Longevity Species

The second day of the first lunar month in Peach Blossom Garden was a peaceful yet busy day.

The weather was clear.

Chen Xuan rose a little earlier than usual. After slowly going through a set of punches in the courtyard, he ate some congee and rice, then pushed open the door and left.

In the quiet alley that morning, every household had blackened fragments of bamboo left outside their doors after the firecrackers had exploded.

Yesterday had been the first day of the lunar month. Peach Blossom Garden had set off firecrackers before the courtyards to ward off mountain demons and evil ghosts and drive away pestilence and wickedness. The Heaven's Chosen Longevity Species had led the Ancient People in offering sacrifices to the Ancient Mountain God to pray for good fortune and peace, leaving no free time to summon the people of later generations who had come from outside.

Chen Xuan had only just arrived yesterday, and the first thing he had done was survey the area and plan his escape route. After one night, his naturally cautious temperament drove him to measure this ancient village with his footsteps once more.

In the eyes of outsiders, they would certainly have taken him for a visitor captivated by the village scenery.

There were many people from later generations behaving just like Chen Xuan.

"Daoist Friend Ye!"

As Chen Xuan passed a fork in the road, he saw Ye Kui in the distance, a saber and sword hanging from his waist, likewise strolling around and sizing up the village. His heart immediately lit up.

"Hmm?"

Ye Kui turned his head and glanced at Chen Xuan, who was enthusiastically greeting him from afar. His eyelid twitched, and he immediately turned into another alley and ran off.

This man again!

Every time this man saw him, his eyes burned with fervor, and he was far too enthusiastic... But he, Ye Kui, was one of the protagonists of this world. Encountering passerby characters who were infatuated with and worshiped him was unavoidable.

But Ye Kui was arrogant by nature and was not good at dealing with such people. Unfortunately, the other party was friendly, leaving him unable to lash out. He could only avoid him whenever they met.

"Uh..."

Seeing this, Chen Xuan awkwardly tugged at the corner of his mouth, and his arm, which had been suspended in midair, slowly fell.

In the ancient village that morning, Yan Yushu pushed open the window of the two-story building and leaned out with her graceful figure to breathe the fresh air... Chen Xuan, Ye Kui, the black-robed figure, the white-clad young man carrying a sword, the imposing tiger demon bearing a demon saber, the red fox... One figure after another gathered toward the Heaven's Chosen.

When the morning mist had completely dispersed, Qi Refiners and demons and monsters gathered before the ancestral shrine at the village center.

After arriving, Chen Xuan stood far away in an unnoticed corner.

Qi Refiners and demons and monsters from Red Crow City, the Southern Wilderness, and a few forces that had crossed regions poured into Peach Blossom Garden, numbering over a thousand. In the end, however, only thirty or forty managed to enter the village.

Whether human or demon and monster, everyone had their own circles.

First was Red Crow City. Led by Yan Yushu, whose status was the highest, more than a dozen disciples of orthodox Qi-refining Aristocratic Clans gathered around her. They chatted among themselves, and the atmosphere was the most harmonious.

Next came the demons and monsters of the Southern Wilderness. Demons and Monsters took countless different forms and came in a bewildering variety of species, but many were hostile to one another and fought on their own. Individual tribes were often few in number, and their members preferred to roam alone.

About six or seven demons and monsters had gathered around a tiger demon. The tiger demon stood more than a zhang tall, its body fierce and imposing, chest broad and powerful, packed with explosive muscle, a great saber strapped across its back. A red fox sat on the tiger demon's shoulder, tugging at one of its whiskers and pointing toward where Chen Xuan stood as it gestured and chattered about something.

Apart from these two factions, most of the other Qi Refiners had gathered in groups of two or three, or simply stood alone.

"Ah, it's you?"

A round-faced Maiden suddenly approached Chen Xuan with her hands behind her back. Her large eyes fluttered, shimmering with a flame-like brilliance.

Wang Ling'er.

A descendant of Wang Zhenyang, a great cultivator of the Dao Repository Realm from Red Crow City.

Whether relying on the blessings left by her predecessors or on her own Root Bone, she had every qualification to come here. But apart from her, no one from the Chu Family, Li Family, Wu Family, and others who depended on her family had been so fortunate.

The Great Dao was bitter, cold, and merciless. Many people would be cast far behind. It was a cruel matter that could not be avoided.

"Mm."

Chen Xuan gave a brief reply.

The two had only met once. After exchanging a greeting, Wang Ling'er walked toward where Yan Yushu stood. She was the daughter of an Aristocratic Clan from Red Crow City; that was where she belonged.

