Exposed on the Very First Day?

Eastern Spirit Continent, Linhai County, Misty Gorge Mountain.

It was late autumn, and frosty winds swept leaves across the ground, leaving everything bleak and desolate.

"Qing'er, now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you anymore."

The old man lay on his sickbed, wrapped in bone-deep cold. His breath was faint as he gazed at the handsome young man before him, his voice no louder than a mosquito's buzz. "What I told you before... most of it was false. More or less all of it was... made up. Cough!" Before he could finish, he broke into a fit of gasping coughs.

Chen Qing endured the piercing cold and clasped the old man's withered hand. He murmured, "Master, don't worry. I guessed as much long ago. If our Misty Gorge Mountain lineage truly came from the Central Spirit Continent that sank fifteen thousand years ago, it wouldn't have fallen into such dire straits. Besides, the stories you made up were full of holes..."

"Unfilial disciple!" The old man glared at him and scolded, "Even if it was all fake, you... you can't say it so bluntly!"

But as soon as he said it, his spirit seemed to ebb away. His eyes were sunken, and he sighed. "Forget it. I won't be able to keep an eye on you much longer. From now on, you'll be the master of Hidden Star Gate. This mountain gate is the work of my entire life, and the last wish of your grandmaster and senior uncles... The sect mustn't fall apart the moment I close my eyes."

Chen Qing's throat bobbed. In the end, he only said, "Don't worry."

"The sect leader's token is beneath the meditation cushion in the quiet room. At the very back of the room is a hidden chamber. Your grandmaster's, your senior uncles', and your senior brothers' belongings are inside. Remember to put mine in there too. Keep some Spirit Marrow from the treasure room to pay the blood tax. Don't be like your second senior brother. When you need to bow your head, bow it..."

The old man rambled on with his instructions, and his spirits seemed to rally. But then he paused. Looking at Chen Qing with cloudy eyes, he suddenly lowered his voice. "Forget it. If things become impossible, then... then abandon the mountain gate. Don't let it delay your cultivation, and whatever you do, don't throw your life away."

His voice cut off.

Chen Qing gazed at the old man on the bed for a long while, then sighed and silently rose to his feet.

Seventeen years ago, he had crossed over into this world and taken the place of his drowned predecessor. But he himself had been swept into a powerful current and nearly drowned. It was the man before him who had pulled him from the water.

The old man's given name was Zhou Yuanjing, and his courtesy name was Hermit Listening to Waves. He was the master of Hidden Star Gate, whose sect grounds stood on Misty Gorge Mountain in the southern part of the Southern Flame Dynasty, overlooking the sea and far from the hustle and bustle of the world.

When he rescued Chen Qing, the old man had seen that his aptitude was passable and taken pity on him, so he accepted him as a disciple. But Hidden Star Gate was a small sect with fewer than ten people from top to bottom. Zhou Yuanjing himself was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had reached the Second Realm. His cultivation method was ordinary, and he was no good at fighting. With the sect so poor, Chen Qing had to cultivate while also farming and studying.

This time, Zhou Yuanjing had gone out to gather herbs. When he returned, the cold poison had already seeped into his bones. He lasted three days before his cultivation scattered and his life ended.

"You left in such a hurry, after promising to give me a Dao name next month."

Standing by the bed, Chen Qing recalled the past and fell silent for a while. Then he pulled himself together.

"I can't let myself get too hung up on this, or those three little ones outside will panic even more."

He glanced once more at the old man, whose flesh had turned a mottled blue and purple, then turned and opened the door. Wisps of cold air poured outside with him.

Outside the door, three pairs of eyes turned toward him.

Two boys and a girl in a red jacket.

These three were the disciples left behind by Chen Qing's late eldest and second senior brothers. The three of them, together with Chen Qing, who had just taken up the position of sect leader, made up all of Hidden Star Gate on Misty Gorge Mountain.

To Chen Qing, this lineup and scale made it less a sect than a gathering of cultivation enthusiasts.

"Martial Uncle! How is the sect leader, our grandmartial uncle? Is he any better?"

The three children hurried forward as soon as Chen Qing emerged, eager for an answer.

Chen Qing shook his head and told them, "Your grandmartial uncle has passed away."

The moment he spoke, the youngest girl burst into tears. The two boys' eyes reddened, and their fists clenched until their knuckles turned white.

Chen Qing crouched down and gently wiped the girl's tears. His voice softened as he said, "He told me to take good care of you, raise you, and teach you your skills."

