You Flipped Through...

Under the veil of night.

Inside the Scripture Repository Pavilion of Shangqing Palace, a single lamp flickered like a bean as an old man in purple robes sat in a chair, drifting into a slumber.

His hair and beard were white as snow, the wrinkles on his face sagged, and his head hung low, a scent of decay radiating from his body.

He was a man in the twilight of his years.

Outside the Scripture Repository Pavilion, the mountain spring water surged with a drop of a hundred meters, crashing down with a roar that sounded like a thunderclap, jolting the old man awake as he gazed out with dim, weary eyes.

Inside the room, the faint candlelight danced, casting the deep wrinkles on the old man's face into sharp relief.

"Life is but a single generation, like grass that withers in autumn; I, too, have reached my twilight."

The old man was named Li Jiusheng, and he had arrived in this world several decades ago.

Upon his sudden transmigration, he had been filled with anxiety and uncertainty, but once he settled down and carefully inquired about the world, he discovered it was a place of cultivation.

Here, cultivation was mighty; one could soar through the heavens, tunnel through the earth, move mountains, drain seas, and attain an immortal lifespan!

Here, geniuses gathered, factions clashed, wars raged, and death lurked at every turn!

After grasping these facts, Li Jiusheng had been overcome with excitement, shedding his initial apprehension and harboring only one thought in his mind.

He must cultivate and become one of those legendary geniuses praised by the masses.

He firmly believed that since he had transmigrated, he was destined to embark on the path of cultivation.

But reality dealt him a harsh blow.

By the time he saved enough for travel expenses and mapped out his route, he was screened out in the first round of trials when attempting to apprentice at a prestigious sect.

He lacked the tuition fees to learn at a Daoist temple.

He was told he lacked the root of wisdom when he tried to be ordained in Buddhism.

He feared being used to refine a Soul-Devouring Banner if he sought out the Demonic Sect.

He never encountered any fortuitous opportunities or ancient ruins.

And he dared not jump off a cliff, for he only had one life to live.

After wandering about and rushing to and fro, his dream of being a genius shattered.

Only then did Li Jiusheng face the truth: he was just an ordinary man, lacking exceptional talent and the Golden Finger essential to every transmigrator, and he was already thirty years old.

Over the years, he had traveled far and wide, witnessing the cruel side of the cultivation world.

Feuds, factional struggles, ancestral hatreds, territorial disputes—men would draw their blades at the slightest disagreement.

Stripped of its glamorous facade, this cultivation world was incredibly hostile to ordinary people.

Perhaps tomorrow morning, two experts would clash, and the mere shockwaves of their battle could sweep through and claim Li Jiusheng's life.

Thus, his ambition faded, and he prepared to live out his life in peace.

Unexpectedly, on his way home, he saved a Daoist priest who claimed to have been severely wounded and exhausted from a magical duel, leaving him unconscious at that very spot. To show his gratitude, the priest asked Li Jiusheng what his heart's desire was.

Li Jiusheng replied that he wished to cultivate and attain immortality.

The priest bluntly stated that Li Jiusheng was too old and had no hope for immortality, but after a moment of contemplation, he said he possessed a technique called the [Evergreen Technique] that could prolong life, and asked if Li Jiusheng was willing to become his disciple.

How could Li Jiusheng refuse? He immediately knelt and kowtowed, becoming the priest's disciple.

The priest then brought Li Jiusheng back to his sect, Shangqing Palace.

From then on, Li Jiusheng settled in Shangqing Palace, diligently practicing the [Evergreen Technique].

His talent was mediocre, his age was advanced, and his meridians were already set, making his progress slow. However, Li Jiusheng possessed great perseverance; like a clumsy bird flying early, he persisted, and eventually, he reaped some rewards.

Time flew by, and several decades passed.

Today, he had turned exactly one hundred years old.

Although the [Evergreen Technique] he had practiced in his youth had not brought him great achievements, it had served well enough to strengthen his body and extend his life.

Yet, recently, he clearly felt his body failing him.

After years of cultivation, while he had not attained the power to soar or tunnel, he knew his own condition like the back of his hand.

The vitality within him was constantly ebbing away with time; he was like a dying lamp, reaching its end.

Decades had passed, and he had become a well-known old man in Shangqing Palace, while the Daoist priest from his youth had long since passed away, his life cut short by the lingering effects of that old injury.

As he grew older, Li Jiusheng requested to guard the Scripture Repository Pavilion; he had long since abandoned the thought of cultivating for immortality, wishing only to read more classics to enrich his knowledge and broaden his horizons.

"What a disgrace I am to all transmigrators," Li Jiusheng chuckled at himself. He had not shaken the world, he had not risen against the heavens, he had no harem of wives, and he certainly hadn't suppressed the ages.

He was merely an ordinary sect disciple, having achieved nothing of note in his entire life.

