For "Chang Sheng," a Fifty-Year Journey

Upon hearing Li Niansheng's words, Chen Changsheng set down the book in his hands.

He had been among the crowd during the test for Immortal Destiny. He had merely returned before her.

Looking at Li Niansheng, who had lowered her head and did not dare meet his eyes, Chen Changsheng smacked his lips and said,

"Do you really want to go?"

"I do."

"Why?"

At those words, Li Niansheng's hands tightened involuntarily. Then she said softly,

"For immortality."

The four words drifted lightly from Li Niansheng's lips, yet they weighed as heavily as a thousand jun.

Only by attaining immortality could she remain forever by Chang Sheng's side.

Seeing Li Niansheng's stubborn expression, Chen Changsheng smiled and walked over to her.

"Many people in this world have gone from mortals to immortals, but never has an immortal become a mortal."

"That alone shows that the Path to Longevity is a road of no return. If one day you grow weary of walking it..."

"Just turn around. Brother Chang Sheng will always be behind you."

As he spoke, Chen Changsheng gave Li Niansheng a big hug.

Yet during the embrace, Chen Changsheng quickly whispered in an extremely low voice,

"Cultivation is a place that eats people without spitting out the bones. One Must Be Wary of Others."

With that, Chen Changsheng smiled and released Li Niansheng.

"Oh my! An immortal has graced my humble abode. This humble abode is truly lit up by your presence!"

Chen Changsheng bowed deeply and fawned over the woman at the door, acting no differently from the townsfolk.

Yet in the face of Chen Changsheng's obsequiousness, the woman at the door showed a trace of disgust.

She had never imagined that such a talented girl would come from an ill-omened Coffin Shop.

"This girl has Immortal Destiny. Her future prospects are limitless."

Though she disliked Chen Changsheng, the woman still tossed out a perfunctory remark in order to take in a disciple of exceptional talent.

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng's smile grew even brighter.

"It is all thanks to your immortal eyes recognizing a jewel. Nian Sheng has been mischievous since she was little. I will have to trouble you to look after her from now on."

"By the way, may I ask where your immortal mountain lies?"

"If I have the time, I can pay a visit."

At Chen Changsheng's words, the impatience in the woman's eyes deepened.

"A sect called the Linglong Sect lies ten thousand li to the south. Ordinary people might not reach it even in thirty years."

"If you wish to come, then come."

With that, the woman looked at Li Niansheng. "I have a task to carry out on this trip. We must set off quickly."

Upon hearing this, Li Niansheng gently set down her Bundle.

"Brother Chang Sheng, I'll remember what you said. I will definitely come find you."

With that, Li Niansheng followed the woman away.

After the two left, Chen Changsheng happily cleaned the room, occasionally muttering cheerful words to himself.

An hour later, Chen Changsheng suddenly turned serious and said coldly, "You've been hiding for so long. Come out."

Chen Changsheng's voice echoed through the Coffin Shop, but apart from the cold coffins, there was nothing else in the shop.

"Still not coming out? Are you planning to make me invite you out?"

Chen Changsheng spoke again with a cold face. After waiting a long while without receiving a response, he finally sighed in relief.

"Looks like that old woman really left."

"So what if you can fly!"

"After this young master sleeps for eight hundred or a thousand years, I'll be able to fly too. You'd better not lay a finger on Nian Sheng, or this young master will dig up your family's ancestral graves until they're clean."

With that, Chen Changsheng directly stored the coffins in the shop, along with the Bundle Nian Sheng had left behind, into the System Space.

He had stayed here for eight years, yet his appearance had not changed in the slightest over those eight years.

Rumors had already begun spreading through town because of it. If he stayed any longer, he would not be able to brush it off by saying he simply took good care of himself.

With that in mind, Chen Changsheng strode out of the Coffin Shop where he had spent eight years.

"If thirty years isn't enough to walk there, can't I take fifty?"

"I don't have much of anything, but I do have plenty of time."

After grumbling about that woman once more, Chen Changsheng vanished at the end of the street.

Chen Changsheng disappeared, and the townspeople discussed his whereabouts for a long time.

Some said that when one person attained the Dao, even their chickens and dogs rose to heaven. The immortal had taken a liking to Li Niansheng and, out of affection for the one she loved, had taken Chen Changsheng away as well.

Others said that Chen Changsheng had clashed with the immortal and had been killed by her.

In short, there were all kinds of stories. But as time passed, everyone gradually forgot about Chen Changsheng.

"Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul..."

Chen Changsheng lay on a patch of grass, flipping through a tattered book.

This was already the twentieth year since he had left that small town.

Naturally, Chen Changsheng had examined the things inside the bundle Nian Sheng left behind.

There was not much inside—only a cultivation manual, a medicinal pill, and some gold and silver.

The contents of the cultivation manual were simple, even crude.

It roughly introduced the realms of cultivation, then included a cultivation method for the Qi Refining Realm.

When Chen Changsheng had first obtained it, he had naturally treasured it like a priceless jewel.

After all, this was an immortal cultivation technique!

Once he learned these things, he would no longer need to undergo long slumbers in order to fly through the skies and burrow through the earth.

But after Chen Changsheng had seen how vast the world was, he realized just how worthless the thing in his hands truly was.

In the cultivation world, only upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm could one be considered to have truly stepped onto the Path to Longevity.

Moreover, cultivators in this world were not as rare as he had imagined.

The reason he had never encountered one was entirely because the place where Chen Changsheng had lived was too remote.

As for the Qi Refining cultivation method in his hands, it was nothing more than a common commodity found in the martial world.

It was not everywhere, but spending eight hundred or a thousand taels of silver could still buy one or two copies.

Thinking of this, Chen Changsheng sat up and tossed the cultivation manual in his hand into the fire.

Over the past twenty years, he had read this manual every day. Chen Changsheng could already recite every word in it backward.

"System, it says here that anyone who reaches the Qi Refining First Layer within three days is a genius."

"Anyone who reaches the Qi Refining First Layer within one day is a top-tier genius."

"Anyone who reaches the Qi Refining First Layer within one hour is a genius seen only once in a hundred years."

"Then what kind of level am I, having spent twenty years reaching the Qi Refining First Layer?"

"Host, realm is only one standard for measuring strength. It is not the only standard."

"Cultivation methods are only one means of becoming stronger. They are not the only means."

"The cultivation system of this era does not suit the host, but that does not mean the cultivation system of the next era will not suit the host either."

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng's eyes lit up.

"System, what do you mean by the next era?"

"No imperial dynasty lasts forever. The cultivation world is no different."

"The reason all living beings believe certain things will exist forever is merely because their own existence is too brief."