Yinlian Village lay south of Tianlin Cave.
Forty years ago.
Or, by now, it should have been fifty-two years ago.
Back then, an Immortal Master had come to Tianlin Mountain to establish a cave dwelling. Dozens of "True Essence Stage" and hundreds of "True Qi Stage" quasi-cultivators had come with him. In a short time, they had taken control of all three hundred cave villages, including Yinlian Village. They had spread writing and cultivation methods, laid down all sorts of rules, and brought civilization to the region.
Fifty-two years ago, Yinlian Village had a population of just over four hundred.
Forty years later, the population had soared to three or four times that number, nearly two thousand in total.
By this year, the village had almost three thousand people, young and old alike.
A generation every eighteen years!
And it wasn't just Yinlian Village. The population of all three hundred cave villages was growing rapidly.
Meng Nan understood why—
"Cultivating immortality is hard!"
"To raise immortals and cultivate cultivators, you need a vast population to support them."
That was why every village worked hard to grow its population, even making it their top priority.
"You know Auntie Qian Yu, right?"
"Two days before we got married, she had just advanced to the 'True Qi Stage.' Back then, she was already someone with a voice in the village. Two years ago, she reached the 'True Essence Stage,' and even the Fort Lord had to show her some respect. If it weren't for her, the two of us might have kept having children."
Zhao Xiaoshuang spoke as casually as if chatting about everyday life, naturally filling Meng Nan in on what had happened in the village over the past decade or so.
Qian Yu.
Auntie Yu.
Of course Meng Nan had heard of her.
She, too, had married into Yinlian Village from another cave village, just like Zhao Xiaoshuang. But Qian Yu had a talent for cultivation. She had already reached the "Visualization Realm" when she married. She never gave up cultivating after her marriage, and soon advanced to the "Inner Qi Stage." At thirty, two days before Meng Nan's wedding, she advanced to the "True Qi Stage."
At the time, there weren't even twenty people in the village at the True Qi Stage. Naturally, she had a say in things.
The True Essence Stage was even rarer.
Even now, Yinlian Village had only three people at that stage. She was one of them, and whenever she offered an opinion, even the Fort Lord had to think it over. He didn't dare ignore her.
"Ten years to reach the True Essence Stage!"
"From Embryonic Breathing to Inner Qi, then True Qi, then True Essence—it only took her twenty-two years."
"And she even found time to have three children along the way!"
Meng Nan hadn't thought much of it at the time. Looking back now, though, as he surveyed the first half of Qian Yu's life, he realized she was a real powerhouse!
His interest was piqued.
In the bamboo grove, he worked on a carpentry project while asking Zhao Xiaoshuang, who was helping him, about Qian Yu. "How did she cultivate so fast? Did she have some kind of fortuitous encounter?"
After the initial confusion of arriving in this unfamiliar place, Meng Nan was quickly adapting to this future era, just as he had once adapted to this strange world.
He calmed down.
After sorting things out, he realized that he couldn't stay long in this future era, so there were only two benefits for him—
First, he had eight years to cultivate carefully. He couldn't take his cultivation back with him, but he could take the experience and lessons. When he returned eight years later, his cultivation would be wiped clean, but starting over should still be easy.
Second, now that he had come to the future, he could learn what had happened in the twelve years before this point and the eight years after it.
Over those twenty years, he could get a rough grasp of all the major and minor events in Yinlian Village—
Who in the village had risen to prominence.
Where a treasure had once appeared.
Which year had brought a good harvest.
When disasters had struck.
And so on. Knowing these things now might be useless, but once he returned to reality, he would effectively have the future in his hands. He could befriend the right people ahead of time, search for treasures before anyone else, and avoid disasters. How could he fail to cultivate successfully?
Take Qian Yu, for example.
Making her acquaintance in advance could only help.
Of course, she had already reached the True Qi Stage twelve years ago, so plenty of people must have been trying to curry favor with her. It wouldn't be easy for Meng Nan to get close to her.
