Chen Renfeng carefully savored the conversation he had overheard and guessed, "They might be the Nascent Souls of the Princess and the Great General. They're both cultivators, and White Deer Immortal is their master."
Chen Renfeng had read over a hundred cultivation fantasy novels, and he gradually began to believe in these fantastical events as well.
Hearing this, Chen Qing asked worriedly, "Professor, will they kill us?"
Chen Renfeng furrowed his brows. After thinking it over, he comforted them, "Don't worry. Nascent Souls can only flee, and their spells can't hurt us. Keep looking for something to eat. I'll go watch the edge of the jade pendant again."
Chen Qing carried Bai Xue away on his back.
At the edge of the grassland, Chen Renfeng lay on the ground and looked out at the world beyond.
Chen Tuan was strolling idly through the garden when he suddenly pointed toward where Qing Shi had left and said in surprise, "Why are there three roses here?"
Ancestor Lu glanced over. The yellow, purple, and black roses were blooming with extraordinary splendor. He quickly came to a conclusion and said, "Qing Shi lost his White Stone, causing his primordial spirit to scatter and Spiritual Energy to leak out. These three roses gained their opportunity from it."
Seeing this, Chen Tuan said, "Ancestor Lu, Qing Shi nurtured these three roses. It seems he has created a sinful entanglement."
Hearing this, White Deer transformed into her beast form and charged forward, intending to swallow the three roses in one bite. Ancestor Lu swept his sleeve, and the three roses disappeared into it. He then nodded and said, "Qing Shi and Bai Yu must also pass through the Three Emotions Trial during this journey through the mortal world. Tunan, arrange these three roses properly."
Chen Tuan acknowledged the order. He formed a spell with his left hand and waved the Cosmos Jade Brush with his right. Three figures appeared in the painting, lines connecting them to Qing Shi. The Karma Value above Qing Shi's head flickered.
White Deer had lost her chance and lunged at empty air. Feeling indignant, she pounced toward Chen Tuan.
Ancestor Lu stopped her and said with a smile, "All right... all right, put it away."
Chen Tuan put away the jade brush, formed hand seals with both hands, and shouted, "Complete!" Purple light flashed. The scroll rolled itself up and fell into his hand. He let out a long breath and said, "This disciple fought for this fragment of heavenly secrets and offers it to Ancestor Lu."
Ancestor Lu smiled in satisfaction. "Wood, fire, water, metal, earth, heaven, earth, yin, and yang: nine. With humanity added, that makes ten—the number of heaven is complete. These nine stories are like thieves who stole the truth of the human world. They are also a mirror of an age of chaos."
Chen Renfeng was completely bewildered by what he overheard, but he did not want to miss a single word.
White Deer Immortal asked, "Since the Emperor likes it, why not bestow it with a title?"
Ancestor Lu thought for a moment before smiling. "This began with the case of Qing Shi and Bai Yu undergoing tribulation, and the scroll also uses the lyrics and melody of Qing Yu An to conceal things. How about naming it Qing Yu An?"
Chen Tuan was displeased and rashly offered his opinion. "Does Ancestor Lu really like this name of frustrated solitude and lofty pride?"
Ancestor Lu flew into a rage. "You unpleasant-eared thief! How dare you mock me!"
Frightened, Chen Tuan quickly bent at the waist and clasped his hands, but his expression remained neither servile nor overbearing. "The world calls me an unpleasant-eared thief. I laugh at the world for being unable to bear the truth."
Ancestor Lu angrily said, "White Deer, did you tell him about my origins?" His tiger-like eyes fixed fiercely upon her.
White Deer Immortal hurriedly denied it. "Emperor, I didn't..."
Ancestor Lu put on a stern face. "Enough! Since this book was compiled by the unpleasant-eared thief and White Deer, let's call it White Deer's Unpleasant Records!"
"The Emperor even insults people when choosing a book title!" White Deer Immortal was somewhat annoyed. She continued, "Numbers reach ten, scrolls end at ten, and readers delight in ten—all of this is derived from that. This long scroll was compiled by an immortal official, yet it determines the lives and deaths of mortals. Why not call it Ten Scrolls of Immortals and Mortals?"
Chen Renfeng thought the name sounded nice when he overheard it.
