[Death Log]-- [Name: Meng Nan] [Age at death: 40] [Cause of death: No path through the Three Cavities; Qi Deviation] [Cultivation before death: True Essence Stage, Sense Imprint Realm] [Revisit: Two months] ...
It was the fourth life, and Meng Nan had met Qian Yu again. He was filled with emotion.
Compared to the previous three lives, the situation in this life was looking exceptionally good.
In Immortal Calendar Year 22, Meng Nan advanced to the True Qi Stage and gained the chance to cultivate inside Tianlin Cave.
At that time, Zheng Shanpeng, the future Immortal Master, was still ten years away from becoming an Immortal Master.
As soon as Meng Nan entered, he latched onto Zheng Shanpeng and became his disciple. And with all the intelligence gathered by the three disciples who had spent twenty years cultivating in Tianlin Cave during his third life, Meng Nan had even written biographies for every True Essence cultivator there.
Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
Armed with such advance intelligence, Meng Nan thrived in Tianlin Cave.
He ingratiated himself with Zheng Shanpeng.
He forged ties with fellow disciples in private.
Later, he also helped many newcomers rise through the ranks.
On top of that, he had taken many disciples in Yinlian Village and the Three Hundred Cave Villages. Thirty-four of them, including Chen De, Wang An, and Chu Zhongliang, had all entered Tianlin Cave.
Every one of them showed promise of reaching the True Essence Stage.
Two had even reached it already.
The remaining thirty-two were all outstanding cultivators in the True Qi Stage.
He had powerful backing.
He had connections.
He knew alchemy.
And he had mastered the Giant Spirit God secret technique, making him unrivaled among his peers.
Meng Nan had truly thrived after entering Tianlin Cave.
True Qi accumulation.
True Qi body cleansing.
True Essence sense imprint.
With his foreknowledge, the Immortal Master's support, and Meng Nan's own hard work—
In Immortal Calendar Year 22, Meng Nan advanced to the True Qi Stage.
In Immortal Calendar Year 29, he advanced to the True Essence Stage.
In Immortal Calendar Year 32, Zheng Shanpeng advanced to the Qi Refining Stage, and Meng Nan joined the Four Arts Hall as deputy steward, overseeing alchemy and medicine.
In Immortal Calendar Year 35, Meng Nan achieved sense imprint five times, reaching the fifth level of Sense Imprint and the peak of the True Essence Stage. He went from deputy to full steward, took charge of the Four Arts Hall, and oversaw the pills, artifacts, talismans, and formations in Tianlin Cave. His authority reached across Tianlin Cave, and he was known as the Grand Steward.
In Immortal Calendar Year 40, plans to build a city were finalized. Meng Nan won a place among Tianlin Cave's veteran True Essence cultivators and was put in charge of constructing Angming City, one of the eight cities.
Two months later, he made a mistake while stealing a technique for passing through the Three Cavities, suffered Qi Deviation, and threw away all he had built.
"This bout of Qi Deviation left me with gaps in my memory and sent my cultivation backward."
"Unfortunately, I'm now also responsible for overseeing the construction of Angming City. It's a lucrative assignment, and I can't refuse it."
Meng Nan looked at Qian Yu. "For the time being, I'll have to trouble you to stay at Angming Mountain and help me alongside Xiaoshuang. There are two True Essence cultivators under my command here, and four True Essence friends from Tianlin Cave will be coming soon. That should be enough to keep things under control."
It was a happy problem to have.
The situation Meng Nan had inherited in this life was even better than in his third.
Grand Steward of the Four Arts Hall!
In charge of Tianlin Cave's finances!
Meng Nan was one of the most powerful figures beneath the two Immortal Masters.
The only ones who could rival him were Han Kun of the Transmission Hall and Yang Wenchong of the Law Enforcement Hall.
With a position like his, and the responsibility of overseeing a city's construction, there was so much to skim from the project that Meng Nan could eat his fill.
Even with his cultivation reduced and his memories gone, Meng Nan wanted to grit his teeth and make the most of this chance to advance.
Fortunately, he had plenty of help.
At his side was Zhao Xiaoshuang, already at the True Essence Stage. She had also mastered the Giant Spirit God technique and possessed the Blood Arrow Secret Technique; her strength was no less than Meng Nan's had once been.
Then there was Qian Yu, at the fifth level of Sense Imprint.
Two True Essence disciples also stood among his trusted followers.
And finally, four close friends from Tianlin Cave, all True Essence experts of impeccable character who put loyalty first.
That meant Meng Nan already had eight True Essence cultivators he could trust completely.
Through those eight, he could also command the many other True Essence cultivators who gravitated toward him because of his status as Grand Steward. More than forty of them could be put to use.
