-down, falling freely with each step he took. He held a folding fan made of white jade. With a gentle flick of his wrist, countless silver needles, imbued with spiritual energy, shot out, instantly tearing open the hides of the demon beasts.
Every move, seemingly gentle, actually struck at the heart of the matter, causing Xiao Tingyuan's pupils to tremble.
At least at the Golden Core stage!
The soft moonlight shone into the young man's peaceful eyes, and even his blood-stained movements, amidst the fluttering of his clothes, exuded composure and elegance.
The monster was quite intelligent. Realizing that the person in front of it was exceptionally strong, it immediately clutched its wound and fled in another direction. However, the young man had no intention of letting it go. With a stomp of his toe, his shadow disappeared from the spot.
The monster struggled to escape, but suddenly felt a chill down its back. As it leaped back, it could only see a dazzling, sharp silver light. The next moment, a thin, hair-like scratch appeared on its neck, and then its entire body froze and slammed heavily to the ground.
Dust billowed as the woman in green gracefully landed. Behind her, the head of the unseeing monster lolled to one side, and a torrent of blood gushed out.
"Are you alright?" The young man walked up to Xiao Tingyuan and leaned down slightly to ask.
The demonic beast that had nearly killed him was easily dealt with in a few moves. Xiao Tingyuan stood there stunned for a long time, unable to react, and forgot to respond.
The young man was not angry. He glanced at the boy's wound, took out a gourd-shaped jade bottle from his storage bag, and poured out a red pill.
Looking at the pill in his palm, he pondered for a moment and then took out another one.
"Here you go." He handed two pills to Xiao Tingyuan.
Reason told Xiao Tingyuan that even his closest friends and family would stab him in the back, so he shouldn't easily take anything from a stranger. But when he looked up and met the gentle eyes of his savior, he couldn't muster any more doubt. He took the pill and swallowed it directly. When he was about to use a second one, the young man stopped him: "One is enough to detoxify."
As his limbs, which had been numb from the poisoning, gradually regained sensation, Xiao Tingyuan belatedly bowed and handed back the extra one: "Since one is enough, I'll return the extra to you, fellow Daoist."
The young man gently shook his head: "This is the very center of the secret realm, and there are many poisonous creatures here. Keep it for self-defense."
Xiao Tingyuan was taken aback, realizing that the other party had seen through his weak spiritual power and inability to protect himself, and was subtly protecting his self-esteem while helping him.
A wave of emotion washed over me, and the eight characters "A gentleman is like a jade pendant, pure as a breeze and bright as the moon" flashed through my mind. They were the perfect words to describe my benefactor, such a humble and virtuous person.
"My name is Xiao Tingyuan. Thank you for saving me, fellow Daoist. If it weren't for your kind help today, I would probably have become that monster's meal." He expressed his gratitude for surviving the ordeal.
"No need to be so polite, I just happened to be passing by." The young man clearly had no intention of seeking anything in return. "I'm looking for a medicinal herb in the center of the secret realm and will be staying for a while longer, so I won't be traveling with you, fellow Daoist."
Seeing that he was about to leave, Xiao Tingyuan hurriedly said, "I haven't yet had the pleasure of asking how to address you, fellow Daoist."
The young man smiled gently: "My surname is Lin, and my given name is Ming."
“Brother Lin,” Xiao Tingyuan said immediately, “If you don’t mind my low spiritual power, let’s travel together for a while. I came to this secret realm once last year, and I might be able to help you find herbs.”
"That would be perfect." Lin Ming nodded, seemingly unaware of his deliberate attempt to build rapport.
Xiao Tingyuan's face lit up with joy, but then he looked somewhat ashamed.
He knew full well that the dangers of the secret realm couldn't be mitigated by a single antidote, and that it would be difficult for him to leave the center of the secret realm unscathed on his own. Following Lin Ming would certainly be much safer. However, Lin Ming's willingness to save his life was already out of kindness, yet he had taken advantage of Lin Ming's kindness, shamelessly asking him to carry this burden who had no spiritual power. He couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty.
So he put in extra effort during the rest of the trip, trying to recall the route he had taken and every flower and plant he had seen on his previous trip.
Finally, through his tireless efforts, Lin Ming found the herb he had been searching for in a cave halfway up the mountain.
"The Burning Lotus, that's it." Lin Ming carefully put the picked flower into his Qiankun bag and smiled as he thanked Xiao Tingyuan, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Xiao."
"Brother Lin, just call me Tingyuan," Xiao Tingyuan said naturally.
He didn't feel ashamed of getting close to a senior who was suspected to be at the Golden Core stage.
