Ye Xuan's Ambition!

Caomiao Village.

In the ruins of a dilapidated temple.

"Not interested?"

Puzhi's voice instantly rose.

His withered old face contorted violently from extreme shock.

He even suspected if he was hallucinating due to severe injuries.

How could there be a cultivator in this world who wasn't interested in the Great Brahma Prajna?

It was like a beggar refusing a mountain of gold bestowed by the emperor, casually saying, "It's too heavy."

Absurd.

Utterly absurd!

"Young benefactor."

"Do you know what the Great Brahma Prajna truly means?"

Puzhi, unwilling to give up, took half a step forward.

His cloudy old eyes were filled with urgency, even a hint of pleading.

"This is the supreme true method that generations of eminent monks from Tianyin Temple have painstakingly comprehended!"

"It can strengthen the foundation, cultivate the origin, and fortify the body. It perfectly complements your Qingyun Sect's Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao!"

"Combining the two achieves the harmony of yin and yang, a balance of hardness and softness!"

"This is the only key to the great Dao of eternal life!"

Puzhi became more agitated as he spoke, spittle flying.

His thin fingers grasped at the air, as if eternal life was within reach.

On the other side.

Ye Xuan simply watched Puzhi quietly.

His eyes were clear, calm as a deep well.

A moment later.

He casually picked up a dry twig and poked at the dying bonfire before him.

The sparks crackled.

In the deathly silent, dilapidated temple, they sounded exceptionally clear.

"Master, you are attached to form," Ye Xuan said lightly.

His voice was young, yet it carried an unquestionable maturity.

"What did you say?"

Puzhi froze, his gaping mouth stuck in mid-air.

"I said, you view eternal life too narrowly."

Ye Xuan threw down the twig, dusted off his hands, and slowly stood up.

Though the young man's frame was slender.

At this moment.

Puzhi felt a pressure like a towering mountain.

"The Dao of eternal life lies in oneself, not in the method."

"Who decreed that only by cultivating both Buddhism and Dao can one achieve eternal life?"

"And who decreed that cultivating only the Daoist true method will inevitably stop at the Taiqing Realm?"

"The path I, Ye Xuan, must walk, I must forge myself."

"If I lack even this confidence, how can I speak of defying fate and seeking eternal life?"

Ye Xuan walked to the entrance of the dilapidated temple.

He looked up at the ink-black night sky.

As a Transmigrator.

He not only possessed the Primordial Era Version's Innate Dao Body but also had the System by his side.

Mere eternal life was nothing.

"You... you..."

Puzhi staggered back two steps.

He leaned against the cold wall, gasping for breath.

All his life, he had been striving to fuse the true laws of Buddhism and Daoism.

He placed all his hopes on the complementary nature of their Cultivation Methods.

He believed it was the only way.

But now.

A boy of twelve or thirteen pointed at his nose and told him: Your path is too narrow.

This was not just a refutation.

It was a dimensional reduction attack.

It was a devastating blow to his lifelong beliefs.

"You... are you truly that confident?"

"This is a path no one has ever walked successfully..."

Puzhi asked, trembling.

The fervor in his eyes gradually cooled, replaced by a deep confusion.

"Paths are forged by walking them."

"Just because no one has walked it before doesn't mean no one will in the future."

"I, Ye Xuan, am the one who will forge the path."

Ye Xuan chuckled softly.

His smile carried a hint of youthful arrogance, but more than that, it held the composure of someone who controlled everything.

As his words landed.

The entire dilapidated temple fell into a deathly silence.

Only the occasional chirping of insects from outside the window made the quietness even more eerie.

Puzhi stared blankly at Ye Xuan.

At the small, thin figure standing with his hands behind his back.

In a daze.

He felt as if he were seeing a true dragon about to take flight.

That arrogance.

That ambition to pierce a hole through the heavens.

Even he, an old man who had lived for hundreds of years, felt his heart pound.

After a long while.

The confusion in Puzhi's eyes gradually dissipated.

It was replaced by an unprecedentedly complex expression.

There was loss, there was regret, but more than anything, there was a hint of relief.

"Amitabha..."

Puzhi clasped his hands together and uttered a Buddhist chant.

This chant, compared to his previous impatience and utilitarianism, carried more desolation and clarity.