The girl's sobs quieted a little.

Beside her, the tallest of the three, a sturdy, guileless boy, choked out, "Grandmartial Uncle promised he'd teach me how to fly a sword as soon as he came back this time. How could he suddenly..." He couldn't finish. Turning his face away, he rubbed his eyes.

Chen Qing's eyelid twitched.

As far as he knew, his master couldn't fly on a sword, and the sect had no sword-flying technique either. The old man had probably made another offhand promise in the heat of the moment. Now that he was gone, he wouldn't have to worry about it—but the burden would probably land on Chen Qing's shoulders! He'd have to find the right moment to explain things.

At the thought, Chen Qing patted the boy's shoulder, wanting to offer some words of comfort. But then the other boy, who was thin and wiry, suddenly looked up and asked, "Martial Uncle, what's going to happen to Hidden Star Gate now?"

His words fell like a boulder onto everyone's hearts.

All three pairs of eyes fixed on Chen Qing.

Chen Qing answered firmly, "Before he passed, your grandmartial uncle handed the position of sect leader to me. Everything will continue as before."

The three children reacted differently.

The girl timidly clutched Chen Qing's sleeve. Though she was still crying, the tension in her seemed to ease. The sturdy boy nodded vigorously, his eyes brightening again. Only the thin boy lowered his head, making it impossible to read his expression.

Seeing this, Chen Qing sighed.

The thin boy was Han Sha, an orphan from a fishing village. His eldest senior brother had saved him from pirates' blades and taken him in as a disciple. Clever from a young age, he was mature beyond his years, quiet, and thoughtful. Clearly, he was still worrying about the future.

Chen Qing offered no further explanation, planning to talk him through it gradually. He glanced at the sky and said, "None of you have opened your Yellow Court yet, so you haven't reached the First Realm. You can't withstand the lingering cold. I'll handle the arrangements. Go get some rest."

The sturdy boy and the girl in red nodded.

The thin boy, Han Sha, suddenly spoke. His voice was so soft it was almost drowned out by the wind. "Martial Uncle, I... I want to go down the mountain. I heard Sea Abyss Temple is recruiting disciples..."

The other two children's faces changed.

The girl's eyes widened in horror.

The sturdy boy grabbed Han Sha by the collar and snapped, "Grandmartial Uncle has only just passed away, and you're already betraying your master and ancestors?"

"I'm not! I just..." Han Sha flushed red, but he didn't back down.

Chen Qing stepped in and separated them. He gave Han Sha a long look and said, "Now isn't the time to talk about this. We'll discuss it after we've taken care of the sect leader's funeral."

Han Sha bit his lip and nodded. He bowed to Chen Qing, then hurried back to his room.

The sturdy boy fell silent. In the end, he tugged the girl in red along, bowed to Chen Qing, and left. The girl kept glancing back, her face uneasy.

"Managing a team really isn't easy."

Chen Qing shook his head with a quiet sigh, then got busy.

Just as he'd told the three children, after Zhou Yuanjing died from the cold poison and his cultivation dissipated, nothing remained to restrain the chill. His entire corpse quickly froze over. With his First Realm cultivation at its peak, Chen Qing could withstand the cold long enough to prepare the body, but it was no easy task.

By the time he had set up the mourning hall, the sun was setting. Just as he was about to rest, his gaze suddenly fell beyond the mountain gate.

"I have to shut down a few formations. They're huge energy guzzlers!"

Hidden Star Gate had few members and only eight buildings within the mountain gate, front and back. Since it was deep in the mountains and entangled in the conflicts of the cultivation world, its former sect leader had set up formations for defense, scouting, and warning. In the past, Zhou Yuanjing had maintained them by regularly infusing them with spiritual power. Now that Chen Qing had only reached the First Realm, he could no longer keep them going. And with the sect's resources so scarce, he had no choice but to shut them all down for now, so they could make their resources last.

By the time everything was taken care of, it was already deep into the night.

Chen Qing sat cross-legged on his cushion in his room, regulating his breathing to recover and dispel the cold.

The Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll he cultivated had been described by the old man as an incomplete great sect secret art inherited from the legendary Central Spirit Continent. But Chen Qing knew very well that it was actually a legacy his grandmaster had stumbled upon by chance.

The technique was divided into three parts: breathing, visualization, and circulating qi through the meridians. Though it was a true method for tempering both body and spirit, it was incomplete, and its ceiling was only the peak of the Second Realm. It also demanded exceptional aptitude and comprehension.