But if a fortuitous encounter was what had let her cultivate so quickly, couldn't he get to it first?
When it came to cultivating immortality, Meng Nan wasn't about to stand on ceremony.
If there was a chance to obtain a treasure or seize an opportunity, he wouldn't hesitate.
As for whether Qian Yu had actually had a fortuitous encounter—
"She really did!"
Zhao Xiaoshuang laughed, telling it like an amusing bit of gossip. "There's a story that Auntie Qian Yu, quite a few years ago—maybe seven or eight—was taking a shortcut on her way back to her parents' home when she came across a tree called a 'Suoluo Seed' somewhere south of the village. It grew spirit fruit that could improve cultivation. But the fruit wasn't much use for cultivating at the 'True Essence Stage.' After she advanced, she had the tree transplanted into the village, where it's now guarded by someone."
As she spoke, Zhao Xiaoshuang glanced at Meng Santan and his two siblings, who were helping in the distance. She looked hopeful. "When our kids reach the age to cultivate, if they do well, maybe they'll get to eat a spirit fruit or two. It would help with their cultivation."
With a spirit tree like that in the village, its fruit would naturally go first to people with connections.
But Zhao Xiaoshuang had heard that the tree bore plenty of fruit. There would surely be some left over, and the village might grant a few to cultivators who performed well.
Some was better than none.
Hope was better than having nothing to look forward to.
Zhao Xiaoshuang was nimble and orderly, and she spoke to Meng Nan in a familiar, easy manner. Her warmth soon put him at ease, too.
He hadn't yet gotten used to the young bride he'd married twelve years ago, but he was already getting a taste of life as an old married couple.
To be honest—
"It's not bad."
Meng Nan chuckled too, gradually settling in.
That night.
After chatting with Zhao Xiaoshuang for a while, Meng Nan sat cross-legged on the bamboo mat he had woven himself. Coolness seeped up from beneath him as he adjusted his posture and began to cultivate.
The first hurdle of cultivation: Embryonic Breathing.
The first hurdle of Embryonic Breathing: Entering Stillness.
Entering stillness meant quieting the mind.
It was the basic entry-level practice of cultivation.
Meng Nan had been struggling with this little hurdle for two years, yet he still couldn't reach the state where "the mind followed the will downward, the head and hands felt like nothingness, and only a faint breath moved in and out at the navel, unmoved no matter how one tried to shift it." He still hadn't crossed the threshold into the "Qi Sensing Realm."
There was nothing for it.
He could only endure and persevere.
From Zhao Xiaoshuang, Meng Nan had learned that "he" had reached the "Qi Sensing Realm" in the second year of their marriage and the "Visualization Realm" in the eighth.
After that, he had remained stuck.
Until he suffered Qi Deviation.
Cultivation was riddled with hurdles, and each came with its own dangers.
Qi Deviation was the most common. It was a familiar sight in the cultivation world.
It even happened from time to time in a little place like Yinlian Village.
Nothing unusual about that.
"But I have to be careful with my cultivation now. I should try to reach the 'Visualization Realm' in these eight years, or even enter the 'Inner Qi Stage.'"
Meng Nan wasn't getting carried away just because dying here would only send him back to reality.
And don't say, "If dying doesn't matter, why be afraid? Why not take risks?"
The truth was, this chance was too important.
He wasn't in a position to take risks yet.
If he took a reckless gamble and died in the "Stillness Realm," the whole trip would have been for nothing. And who knew what conditions there might be—or how long he'd have to wait—before he could return to the future again?
He had to be cautious.
"Whether it's a watermelon or a sesame seed, first make sure you've got it in your hands."
Meng Nan's immediate goal was to reach the "Inner Qi Stage."
As for the rest, he would take things as they came.
Over the next few days, Meng Nan familiarized himself with this era and life twelve years in the future, learning what had happened over those twelve years.
A few days later,
he went to see the Suoluo Seed tree that Qian Yu had transplanted into the village and had someone guard. At first glance, it looked like a clump of tea bushes—low and unimpressive.
