The sky was blue, the clouds drifted lazily overhead. The damn weather was bright and clear, the blazing sun pouring down over the land. Dry heat filled the air, leaving everyone drenched in sweat, and passersby on the street had no choice but to seek out shady spots to escape the sweltering heat.
Just then, a handsome young man came toward them from the eastern end of the street. He looked about fifteen or sixteen, his refined features still touched by a hint of youth. He wore a blue brocade robe, its hem ink-black, and a white jade belt. At his waist hung a finely decorated, razor-sharp sword forged from fine steel.
The young man had clear, crystalline eyes and neatly combed black hair. His gaze held a maturity and a trace of sharpness that seemed beyond his years.
His fair, jade-like hands, almost as delicate as a woman's, were clasped behind his back as he strolled down the street. His steps were firm and steady, his bearing noble and his manner graceful. From time to time, he glanced around, observing the things nearby.
A few men dressed as servants followed close behind him, their expressions serious and their conduct impeccable. One of them, a middle-aged man in a black robe, wore a fawning smile and kept to the young man's left, explaining something to him.
"Young Master Heng, look. All those businesses belong to our He Family here in Shuangjiang City. We have everything from restaurants to medicine shops. And especially Chunhua Courtyard—it ranks among the top three brothels in Shuangjiang City. The star courtesan there, Miss Qingying, is even..."
At this, the middle-aged man gave him a look that every man understood. The young man's face stiffened. How embarrassing! He quickly cut off the man's endless chatter. "Enough! I know all that already. Manager Sun, you should head back and report to Steward Zhou. I want to look around on my own."
"How could we do that? The Academy has no classes today, and you've come out to inspect the family businesses. Old Zhou told us to accompany you and keep you safe. We can't just leave!" the middle-aged man said anxiously.
"Enough. I'm not a child. I don't need you to protect me. Go back!" The young man's tone brooked no argument, and his eyes flashed sharply. Seeing this, Manager Sun could only lead the others away, looking rather put out.
"At last, some peace and quiet." The young man sighed calmly and raised his head to gaze at the vast heavens, his heart surging with passion and ambition.
"I've been in this world for more than ten years now..."
His name was He Heng, a member of the He Family of Liang Province in the Great Xia Dynasty, in the Nine Provinces Land of the Great Heaven World. He was sixteen years old, had made some progress in the Martial Dao Hundred Bones Realm, and was a disciple of Flying Immortal Academy. By all accounts, he was an ordinary genius.
Of course, beneath those identities, he had another one. He also carried memories of a previous lifetime, belonging to a researcher from a country called the Heavenly Dynasty on a water-blue planet. As for what he had been called back then, it no longer mattered.
In those memories, he had been born during an age of war and turmoil, one of the earliest intellectuals in that country. He had spent his life studying literature and history, while also becoming reasonably proficient in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. After weathering countless storms, he had died of old age in a hospital bed—a life brought to its natural end.
After his death, for reasons he could not explain, he had somehow arrived in this strange world and become a member of the He Family.
Still, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. For someone like He Heng, who had already died once, what more could he ask for than another life? Especially in a world where true immortality was possible!
This world was called the Great Heaven World. It was said to have existed for countless billions of years, with a vast history spanning the Primordial, Ancient, High Ancient, and Middle Ancient eras, among many others. Its territory was boundless. The central Nine Provinces Land alone was hundreds or even thousands of times larger than the planet he had lived on before. Beyond the Nine Provinces lay the even vaster Four Seas, the Barbarian Wastes, the Endless Desert, and more. The sheer scale of this world was beyond imagination.
In the present age, humanity flourished. The demon race, the Dragon Race, and the Barbarian Tribe had all been driven out of the Nine Provinces, leaving humanity in control of the central region, where spiritual energy was most abundant. The Great Xia Dynasty ruled the world and was said to have been founded a hundred thousand years ago. All under heaven bowed to it!
Yet even the Great Xia Dynasty was not considered ancient. Things older than it were everywhere in this world. There were the ancient sects said to have been passed down from Heavenly Venerables and Buddhas, their lineages stretching back through the ages so far that their origins could no longer be traced. Even the He Family, which He Heng belonged to, had a history of tens of thousands of years.
What He Heng could not understand was that Earth Humans had developed Modern Civilization after only a few thousand or tens of thousands of years of history, with science advancing to an extraordinary degree. Yet this world had at least several million years of recorded history, and its civilization was still stuck in feudalism—or even the slave era.
The reason was the practice of cultivation, which had initially struck He Heng as unbelievable!
In his previous life, cultivation had been nothing but mythology on Earth. In this world, however, it was entirely real, woven into the lives of every living being.
By absorbing the boundless spiritual energy that filled the world to temper the body, then comprehending the Heavenly Dao and becoming one with the universe and the world, even a tiny human body could gain inconceivable power!
