Life After Failing to Find Immortality

The mountain peaks were towering, shrouded in mist.

The sun gradually set, its afterglow soft and bright, casting a thin layer of crimson clouds across Taiyi Immortal Mountain.

And atop the cloud-piercing peak, a scholar with a delicate face sat on a stone stool. Clad in a white robe, his demeanor was serene and ethereal, as if he were a figure from a painting.

But upon closer inspection, one could see the subtle unease on the young man's face.

"I never expected... we'd look exactly the same..."

This young man's name was Lin Tianlu.

He was a transmigrator.

The moment he awoke in this place, a flood of memories surged into his mind. After about half a day of processing, he finally understood why he had transmigrated and possessed this young man's body.

The original host had been orphaned from birth, living a solitary life, barely surviving on the charity of his village relatives. Deeply aware of the suffering in the world, he studied diligently day and night, seeking to change his fate through official success.

However, his trip to the capital for the imperial examination ended in regretful failure. His more than ten years of arduous study had ultimately become a fleeting dream.

In his despair and heartache, he finally recalled the rumors circulating among the common folk. It was said that on the Taiyi Mountains, there existed an Immortal Sect. As long as one's heart was sincere and they possessed Immortal Destiny, they could join the sect and find the path to cultivation and eternal life, living a carefree existence. His worldly relatives could also ascend to heaven and enjoy a lifetime of comfort.

Clinging to his last shred of hope, he gritted his teeth and began to ascend the mountain alone.

The Taiyi Mountain was steep and treacherous, its paths slippery. Even ordinary farmers rarely ventured there, let alone with the added danger of fierce beasts and venomous insects. Yet, with unwavering resolve, he didn't hesitate for a moment. He endured wind and rain, gritted his teeth, and after two days and two nights, he successfully reached Taiyi Immortal Mountain.

But--

What greeted him was not the legendary, ethereal, dream-like Immortal Sect.

Instead, it was a patch of overgrown wilderness that had long since become a desolate ruin.

--The Immortal Sect did not exist.

Or rather, perhaps it had existed decades or centuries ago, but now it had long since vanished into history.

Overwhelmed by extreme joy and sorrow, the exhausted scholar, who had already depleted his strength, couldn't catch his breath and collapsed to the ground, dying instantly. He passed away filled with unwillingness and regret.

"A pitiable soul." Lin Tianlu's expression was conflicted.

Although the scholar's life experiences were quite tragic, and he bore a striking resemblance to him, suggesting a deep connection, Lin Tianlu had no energy to dwell on it.

The reason was simple: his current situation was equally dire.

He... couldn't get down the mountain.

Taiyi Immortal Mountain soared into the clouds, its altitude at least a thousand meters. The scholar had only managed to reach the peak by sheer willpower, repeatedly avoiding danger as if aided by divine intervention. The mountain paths and cliffs he had traversed were easy to ascend but difficult to descend; attempting to go down now would be no different from jumping to his death.

And now that he had transmigrated and been reborn...

How was he supposed to get down?

He couldn't possibly live on this barren mountaintop ruin, could he?

There was no water, no food, no shelter, and certainly no Immortals or Immortal Sects. With his body, which had just been revived from death, he probably wouldn't even survive the night. A gust of cold wind would likely freeze him to death on the mountaintop.

Even if this mountain was a so-called immortal mountain, and he, a modern person, was quite interested in Cultivation, all of it had ultimately crumbled, leaving only ruins. Lingering here was meaningless.

He had already circled the peak and was certain that descending from any direction would be extremely perilous. A single misstep would send him plummeting off a cliff, leaving no trace. As for the ruins of the Immortal Sect, forget about immortal legacies or heavenly treasures; after searching for a long time, he only found half a rotten plaque and a broken jade pendant... which he stumbled upon by chance while stepping on a dirt pile.

There was no "blood recognition" or anything of the sort; it was completely useless.

No peerless secret manuals, nothing at all.

Lin Tianlu was also frustrated.

"Couldn't my transmigration have landed me somewhere better?"

"If not, at least give me some kind of system, some kind of space, some kind of chat room. Even if an old Immortal crawled out from a crack in the ground, that would be something."

Feeling annoyed, Lin Tianlu spread his arms, tilted his head back, and shouted to the sky.

"Hey! Heaven, could you send down a beautiful girl for me!"

'Beautiful girl' 'beautiful girl' 'beautiful girl'--

But only the indistinct words 'beautiful girl' echoed through the mountain mist, until they faded away.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Lin Tianlu shouted again, "If not a beautiful girl, a handsome young man would do too!"

"..."

He sat back down with a dejected expression.

In this desolate mountain, who could possibly hear his nonsensical ramblings?

It was likely that within these hundreds of miles of mountains, he was the only living person still bouncing around.

Rumble!

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and thunder roared.

Lin Tianlu stared blankly at the sky for a moment, then hurriedly got up to find a place to shelter from the thunder.

Just as he found a stone cave by a cliff to hide in, a continuous drizzle began to fall outside.

Watching the puddles gradually form outside, Lin Tianlu sighed repeatedly.

He wanted people, why did it rain thunder and lightning?