Chen Qing's aptitude was mediocre. He had begun cultivating at twelve, and after seventeen years of hard work, he had finally reached the peak of the First Realm of cultivation, "Yellow Court Initial Opening."

"The First Realm of cultivation is the Yellow Court Initial Opening realm. It cultivates the Yellow Court Palace, which is the Lower Dantian, and opens the hidden storehouse of vital essence. Now that I've reached its peak, my lifespan can reach the limit of a mortal body: one hundred and twenty years. But the further I cultivate the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll, the slower it gets. I'm afraid I won't have a chance to step into the Second Realm, 'Soothing Harmony Foundation Establishment,' until I'm seventy or eighty. By then, my qi and blood will have declined. Immortality will probably be out of reach."

Whenever he thought about this in the past, frustration gnawed at him. Now that the sect's heavy responsibilities rested on his shoulders, he felt even more exhausted.

His thoughts tangled into a mess, so he simply lay down fully clothed.

Perhaps it was the day's exertion, the grief of losing his master, and the upheaval of his emotions. The moment Chen Qing closed his eyes, he sank into a dream. In a haze, he arrived in a world of milky white.

For seventeen years, he had gone to sleep each night only to dream of this place.

A boundless expanse stretched in every direction. The only thing in sight was a stone platform.

The platform stood half as high as a person. On it lay a thread-bound book with no title on its cover.

Standing before the platform, Chen Qing looked at the book and sighed.

He had flipped through it countless times. Every page was blank.

Its only benefit was that it gave him more time to think in his dreams. His body slept, but his mind stayed active here. He could recover his energy and review and ponder his cultivation. Each day, he gained several more hours to think than an ordinary person, yet even so, his progress remained slow.

"In theory, this book may have something to do with the biographical series I designed before transmigrating. But when other people cross over, they get a system or a magical treasure to go with them. All I got was a blank book. Now that I've become the sect leader and my status has improved, I wonder if..." He paused. "Hmm?"

As usual, he walked up to the stone platform and glanced at the book, but then he froze.

Five characters had appeared on the cover—

Grand Void Dao Evolution Record.

"It really changed! Did becoming the sect leader activate this book?"

Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, he opened the book. On the first page, he found seventeen ink marks.

The moment his fingertip touched one, a message surged into his mind—

"These are Dao Marks, born from the insights of the human heart. They may be used as a basis to recount tales to disciples, inscribe turning points in destiny, record the pivotal moments of a life, and compile a biography. However, the author must know their limits and must not write recklessly, or the Dao Marks will be wasted for nothing. Once the heavenly book has laid out its framework and contents, one may enter the dream and experience the life recorded within, receiving its nourishment in return and thereby perfecting one's own body and spirit."

The pages after that were still blank.

"The heart of this book lies in 'making the false come true'!"

Chen Qing closed his eyes and pondered for a long while. Then, understanding dawned on him.

"Dao Marks come from insights in the human heart. They're like points I can assign myself. By telling people a false story and making them believe it, I can write the life story of a fictional character. But it can't be too outrageous. Otherwise, even if I spend the Dao Marks, I won't receive anything in return. This fictional life has a wonderful use: I can enter a dream and experience the fictional person's life, then draw nourishment from it to strengthen the foundations of my own body and spirit."

At that thought, Chen Qing opened his eyes, looking pensive.

"It seems to be a cultivation method that uses dreams as its means."

Just then, the white mist around him suddenly began to ripple.

"I'm about to wake up. Pondering over it took a long time." Chen Qing wasn't surprised. "Well, I'm the sect leader starting today. I should get up early and make some preparations."

As the white mist faded away, he opened his eyes and woke. Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

The sturdy boy burst in, clutching a letter, and cried out in a panic, "Martial Uncle! Junior Martial Brother Han... Han Sha is gone!"

"Gone?" Chen Qing stared at him in surprise.

"He left a letter." The boy handed over the page, his voice trembling. "It says Sect Leader Grandmartial Uncle was always lying to us! Hidden Star Gate isn't a remnant of the Central Spirit Continent at all. It's just an ordinary side sect of rogue cultivators! The Sea and Mountain Divine Skill that protects the sect is only an incomplete fragment. Forget seeking the Dao and attaining immortality—even keeping fit and living a long life is a pipe dream!"

I'm a new author with a new book, and things are difficult. I hope any readers passing by will give it a quick bookmark. If you like it, please come back each day to check for updates and follow along. Thank you in advance!