Meng Nan went to look at it every so often, committing its appearance at different stages and in different seasons to memory.
He also found time to ask where Qian Yu had discovered the Suoluo Seed tree.
Quite a few people knew the place. Even the Fort Lord had gone to see it, so it wasn't hard to ask about it or find the way there. It was just a secluded ravine where few people went, neither too close to Yinlian Village nor too far. At Meng Nan's pace, it took about an hour to get there. Even now, he could still make out the hole left behind when the Suoluo Seed tree had been dug up.
Meng Nan memorized the location and decided to come back several times every year from then on.
He would keep an eye on the Suoluo Seed tree in the village, too, checking on it often and trying to commit it to memory so thoroughly that time couldn't wear it away.
The little village didn't have much other news, and in the twelve years before this point, there were precious few events worth mentioning.
Even fewer were useful to Meng Nan.
Qian Yu reaching the True Essence Stage was one.
The Suoluo Seed tree was another.
After that, nothing.
One year passed.
Then two.
In the middle of Meng Nan's second year here, far away in Tianlin Cave, a quasi-cultivator at the peak of the True Essence Stage achieved five Sense Imprints and located his Three Cavities. He then successfully advanced to become a Qi Refining Immortal Master—the first Immortal Master to ascend in the fifty-four years since Tianlin Cave had been established.
The whole realm celebrated!
All three hundred cave villages declared amnesties, gave people time off, and held feasts. It was a scene of boundless joy.
Yinlian Village held seven straight days of communal feasts, providing food and drink for the whole village. The children were overjoyed, and the adults spent their days grinning from ear to ear.
Someone else's advancement to Qi Refining Immortal Master had nothing to do with them.
But a holiday and seven days of feasting were benefits they could truly enjoy.
Meng Nan and his family ate their fill over those seven days.
On the seventh night,
Meng Nan skipped cultivation for once and enjoyed some private time with Zhao Xiaoshuang.
It wasn't until early the next morning that he got up and began his morning practice.
He sat cross-legged on a bamboo mat, his upper body straight, his hands clasped in the Ziwu Mudra, his eyes lowered as he gazed at his nose. His nose gazed at his mouth; his mouth gazed at his heart.
He pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, focused his heart, spirit, and mind on his navel, and let no thought stray.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
Suddenly, something stirred in Meng Nan's heart. For an instant, he seemed to have neither head nor hands. He couldn't feel any of them; everything was void.
All sensation from his limbs vanished.
Everything else became all the more distinct.
For example, at that moment,
Meng Nan felt something faintly warm and cool stirring at his navel, a strange, tingling sensation.
But no matter how he tried to direct it, that warm-cool current remained still.
A little while later,
Meng Nan grew tired and naturally opened his eyes.
Only in that instant did he realize—
"A trace of true breath!"
"I've reached Qi Sensing!"
"You've reached the 'Qi Sensing Realm' again?"
"That's wonderful!"
When Zhao Xiaoshuang heard that Meng Nan had broken through again that day, she was delighted.
She had been married to Meng Nan for years and knew better than anyone how deeply he cared about cultivating immortality. The morning after their wedding, when she first opened her eyes, she had seen him sitting in meditation and cultivating in the room.
For more than ten years, he had kept at it every day.
He had never once stopped.
When he suffered Qi Deviation last year and nearly died, Zhao Xiaoshuang had first been overcome by the joy of seeing Meng Nan come back from the dead. Later, she began to worry that losing all his cultivation overnight would leave him frustrated and defeated, making him give up on himself.
But that hadn't happened.
Meng Nan still cultivated just as diligently, as if he were starting from scratch all over again.
He hadn't neglected his life.
Or his work.
And he had become even more affectionate toward her and their three children, as if they were newlyweds again—if anything, he was more attentive than he'd been back then.
"Losing his memory isn't so bad, after all."
Zhao Xiaoshuang sometimes thought that to herself.
All the young women and newlywed wives in Yinlian Village, the aunties and matrons, were envious whenever they saw her.
