Longevity Species

The second day of the first lunar month, Peach Blossom Garden, a peaceful and busy day.

The weather was clear.

Chen Xuan woke up earlier than usual. After slowly practicing a set of boxing in the courtyard, he ate some porridge and pushed the door open.

In the quiet alley in the early morning, there were charred bamboo fragments in front of each door, remnants of the firecrackers that had exploded.

Yesterday was the first day of the lunar month. Peach Blossom Garden set off firecrackers in front of their courtyards to ward off mountain demons and evil spirits, and to drive away plague and evil. The Heaven's Chosen, the Longevity Species, led the ancient people in sacrificing to the Ancient Mountain God for good fortune and peace. Therefore, they had no time to summon the later generations who had arrived.

Chen Xuan's first action upon arriving yesterday was to scout and plan his escape route. After a night had passed, being cautious by nature, he once again measured this ancient village with his steps.

In the eyes of outsiders, they would surely think he was a tourist attracted by the village scenery.

There were many people from later generations with similar behavior to Chen Xuan.

"Fellow Daoist Ye!"

Chen Xuan passed a fork in the road and saw Ye Kui in the distance, with a sword hanging from his waist, also strolling and observing the village. His heart immediately filled with joy.

"Hmm?"

Ye Kui turned his head, glanced at Chen Xuan who was enthusiastically greeting him from a distance, his eyelids twitched, and he immediately turned into another small path and ran away.

It's this person again!

This person's eyes were fervent every time he saw him, overly enthusiastic... But he was one of the protagonists of this world, and it was inevitable to encounter such adoration and worship from passerby characters.

However, Ye Kui had an arrogant personality and was not good at dealing with such people. Yet, the other party's attitude was friendly, making it impossible for him to get angry, so he could only avoid him whenever they met.

"Uh..."

Seeing this, Chen Xuan's mouth twitched slightly in embarrassment, and the arm suspended in mid-air slowly lowered.

In the ancient village in the early morning, Yan Yushu pushed open the window of the two-story building, leaning out her beautiful figure to breathe in the fresh air... Chen Xuan, Ye Kui, a figure in a black robe, a white-clothed young man holding a sword, a majestic tiger demon carrying a demonic saber on his back, a crimson fox... figures gathered towards the Heaven's Chosen.

When the morning mist dissipated, Qi Refiners and ghosts gathered in front of the ancestral hall in the center of the village.

After Chen Xuan arrived, he stood far away in a corner where no one noticed him.

Red Crow City, the Southern Wilderness, and a few forces that had crossed regions, thousands of Qi Refiners and ghosts, poured into Peach Blossom Garden, but in the end, only thirty or forty successfully entered the village.

Whether they were humans or ghosts, they all had their circles.

First was Red Crow City, led by Yan Yushu, who had the highest status. Around her gathered more than ten disciples from orthodox Qi Refining families. They talked to each other, and the atmosphere was the most harmonious.

Next were the ghosts from the Southern Wilderness. Their forms varied, and there were many types of demons and monsters, but many were in hostile relationships, fighting among themselves, and individual tribes were often small in number, with individuals preferring to be alone.

A tiger demon had gathered about six or seven ghosts around him. The tiger demon was ten feet tall, with a majestic physique, a broad chest, and explosive muscles, carrying a large saber on his back. A crimson fox sat on the tiger demon's shoulder, pulling a whisker, pointing at Chen Xuan's location, and gesturing while saying something.

Apart from these two forces, most of the other Qi Refiners gathered in twos and threes, or simply came alone.

"Ah, it's you?"

A girl with a round face, with her hands behind her back, suddenly approached Chen Xuan. Her large eyes blinked, flowing with a flame-like bright luster.

Wang Ling'er.

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

Whether relying on the legacy of her predecessors or her own innate talent, she was qualified to come here, but apart from her, none of the families attached to her family, such as the Chu family, the Li family, and the Wu family, had such good luck.

The Great Dao was cold and ruthless, and many people would be left behind. This was an unavoidable cruel reality.

"Yes."

Chen Xuan replied.

