Bronze Mirror

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Even with the thought of keeping it, Yu Ci still found it too strange to carry a head of unknown authenticity close to his person. He tore off a strip of cloth, wrapped it in two layers, and only then tucked it into his sleeve.

As he stored the item away, his fingertip brushed against something else, and he smiled again. After carefully securing the demon's head, he straightened his posture and took out that object.

It was a round bronze mirror, no larger than a palm, perfectly circular and flawless. Its surface was so polished that it reflected every hair and whisker with clarity. But when he turned it over, there was no mirror knob—only faint, irregular incised lines etched into the back, as if scratched on at random.

This was indeed a mirror, but Yu Ci did not use it as one.

Facing the mirror upward, he infused it with true qi and gave it a gentle shake. Suddenly, the mirror's surface flashed with green light, tinging his hair and beard an emerald hue.

He curled his index and middle fingers, pinched within the green light reflected by the bronze mirror, and a hazy radiance detached from the main body of light. Following the trace of his fingertips, it carved clear trajectories in the void, drawing in motes of spiritual light that fluttered like fireflies, gathering around him.

This was the true face of what was called "drawing talismans by guiding qi."

Yu Ci had not yet transcended the "Three Mortal Gates." He still needed a spiritual medium to draw talismans. The difference was that Xuanqing relied on cinnabar and talisman paper, while Yu Ci used the bronze mirror in his hand instead.

By drawing the green light from his sleeve and tracing in the air, as long as his technique was clever enough, he could easily create the illusion of gathering spiritual light without relying on any external object.

This kind of trickery—playing the mystic and fooling others—was something Yu Ci had long mastered, for this was precisely his background. Back then, at just ** years old, he had barely begun to visualize and guide qi, with no real cultivation to speak of, yet he was already hailed as an Immortal Child in the Twin Immortals Sect. For thousands of miles around, countless believers worshipped him, bowing before him by the tens of thousands. Compared to Xuanqing playing the immortal in this desolate mountain temple, wasn't he a hundred times more impressive?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh again, but the smile was cold and biting. The green light of the bronze mirror turned frosty, as if responding to his mood.

To the north from here, countless thousands of miles away, there was a kingdom of a thousand li called Chen. The Chen Kingdom had a hundred thousand households. Its people did not believe in Buddhism or Daoism, but only in the so-called "Twin Immortals." The Twin Immortals were the male immortal Purple Thunder and the female immortal Crimson Yin. They had founded a sect in the Chen Kingdom, capable of summoning wind and thunder, riding clouds and mist. In the eyes of the Chen Kingdom's people, they were no different from gods.

And Yu Ci had been an attendant in the Twin Immortals Sect, also revered by the title "Immortal Child," worshipped by tens of thousands. But his nature was different from ordinary people. He was not as fanatical about the so-called "Twin Immortals" as the Chen Kingdom's populace. After several years as an attendant, he saw even more clearly: the so-called Twin Immortals were also flesh and blood, with the seven emotions and six desires. In some respects, their desires were even stronger than those of ordinary people.

For example, their fear of death.

The Twin Immortals spent most of their time studying the so-called "art of longevity." Their ultimate goal in founding the sect in the Chen Kingdom was to fulfill the wish of achieving immortality. For this, they could sacrifice everything.

Because of this, Yu Ci and the other "Immortal Children" were not as glamorous as they appeared to the outside world. Yu Ci knew very well that the so-called "Immortal Children" were actually test subjects for the Twin Immortals' various longevity techniques. Using the lure of "preserving youth and achieving immortality," they made them practice those bizarre and dangerous methods, completely disregarding the possible severe consequences.

The lucky ones, like Yu Ci, were assigned to study talisman arts. Though arduous, it was relatively safe. But those who were unlucky would inexplicably suffer damage to their internal organs, severed meridians, madness, and then disappear without a trace.

In the four-plus years Yu Ci spent by the Twin Immortals' side, the "Immortal Children" who stood alongside him had been replaced several times over. He understood very well that if he continued like this, his name would eventually be added to the list of those who vanished.

Fortunately, he had some luck. One night when he was thirteen, it seemed the Twin Immortals had enemies. The sound of a sword ringing through the heavens was like rolling thunder. Occasionally, the residual shockwaves crashed down, toppling houses and snapping trees, as if the apocalypse had arrived.

While most people buried their heads in their blankets, resigned to fate, Yu Ci was certain that this was his best chance to escape.

He was also audacious beyond measure. Before fleeing, he first rushed into the already-burning bedchamber of the Great Immortal Purple Thunder and made off with two treasures: the bronze mirror now in his hand, and a volume of the Shangqing Juxuan Xing Shu Mi Shou Fu Jing. Only then did he take advantage of the chaos to break out, change his clothes, and flee.

Perhaps he truly had heaven's protection. In the months that followed, he hid and dodged all the way, eventually escaping the Chen Kingdom and leaving the Twin Immortals Sect's sphere of influence. The Twin Immortals never came after him. But he no longer dared to linger near the Chen Kingdom. In the years that followed, he traveled south for ten thousand li, his knowledge growing with each step. Only then did he realize how vast the world was and how many masters there were. If he had only focused on the Chen Kingdom, he would have been no better than a frog at the bottom of a well.

He came to understand what kind of beings the Twin Immortals truly were.