Chen Tuan nodded in satisfaction.
Ancestor Lu did not object either. He asked again, "Did I revise these few stories?"
Chen Tuan shook his head.
Ancestor Lu's brows tightened. "Did Great Brahma revise them?"
Chen Tuan closed his eyes and continued shaking his head. Ancestor Lu waved his hand, and blue flames rose from one end of the scroll. White Deer Immortal hurriedly shouted, "Great Brahma revised them! The Emperor revised them!"
Ancestor Lu laughed loudly, put away the scroll, and flew off.
After Ancestor Lu left, Chen Tuan stood with his hands behind his back and unexpectedly began singing:
"What I think of lies on Mount Tai.
I wish to follow her there, but Liangfu is difficult to cross; I turn eastward, and tears stain my sleeves.
The beauty gave me a golden knife etched with patterns. How shall I repay her? With a jade from Yingqiong.
..."
Listening to Chen Tuan's singing, Chen Renfeng thought to himself, People lose themselves when they're pleased with themselves. It seems immortals can make the same mistake.
With a sharp crack, a bolt of white lightning flashed past and struck Chen Tuan, knocking him down without warning. Chen Renfeng cried out in fright and reached forward with his right hand. The blood flowing from the wound on his hand somehow tore open the barrier.
The instant Chen Renfeng stepped outside, countless colorful particles rose from the flowerbeds and drilled into his body. In an instant, he was burst apart, transforming into particles that drifted through the air.
Before Chen Renfeng could feel the pain of his body dispersing, a powerful suction force pulled his soul into Chen Tuan's body.
At that instant, Chen Tuan's entire life played out scene by scene, like a film.
At thirty, he sensed Spiritual Energy entering his body and limbs, becoming a cultivator and beginning Qi cultivation. He first opened the Ren and Du Channels, then created his dantian and sea of consciousness.
At sixty, he reached the great completion of Qi cultivation, his refined true qi filling his dantian. He traveled to dangerous places across the ends of the earth and found five spirit herbs corresponding to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, successfully refining a Foundation Establishment Pill. After taking it, the true qi within his dantian formed a vortex and spun rapidly. It eventually condensed into liquid, while his dantian expanded. Unfortunately, it failed to reach the one-zhang width described in the book and was only three chi and three cun wide. A good-for-nothing Foundation Establishment cultivator, he remained depressed for several years.
At eighty, he reached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. By chance, he encountered Ancestor Lu, who bestowed a Purple Gold Pill upon him. It expanded his Sea of Dantian to a width of one zhang, and a Foundation Establishment cultivator's lifespan increased to two hundred years. Chen Tuan cultivated desperately, finally filling his Sea of Dantian with liquid magical power at the age of one hundred.
At one hundred, he reached the great completion of Foundation Establishment. Ancestor Lu bestowed a Golden Core Pill upon him as well. After taking it, the liquid magical power in his Sea of Dantian condensed into a glittering golden core, the size of an egg, floating above the Sea of Dantian. The liquid magical power in his dantian had completely dried up.
One hundred-year-old Golden Core cultivators were rare in the mortal world, where Spiritual Energy was thin. To enter the Nascent Soul Stage, Chen Tuan refined Gathering Qi Pills and set up spirit-gathering formations. At last, at the age of one hundred and twenty, he filled his Sea of Dantian with liquid magical power.
At one hundred and twenty, he reached the great completion of the Golden Core Stage. Ancestor Lu bestowed a celestial peach upon him. After he ate it, the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth sensed that he was about to break through and surged into his body on its own.
The Spiritual Energy that was forcibly poured into his body made him unbearably uncomfortable. His meridians were stretched to the verge of bursting, so Chen Tuan could only desperately refine the Spiritual Energy. Above his Sea of Dantian, torrential rain began to fall.
His Sea of Dantian was already full. At that moment, seawater spilled outward, even submerging the golden core suspended above it.
After the golden core was submerged, a massive amount of magical power poured into it.
Irregular cracks appeared across the golden core.
With a sharp crack, more and more cracks appeared, growing wider and densely covering the entire golden core.
"Crack... crack..." The golden core completely shattered. The fragments fell and floated in the ocean of magical power, slowly melting away.
Was he about to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage?
Before you continue