This white deer was merely an ordinary wild deer. Though it walked somewhat faster than a regular person, it could travel only seventy or eighty li a day—nowhere near the legendary immortal steeds that covered a thousand li in a day.
Chen Ganliu rode the white deer, stopping and starting along the way. When he passed through mountain forests, he gathered medicinal herbs; when he passed through mortal towns and cities, he did a little business as well. Practitioners always had their own ways of making money.
After seven or eight days, he had traveled four or five hundred li. He now had more than ten taels of silver, had accumulated over a hundred talismans, and had even refined the crude wooden staff in his hand into a barely usable magical treasure for self-defense.
Every day, he struck more than a dozen Illusion Talisman seals into the crude wooden staff. With steady accumulation over time, it gradually acquired a touch of the supernatural. He only had to point it at someone to make them experience all kinds of hallucinations. Whenever he encountered ferocious beasts in the mountains, a point and a shout would usually send them fleeing in panic.
That day, Chen Ganliu suddenly felt slightly drowsy, so he stopped traveling. He found a large tree, tied up the white deer, and planted the crude wooden staff in the ground. The staff contained illusion magic. Anyone or any beast passing by would see a fierce tiger lying there, savage and vicious, and would absolutely not dare approach. This was the sort of simple, convenient protection practitioners used in their daily lives.
Chen Ganliu first cultivated the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art for a while. He had no idea how much time had passed when a deer's bleating jolted him awake. He opened his eyes, his heart brimming with delight, and thought, The Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art truly is extraordinary. At the same Golden Essence Jade Liquid stage, it is eight hundred times stronger than the Six Harmonies Qi Refining Art.
By then, the sky had grown pitch-black. Clearly, he could not continue traveling. He took dry rations and a gourd of fresh water from the white deer, ate a little to fill his stomach, and planned to resume cultivating once his meridians had settled.
The Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art and Geng Metal Qi Refining Art that his senior martial sister had brought down the mountain in those days were both incomplete sections of the ancient great sect Bronze Drum Sect's foundational art, the Chaos Five Elements True Art.
In its heyday, the Bronze Drum Sect's reputation surpassed even that of the Immortal Encounter Sect. It dominated thirty thousand li of land and was honored by twelve kingdoms.
The founding patriarch, Bronze Drum Immortal, had passed down a single lineage to three friends. After he ascended, his three disciples turned against one another over the position of sect master and the title of orthodox Daoist tradition. They split into three factions and engaged in Magical Combat for hundreds of years. To this day, they remained sworn enemies. Thus, a top sect that had once dominated the age vanished after only two generations of transmission.
The eldest disciple, Qing Xuanzi, inherited the Azure Emperor lineage's cultivation arts and founded the Immortal Encounter Sect, which was honored by the Great Gan Dynasty for generations.
The second disciple, White Daoist, received the Profound Gold Dao Method and founded the Jade Purity Feather Ascension Tower single-handedly. It had no dealings with the mundane mortal world and was shrouded in mystery.
The third disciple, Geng Qiong, mastered the earth and wood lineages of Daoist arts. He claimed forty-seven islands overseas and styled himself Lord of Lian Mountain Island.
The Profound Gold Dao Method was divided into the Geng and Xin Volumes. Its subtle and profound aspects were no inferior to the Azure Emperor inheritance. In those days, only White Daoist had received the orthodox transmission of this method, making it the Jade Purity Feather Ascension Tower's exclusive secret inheritance.
The Immortal Encounter Sect had only the Geng Metal lineage, not the Xin Metal lineage, and it lacked the subsequent cultivation arts of this Qi Refining technique. That was why it could not be counted among the true inheritances.
His senior martial sister had brought this art down the mountain in the hope that, should she encounter an opportunity to obtain the subsequent cultivation arts, she could pass them on to later generations. After all, this Daoist art was not an Immortal Encounter Sect true inheritance and was not restricted by the sect's rules.
The scattered inheritance of the Bronze Drum Sect was not easy to gather. What was more, the other two branches and the Immortal Encounter Sect were as incompatible as fire and water. After all those years, the married couple had only managed to learn of two opportunities. But because his senior martial sister's cultivation had fallen in realm and Chen Ganliu's cultivation was too low, even after receiving the news, they could only gaze across the vast sea in despair, unable to cross thousands upon thousands of miles in search of the successor arts.