The two had only met once and exchanged greetings. Wang Ling'er then walked towards Yan Yushu's location. She was a daughter of a noble family in Red Crow City, and that was where she belonged.

"Crack!"

Soon after, the gate of the ancient village's ancestral hall opened, and a group of majestic ancient people holding weapons filed out, staring menacingly at the Qi Refiners.

Immediately after, the ancient scholar from yesterday walked out and said loudly:

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

After a pause, the ancient scholar's expression was serious, and he sternly reminded them: "The things in the ancestral hall are very valuable. Many are ancient artifacts used by ancient Qi Refiners. Without permission, you are not allowed to touch anything, otherwise, it will cause bloodshed. Don't say I didn't warn you!"

Everyone looked at each other, then obediently followed the ancient scholar into the ancestral hall.

Soon, Chen Xuan personally saw the rumored Old Ancestor of the Heaven's Chosen, named Liu Jiao.

The Longevity Species.

Liu Jiao wore a hemp robe and straw sandals. His appearance was ordinary, a common face that no one would look at twice in a crowd.

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

Time and years have been eternally frozen on him.

Chen Xuan thought to himself. According to the information he knew, the description of this Heaven's Chosen named Liu Jiao from the outside world was:

"Nothing in this world is older than him, not even the immortal saints."

Time is a knife that cuts away everything. In the endlessly flowing river of time, mountains and seas collapse, Ancient Mountain Gods decay into dust, ancient saints retreat into seclusion and perish. All things that were once great will eventually be weathered away by wind and rain...

Only Liu Jiao, exists eternally in the world.

This is one of the few Heaven's Chosen recorded in history who had a good end.

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

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

"In ancient times, a Phoenix Bird fell to the world, its fierce flames burning the sky, scorching the earth for a thousand li, causing a great drought throughout the land. For several years, no food could grow, and countless ancient people starved to death. The Phoenix Bird was food for the Ancient Mountain God of this place; humans were not qualified to touch it. But if they didn't eat, they would starve. An ancient person stood up, led his tribe, and was the first to eat the Phoenix Bird's flesh and blood..."

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

"..."

Chen Xuan listened to Liu Jiao's self-narration, recalling the records about the Mountains and Seas era in ancient texts. After a brief thought, he knew who he was talking about.

Jiang, the Jiang Clan.

One of the earliest ancient Qi Refiners.

An ancient sage born bathed in Phoenix blood.

The Fire Virtue Red Qi among the Mountains and Seas Twelve Qi was established by his Dao lineage. His "Burning Mountains and Boiling Seas" referred to the ancient hundred thousand mountains and seas.

Of course, the Red Qi lineage later saw countless immortal sages emerge, each shining brightly in their own era. But undoubtedly, the most famous was this ancient sage who fought the Ancient Mountain God and leveled countless ancient mountains and seas.

"Legend has it that the Fire Emperor of the Ancient Chu Kingdom, who reigned for a thousand autumns and ten thousand generations, had a faint bloodline of the Jiang."

Chen Xuan muttered to himself, then continued to listen to Liu Jiao recount the past. In fact, these words were old news, as Liu Jiao repeated them every twenty years and they were already widely spread outside.

Liu Jiao was an ancient person who survived from the Mountains and Seas era.

But this Longevity Species, who existed forever in the world, could not cultivate. Immortal Qi had no connection with him.

Perhaps due to his physical constitution, or perhaps the price of longevity, Liu Jiao could only be a bystander in this magnificent world, not a controller who could stir up clouds and rain.

He had tried many methods, but he couldn't even produce descendants with Qi refining aptitude.

Over millions of years, Liu Jiao's old acquaintances fell like leaves in the autumn wind, one by one drifting away. The ancient people in the Peach Blossom Garden were his descendants of who knows which ten thousand generations. He could only watch all this happen helplessly and indifferently, unable to do anything...

Was this luck, or a kind of cruelty?

No one knew.

"How can I make Liu Jiao use the abilities of a Longevity Species? Mind Fast also needs to be proactive."

Chen Xuan was in the crowd, his fingers rubbing the letter in his sleeve. He muttered to himself, "Should I fight him?"