A Lifetime
This world is extremely resource-scarce; even Spirit Stone are nonexistent.
When I transmigrated, I had dozens of Spirit Stone with me, but unfortunately, I used them all up while trying to recover my cultivation in the wilderness.
Even if I kept it, I wouldn't dare exchange it for Merit Points.
Upon reading this, Chen Mobai sensed Liu Lengpei's helplessness between the lines.
Being alone in a foreign land, especially in a highly modernized society like the Immortal Sect, makes it difficult to move around without an ID card, and even the spiritual energy needed for cultivation cannot be purchased or applied for.
I pretended to be a mountain dweller with amnesia, concealed my age, and fainted at the temple gate. The kind abbot took me in as a disciple and I began doing odd jobs at the temple.
Although the spiritual energy in this temple is weak, at least I can continue my cultivation. I secretly meditate under the statue at night, but after a year, when I open my eyes, I'm still within the territory of this Immortal Sect. I've searched the statue and the entire temple inside and out, but there's nothing mysterious about it. How can I go home?
[My Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, making me the strongest in the temple. At the same time, through the magical Magic Artifact of the internet, I've learned even more about the super-powerful Immortal Sect.]
[The Immortal Sect here teach without discrimination; they even exchange Spirit Transmutation Great Law. It's just a pity I don't have an ID card to register a National Library account. But for me, even if all the Spirit Transmutation Cultivation Technique were placed before me, none would be as important as a Foundation Establishment.]
[I was almost at the point where I had enough Sect Contribution points to exchange for Foundation Establishment, but I wonder how the suppression of the sect Rebellion is going in the Sky River Realm? Did my junior brothers and sisters survive the Rebellion...?]
Chen Mobai finished reading the second notebook, which contained Liu Lengpei's fragmented records of his exploration of the Immortal Sect, his life in the temple, and his longing for the sect and his hometown.
The further I went, the more scribbled my notes became. By the last page, they had all transformed into a single conviction.
I'm going to Foundation Establishment!
Liu Lengpei had spent ten years in the Taixu Temple and had a thorough understanding of the Immortal Sect.
He knew perfectly well that there were no Foundation Establishment here, and the three types of pills that could replace Foundation Establishment were rare treasures that he, a wild cultivator, could neither afford nor obtain.
As he grew older and was about to cross the age of 60, when his Qi and Blood and essence were at their peak, he finally couldn't hold back any longer.
He decided to take a risk and fight to the death to break through to the Qi Refining realm without any Foundation Establishment.
I told the abbot about this, and he was very supportive, allowing me to enter into a retreat in the main hall of the temple, where the spiritual energy was most abundant.
[I read over a dozen manuals on successful Foundation Establishment Immortal Sect, reaching the stage of spiritual energy liquefaction, but failed at the last moment. My Spiritual Sense wasn't strong enough, my spiritual energy went berserk, and ultimately my meridians ruptured, Foundation Establishment Failure. But I succeeded.]
My cultivation level dropped to the Qi Cultivation Level 8, but when I woke up, I found myself back in the Sky River Realm.
Chen Mobai opened the third notebook, and the first line made his eyes widen. He couldn't wait to read on.
This rich spiritual energy, this dilapidated little temple—without a doubt, this is the place I visited before I traveled to Earth Origin Star.
I couldn't wait to return to my sect, only to find that I had been expelled from the Five Elements Sect for cowardice and desertion, for failing to heed the sect's call to arms ten years ago. Even my junior brothers and sisters thought I didn't want to share the sect's fate and were ashamed of me, so they tried to kill me to cleanse the sect.
[I was already injured and had fallen in cultivation level due to the Foundation Establishment Failure. Fortunately, I had a Second Grade spirit talisman to save my life. My sect was also engaged in a fierce battle with the Divine Wood Sect's Golden Light Cliff, so they couldn't spare any attention for a nobody like me. I managed to escape with great difficulty.]
I returned to the Blue Wave Lake, feeling utterly lost and bleak. I wanted to end it all, but couldn't muster the courage.
[Beneath the Second Tier Spiritual Vein of Blue Wave Lake, I spent a year recovering from my injuries and broke through to the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer once again.]
But after my breakthrough, I found myself back in the Taixu Temple on Earth Origin Star.
What on earth is going on?!
In his third notebook, Liu Lengpei wrote about his desolation after Foundation Establishment Failure, the joy of returning to the Sky River Realm, the despair of being expelled from the sect and the criticism from relatives and friends, and finally, his disheartened state after returning to Earth Origin Star.
I think I understand now. It's possible that each time I break through a realm, I traverse between two worlds. But what causes this behavior?
[Forget it, why think about these things? I can't break through any further anyway. Besides, I've already been abandoned by everyone in the Sky River Realm, so I might as well spend the rest of my life in this little temple.]
At least, the teachers and senior students here didn't treat me as a disgrace.
What follows is the ordinary yet fulfilling life that Liu Lengpei spent in the Taixu Temple on this Earth Origin Star.
He wrote about the aging of the abbot, the arrival of the junior apprentice, the departure of the senior apprentices, the expansion and reconstruction of the temple, and the entry of the next generation.
And just like that, another ten years passed.
The abbot died, and all the senior students returned. After handling the funeral arrangements, the four of us started discussing who should take over.
The eldest disciple disliked the poverty here and didn't plan to stay. The second disciple had always followed him. In the end, only the youngest disciple and I were left in the temple. The youngest disciple also wanted to leave, but I didn't want to be the abbot.
After much persuasion from me, my junior apprentice finally reluctantly accepted the responsibility of inheriting the dilapidated temple. After the authorities confirmed this, they issued him a certificate of employment.
Thirty years passed in the blink of an eye in the notebook, and Liu Lengpei finally wrote down something that Chen Mobai was familiar with.
A mother and son came today from Green Mountain Village. They arrived early this morning to offer First Incense and pray for good luck on their College Entrance Exam.
[When this child was offering incense, I happened to be sweeping the floor in the main hall. I don't know how it happened, maybe it's because I'm old, but I bumped into him as I passed by.]
He staggered, dropping the incense sticks he was holding. His hands, out of control, flailed wildly, bumping into the tortoise Turtle Shell held by the right hand of the Taixu Statue. His palm was cut, and blood flowed freely.
After learning the truth from me, my junior apprentice asked me to go into the mountains to gather herbs and leave for a while, while he dealt with the troublemaking shrew.
[After I returned, I heard that my junior apprentice had given the Turtle Shell back to the mother and child. It's strange, even though I'm old, I still have no problem controlling my body. How could I have suddenly bumped into that child?]
[From then on, I suddenly felt my body deteriorating day by day. A quick calculation revealed that I had already lived on this Earth Origin Star for fifty years, making me a centenarian. Qi Cultivation Cultivator, without illness or disaster, can live for 120 years. My first half of life was spent in the environment of the Sky River Realm, fighting countless battles, suffering multiple near-death injuries, and Foundation Establishment Failure. I'm afraid a hundred years is already my limit.]
[On my deathbed, I suddenly felt a pang of resentment and decided to attempt Foundation Establishment one last time in the final moments of my life.]
Even if the probability of success is less than 1%, I will die in the process of breaking through.
My notes end here.
But Chen Mobai had already come to understand Liu Lengpei's ordinary yet eventful life.