Farewell

Qi WuHuo watched the Record of Becoming Immortal for a long time without moving.

He had clearly seen how a spirited young man had fallen, step by step, into the very path he had once despised most.

"Who he was then, who I am now."

"I wonder whether the person I become..."

This volume had struck Qi WuHuo more directly than the old man's warning, and seemed to have shaken him even more deeply.

The Great Dao stretched on without end, like a path along a sheer cliff.

Not a single step backward.

He set the book on the table and glanced at the sword, but did not pick it up right away.

Instead, he started by tidying up the other things. Comparing them against the Cultivation notes, he found that the furnace seemed to be the most precious of them all. The world's scriptures were divided into five tiers, the Daoist schools had five categories of arts, and the spiritual treasures of heaven and earth were roughly divided into five grades as well, each school and sect having its own way of naming them.

Some called them Heaven, Earth, Mystic, Yellow, with Immortal as the highest grade.

Some used the designations A, B, C, and D.

Others counted down from five to one, with first grade being the highest.

Most of the finest treasures were only found in the hands of the gods, immortals, and spirits. Only two tiers circulated in the Human World.

The first tier consisted of ordinary magical treasures, which anyone who had cultivated Primordial Prenatal Qi could use.

Within ordinary lineages, these were their treasures that guarded the mountains.

The other tier could only have its full power unleashed by True Persons from the various schools of the Human World who had gathered the Five Qi in the Chest.

This furnace had once belonged to Tantai Guochu, who had been close friends with the Mountain God. It was among the finest magical treasures of its kind. Even the furnaces used by True Persons who were Rogue Cultivators were only of this grade. It could refine primordial qi, remove impurities and medicinal toxins, purify a medicine's properties, and hold an enormous amount of medicinal power. Several kinds of talismans had been inscribed on it as well.

It also came with three kinds of recipes.

The Qi Nourishing Elixir could be taken by ordinary cultivators to accumulate primordial qi. It could also nourish the body and was highly effective against illness.

The Spirit Recovery Fluid could replenish the Primordial Spirit's energy and quickly restore one's condition after casting spells.

The Hundred Herb Elixir was named for the hundred herbs Shen Nong had tasted. It could dispel all toxins not caused by spells or supernatural arts, and could also significantly weaken the damage caused by toxins inflicted through such means.

All three recipes had been inscribed on the furnace.

All one had to do was add the herbs and activate the treasure. Its material and properties would refine the medicinal essence.

Then, under the array's effect, the furnace would remove the pill toxins and form the pills. Naturally, it could not produce pills of exceptional quality, but these were portable pills meant for traveling the world and wandering far and wide. The quality of the ingredients already set their limits; no matter how skilled one was at alchemy, the difference would not be great.

But the Record of Becoming Immortal also said that there were Daoist masters who, while refining pills, could condense their essence and qi into human or horse forms that wandered to and fro and developed intelligence of their own.

As for the bundle, it held several crystals as white as jade.

They could be used to set up arrays, and were also basic materials for alchemy and the most common materials for crafting artifacts.

When cultivators met, they could barter with one another.

Cultivators were not bound by any country. The whole world was open to them, and no one was powerful enough to impose rules that every cultivator would accept. So they continued to trade by barter. There were also three special coins, round and tinged with the color of yellow bronze.

According to the Record of Becoming Immortal, these were Heavenly Emperor Coins, stamped by the Heavenly Emperor.

If one encountered an immortal wandering through the Human World, these could be exchanged for a bit of destiny.

They were hard currency, then.

Even if most cultivators did not find what they needed, they would not refuse a trade involving Heavenly Emperor Coins.

Qi WuHuo ran his fingers over the Black Iron Sword Box and activated it again. In a faint glow, he finally put everything on the table inside, while keeping the three Heavenly Emperor Coins on his person. Simply wearing them could ward off evil and avert disaster. Only then did he reach for the sword. Its blade was long and narrow, wrapped all over in faded red cords that seemed meant to ward off evil and demons. It looked deeply ominous.

Qi WuHuo untied the cords and drew the sword.

The young man gazed at it for a long while, sighing.

"It's... rusted through."

"How could a sword like this still sing in the night?"

He did not know whether it was the man or the sword that had rusted.

"I should take this as a warning."

Qi WuHuo went to the edge of the village and gathered some dead branches into a pile.

The winter air was cold and damp, and the branches were hard to light.

Qi WuHuo thought for a moment, then followed the method recorded in the notes. It was a technique from a folk lineage: he raised his left hand, pressed his thumb against the second knuckle of his middle finger, and slightly curled his palm, gathering his own primordial qi.

He used this qi to form a ritual altar—

"Your disciple begs the god of the hearth to descend. All things honor the God of Fire; let the surrounding Ghostly Demons turn to dust."