The Three Hundred Cave Villages had hundreds more True Essence cultivators.
Directly or indirectly, Meng Nan could command them all.
With that kind of power, he could oversee a city's construction and keep troublemakers at bay. And thanks to his experience from the third life, he also knew the dangers and unexpected turns that might arise during the construction of Angming City.
What he really needed to guard against was trouble from within.
For instance, a summons from an Immortal Master.
Or provocation from fellow disciples.
The disciples' provocations were manageable. Meng Nan had once made a fearsome name for himself in Tianlin Cave. With the Giant Spirit God technique, he had been invincible there.
What he feared most now was being summoned by an Immortal Master.
"I've already declared that I won't return to the mountain until the city is finished!"
The city would take ten years to complete, but Meng Nan had only eight years left. He hoped he could hold on until then.
If the Immortal Master summoned him by force—
"Then I'll have to leave it to fate."
Meng Nan gripped a jade talisman that concealed his aura and cultivation. He could only pin his hopes on it.
Meanwhile.
After hearing Meng Nan's account, Qian Yu's expression darkened. "How could this happen?"
Qi Deviation!
Reduced cultivation!
Lost memories!
It was an immense blow to Meng Nan.
He had once been the lofty Grand Steward, a cultivator at the fifth level of Sense Imprint, and one of the True Essence experts Zheng Immortal Master most expected to advance to the Qi Refining Stage.
Yet now he had suffered Qi Deviation and fallen into such a state?
Qian Yu found it hard to accept.
"It's fine."
"I can cultivate my way back."
Meng Nan was more at ease about it.
He was used to this by now.
After comforting Qian Yu, Meng Nan glanced at his second son, Meng Jian. The boy understood and went to fetch two artifacts, then set them before Qian Yu.
"These are—"
Qian Yu looked at Meng Nan.
Meng Nan smiled. "I asked Senior Brother Zhu from the Four Arts Hall to personally craft these two artifacts for you a couple of years ago. This saber was forged mainly from a piece of high-grade Blood Flame Stone. It's not far off from a proper artifact, and it can slay demons and all manner of evil. This tortoise shell came from a ten-thousand-year-old turtle in Black Water Marsh. It was mixed with Essence of Five Metals and forged into its final form. It'll protect you well; True Essence cultivators will struggle to break it."
Senior Brother Zhu.
Zhu Keda.
He was one of the Four Arts Hall's three deputy stewards, and the finest artifact refiner in Tianlin Cave beneath the Immortal Masters.
Thanks to the intelligence from his third life, Meng Nan remembered where to find all sorts of rare treasures and materials. He had tracked them down one by one in this life, so he was never short of valuable possessions. He was also on excellent terms with Zhu Keda.
Meng Jian's Evil Slaying Sword and Meng Santan's Fire-Tipped Spear and Qiankun Ring had been crafted the same way.
He and Zhao Xiaoshuang each had rare artifacts of their own, too.
But these two had been made especially for Qian Yu.
Qian Yu and the couple were all from Yinlian Village. They had been working together and improving side by side since Immortal Calendar Year 19, and she was someone they could trust.
Meng Nan had treasures to spare, of course he wouldn't forget her.
"Fine artifacts!"
Qian Yu could tell their quality at a glance.
The saber and the tortoise shell were probably no worse than Meng Santan's two artifacts. With them in hand, her combat strength would rise another level.
Knowing the heavy responsibility on her shoulders, Qian Yu didn't refuse. She accepted them at once.
But that wasn't all.
Meng Nan then took a bundle of black threads from his sleeve and handed it to Qian Yu. "This is called the Asura Net. It was left behind by a senior, and I happened upon it a few years ago."
The Asura Net was foul and vicious beyond compare. Toss it into the air, and instantly gloomy clouds rolled in, bleak mists swirled, and countless evil spirits and yakshas crowded together in the ten-thousand-zhang cloud of black smoke.
They were illusions, but they still carried power.
Meng Nan had obtained it years ago, another treasure he had found ahead of its rightful owner thanks to his foreknowledge. He had kept it hidden away as a trump card, never once revealing it.
After obtaining it, he had secretly fed the ghost fiends and yakshas within it with Essence Blood from Iron Tokens, steadily increasing its power.
Once unleashed, it filled the battlefield with illusions. If an enemy let their attention slip for even an instant, they would lose their life.
Now that Meng Nan had no cultivation, there was no use keeping the artifact. He might as well let Qian Yu use it for now and rely on her to protect him.
The fifth level of Sense Imprint.
The Blood Flame Saber and the tortoise shell shield.
And the Asura Net.
Qian Yu would be invincible among True Essence cultivators.
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