"It seems..."

"I have been too deeply attached to my obsessions."

"Young benefactor has awakened this old monk from his dream."

"For those who seek immortality, the most important thing is their true heart."

"If you don't even believe in your own Dao..."

"Even if you gather all the laws in the world, it will likely be a castle in the air."

Puzhi shook his head with a wry smile.

Compared to the boundless ambition of the young man before him.

His own thoughts were utterly despicable and sordid.

If he had truly acted on them.

Would he still be cultivating Buddhism?

"Young benefactor, I have learned much."

Puzhi bowed deeply to Ye Xuan.

This bow.

Had nothing to do with seniority or cultivation.

It was solely for the enlightenment gained from this sudden, forceful admonition.

Ye Xuan accepted it calmly, without the slightest hesitation.

He knew.

After this bow, Puzhi's inner demons would be suppressed.

The Caomiao Village massacre, which plunged the entire Zhu Xian world into a tragic cycle, had finally completely disappeared.

"Little benefactor."

"This old monk will now return to Tianyin Temple to go into seclusion."

"If there is still a chance to break through in this life, I will definitely come to Qingyun again to talk with little benefactor."

After speaking.

Puzhi no longer hesitated.

He took one last look at Ye Xuan, his eyes clear.

He turned.

And strode away.

His tattered kasaya fluttered in the night wind.

Although his steps were still somewhat unsteady, his back appeared exceptionally straight.

Ye Xuan stood at the temple gate, watching the old figure gradually disappear into the night.

Until he could no longer see him at all.

He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Fortunately.

This old monk had listened to reason.

If he had insisted on his wrong path.

Ye Xuan wouldn't have known what to do.

"System."

"List my information."

As Ye Xuan's voice fell.

A light screen, visible only to him, unfolded.

[Host: Ye Xuan]
[Race: Human Race (Innate Dao Body)]
[Realm: Shangqing Realm First Layer]
[Cultivation Method: Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao]
[Magic Treasure: Myriad Ancient Cauldron (High-grade Magic Tool), Chang Qing Sword (Mid-grade Magic Tool)]
[Skills: Low-tier Alchemy Mastery, Low-tier Artifact Forging Technique, Compendium of Low-tier Arrays]
[Item: Pills (Various)]
[Current Sign-in Location: Qingyun Sect Ancestral Hall (Not Signed In)]

"Longevity?"

"What I want is far more than just longevity."

Looking at the information on the light screen.

A deep ambition flashed in Ye Xuan's eyes.

Twelve years old.

Shangqing Realm.

If this were to get out, the entire Cultivation World would probably be shaken.

And he.

Had only cultivated for two years.

As long as he was given a little more time.

Longevity would be within his grasp.

Just as he was thinking.

A groan came from beside him.

"Mmm..."

"My head hurts so much..."

Ye Xuan turned his head.

He saw the ordinary-looking young man rubbing his head and sitting up groggily from the ground.

Zhang Xiaofan.

This kid woke up quite quickly.

Immediately after.

Lin Jingyu next to him also stirred, letting out a muffled groan.

The two children looked around blankly.

A dilapidated temple.

An extinguished bonfire.

And sitting not far away, Ye Xuan, dressed in green but with an ethereal aura.

"Awake?"

Ye Xuan spoke, his voice clear and resonant.

Breaking the silence in the temple.

Zhang Xiaofan jumped, quickly shrinking his neck.

Lin Jingyu, braver, immediately leaped up, protectively blocking Zhang Xiaofan.

"Who are you?"

"Why are we here?"

Seeing the two youngsters looking as if facing a great enemy.

Ye Xuan couldn't help but smile.

This Lin Jingyu, he's quite loyal.

Too bad his mind is too straightforward, easily used by others.

"Who I am isn't important."

Ye Xuan stood up, dusting off his clothes.

At this time, the horizon had already shown a sliver of white.

Dawn was breaking.

Sunlight fell upon Ye Xuan, casting a faint golden halo around him.

Like an immortal descending to the mortal realm.

This scene.

Was deeply etched into the eyes of the two youths.

It inexplicably calmed their previously tense emotions.

"What's important is that you should go home."

"If you don't go back soon, your parents will likely go crazy with worry."