His primordial qi seemed to be drawn away.

In an instant, his fingertip burned like fire.

Qi WuHuo pointed forward without thinking. A streak of flame flashed, and the pile of damp winter branches burst into flames.

Heat rose, the fire shone bright, and its warmth drove back the winter chill. The snow around it began to melt.

"So this is... a spell."

Even if it was only a technique from a minor school.

Qi WuHuo murmured in awe. He tore out the latter half of the Record of Becoming Immortal, the pages describing the madness that followed his failure to break through, then crouched and let each page of crazed writing fall into the fire. Every obsession, every sigh, every trace of malice—all turned to ash. Qi WuHuo reached out and took up the rust-covered sword. He ran his fingers over the blade, then turned it around and thrust it into the fire.

A book burned, a sword's soul laid to rest.

A mad dream of chasing eternal life.

"I won't become someone like you."

Firelight illuminated Qi WuHuo's face. His eyes were calm, and his words were just like those Tantai Xuan had spoken after killing the Evil Cultivator.

Perhaps generation after generation of cultivators had been the same.

He rose, his robe hem stirring, and turned away.

The young man walked farther and farther off.

When the wind passed by, the sword kept singing, just as it had in those days.

Remember: in youth, I aspired to seize the clouds, and vowed to be the finest man beneath the heavens.

Then it burst apart in the fire.

This volume of the Record of Becoming Immortal recorded in detail the key points of the first stage of cultivation, Gathering and Refining Primordial Essence, as well as its spells and supernatural arts. Since he did not know whether the instructions were flawed, Qi WuHuo treated them as another mountain's jade: he would only read them, not practice them. As for the arts and spells, he went to ask the old man whether he could cultivate them.

At the time, the old man was leafing through this so-called Record of Becoming Immortal. He sighed, "Cultivating too many things isn't good."

"It's good that you have these concerns. The supernatural arts of each lineage are shaped by that lineage's style. Each has its own traits and inclinations. The circulation of its qi and even the qualities of its Primordial Prenatal Qi are adjusted to suit its spells. That's why they have what's called a Core Daoist Canon. If you cultivate the alchemical methods of the Spiritual Treasure School but use the spells of the Mysterious Profound Gate, they may not fit together."

"So there are times when someone has gathered many supernatural arts, but cannot cultivate them."

Qi WuHuo said, "Then I..."

The old man stroked his beard and smiled. "Didn't I already tell you? What I'm teaching you doesn't belong to any of the five categories, so there's no need to worry."

"The Dao, it stretches on and on, beyond naming, returning to nothing. This is called the shape of the shapeless, the image of the imageless."

"Since it is formless and imageless, why bind yourself to rules?"

The old man set down the Record of Becoming Immortal. His tone was calm, as if it were only natural.

"Every method in the world, every supernatural art from every school—you may learn and use any of them, if you wish. There is no need to worry."

"My lineage—"

"Can use every method, with no taboos."

Only then did Qi WuHuo let go of his concerns. Of course, he understood that the old man's words about having no taboos meant there were no restrictions imposed by his cultivation. He must never stray onto an evil path. Everyone in the town, except Li Puyü, treated him with either reverence or fear. At home, Qi WuHuo studied the supernatural arts recorded in the Record of Becoming Immortal; in the mountains, he spent time with the mountain's spiritual beings.

They discussed the Five Arts of the Daoist schools.

The Mountain Arts involved cultivation through breathing and meditation, ingesting elixirs, and using talismans.

The Medical Arts involved healing the sick and saving people, as well as the circulation of qi and blood.

The Arts of Destiny involved astrology, the heavenly stems and earthly branches, and Ziwei Doushu. Divination involved the Six Ren Divination and Mystic Gate Dunjia.

The Arts of Physiognomy could read people's faces, the stars, mountains, rivers, and feng shui.

Even Daoists at the level of Refining Primordial Essence should possess such abilities. Though Qi WuHuo had not delved deeply into cultivation in his dreams, limited by his knowledge of the world, these things had already been passed down widely. He had read the basic texts in his dreams, and had even studied them while he was being demoted and sent away.

On top of that, he had exchanged ideas with the Mountain God, Elder Tao, and other local deities.

With his knowledge accumulated and their guidance, he kept studying the Daoist canon, and made some progress.

Time flew by, and before he knew it, more than a month had passed.

One day, after finishing their tea, Qi WuHuo had asked Elder Tao about escape arts when a rumbling thunderclap suddenly shook the world without pause.

Elder Tao stopped moving and stroked his beard with a sigh. "The Mountain God is about to break through."

Qi WuHuo paused.

From afar, primordial qi gathered like surging waves, stretching for hundreds of miles, its momentum immense!

A voice came from the distant horizon:

"WuHuo, come join me for a while."