Lin Ming didn't mind his friendliness: "Ting Yuan, it's all thanks to your familiarity with the secret realm. This place is too hidden; it would have taken me a long time to find it on my own."
"I found it by chance last year. It's great that it can help Brother Lin." Xiao Tingyuan smiled heartily, and his attitude of not taking credit for it was very endearing.
"Did Tingyuan come here last year?" Having found the object of his purpose, Lin Ming had time to chat with him.
Xiao Tingyuan's eyes were filled with nostalgia: "Don't laugh at me, Brother Lin, when I first established my foundation last year, I considered myself a chosen one of heaven. I wandered around the secret realm and became familiar with every place."
Lin Ming looked surprised.
Before he could voice his question, Xiao Tingyuan continued, "I know Brother Lin must be curious why I, who considers myself to be at the Foundation Establishment stage, have no spiritual energy."
He sighed: "Last year, I was suddenly caught in an accident and fell into the abyss of demonic beasts. When I woke up, my meridians were broken and my wounds were blocked by demonic energy. Even spiritual medicine could not heal me. Since then, no matter how I cultivated my spiritual power, it has stagnated. Later, the more I cultivated, the more I regressed, until I am in this state now."
Lin Ming couldn't bear it: "Judging from your appearance, you are not very old. Reaching the Foundation Establishment stage at such an early age is truly a pity, you are a prodigy."
Xiao Tingyuan himself was quite philosophical about it: "My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens. Sooner or later I will find a way to rebuild my meridians."
Lin Ming's eyes flickered slightly: "A young man with lofty ambitions has nothing to worry about in the future. When I was traveling, I heard about a martial arts technique that can only be learned by those whose meridians are severed. It's a pity that it has been lost for a long time. If only I could find it."
Xiao Tingyuan didn't pay much attention to his words, taking them as just words of comfort.
After leaving the central area of the secret realm together, Lin Ming bid farewell to Xiao Tingyuan and departed.
Xiao Tingyuan stood there, filled with emotion.
Nowadays, the cultivation world is full of evil people who take advantage of others' misfortunes to kill and rob. He's hit the jackpot today.
"Brother! You're finally out." A girl who looked somewhat similar to him rushed over anxiously, pulling him back to reality. "You lured away the monsters all by yourself, we were all so worried about you. Are you alright?"
Xiao Tingyuan reassured his younger sister, "I'm fine. I met a kind person who saved me."
"It's good that brother is alright." The younger sister patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "When you weren't here, the eldest young master of the Shen family insisted on stealing a three-headed snake egg, saying he wanted to hatch it as a spirit pet, but he got poisoned by the snake and his whole body turned purple."
Xiao Tingyuan subconsciously reached for his sleeve, where Lin Ming had given him an extra antidote pill.
“Come on, take me there,” he said.
The younger sister pouted unhappily: "Let's not go there. Ever since you, brother... that young master has been treating you like dirt every day. If it weren't for your engagement with Sister Shen, we wouldn't have had to suffer like this."
"He's my fiancée's brother, after all. I can't just stand by and watch him die." Xiao Tingyuan held the antidote pill and walked forward. "I have an antidote pill here that might come in handy."
The younger sister reluctantly led him over.
"Oh, Young Master Xiao is back. This old servant knew that dealing with that monster would be a piece of cake for you." The Shen family steward stopped Xiao Tingyuan and said in a tone that was hard to tell whether it was flattery or sarcasm.
Xiao Tingyuan ignored him and handed over the antidote pill: "I have an antidote pill here, you..."
"A top-grade spiritual medicine!" The steward gasped. As a cultivator, he could sense the spiritual energy emanating from the antidote pill. "Where did you get such a good thing!"
Xiao Tingyuan was stunned, not even noticing that the thing he had laid out in his palm was being roughly taken away.
It's actually a top-grade spiritual medicine.
...
On the other side, Lin Ming, who had separated from Xiao Tingyuan, did not leave the secret realm directly, but instead unfolded his folding fan and gently swiped it through the air.
In an instant, a crack appeared in front of them.
He stepped into the crevice and instantly appeared in a special space, the crack behind him disappearing without a trace.
"My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens." He held a blooming lotus flower in his hand and repeated Xiao Tingyuan's words. "When he said this, his aura fluctuated and increased."
"Luck is an unpredictable thing. People with good luck tend to find good things more easily than ordinary people, but they will inevitably experience some setbacks," a woman's voice said.
“Yes, these past few years I’ve often spent time with people of great fortune, and I’m often amazed by their incredible luck and extraordinary experiences.” Lin Ming smiled and looked over. “You’re awake. Didn’t you say you were planning to sleep through another cycle of reincarnation?”