Could it be that he had summoned the Thunder God and the Electric Mother?

"Sigh, forget about going down the mountain, now I can only huddle in this broken place and leave my fate to Heaven."

He casually brushed off the few drops of rain clinging to him, hugged his cold, stiff arms, and leaned helplessly against the cold cave wall.

He was hungry and thirsty, the surrounding temperature was as cold as winter, and he had no strength in his body.

Although Lin Tianlu wanted to start a fire to warm himself up, when he moved his limbs, he gradually felt fatigue creeping into his heart, his breathing weakened, his eyelids trembled, and he finally slumped back to his original position without realizing it, falling into a daze.

Before his consciousness faded, Lin Tianlu could only offer a wry self-mockery.

He was probably the most inexplicably transmigrated person to die...

Let alone forging a mighty reputation and witnessing the wonders of this world, he hadn't even managed to see a single person before dying alone on the desolate mountain.

He hoped that in his next life, he could choose a simpler and more stable background.

Early morning.

The post-rain sunlight bathed the divine mountain, as if draping the desolate mountain range in a faint glow, ethereal and divine.

Inside the cold, damp cave, a pale hand quickly emerged, gripping the stone wall and slowly pulling his body out.

Lin Tianlu was utterly bewildered.

He had been terrified and fearful all night, even running through a lifetime montage and eulogy in his mind.

How could he wake up in the morning—

Huh? He wasn't dead?

Not only was his previously cold body no longer stiff, but his body temperature had returned, and his rumbling stomach no longer felt a stabbing hunger.

On the contrary, he felt a little comfortable?

"Could this immortal mountain really have some magic?"

Lin Tianlu crawled out of the cave and took several deep breaths.

Hmm—

He couldn't smell any so-called spiritual energy or immortal energy, only the subtle scent of the earth after the rain.

It smelled a bit foul.

"I don't understand the current situation... but at least I'm still alive."

He stretched his cracking body and returned to the ruins on the mountaintop.

After a night of heavy rain, it was still as dilapidated and desolate as ever, devoid of life.

But looking around, Lin Tianlu's mood was calmer than yesterday.

After all, he knew he wouldn't die for now... well, for now.

Sitting back on the familiar, crooked stone stool, Lin Tianlu pondered.

Since he couldn't go down the mountain now, and he wouldn't starve or die of thirst, what should he do on this desolate, uninhabited immortal mountain?

Farm? Pick up trash? Recite poetry?

Or—stargaze?

The second day passed in a daze for Lin Tianlu.

The third day.

Lin Tianlu was still not dead and was still full of energy.

Bored and restless, he simply started making tools and began to dig through the relics in the ruins. Even if he could only dig out some moldy, rotten lumps, it would be a way to pass the time.

The fourth day.

Still digging.

The fifth day.

It seemed like he was almost done digging through everything in these ruins.

Lin Tianlu rummaged through the pile of things he had dug out for a long time. In the end, he only managed to find a rusty broken sword and a jade flute... Although the flute was chipped at one corner, and only two or three bald feathers remained of its ornaments, making it look quite comical.

But out of his yearning for immortal sect art, he washed the jade flute clean with great interest and brought it to his lips to blow.

"Pfft, pfftpfftpfftpftj—"

Well, it seemed this flute was better suited as a decorative item.

Day Six.

Lin Tianlu discovered treasure!

A perfectly intact chessboard!

The black and white pieces were stored in two jade boxes, preserved quite completely with no signs of damage.

He impatiently set up the board, carefully placed the two boxes of pieces on either side, took out the black pieces, and after pondering for a long time, made his first move.

Then he moved to the other side, sat down, picked up the white pieces, and pondered with distress before slowly placing a piece.

They went back and forth, and it was a moderately fierce game.

In the end, Lin Tianlu successfully connected five black pieces and achieved victory. Congratulations are in order.

--Well, he doesn't know how to play Go.

Day Fourteen.

Lin Tianlu sat before the stone table he had built, silently contemplating the game with black pieces in hand.

Playing Gomoku against himself... was one of the few joys on this solitary mountain peak.

As for other joys, they included a mountain-top KTV, a self-made text adventure RPG, and so on. They were quite interesting.

"These five pieces... not good enough."

Looking at the crisscrossing black and white pieces on the board, Lin Tianlu was troubled.

But he wasn't anxious.

He was now slowly convinced that he wouldn't starve or die of thirst in this mountain. As long as he maintained a regular schedule, he would be in great shape every morning. Instead of panicking and crying out to the heavens, it was better to cultivate himself, rest, and be more Buddhist and calm.

Plop.

But at this moment, Lin Tianlu vaguely heard a strange sound.

He turned his head to look--

A beautiful young woman in a silver-white cloak immediately caught his eye.

Her delicate and dignified pretty face had slightly parted red lips in surprise, her beautiful eyes filled with astonishment, frozen in place as if speechless.

Lin Tianlu stared blankly for a moment, then silently looked up at the brilliant, cloud-filled sky.

"Heaven--

It seems I've wronged you.

So you really heard what I said, it's just that the distance is too great, and the Wi-Fi signal is a bit unstable."