Every so often, Meng Nan would surprise her with something he had made for her. Zhao Xiaoshuang felt as if her happiness might overflow.
She only hoped that days like these would last forever.
Three years.
Four years.
When life was happy, the days flew by.
Before they knew it,
Zhao Xiaoshuang and Meng Nan were both thirty-eight.
Their eldest, Meng Xingzhe, had turned eighteen. His aptitude for cultivation wasn't much better than theirs, and he was still only in the Qi Sensing Realm. In two months, he would be married, just like Meng Nan had been—starting a family and building a career.
Two months passed in a flash.
That night was the eve of Meng Xingzhe's wedding.
"Time really does fly."
Zhao Xiaoshuang was tidying the room as she shared her feelings with Meng Nan.
Eight years had passed.
Neither she nor Meng Nan seemed to have changed much in appearance. Zhao Xiaoshuang had enjoyed a comfortable life, while Meng Nan's physical condition matched his real-world body. After eight years, he was only around twenty-six, so of course he still looked young. It would take at least another seven or eight years for him to start changing.
The husband and wife chatted in their room.
For once, Meng Nan wasn't cultivating. He chimed in now and then, but seemed a little distracted.
Zhao Xiaoshuang noticed and turned around, teasing him with a smile. "Our son's getting married. Why do you look like you've lost your soul?"
Zhao Xiaoshuang couldn't help laughing.
"Time really does fly!"
Meng Nan shook his head with a smile.
Zhao Xiaoshuang was marveling at how quickly the children had grown, while Meng Nan was marveling at how eight years had slipped by in the blink of an eye.
In the blink of an eye, it was nearly time for it all to end.
Over those eight years,
Meng Nan had never neglected Zhao Xiaoshuang, Meng Xingzhe, Meng Jian, or Meng Santan, even while he cultivated.
He didn't dwell on the past, the present, or the future.
He didn't dwell on what was real and what was unreal.
Meng Nan had always believed in living in the moment. Whatever the time and circumstances, he did what needed to be done.
Here, cultivation was important, but it couldn't be rushed.
His family was real, beyond a doubt.
Every one of them was flesh and blood.
The older Meng Xingzhe got, the more he looked like Meng Nan. They might as well have been carved from the same mold.
The second son, Meng Jian, was more delicate-looking and took after his mother. But his temperament was more like Meng Nan's: gentle, meticulous, and methodical. Even at such a young age, he carried himself with composure.
The third, Meng Santan, was boisterous and lively, with a pair of eyes that looked just like Meng Nan's.
Zhao Xiaoshuang had her virtues, too.
She was optimistic.
She was resilient.
Meng Nan had never seen her lose her temper.
She was perceptive, always picking up on her family's moods right away. Sometimes she pretended not to notice; other times, she found an excuse to comfort them. The family got along harmoniously, and they were on good terms with their neighbors in Yinlian Village, too.
The more time he spent with Zhao Xiaoshuang, the more of her virtues Meng Nan discovered.
Looks would eventually fade.
A person's inner qualities and how well two people suited each other were what mattered most in deciding whether they could spend their lives together.
Although Meng Nan had only just gotten married and shared his wedding night, he had already spent twenty years weathering life's trials and joys with Zhao Xiaoshuang.
It was a strange feeling.
"I wonder what you'll be like at eighteen."
Meng Nan stepped forward and gently wrapped his arms around Zhao Xiaoshuang from behind.
"What's the matter with you today?"
Zhao Xiaoshuang stopped what she was doing and stroked Meng Nan's hands, still seeming to speak. Her tone was gentle, and her voice lovely, but Meng Nan could no longer make out what she was saying.
Gradually,
everything faded away—the sound of her voice, the feel of her touch.
Like a water bubble bursting with a soft pop, Meng Nan opened his eyes again. The woman in his arms was fast asleep, but the faint lines at the corners of her eyes were gone. He looked around to see a bright red wedding quilt and bright red candles.
He was unmistakably in the bridal chamber.
"I'm back again!"
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