Why Cultivate Immortality?

Why Cultivate Immortality?

After leaving the Ancestral Master Hall, Shi Yue let out a long breath of relief.

He summoned his flying artifact and flew toward Green Cloud Peak.

"Shi brat, see? I told you your two Ancestor Masters would ask about the urine. If not for me, you'd have been done for today." Xiaoyaozi's voice rang in Shi Yue's mind.

Shi Yue ignored him.

What had happened today served as a warning: standing out too much wasn't necessarily a good thing. If Xiaoyaozi hadn't reminded him, Shi Yue might not have made it out of the Ancestral Master Hall.

From the Sect Master's questions, Shi Yue realized that the Sect Master had been keeping tabs on his every move. Clearly, he'd been making too much of a splash lately.

It made sense. In all of Taixu Sect, he was the only one who knew how to cure the Blackening Disease. He'd gone from one fellow disciple's residence to another, curing their Spirit Herbs and Spirit Grains of the disease. It was hard not to attract attention.

As the saying went, "The tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind; the highest bank is the first to be battered by the current." Shi Yue secretly decided to keep a low profile from now on. With the Heaven Controlling Bead, he wouldn't have to worry about resources, so he'd quietly make his fortune. There was no need to let everyone know.

Only two and a half months had passed. Uncle-Master Zhou wouldn't be back for another three and a half months.

After giving it some thought, Shi Yue decided to spend those three and a half months studying cultivation techniques and learning alchemy.

When he returned to Green Cloud Peak, Shi Yue plunged straight into the texts Uncle-Master Zhou had left behind, roaming through a sea of knowledge.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

Shi Yue's life was very regular: reading through texts, making it rain over the Spirit Herbs, and cultivating.

In the first few days, people came to ask Shi Yue for help. When he realized they wanted him to cure the Blackening Disease, he claimed that he'd run out of spirit liquid and politely turned them down.

At first, people still came to ask Shi Yue for help. But a few days later, the Taixu Sect Deacon Hall announced that any disciple whose Spirit Herbs or Spirit Grains had contracted the Blackening Disease could receive a special spirit liquid from the Deacon Hall for free. This spirit liquid could cure the disease.

After the announcement, naturally no one came to Shi Yue anymore, and he enjoyed a stretch of peace and quiet.

Though only half a month had passed in the outside world, a year had gone by in Palm Heaven Space. The Spirit Grains and spirit fruits had ripened again. This time, the fruit trees had grown a little taller, and there were more fruits. Their colors were vivid, and they were plump and ripe.

Shi Yue snipped off the ears of grain one by one with scissors, and didn't leave out the spirit fruits either. With this batch of Spirit Grains and spirit fruits, he could learn to refine Bigu Pills.

After cutting off the last ear of grain, Shi Yue released the Yellow Wind Ox and let it eat the Spirit Grains without ears.

When Shi Yue had picked all the spirit fruits, the Yellow Wind Ox had finished eating too. It lay lazily in the Spirit Field.

Shi Yue walked over to the Yellow Wind Ox, took out a plowing artifact, and harnessed it to the ox.

After tilling half a mu of Spirit Field, he sowed Spirit Grain seeds and made it rain.

By the time he finished, an hour had passed. The Yellow Wind Ox lay lazily beneath the fruit trees, while Shi Yue leaned against its back and gazed at the deep blue sky.

Shi Yue liked this kind of life. It was simple, yet fulfilling.

"Senior Xiaoyaozi, why do you cultivate immortality?" Shi Yue asked, his expression shifting as he posed what seemed like a strange question.

"Why cultivate immortality? Of course, it's to live longer and master greater abilities. Hmm, and to enjoy more freedom." Xiaoyaozi's voice came from the horizon.

"Is that all?" Shi Yue asked with a frown.

"Don't be ridiculous. If you don't want to live longer or master greater abilities, you might as well go to the mortal world and be a village bumpkin for the rest of your life." Xiaoyaozi's voice sounded displeased.

Hearing this, Shi Yue fell into thought.

"Hey, Shi brat, you're not really going to give up and become a mortal, are you?" Xiaoyaozi asked.

"What's wrong with being a mortal?" Shi Yue countered.

"A mortal will always be a mortal, but an immortal can be an immortal or a mortal. In truth, cultivators don't all cultivate for immortality. They cultivate so that, after attaining immortality, they can have more choices. Before they achieve immortality, they have no choice at all. Their fate is decided from birth. That's why they say that those who cultivate immortality defy Heaven. Do you want your fate to be decided by you, or by that so-called Heaven?"

Shi Yue stood stunned for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully and left Palm Heaven Space.

After leaving the courtyard, Shi Yue summoned his flying artifact and flew toward Dusk Cloud Peak.

This time, Shi Yue paid ten Spirit Stones to rent the room for ten days.

Shi Yue sat cross-legged in front of a red pill furnace and took out a porcelain jar and some washed spirit fruits.

The jar contained Spirit Rice ground into powder. He'd prepared it before coming.

Shi Yue sat quietly for a quarter of an hour. Once his mind had settled, he began refining pills.

He struck the six dragon heads with several Hand Seals in quick succession. A flash of red light later, each dragon head spat out a finger-thick stream of crimson flame, which converged beneath the red pill furnace.

A quarter of an hour later, Shi Yue poured the ingredients into the furnace.

Shi Yue could already refine Bigu Pills, though his success rate was low. He'd come this time to improve it.

As time passed, a faint fragrance drifted from the furnace.

A quarter of an hour later, Shi Yue withdrew his Hand Seals and extinguished the flames.

He opened the furnace lid and saw three yellow pills, each the size of a longan.

Shi Yue nodded and popped one Bigu Pill into his mouth.

The pill melted as soon as it entered his mouth, turning into a warm current that flowed through his body. At the same time, his stomach felt full.

Shi Yue put away the other two Bigu Pills and began refining a second batch.

The second batch yielded five Bigu Pills.

The third batch yielded five Bigu Pills.

The fourth batch yielded six Bigu Pills.

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Ten days later, Shi Yue sat cross-legged in front of a pill furnace wrapped in roaring flames, his face haggard and his eyes bloodshot.

He didn't dare relax for even a moment. This batch of Bigu Pills was his three hundred and sixty-fifth.

Of course, that didn't mean Shi Yue had spent all ten days in the Alchemy Room. Every two days, he left to return to Green Cloud Peak and Azure Origin Peak to make it rain over the Spirit Herbs and Spirit Grains.

When he didn't need to make it rain, Shi Yue stayed in the Alchemy Room refining Bigu Pills.

Out of the twelve hours in a day, Shi Yue spent more than ten refining Bigu Pills. His spiritual power was fine; it recovered after some time spent meditating. What gave him a headache was the toll on his spiritual sense.

The long hours of alchemy had drained his spiritual sense. He had to close his eyes and get a good sleep to recover. Otherwise, he would have refined more than a thousand batches of Bigu Pills by now.

A quarter of an hour later, Shi Yue withdrew his Hand Seals, and the dragon heads stopped spewing fire.

He opened the furnace lid and saw twenty-four yellow pills, each the size of a longan.

A smile appeared on Shi Yue's weary face at the sight.

Twenty-four Bigu Pills—that was a full batch. His hard work refining Bigu Pills had paid off.

After his excitement came a wave of dizziness, and Shi Yue nearly fell.

Shi Yue knew it was from overtaxing his spiritual sense.

He hadn't slept for three days and three nights while refining Bigu Pills, and his spiritual sense was badly depleted.