Chen Ganliu possessed the Spring Bloom Spiritual Vein of the innate Jia Wood lineage. He was suited only to the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art and could not cultivate the Geng Metal Qi Refining Art. Besides, the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art in his possession was complete, so there was even less reason for him to study the Geng Metal Qi Refining Art.
After more than two hours, his meridians had settled, and Chen Ganliu began cultivating again. Having lived three lifetimes as a person, he always felt a sense of urgency and was unwilling to waste even a moment.
In the mountain wilderness, waves of fishy wind suddenly blew past. Seven or eight enormous snakes with black bodies and colorful patterns slithered by. Their heads were triangular, and anyone could tell at a glance that they were surely steeped in deadly poison.
A crude wooden staff had been planted before Chen Ganliu. The magical power condensed from nearly a hundred Illusion Talisman seals transformed into a ferocious tiger, enough to frighten the wild beasts of the mountains. Yet it could not scare these snakes and insects. The seven or eight enormous black, colorfully patterned snakes seemed to be driven by some force as they lunged at the nine-year-old child.
The crude wooden staff suddenly let out a series of tiger roars. This was a safeguard Chen Ganliu had arranged: if someone or some animal remained unaffected by the illusion and continued approaching, it would warn him to immediately interrupt his cultivation.
Chen Ganliu opened his eyes and saw seven or eight venomous snakes slithering straight toward him. Even he was startled.
It was already deep into the night, but his Qi cultivation had borne fruit, giving him excellent eyesight. The moon overhead was bright as well, making the snakes' black bodies and colorful patterns stand out clearly. He could see them without the slightest difficulty.
Chen Ganliu formed a Thunder Talisman art. After pondering for a moment, he switched to a Shock Talisman art and pointed at the snakes. The seven or eight venomous snakes had nearly slithered up to him when they suddenly shuddered in unison, scattering in every direction. They fled at astonishing speed and vanished into the mountain forest in the blink of an eye.
Chen Ganliu did not dare cultivate again. He merely sat in meditation to nourish himself, yet the person controlling the snakes did not appear even by dawn.
Those snakes were naturally ferocious and had always lived alone. There was absolutely no way they would appear in a group, nor could they have seen through his protective illusion. There was a ten-in-ten chance that someone was controlling them from behind the scenes. Since that person had not appeared, Chen Ganliu did not want to create complications. He mounted the white deer and continued on his way.
Chen Ganliu did not want to clash with anyone. His magical power was still weak, after all. He urged his mount onward, and the white deer stretched out all four hooves and sprinted for twenty or thirty li. Figuring that even someone watching him would not follow that far, he finally let the white deer slow down. After identifying the direction, he traveled for another half a day and saw a village.
Having lived three lifetimes as a person, Chen Ganliu knew that the human heart was hard to fathom. Since he was too young, he could easily provoke malicious thoughts in others, which was why he displayed a touch of the supernatural, making people afraid to underestimate him.
A lone child was easy prey for covetous eyes.
A lone child riding a white deer, however, inspired wariness.
He rode the white deer into the village. The villagers found it strange indeed, yet they did not even dare point at him. They merely whispered among themselves in private.
Chen Ganliu never rested in places crowded with people, lest trouble arise. He only sought out a household and asked for some fresh water. Seeing that the family had some cured meat hanging out to dry, he bought a portion. He paid a fair price, which greatly pleased the household, and they even gave him some flatbread.
After eating and drinking his fill, he deliberately revealed a little illusion magic, sold seven or eight talismans, and left the village to wander onward at ease.
He spent most of the journey cultivating. The journey of more than two thousand li took him over a full month.
Chen Ganliu gazed into the distance and thought, I wonder whether I might encounter some opportunity at Suiyang Immortal Market—perhaps some senior expert will take a liking to me, accept me as a disciple, and guide me in orthodox cultivation?
Suiyang Immortal Market was far from Shuangyun Mountain, and even farther from the Immortal Encounter Sect's mountain gate. Chen Ganliu had never actually visited this immortal market in his previous life. He had sold talismans and bought supplies at Shuangyun Immortal Market near Shuangyun Mountain. His senior martial sister, however, had come here four or five times, selling and buying goods, and had once told him about the rules here.
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