Now, in his old age, he tried to recall his life, only to find there were no special memories worth reflecting upon.

The waterfall surged under the veil of night, washing away Li Jiusheng's past; from his youth to his twilight years, everything tumbled down with the torrent, flowing away into nothingness.

Looking back on the past, Li Jiusheng sighed.

Logically speaking, in an era where people killed at the slightest disagreement, living to be a hundred years old was already a good run.

But he was living in a golden age of cultivation, and as a transmigrator, he hadn't achieved anything at all.

Where is the Golden Finger that was supposed to come with transmigration?

For all these years, Li Jiusheng hadn't discovered anything different about himself compared to anyone else.

He was like this before he transmigrated, and he was still like this after; hadn't this transmigration been a complete waste?

With a sigh, Li Jiusheng slowly stood up and picked up a biography to read carefully.

In the time that followed, whenever he had nothing to do, he would read. Over the course of several decades, he had read through most of the Daoist scriptures in the Scripture Repository Pavilion.

Some of these scriptures were simple and easy to understand, some were vague and confusing, and others were like heavenly books, impossible to comprehend in the slightest.

When he grew tired of reading scriptures, Li Jiusheng would read biographies to learn about the life experiences of the various prodigies in the cultivation world.

What he was reading now was the life story of Li Tianxian, a brilliant and talented disciple of Shangqing Palace from three hundred years ago.

Li Tianxian had entered Shangqing Palace in her youth. Possessing an Innate Sword Body, she was hailed as the hope for the revival of Shangqing Palace.

From a young age, this delicate, doll-like girl had practiced her sword skills day and night under the guidance of various experts from Shangqing Palace, training amidst the mountains, forests, rivers, and flora.

She practiced various sword techniques, drew from the strengths of a hundred schools, and merged them all together. Her cultivation level improved step by step, and while still young, she reached the Other Shore Realm. She was truly peerless and the most beautiful woman in the world.

Her sword technique was just as stunning as her beauty, sweeping away all enemies.

Wherever she went, she was the center of the crowd.

She was the undisputed core of Shangqing Palace, the hope for its revival, and the number one genius of the Old Land, renowned far and wide.

Some even went so far as to claim that before she turned thirty, she would surely touch the threshold of the Ancestor Realm and become the first Ancestor-level expert of Shangqing Palace in five hundred years.

However, during an exploration of an ancient secret realm, Li Tianxian encountered Emperor Wu of Zhou, a newly ascended Ancestor of the Luochuan Sect. At the slightest disagreement, Emperor Wu of Zhou, an expert at the Ancestor Realm, moved to kill Li Tianxian.

The young Peerless Sword Immortal faced off against the newly ascended Ancestor at the entrance of the secret realm, engaging in a fierce battle.

There was a massive lake near the secret realm. That day, the lake water surged endlessly and majestically. The Ancestor-level expert moved to seal off all of Li Tianxian's escape routes, his killing intent laid bare.

Li Tianxian was isolated and without help!

It was the sheer extent of Li Tianxian's genius that had frightened certain people, which was why an Ancestor had personally taken the field.

A quasi-Ancestor Realm expert under thirty—this was no longer just a genius; this was a monster.

They wanted to nip this monster in the bud.

Facing such a situation, Li Tianxian smiled coolly. Without a word, she simply plucked a blade of grass and slashed it downward.

The sword techniques she had practiced over the years, the swordsmanship she had mastered, and the Sword Dao she had realized were all integrated and fused into her own swordsmanship. To this, Li Tianxian added her own insights, creating this [Grass and Wood Sword Technique].

All things in heaven and earth could serve as a sword; a single blade of grass could slash down the sun, moon, and stars.

In an instant, sword energy surged, brilliant and dazzling, shattering the lake and the invincible Ancestor in the eyes of the world.

This strike shattered the Ancestor's golden body, forcing him to retreat while coughing up blood.

This strike also took Li Tianxian's life.

In the end, the sword energy of this strike seemed to pierce through a hundred years of time from the book, heading straight for Li Jiusheng. With a boom, it shot into Li Jiusheng's eyes.

His body and mind were shaken, and he retreated continuously.

Thump, thump, thump...

Every step felt as if it were landing on Li Jiusheng's heart, causing it to tremble violently.

The world before his eyes came to an abrupt halt.

Two lines of text appeared in the depths of his mind.

[You have perused the biography of Li Tianxian. You have gained enlightenment and comprehended Li Tianxian's Grass and Wood Sword Technique.]

[You have learned the Grass and Wood Sword Technique, reached the initial stage of mastery, and obtained the Innate Sword Body.]

Li Jiusheng looked on in pleasant surprise.

Was this his Golden Finger?

Could he comprehend techniques and sword bodies just by flipping through books?

The Golden Finger that had been a hundred years late had finally arrived!