Those who reached the peak of cultivation could seize the sun and moon from the highest heavens and subdue flood dragons beneath the sea! Some could even open Cave Heaven Blessed Lands, transcend the Mortal World, defy karma and reincarnation, establish an Eternal Inheritance, and look down upon the rise and fall of heaven and earth and the birth and death of all living things.
It was precisely because of cultivation—something beyond the laws of nature that could give individuals limitless power—that those who achieved mastery of it stood entirely above the mundane world. Ordinary people could not possibly shake their position, and civilization stagnated as ancient feudal customs endured.
Compared to Pure Yang True Immortals, who could shake the heavens with a flick of their fingers, pluck stars from the sky, swallow the cosmos, and stir continents and mountains with every movement, what were ordinary people but ants? How could they ever threaten the immortals' rule?
When He Heng had first arrived in this world, he had doubted all of this. He simply could not believe it. It clashed with everything he had understood over the several decades of his previous life; it was impossible to accept!
But later, after witnessing the terrifying abilities of the cultivation experts in his family—summoning wind and rain, sending their primordial spirits out of their bodies, and carrying mountains on their backs—He Heng felt as if his entire worldview had collapsed. This world was simply... far too absurd!
"This makes no sense!"
He Heng said woodenly, then cast aside every belief and bit of common knowledge from his previous life. He devoted himself to studying cultivation in this world, determined to achieve something, gain the power to look down upon heaven and earth, attain immortality, and transcend the Mortal World!
In his previous life, he had been old and dying, powerless to fight against it. In this life, he refused to suffer the same fate. Dare he ask Heaven: Is there anything eternal?
Since he had been fortunate enough to come to a world as wondrous as one from mythology, how could he fail to reach its highest peak and attain the Extreme of the Great Dao?
With that goal in mind, He Heng began his new life. But he soon discovered that he was no legendary genius. He was not exactly talentless, but compared with those peerless Chosen Ones, his aptitude for cultivation was so dreadful that no matter how hard he tried, he would never achieve much in this life.
He Heng, however, was a man of considerable perseverance—or so he believed. He refused to fade into the crowd. Besides, this world had no shortage of people with poor aptitude who still ascended to the peak. There were plenty of Late Bloomers who had shown little promise in their youth but achieved greatness later. He believed that even if his talent was mediocre, he might still have a chance to reach the summit.
Take Jun Rushih, the Number One on the Pure Yang Ranking, known as the Heavenly Sword. He had once been an ordinary disciple of the Tongtian Sword Sect, one of the Six Schools of the Mystic Gate—utterly unremarkable, with nothing to distinguish him from the Chosen Ones of his generation. Yet he had spent a thousand years honing his sword, never rushing or faltering. He forged an unparalleled blade and built up overwhelming momentum. Then, one day, his sword qi soared into the sky and shone across the Nine Provinces. He suppressed several generations, stood undefeated for three thousand years, and swept through the world with a single sword, unmatched by any. He looked down upon the vast Mortal World, lonely as snow!
He was a legend in the hearts of cultivators throughout the Nine Provinces. His life was worthy of an epic, inspiring countless cultivators to strive ever higher and pursue the Pure Yang Great Dao. He had inspired He Heng as well.
That was why He Heng had come to Flying Immortal Academy to begin his studies, hoping to join the great sect behind it and gain more opportunities, along with the resources and cultivation techniques he needed. He dreamed of one day attaining Pure Yang and making his body imperishable!
Flying Immortal Academy had been established jointly by the Six Schools of the Mystic Gate and the Twelve Daoist Sects. There was more than one in Shuangjiang City; nearly a hundred stood throughout the Nine Provinces. Their main purpose was to select new talent and train promising disciples. Those who stood out could enter a Great Mystic Sect directly. That was He Heng's goal. The process was much like the nine years of compulsory education in his previous life, followed by entrance exams to advance to the next level.
The Mystic Gate was flourishing in this age, ruling over the Great Heaven World as Only I Am Honored. The Three Religions, Six Schools, and Twelve Sects were the oldest and most powerful Inheritances in the Nine Provinces, and each generation of their disciples included figures capable of influencing the fate of the world. For He Heng, it would be an immense stroke of luck to enter any one of them.
Of course, that was assuming they were willing to take him. There was no shortage of geniuses in this world. He Heng's aptitude was passable, but at Flying Immortal Academy, where elite scions of Noble Families and exceptional commoners gathered, he was merely average. He was not among the worst, but he was nowhere near the best.
The He Family was one of the Seventy-two Noble Families of Jiuzhou, but He Heng was only an ordinary junior. He ranked somewhere around thirty or forty among the younger generation of his family. He could throw his weight around with the stewards in Shuangjiang City, but that was only because he was a direct descendant of the family. Class distinctions ran deep in this world: servants were servants, and masters were masters. But in terms of real authority, he had very little.
Neither his personal strength nor his family backing made him stand out at Flying Immortal Academy. He was just one among the crowd, and joining a Great Mystic Sect was only a goal. His future looked bleak.
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