"Crack!"

Not long afterward, the ancestral shrine's gate in the ancient village opened. A group of imposing Ancient People, weapons in hand, filed out and glared menacingly at the gathered Qi Refiners.

Immediately afterward, the ancient scholar from yesterday walked out and called loudly:

"Old Ancestor Liu Jiao is ready. Everyone may come in."

After a pause, the ancient scholar's expression turned solemn as he sternly warned them, "The things inside the ancestral shrine are extremely valuable. Many are antiques once used by ancient Qi Refiners. Without permission, none of you may touch a thing. Otherwise, if bloodshed comes of it, don't say you weren't warned!"

The crowd exchanged glances, then honestly followed the ancient scholar into the ancestral shrine.

Before long, Chen Xuan saw with his own eyes the Ancestor of the Heaven's Chosen, the one rumored to be named Liu Jiao.

The Longevity Species.

Liu Jiao wore hemp clothes and straw sandals. His appearance was ordinary, the kind of plain face no one in a crowd would spare a second glance.

He looked very young... completely like an ordinary man in his twenties.

"Time and the years have frozen eternally upon him."

Chen Xuan thought to himself. According to the information he knew, the outside world described this Heaven's Chosen named Liu Jiao as follows:

"In this world, nothing is older than he is—not even the ranked immortals and sages."

The years were a blade that cut away all things. In the ceaseless river of time, mountains and seas collapsed, Ancient Mountain Gods decayed into ash, Ancient Sages withdrew from the world and entered Nirvana, and everything that had once been magnificent was ultimately swept away by wind and rain...

Only Liu Jiao had endured through the ages.

He was one of the few Heaven's Chosen recorded in history to have reached a good end.

"In the beginning of antiquity, who passed down the Dao?"

Liu Jiao's gaze was calm as he sat on the steps, facing the crowd. He continued:

"In ancient times, a Phoenix Bird fell into this world. Raging flames scorched the heavens, leaving a thousand miles of barren land. A great drought struck the world, and food could not grow for several years. Countless Ancient People starved to death because of it. The Phoenix Bird was food for the Ancient Mountain God of this place, and humans had no right to touch it—but without eating, they would starve to death. An Ancient Person rose, led his tribe, and became the first to eat the flesh and blood of the Phoenix Bird..."

"That year, I, Liu Jiao, was eighteen years old, and I married the first wife of my life..."

"..."

As Chen Xuan listened to Liu Jiao muttering about the past, he recalled the records concerning the Mountains and Seas Era in the ancient texts. After thinking briefly, he knew who Liu Jiao was talking about.

Jiang. The Jiang Tribe.

One of the earliest ancient Qi Refiners.

An Ancient Sage born from bathing in Phoenix blood.

The Fire Virtue Red Qi among the Mountains and Seas Twelve Qi had originated from the Dao tradition he established. His "burning mountains and boiling seas" had burned and boiled the hundred thousand ancient mountains and seas.

Of course, countless ranked immortals and sages had later emerged from the path of Red Qi, each shining throughout an era of their own. But without a doubt, the most famous was this Ancient Sage who had waged war against the Ancient Mountain Gods and leveled countless ancient mountains and seas.

"It is said that the Fire Emperor of the Ancient Chu Kingdom, whose reign has lasted through the ages, possesses a thin trace of Jiang blood."

Chen Xuan grumbled inwardly, then continued listening to Liu Jiao recount the past. In truth, these words were old hat, because Liu Jiao repeated them once every twenty years, and they had long since spread throughout the outside world.

Liu Jiao was an Ancient Person who had survived from the Mountains and Seas Era.

Yet this Longevity Species who had endured eternally in the world could not cultivate. Immortal Qi was beyond his reach.

Perhaps it was because of his constitution, or perhaps it was the price of longevity. Liu Jiao could only become a spectator to this magnificent, turbulent world, rather than the one who called the winds and clouds and seized control of its tides.

He had tried countless methods, but he could not even produce a descendant with the aptitude to refine Qi.

Over the course of tens of millions of years, Liu Jiao's old friends had fallen away one by one like leaves blown down by the autumn wind. The Ancient People in Peach Blossom Garden were descendants of unknown tens of thousands of generations of his bloodline. He could only watch all of it happen, helpless and cold, unable to do anything...

Was this truly fortune, or a kind of cruelty?

No one knew.

"How can I make Liu Jiao use the Longevity Species' ability? Heartfast has to make progress too."

Amid the crowd, Chen Xuan rubbed the letter hidden in his sleeve and muttered inwardly, Should I fight him?