Cause and Effect

His companions were all up on the ravine, calling Chen Mo's name as they searched around. The moment they saw him, they all heaved a sigh of relief. In a flurry, they lowered the rope they had prepared and had Chen Mo tie himself to it before pulling him up.

"Holy shit! Did you fall into a cesspit?"

"Good grief! Why do you stink so badly?"

"Did the smell knock you out? We called for you forever before you answered. Did you pass out from the stench?"

Their barrage of questions made Chen Mo want to hit someone. But remembering that something was wrong with his body, he quickly pulled back the hand he had raised. If he actually hit someone, he would definitely break their bones.

"Get lost, get lost! Leave me alone, I'm annoyed!" Chen Mo said softly as he controlled his body and walked toward a stream. There was no soap or anything, but he could at least wash up a little first. Otherwise, he would definitely get scolded when he went home like this.

After that happened, no one was in the mood to continue exploring, so they could only head down the mountain and return home. The rope used to save Chen Mo had been woven from soft vines in the forest, and it had taken his companions more than two hours to make. Chen Mo felt deeply grateful, and he also learned that he had been unconscious for nearly two hours.

By the time he got home, it was already late, but his parents were still waiting for him to eat. He used the excuse that he had eaten at a companion's house, and his parents did not question him further. He first took some soap and thoroughly washed himself at the tap, then changed his clothes before returning to his room to sort through everything that had happened that day.

The person whose remains Chen Mo had buried was a cultivator, and a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator at that. However, he was not from Blue Sea Star, but from a Cultivation Planet. In other words, he was an alien. As for why his remains were no different from those of humans on Blue Sea Star, there was no way to verify that. Chen Mo was neither a Doctor nor an archaeologist, and he had no intention of desecrating a corpse.

Why had a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator met such a miserable end on Blue Sea Star, left to rot in the wilderness? It was a long story.

The piece of Green Jade that had flown to Chen Mo's forehead and pressed against the space between his brows explained everything to him. This Green Jade was a Jade Talisman used by cultivators. It could record a cultivator's Spiritual Sense within it. If others wanted to view it, they only needed to press it against their foreheads and send in their own Spiritual Sense to understand its contents. It was an essential Jade Talisman for passing down techniques and secrets. The functions of a Jade Talisman depended on the Talisman patterns inscribed upon it, and different patterns had different uses.

Of course, if a Jade Talisman was protected by a Spiritual Sense Restriction, recklessly sending one's Spiritual Sense into it could be dangerous. If your Cultivation Level was high enough, at most your Spiritual Sense would be forced out. If you were three major levels stronger, you could even erase the Spiritual Sense Restriction within the Jade Talisman and view its contents freely. But if weak Spiritual Sense entered a protected Jade Talisman, the consequences would be utterly miserable. A slight shock to the Spiritual Sense could take three to five years to recover from, while some people might become idiots.

Fortunately, this piece of Green Jade had no protection. Once its Restriction was triggered, it would automatically allow someone to interpret its contents. Chen Mo had never cultivated and possessed no Spiritual Sense, but fortunately, his blood had stained the Green Jade, which counted as a form of refinement. Thus, he triggered the Restriction within it.

The Green Jade flew to Chen Mo's forehead and copied the information stored inside into his mind. Naturally, although there was a great deal of information, not all of it was transmitted into his mind. Only a very small portion was sent over; otherwise, Chen Mo would have become an idiot. Only the first layer of information had been transmitted, yet even that amount made Chen Mo faint while receiving it.

According to the information conveyed by the Green Jade, the Nascent Soul Realm cultivator was called True Person Xuan Ling Ye Shang. He was a protector of the Ye Family, a cultivation aristocratic family, and lived on Ye Hui Star, a planet of cultivators. During an expedition into a Secret Realm, he obtained a White Jade Bead. Although he did not know what it was for, the Restriction protecting it within the Secret Realm numbered a full eighty-one layers—the highest number of Restrictions in the entire Secret Realm.

Fortunately, Ye Shang had some skill in formations, but it had still taken True Person Xuan Ling a hundred years to break through the Restrictions. Some had even been forcibly removed using his own resources before he could obtain the White Jade Bead.