The Twin Immortals were also cultivators. This group of cultivators either consumed the rosy clouds of dawn and guided qi, or took elixirs and refined pills, or prayed to gods and ancestors, or sought out grotto-heavens. Of course, there were also those like the Twin Immortals, who accepted incense and offerings to increase their cultivation. Their ultimate goal was the same: to gradually extend their lifespan through practice, ultimately achieving eternal existence and immortality.

Among cultivators, there were also distinctions of rank and strength.

Spirit Communication, Elixir Reversion, Cloud Step, True Person, Calamity Master, Earth Immortal.

These six realms, from low to high, were used to classify the cultivator community.

These six realms, alongside the "Three Mortal Gates" of Qi Movement, Long Breath, and Bright Orifice, together formed the Nine Gates of Cultivation. But the two categories were simply incomparable. Starting from Spirit Communication, every step up was a world-shaking transformation.

Yu Ci didn't know the details, but he did know that the two immortals, Purple Thunder and Crimson Yin, were masters at the Elixir Reversion realm. They could control artifacts to fly through the air, send flying swords to kill people from a hundred li away, and had lifespans of several hundred years, preserving their youth. In the eyes of ordinary people, they were already extraordinary, figures like gods.

But above them, there were even more profound realms. Legend had it that the strongest cultivators could ride dragons and clouds, overturn mountains and seas, wielding all kinds of inconceivable great divine powers.

People were always like this: the more they saw, the less they marveled. After wandering for a while, the shadow the Twin Immortals had cast over Yu Ci's heart was blown away. In its place arose a restless urge to try.

So they weren't unique after all. If they could do it, why couldn't I?

And so, Yu Ci began his cultivation, continuing to this day.

A crackling sound came from the campfire, breaking the quiet atmosphere of the hall. Yu Ci let out a breath, pulling himself back from his memories. He gently stroked the edge of the bronze mirror, and what stirred in his heart was pure gratitude.

Yes, he couldn't help but be grateful for this treasure in his hand.

Back then, when he had burst into the bedchamber of the Great Immortal Purple Thunder and made off with this "Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror," it had been the most valuable risk he had ever taken in his life.

Because only when he truly began to cultivate did he understand the difficulties of the path.

Since the age of eight, he had learned the methods of visualization and qi absorption. With the aid of the talisman arts from the Shangqing Juxuan Xing Shu Mi Shou Fu Jing, more than ten years had passed, and he had only reached the peak of Bright Orifice. There was still an insurmountable gap between him and the basic standard of a true cultivator—the "Spirit Communication" realm.

Catching up to or even surpassing the Twin Immortals was a simple idea, but putting it into practice required not only unwavering faith but also extraordinary courage, unparalleled luck, and, of course, unimaginably vast resources.

"Cultivation" was just two words, but actually doing it required methods, elixirs, spiritual veins. In the case of talisman arts alone, one needed spiritual mediums like fine cinnabar, talisman paper, incense, and a full set of equipment. Yu Ci, a wandering rogue cultivator, where could he get such resources?

Fortunately, there was the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror.

Over the years, Yu Ci hadn't only used it to play tricks. In fact, calling it trickery wasn't quite accurate—the mirror's effects were real.

When infused with true qi, this mirror emitted a green light. This light was an excellent spiritual medium. Using it to draw talismans produced effects even more powerful than those made with cinnabar and talisman paper. Moreover, it was readily available, usable at will, and almost never consumed. For Yu Ci, who was not wealthy in resources, this was more practical than any miraculous elixir.

The main reason Yu Ci had been able to cultivate to this level, relying only on the Shangqing Juxuan Xing Shu Mi Shou Fu Jing he had stolen, with no one to guide him, was largely due to this bronze mirror.

But even this was not enough. The path of cultivation could not be sustained by just one or two treasures. Yu Ci walked alone, enduring great hardship. Every small step forward came at a cost that ordinary people could hardly imagine. Yet he had not given up. He was actively seeking a faster way forward, even if, for now, he had found nothing.

He wondered if the "Three Yang Talisman Sword," which the Bai Ri Mansion was offering in exchange for Shrimp Whisker Grass, could serve as a reference and help him make progress in the art of talismans.

Slowly, his thoughts scattered, eventually fading into nothingness. Yu Ci entered a state between sleep and wakefulness. At this moment, the five viscera's vital energy separated into the five colors of green, yellow, red, black, and white, forming a hazy mist that gradually coalesced, rolling within the space between his brows.

At the same time, the cool energy in the Mud Pill Palace of his brain turned round like a pearl, like a bright moon shedding clear radiance everywhere. The light fell like rain onto the five-colored mist in his heart, and a gravitational force arose between them. The bright moon hung motionless in the void, while the colored clouds, under the force, slowly rose. When they reached the base of the twelve-storied Chonglou in his throat, their strength was spent, and they slowly sank back down, repeating the cycle again and again.

In this process, his five viscera and six bowels, his four limbs and hundred bones, the acupoints throughout his body, all seemed to be drawn by the gravitational force, faintly resonating and communicating with the Mud Pill Palace. Gradually, the qi of his entire body merged into one, indistinguishable from each other, with the five viscera's vital energy at the core, forming a thinner mist that permeated his whole body. Only in his head did the bright moon's radiance shine, centered on the Mud Pill Palace, with the four directions and four corners, the nine palaces clear and still, unmoved by the clouds below.