The woman who answered the question had a beautiful face, a languid expression, and phoenix eyes that were neither sad nor happy, vaguely revealing a sense of detachment from the mortal world. Her red robe was extremely luxurious, and upon closer inspection, even the lining of the hem of her skirt was inlaid with an intricate array outlined by special silk threads.
"You should be so angry by now." Jun Huilian sneered coldly. "Back in our generation, we fought like starving ghosts for a small spiritual vein, battling for eighty-one days straight, from Youzhou to Yingzhou, and then from Yingzhou to Yongzhou. Under those circumstances, if you didn't form a core before the age of sixteen, you were considered inferior. But these people, with abundant spiritual energy, are all useless. They're considered geniuses for reaching Foundation Establishment at sixteen. Now, the cultivation world's fortune is scattered and cultivation methods are incomplete. If I go into seclusion again, let alone one cycle, it's hard to say whether the cultivation world will even exist in a few more eras."
God knows how jealous she was of that abundant spiritual energy.
Lin Ming comforted her with a good temper: "Calm down. Every generation has its own difficulties. You said it yourself, the cultivation world's fortune is scattered and the cultivation methods are incomplete. Fortune is an extremely mysterious thing. The righteous cultivation methods are becoming more and more broken due to the monopoly of aristocratic families. Ordinary people who create new cultivation methods will be suppressed. They lack guidance."
"I come from a humble background as a cultivator. For me, cultivation is as easy as eating. I can figure out cultivation techniques on my own by experimenting, but I don't teach others," Jun Huilian replied unhappily. "Besides, every generation has its own savior. Who saves the world twice? How can you have the nerve to exploit the same person twice?"
Lin Ming bluntly expressed her true feelings: "If you really don't want to teach them, then I won't try to persuade you."
Upon hearing this, Jun Huilian raised her eyes slightly. She saw her own furrowed brows in Lin Ming's gaze, and her vivid expression was imbued with a touch of everyday life.
Yes, if she didn't want to save the cultivation world, Lin Ming wouldn't have brought it up.
Because Lin Ming is her alter ego, sharing the same thoughts and feelings as her, only with the "gentle" side of her personality magnified many times over.
Jun Huilian sighed.
She rose from a rogue cultivator to the pinnacle of the cultivation world, falling into a deep slumber to seal away a demonic cultivator who attempted to destroy the world.
When she woke up more than ten years ago, she found that the world was vaguely rejecting her. Surprised, she created several clones to go outside and see, while she stayed in the mustard seed space she had created.
After wandering around, I realized that she had been asleep for a full ten thousand years. During those ten thousand years, the cultivation world had a period of flourishing development, but it has gradually declined in the last two thousand years. Today, not only is it difficult to even see a cultivator at the Integration stage, but all kinds of cultivation techniques, talismans, formations, and alchemy techniques have become rare treasures.
No wonder she was rejected. Her status as a half-step Ascension Tribulation Stage Great Perfection cultivator was conspicuous among the Mahayana Stage cultivators, let alone the fact that there are very few Integration Stage cultivators now.
Logically speaking, the law of nature dictates that prosperity must eventually decline and adversity must eventually turn into prosperity. If she felt rejected, she should have immediately ascended to heaven on the spot. However, she received a request for help from the consciousness of the Heavenly Dao.
The consciousness of Heaven succinctly and concisely expresses its grievances:
It's all over. We've messed up. Our fortune has gone awry. It's hit rock bottom and there's no rebound. Our fortune is dissipating and the cultivation world is doomed. Only human intervention can re-coalesce it.
It cannot communicate with ordinary people; only she, who has reached the halfway point of immortality, can hear its voice. It promises that as long as she saves the cultivation world again, the merit she receives will allow her to ascend and roam freely in the upper realm.
At that time, Jun Huilian felt the unprecedented abundance of spiritual energy around him. He "saw" his clones and found that the current cultivation families were all busy scheming against each other and not making any progress. He felt both sorry for their misfortune and angry at their lack of ambition. He was so angry that he went back to seclusion and let his clones continue their travels.
But in fact, she had already softened her stance, otherwise she wouldn't have stayed and allowed Lin Ming to study the concept of destiny and persuade her.
Her conversation with Lin Ming was actually a process of self-persuasion.
"Forget it, it's my hometown after all. I can curse all I want, but I can't really ignore it." Jun Huilian muttered to himself, then turned and walked deeper into the mustard seed space.
Lin Ming smiled and followed leisurely.
A note from the author:
----------------------
A lighthearted ensemble fantasy cultivation story; I hope you all enjoy it, and thank you for your support! d=====(￣▽￣*)b
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