Just as he was overjoyed, tragedy struck. His good friend traveling with him, another man named True Person Yu Hai, suddenly attacked and detonated his Nascent Soul, intending to seize the White Jade Bead. At that moment, amid True Person Xuan Ling's disbelief and doubts over their brotherhood of several hundred years, he used the True Essence that remained in his fading Nascent Soul to detonate the Restrictions in the Secret Realm. Then, while True Person Yu Hai was too occupied to pay attention to him, he used a life-saving teleportation formation to transport himself back to his sect.

But what he had not expected was that the detonation of the Secret Realm's Restrictions triggered a chain explosion. At the instant he teleported, it destroyed his life-saving teleportation formation as well. When he awoke, he was already on Blue Sea Star. Naturally, he did not know it was Blue Sea Star, but he could sense that the Spiritual Energy here was pitifully scarce, almost nonexistent. He understood that something had gone wrong with his teleportation.

But by then, there was no turning things around. Not only had his Nascent Soul been destroyed, but his body had suffered grievous injuries. Furthermore, the teleportation had drained away all his vitality, leaving him with no hope except to await death.

Knowing that he did not have much time left, Ye Shang took out the Transmission Jade Talisman and used his final trace of Spiritual Sense to record all the information within it for whoever might be fated to find it. He then compressed all his remaining True Essence into an inheritance seed, attached it to the Transmission Jade Talisman, and passed away.

The Transmission Jade Talisman contained all his information, much knowledge about the Cultivation World, and knowledge of alchemy, artifact forging, talismans, formations, and more. It also contained a Cultivation of Immortality method called the Profound Heaven True Art. This was the method True Person Xuan Ling had cultivated himself, and it could be considered an opportunity for advancement left to a fated person.

It also contained True Person Xuan Ling's own True Essence seed. Only then did Chen Mo understand why his body had changed so drastically. Not only had his strength increased, but his physique, agility, and Spiritual Consciousness had all improved significantly. It could be described as a complete Marrow Cleansing. The Transmission Jade Talisman also explained that not everyone could practice Cultivation of Immortality; it depended on one's physique and opportunities. The former was especially important. Without a physique suited to Cultivation of Immortality, it was impossible to embark on the path. Opportunity mattered as well. Cultivation of Immortality required inheritance. One needed someone to implant a True Essence seed in order to sense True Essence oneself. Otherwise, even with a Cultivation Method in hand, one would stand before the door unable to enter. Without finding the way, how could one enter the room?

Chen Mo had been extremely fortunate in both physique and opportunity. There was no need to mention his physique—his ability to undergo a True Essence Marrow Cleansing proved that his body was suited for Cultivation of Immortality. As for what grade of aptitude he possessed, that was impossible to say without the means to test it. Then there was his cultivation opportunity. True Person Xuan Ling had used what little True Essence he had left to fulfill Chen Mo's potential. Not only had he cleansed Chen Mo's marrow, but he had also directly brought him into the Qi Induction stage, allowing him to sense Spiritual Energy and saving him a great deal of effort.

However, the True Essence left behind by True Person Xuan Ling was very little. Although it had been all the True Essence he possessed at the time, it had only barely allowed Chen Mo to enter the Qi Induction stage. He was still far from Qi Refining Layer One.

Cultivation of Immortality, Cultivation of Immortality—it meant cultivating one's true body and sharing the lifespan of heaven and earth. Absorbing the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth into one's body, cleansing and using it, evolving oneself, extending one's lifespan, and increasing one's strength—this process was Cultivation of Immortality.

The stages of Cultivation of Immortality were Qi Induction, the Qi Refining Realm, the Foundation Establishment Realm, the Golden Core Realm, the Nascent Soul Realm, the Spirit Transformation Realm, the Mahayana Realm, and the Tribulation Crossing Realm. Other than the Qi Induction stage, every stage had ten layers. The Transmission Jade Talisman did not introduce anything beyond that. Chen Mo was currently at the Qi Induction stage. He was still a novice and could not yet be considered a cultivator. He had merely just stepped out of the ranks of Ordinary People, with one foot already across the threshold of becoming a cultivator. One only truly became a cultivator upon reaching the Qi Refining Realm. Only in the Qi Refining Realm could one learn and use talismans, spells, formations, and the like.